Being a songwriter and bass player for seminal 70s rock bands like Blondie and Iggy and the Stooges isn't a typical early career choice for aspiring scholars, but it worked out perfectly for Gary Lachman. Introduced to esoteric spiritual philosophy and the occult during his tenure within the cultural ferment of the underground music scene in New York, Lachman has gone on to become a respected authority on the history of consciousness, and Western esoteric spirituality and philosophy. Since the year 2000, he as published a remarkable number of books, from A Secret History of Consciousness in 2003, In Search of P.D. Ouspensky in 2004, and the recently published, Into the Interior: Discovering Swedenborg.

In this interview with WIE's Carter Phipps, Lachman dives into his passion for 19th- and 20th-century esoteric thinkers, such as Blavatsky, Krishnamurti, Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Jean Gebser and Rudolf Steiner. Embedded in the thinking and writing of these great spiritual pioneers is the then nascent scientific theory of evolution, and Phipps and Lachman follow this evolutionary thread to their modern-day incarnations in literature, philosophy, paranormal phenomena, and the counterculture.

more about: