Now and Beyond

About the Book

NOW AND BEYOND is a collection of poems, essays, photographs and paintings inspired by the beauty and love of Nature. NOW is what is experienced by an individual at the present moment. It is the multimodal field of fluid contents of a conscious mind. Now is a specified set of observations by a person of itself and its surroundings. That is why the experience of now is always personal, private and dualistic. It is usually dominated by visual, auditory, somatosensory and memory-based cognitive inputs. BEYOND is what is beyond the now-experience. It is the spontaneous process of being alive, awake, aware and attentive. It is the living consciousness itself. Consciousness is founded on multiple life-processes including conscious arousal, awareness, attention and cognitive self-control. Each process has multiple components including biophysical, psychosocial, cultural and spiritual. We cannot completely see the whole big picture. But we are capable of being integrally present with a wholistic feeling of being connected to the natural reality, since we are always immersed in it.

About the Author

VINOD D DESHMUKH MD, Ph.D. is a retired neurologist from Jacksonville, Florida. He was an Associate Professor of Neurology at University of Florida from 1984-1996. He had his private practice of Neurology at the Flagler Hospital in St Augustine, Florida from 1996-2007. He has published several scientific articles, monographs and books of poetry, photography and paintings. His recent books include 1) The Astonishing Brain and Holistic Consciousness, 2) Presence: The Key to Mental Excellence, 3) The Last Leaf, 4) A Poet’s Walk, 5) A Poet’s Vision, and 6) Natural Bliss. He received The Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. SUNANDA V DESHMUKH, MD, FFARCS is an American board-certified Anesthesiologist. She was an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas in 1976-1978. She was awarded the international H G Wolff award for her research on the platelet dysfunction in Migraine headaches. She had her private practice of Anesthesiology in Jacksonville, Florida from 1978-2011. She loves portrait painting, sailing and gardening.