Lunar visions: an astronaut gains a new perspective on the unity of knowledge 

What I experienced during that three-day trip home [on Apollo 14] was nothing short of an overwhelming sense of universal connectedness. I actually felt what has been described as an ecstasy of unity. It occurred to me that the molecules of my body and the molecules of the spacecraft itself were manufactured long ago in the furnace of one of the ancient stars that burned in the heavens about me. And there was the sense that our presence as space travelers, and the existence of the universe itself, was not accidental but that there was an intelligent process at work. I perceived the universe as in some way conscious. The thought was so large it seemed to me inexpressible, and to a large degree it still is….

When I returned from the moon I saw perhaps a little more clearly how our traditional modes of understanding did not adequately explain our modern-day experience. We needed something new in our lives, revised notions concerning reality and truth. Most of us have accumulated this body of ideas that make up our belief system through external authorities rather than through our own quest and original insight. Our beliefs were, and still are, in crisis….

I am one of a growing handful of human beings to have seen the earth from the point of view of an extraterrestrial. In the heavens there is no up or down, no east or west. Earth is but a beautiful blue speck in the midst of a vast emptiness marked by luminous celestial bodies. We inhabit but one of those celestial bodies, yet one of the most organized — for all we know. From the heavens, in 1971, the earth looked peaceful and harmonious, but of course all was not as it appeared. Conflict that threatened our very survival lay below. Weapons were poised, ready to annihilate life as we knew it on a moment’s notice, environmental crises were lurking just beyond public awareness. The common root of these mushrooming dilemmas, I believe, has been conflicting, outdated, and flawed ideology and dogmas.

Edgar Mitchell, The Way of the Explorer

For an Observation about lunar travels, see here.

Updated 14.06.18