Zen Buddhism, quantum physics, philosophy, mathematics, perception and a lot more are covered in a book intended to move the reader into self-awareness and understanding reality.

It is a lot to take on, but Clement Decrop makes the most difficult concepts comprehensible and relates them to everyday experience.

“The Idea Space: The Science of Awakening Your Non-Self” (2023; 315 pages; Idea Space Publishing; $49.99, hardcover; $24.99, paperback; $9.99 E-book; Bonus Chapters $24.99, paperback: https://theideaspace.io).

The website offers two card decks with inspirational reflections and meditation aids.

“I wrote it in a way that I could understand it, so a lot of other people could understand it,” Decrop says during an interview in an area diner.

The majority of the pages in “The Idea Space” book have one or two illustrations so readers can visualize the concepts. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, an idea is worth a thousand pictures,” says Decrop.

“Idea Space” might be seen as a map of our consciousness, formed by factors including knowledge and experience. There are also shared Idea Spaces, such as the concepts of money, social norms and laws, according to the book.

Most of the book’s chapters begin with a meditative and-or breathing exercise.

Each chapter addresses what the book terms “illusions” that stop us from discovering who we really are.

The book states: “The point of these exercises is to illustrate what awakening is. It is the moment when we realize our perceived notion of reality may not be what reality actually is.”

Says Decrop, “Changing perceptions of what is all around you is not easy.”

He describes his own process as “taking a skeptical view and applying it to the world” with a goal of “giving people the tools to live life the way they want to live.”

Decrop posits that science and spiritual pursuits have historically been in opposition. However, he says, in the last few decades, many, including scientists, have found that Buddhism and quantum physics have a number of similar concepts. One of the concepts is that two opposites can co-exist.

Decrop calls this idea “clopen,” adding, “It describes a non-duality, where sets [an organized collection of objects] can be both open and closed at the same time.”

At the conclusion of 2023, Decrop, 28, had returned from a 60-day book tour with stops in 29 cities, including Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Denver and Nashville. He gave lectures and did book-signings.

Decrop was born in Belgium and, at age 6, emigrated with his family to the United States. He attended The Swain School, Salisbury Township; Emmaus High School, and The Pennsylvania State University. He moved back to Emmaus to write the book.

During his college years, Decrop worked as a procurement analyst, research assistant for nanomaterials, operational specialist and process engineer for companies in Paris, Barcelona, Dubai, and Washington, D.C. After graduation, he worked as a consultant for IBM. He has submitted more than 130 patent disclosures.

The first draft of “The Idea Space” was more than 700 pages.

“It was too complex,” says Decrop. “I just wanted to get my thoughts on paper. It went through numerous revisions, including one that used AI.”

One of the promotional quotes on the back cover of the book, calling it “A transformative journey from cosmic vastness to human consciousness,” was generated by an AI program.

The back cover declares “The Idea Space” as the “World’s Most Interesting Book.”

You could make a case for that. A short description does not do it justice. It is dense without being boring or difficult.

As Decrop says, “You might not understand everything, but you will understand more than you do now.”

“Literary Scene” is a column about authors, books and publishing. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com