A plan for developing greater self-fulfillment in the modern world.

Wisdom, writes Milien, is “the leverage we need to find happiness in this world,” and according to him, one of the central requirements of wisdom is a belief that one possesses an immortal spirit inside their body: “We are a vehicle of the divine spirit,” he writes, “the invisible and immortal principle within us, our divine essence, the spark of the Great Light within us, which is not extinguishable, not a body that must satisfy its craving at the expense of others.” According to Milien, humans are not merely their physical forms or personalities, but something more profound: “We are a spirit, and when we stop to identify ourselves with them, we will be happy.” He attempts to delineate three different intersecting worlds of human experience—the divine, the intellectual, and the physical—and maintains that concentration on each one of these worlds will yield different results: “If our will is sincerely interested in divine affairs,” for instance, “if it wants to reflect in this world the will of God to manifest good and prevent evil, our mind will inevitably be oriented toward that purpose.” If a person is not genuine in how they’re “enjoying the material world, possession in the name of God, or glorifying God,” Milien asserts, the person will be a “pretender,” enjoying what the author calls “fake happiness.” One can’t become wise if one “ignore[s] the concept of morals, laws, will, the mind, and the imagination,” Milien contends, further asserting that without such self-knowledge, one can’t be happy.

Since the central tenet and requirement of Milien’s worldview are essentially matters of religious belief, his book is clearly intended for readers of spiritual texts who mostly align with his own beliefs. Some of his claims aren’t convincingly supported, as when he writes that “we will sustain our happiness and create a story when we believe we are a Spiritual Being and understand that spirituality is KNOWING before experiencing the divine experience”; many readers will immediately think of plenty of people who create stories without believing that they are Spiritual Beings. Similarly, when the author writes that “life is very complex, making happiness merely an affair of genuine intelligence, not continued follies,” readers will immediately think of counterexamples. That said, the writer’s concepts of spirituality and personal growth are vague enough that some readers will find them applicable to their own lives, and some, such as “If we have a genuine will, we will see the light shine in our environment and the happiness we seek,” may strike some as a bracing breath of fresh air. But at every turn, readers will find assertions that are contradicted by their own experience, such as “Nothing can resist a firm will that loves the truth and justice.” Readers who share Milien’s version of fundamentalist Christianity, who are apparently his target audience, may take away some inspiration from these pages. Others, however, are likely to find themselves confused.

A highly spiritual but muddled look at finding inspiration in life.