This visionary nonfiction title is part two of a clarion call for a physio-spiritual transition from a Fourth World to a Fifth World consciousness. Dr. John Hughes—a practicing osteopathic, integrative physician and descendant of the Cherokee tradition—challenges humanity to move from the linear and dualistic mindset of Western science based solely on the five senses—a rational discipline accepting only scientific fact and methodologies as a basis for structuring society—to the more intuitive, spiritually-inclusive, integrated, and nature-based Fifth World philosophy.

The book explores in simple but articulate prose the many sources he explored to enhance the reader’s understanding of the Fifth World philosophy, a path in which quantum science meets spirituality. Beginning with a renewed look at the contemplative practices of Aristotle, segueing into an examination of the Asian mystics such as Buddha, and then moving on to indigenous beliefs and practices (particularly those of the North American Hopi tribe), the narrative explores how these differ from the seventeenth century, Enlightenment beliefs that still dominate twenty-first-century life.

Hughes asks many valid questions about the belief systems that keep much of humanity anchored in a Fourth World belief system that currently has obvious limits in providing well-being and happiness to the greatest numbers of people possible. He outlines the many reasons that Western philosophical structure has predominated in many of the world’s societal systems, specifically via Christianity’s vital role in the ongoing acceptance of limited (and limiting) Fourth World science since the seventeenth century. However, he explains that Western medicine has not been entirely divorced from a more integrated viewpoint due to the efforts of modern psychology to recognize the “practices that enhance spiritual consciousness and bring positive benefits in the physical world.” Hughes suggests that a union of the best practices of Fourth World medicine, such as advanced drugs and surgery, can be blended with the contemplative practices of Fifth World medicine that unify body, mind, and spirit.

This convincing analysis will likely spur both seasoned medical professionals and the casual reader to envision the positive possibilities of moving on from more archaic Fourth World thought patterns into much-needed Fifth World remedies. While some of the principles discussed in the text can be challenging to grasp, Hughes helpfully breaks these down into understandable, bite-sized components by citing the work of many historical figures and cultures that have discovered and defined how the planet and all phenomena in it are interconnected and a part of nature. This serves well as a consciousness-expanding viewpoint that helps shift the current, divisive scientific paradigm to a more inclusive, unifying one.

Hughes asks important questions about the status of one’s personal health and the health of the planet and offers concrete answers and solutions to the medical and ecological crises facing the world today. Many of these answers may already be at humanity’s fingertips, not only through the revelations of quantum science but in indigenous wisdom traditions that exist around the globe and that were once pushed aside by conventional Western science and religion. The author sees that a new orientation embracing the “cosmic order of the universe… leads to the good of all Nature.” Inspiring and uplifting, Hughes’ narrative makes it clear that humankind’s twenty-first-century mandate is to heal the Earth and itself by connecting deeply with the inherent wonder of the natural world.

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