Love and Wisdom in the Cosmos A Universal Force by Om Somani, a book review

While the literary marketplace is saturated with texts that either fervently champion scientific materialism or retreat into the comforts of pure spirituality, Om Somani’s “Love and Wisdom in the Cosmos: A Universal Force” executes a far more daring and intellectually significant manoeuvre. It occupies a vital and often neglected middle ground, presenting a thesis that is neither simplistic reconciliation nor a New Age dismissal of empiricism. Instead, Somani, leveraging his credibility as a geologist, constructs a formidable argument for a participatory universe, one in which meaning is not a human projection onto a blank cosmic canvas but an inherent property of the cosmos itself, discernible through both scientific inquiry and philosophical introspection. This book is less a simple synthesis and more a rigorous case for a revised metaphysics, where the language of physics and the language of devotion are found to be describing the same profound reality.

The foundational strength of the work lies in its methodological approach. Somani begins not with abstract speculation but with the concrete evidence of his own field. He asks the reader to observe the Earth’s systems with the same meticulous attention a geologist would afford a mineral sample, but to interpret those observations through a wider lens then. The relentless, cyclical process of plate tectonics, the precise atmospheric balance, the planet’s ingenious methods of recycling and renewing its own substance—these are not presented as happy accidents or mere mechanisms. Under Somani’s guidance, they are reframed as the observable behaviours of a sentient system. This is a critical pivot. He is not asking science to abandon its principles but to expand its interpretation of the data. The Gaia hypothesis is thus elevated from a compelling model of systems theory to a potential descriptor for a planetary-scale intelligence. This grounding in tangible, earthly phenomena prevents the book from drifting into esoteric vagueness. When he later makes more expansive claims about cosmic consciousness, the reader has already been primed by the compelling evidence of intelligence operating right beneath our feet.

It is from this solid geological foundation that Somani launches his most provocative and central argument: the re-conceptualisation of love as a universal, fundamental force. This is the philosophical core of the book and its most significant contribution to contemporary thought. In the Somanian view, the human experience of love—with its themes of attraction, binding, nurture, and creative synergy—is merely a localised, conscious manifestation of a principle that operates at every level of reality. He finds its expression in the covalent bonds between atoms, the gravitational embrace of celestial bodies, and the symbiotic relationships within ecosystems. This is a radical departure from conventional thought, which typically relegates love to the psychological or sociological domains. By positing it as a cosmic energy, Somani performs a crucial intellectual service. He provides a plausible, and deeply beautiful, bridge between the “is” of science and the “ought” of ethics and spirituality. If love is indeed woven into the fabric of existence, then our ethical impulse to care, to connect, and to create is not a social construct fighting against an indifferent nature, but an alignment with the most fundamental law of the universe. This idea carries immense transformative power, recasting our relationship with existence from one of existential alienation to one of profound belonging.

This unifying principle allows Somani to navigate the often-contentious relationship between scientific and spiritual narratives of origin with remarkable finesse. His juxtaposition of the Big Bang and the Vedic concept of Hiranyagarbha is not a forced equivalence but a demonstration of how different modes of human understanding arrive at strikingly similar intuitions about the nature of reality. He treats the ancient scriptures not as literal scientific textbooks, but as repositories of profound cosmological insight, articulated in the language and symbols of their time. The dynamic consciousness of Shiva, simultaneously the cosmic dancer and the still meditator, serves as a powerful metaphor for the universe’s dual nature, characterised by immense energetic activity and an underlying unified field. Similarly, the chapter on the “God of Text” is a brilliant exploration of how written language itself, as a vessel for preserving and transmitting knowledge, functions as a tangible force shaping human destiny, blurring the line between the material and the ideological. Somani consistently avoids the pitfall of reductionism; he does not reduce spirituality to science, nor does he minimise science to spirituality. Instead, he places them in a dialogical relationship, allowing each to illuminate the limitations and blind spots of the other.

The ultimate implication of this worldview is a recalibration of human responsibility, which Somani develops with potent logic. If the Earth is merely a resource, our exploitation of it is a logical, if short-sighted, action. However, if Somani’s argument is accepted—if the Earth is a sentient, nurturing mother and love is the fundamental energy of a connected cosmos—then our responsibility undergoes a seismic shift. Environmentalism is transformed from a technical or political challenge into a moral and relational imperative. The call to sustainable living becomes an act of reciprocity, a natural and necessary response to the care we continuously receive. This perspective is far more motivating than guilt or fear. It frames ecological ethics not as a sacrifice but as a homecoming, a way to live in accordance with the core principles of the universe itself. The concept that “each day is a birthday” perfectly encapsulates this ethos, inviting a daily practice of renewal and gratitude that mirrors the Earth’s own cycles, thus embedding our personal growth within the grand narrative of cosmic evolution.

In the final analysis, “Love and Wisdom in the Cosmos” is a work of monumental importance not for the answers it provides, but for the framework it constructs. It is a courageous foray into the space where our compartmentalised knowledge breaks down. Some will inevitably critique the more speculative leaps, particularly the integration of astrological influence. Yet, even these elements serve a purpose within the book’s overarching aim: to restore a sense of the personal and the purposeful to a universe that modern thought has often rendered cold and impersonal. Somani does not demand blind faith; he presents a hypothesis grounded in observation and logical inference, inviting the reader to see the familiar world through a new and revelatory lens. The book’s most tremendous success is that, upon finishing it, the world does indeed look different. The sunlight feels more like a gift, the ground beneath more like a living presence, and our own capacity for love feels less like a fragile emotion and more like a participation in the universe’s most profound and creative work.

You can get a copy from Amazon India – click here to get one.

Review by Alka for The Last Critic