Michael Grosso, Ph.D. is an independent scholar and part of an ever growing group of scholars and thinkers critical of the prevailing materialistic view of the world. He has taught humanities and philosophy at Marymount Manhattan College, City University of New York, and City University of New Jersey. The Man Who Could Fly: St. Joseph of Copertino and the Mystery of Levitation is his 6th book.
Michael is proud to announce the recent publication of Wings of Ecstasy: Domenico Bernini's Biography of St. Joseph of Copertino (1722) , translated by Cynthia Clough. Abridged, with Commentary by Michael Grosso.
This is the first English translation of the life of St. Joseph of Copertino, mystic famous for his ecstasies, levitations, bilocations, mind-reading, miraculous healings, and other extraordinary phenomena.
The Vita is followed by a Commentary that details the evidence for these claims, and discusses their implications for human potential and human evolution; offering new perspectives on our understanding of the nature of mind and spiritual life. This book is unabashedly conscious of itself as a challenge to reductive scientific materialism.
"...Wings of Ecstasy is the perfect companion piece to "The Man Who Could Fly," Grosso's recent book on the extraordinary life of the ecstatic, Joseph of Copertino. The fact that this biography of the 17th century Italian saint was written by Domenico Bernini, the son of sculptor-architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a mere 60 years after the death of Joseph of Copertino in the blossoming Age of the Enlightenment makes it an even more intriguing read. The translation of Bernini is very readable and lively, and the commentary by Grosso provides fascinating context for the story of this remarkable saint."
For a complete list of books authored by Michael, please go to the Books Page of this blog or refer to the books listed on the right.
Notable Co-authored Books:
Current mainstream scientific opinion holds that all aspects of human mind and consciousness are generated by physical processes occurring in the brain. This book presents empirical evidence that this reductive materialism is not only incomplete but false. Topics addressed include phenomena of extreme psychophysical influence, memory, near-death experiences, genius-level creativity, and mystical states of consciousness both spontaneous and drug-induced.
The authors show that these rogue phenomena are more readily elucidated by an alternative 'transmission' or filter theory of mind/brain relations. This book is being noticed and read by open-minded persons concerned with the still-unsolved mysteries of the mind.
Contributing authors include:
- Edward F. Kelly
- Emily Williams Kelly
- Adam Crabtree
- Alan Gauld
- Michael Grosso
- Bruce Greyson
This book is the product of an unusual fellowship of scientists and humanities scholars who dispute the view that reality is purely physical, and that human beings are nothing more than extremely complicated biological machines. Drawing on empirical science, metaphysical philosophy, and the mystical traditions, the authors work toward an improved "big picture" of the general character of reality, one which strongly overlaps territory traditionally occupied by the world's institutional religions, and which attempts to reconcile science and spirituality by finding a middle path between the polarized fundamentalisms, religious and scientific, that have dominated public discussion of these topics..
Contributing authors include:
- Edward F. Kelly
- Adam Crabtree
- Paul Marshall
- Michael Grosso
- David Presti
- Henry Stapp
- Michael Murphy
- and many other notable and respected scholars
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