Volume I provides an overall survey and appreciation of the field of enquiry. Whilst fully valuing the worth of science, at the same time its limitations, concerning the deeper questions of life and consciousness, are laid bare. This then defines the legitimate boundaries of science and so establishes the need for invoking the Perennial Philosophy to provide the deficit that mainstream science, constrained by its philosophy of materialism, is unable to accomplish.

This entirely new way of looking at the world, and human beings, through the lens of the Perennial Philosophy, embracing diverse world cultures and epochs, creates a hunger to probe further into the nature of the human being and his consciousness beyond (but not excluding) the dictates of scientific materialism.

The overriding purpose of Volume I is to explain the scientific position on consciousness and the nature of the human mind; and then reveal the added insights to be gained from the Perennial Philosophy. This Volume will answer the pressing question 'whom to vote for', so to speak, on questions of life, mind, and consciousness: should it be for mainstream science, the Perennial Philosophy, or possibly both? It will soon become apparent that in making the case for embracing the Perennial Philosophy, what is needed is a true union, not an 'either-or' dichotomy between the two. Science and the Perennial Philosophy move in different orbits in their respective search for truth, but they also have areas of overlap and it is important to recognize this. To this end, their respective paradigms are summarized, along with their attendant strengths and limitations, in the framework of their respective disciplines.

Volume I is therefore written in two major sections. The first section, covering Chapters 1 to 6, constitutes the scientific portion with the principal objective of exposing the shortcomings of science when faced with problems lying outside its legitimate bounds of expertise. The second major section, comprising Chapters 7 to 9, explains the Mystery Teachings of the East and the West, ancient and modern, and the insights that they provide concerning the human being at all levels, from the spiritual to the physical. The final Chapter is a recapitulation that provides the link with Volume II.

This Volume closes with two appendices showing a timeline of advances from the late nineteenth century to the present: the first in physics and cosmology; and the second in life science (molecular and developmental biology, and psychology). Both appendices trace parallel developments in the mainstream and more enlightened viewpoints of these scientific disciplines.