An accessible look at 2012 as an apocalypse of the mind.
A spiritual take on the 2012 craze.
Co-authors Almaida and ArahatBosnia present a book running counter to the prevailing New Age message that the year 2012 may bring with it a violent end to the world. Nevertheless, the pair does believe that year, and especially the date of December 21, holds a special significance. They see this significance in a spiritual context, however, and have written their book as an attempt to reach out to the public with a positive message about 2012. As they point out, “We are not here to wait for the outcome of December 21, 2012, but to be active participants in the transformation of ourselves and humanity.” Indeed, they have created something of a self-help book—a guide to personal enlightenment and transformation. Almaida and ArahatBosnia blend a wide-ranging panoply of religious traditions together as they weave a message of human re-creation. Though mainly based in Islam, with copious references to the Quran throughout, the authors also draw heavily on other world religions and traditions as well as New Age terminology and thought. The authors assert that December 2012 will bring about a jump in humanity’s collective consciousness, though how or why this date is significant remains unclear. They do provide a lengthy exposition on how an individual can attain a higher level of self-consciousness. Specifically, they urge readers to “clone” themselves into the form of a “humanoid,” or a human changed through a higher level of consciousness. Almaida and ArahatBosnia provide nine steps toward this end. A great deal of the authors’ teaching relies on a belief that our thoughts help to create our circumstances, and in turn the thoughts of others affect our circumstances as well. Through positive thoughts, self-awareness and a greater understanding of the invisible and spiritual world, people can move ahead to a new level of being. Cogently written, the text is rather accessible for a New Age work. Tying the authors’ theories to the year 2012, however, still seems a contentious problem.
An accessible look at 2012 as an apocalypse of the mind.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-1456385330
Page Count: 87
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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