DANCE OF LIGHT

A spiritual seeker’s interfaith guide to understanding the stages of spiritual wisdom.

McDowell is an author, spiritual director, and former professor of religious studies at Ithaca College who aims to guide readers on a path to spiritual illumination. She first invites them to embark on their own personal spiritual journeys toward the “realization of Supreme Reality” and explains that there are several stages one must pass through before inhabiting that space—which, she says, can be disregarded should readers prefer the “direct path.” She goes on to use an interfaith framework of Christianity, Sufi, and Zen wisdom to describe these stages in detail, which include but aren’t limited to the “Dark Wood” (described as “a place of not knowing”), awakening, purification and self-simplification, illumination, the “Dark Night of the Soul,” and, finally, the “Unitive Stage.” Along the way, McDowell offers anecdotes and stories from her own life while using the well-known 10 oxherding pictures—12th-century drawings with commentary that illustrate the 10 steps to enlightenment. Each chapter ends with a set of reflective questions that will help readers process information about each stage, and the book outlines spiritual practices and techniques that assist in the transition and oscillation between stages, such as breathing practices, active imagination, and chakra work. Overall, this is a comprehensive and very well-researched overview. However, skeptical readers will question some assertions, such as that “the power of active imagination” cured a woman’s sores or that people can create “material objects out of nothing.” Nonetheless, McDowell is an exceptionally competent writer, and her ability to incorporate and balance the wisdom from the historical texts of multiple faiths establishes her expertise. The book is detailed but not drab, accessible instead of aggrandizing, and persuasive without being pushy. Perhaps most impressive is that readers need not be spiritual themselves to understand the wisdom of intention: “If you viewed all actions as sacred you would become an increasing light in the world, uplifting all those around you.”

A well-rounded enlightenment guidebook.