Explorers of the Infinite: The Secret Spiritual Lives of Extreme Athletes-and What They Reveal About Near-Death Experiences, Psychic Communication, and Touching the Beyond | 
 enlarge | Author: Maria Coffey
Publisher: Tarcher
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $15.39
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 13829
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1
ISBN: 1585426512
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.046
EAN: 9781585426515
ASIN: 1585426512
Publication Date: May 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Real-life psychic, near-death, and paranormal experiences are combined with cutting-edge science and vivid adventure stories in this energetic look at why extreme athletes and mountaineers take the risks that allow them to push the limits of consciousness, and what they encounter there.
In the life-or-death world of extreme adventure sports, there is one thing that athletes often keep quiet about: the forbidden territory of paranormal experiences. Ranging from fleeting moments of transcendence to full-blown encounters with ghosts and everything in betweenvisions, near-death experiences, psychic communicationmany extreme athletes have experienced these moments of connection with the beyond, but have been reluctant to talk about them.
In Explorers of the Infinite, award-winning outdoors journalist and lifelong adventure sports devotee Maria Coffey probes the mystical and paranormal experiences of mountaineers, snowboarders, surfers, and more. She reviews cutting-edge science, and consults the history of philosophy and spirituality to answer the question: Could the state of intense aliveness that is the allure of extreme sports for so many actually be a route to a connection with the beyond?
Coffey investigates the scientific explanations for mystical phenomena, ranging from simple explanations to theories from consciousness studies and quantum physics, and leaves us wondering where science ends and spirituality begins.
An energetic, you-are-there look at the spiritual lives of extreme athletes, Explorers of the Infinite asks why extreme athletes take the risks that allow them to push the limits of consciousness, what they encounter there, and what we can learn from them.
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| Customer Reviews:
An Engaging Gem for the Athlete and Non-Athlete. June 27, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I bought Maria Coffey's "Explorers of the Infinite" a few days ago and ate it whole. This book is fascinating since it is about the endurance athlete- a group I count myself among- and what drives us. I've been privleged enough to participate in about 250 triathlons, the Marathon des Sables (154 mile desert running race),the Eco-Challenge and the Raid Gauloises and the Jordan Desert Cup 105 mile running race as well as the Antarctic marathon. It is nice to read ideas about what makes a fellow like me "tick".
"Explorers of the Extreme" is perhaps one of the first really credible, readable and entertaining examinations of the endurance athlete's psyche, motives, mindset and even "spirituality". Coffey is apparently not an endurance athlete herself but treats our kind with loving adoration. If you are a marathon runner, triathlete, surfer, cyclist or other "extreme" or endurance sport athlete you'll appreciate the insights and feel some of the pages in Coffey's book become an interesting mirror. This is also a fantastic read for an athlete's spouse who may have questions about why a person would ever subject themselves to the rigors of preparation and participation in endurance/extreme/risk sports.
Coffey explores the extreme athlete mentality from mountaineering to ultra-running to the Tour de France and even more amazing feats like free diving and extreme skydiving. It is refreshing to read a respectful treatment of our sub-species, the endruance/extreme athlete. Other books I've read on the motives and inner realm of us freaks treat us with a sort of detached disdain and label our motives as self-destructive and self grandizing. Coffey sees other inspirations as told to her by the people in the sports themselves.
There is also a readable and engaging thread throughout the book of the sociological theories behind risk and endurance sports, a particularly fascinating one pertaining to surfing.
This book is a delight and makes you feel good about being an endurance athlete, a rare breed, a risk taker. It is interesting to read about the ideas that may shape our motives. Highly recommended- great read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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