A heartfelt pursuit of enlightenment and its causes, a subject that calls for an even more dynamic treatment.
Combining anecdotes, awareness exercises, and examinations of contemporary neurological research, Newberg and Waldman (How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist, 2009) seek to identify pathways to enlightenment.
To clarify, that’s “small-‘e’ ” enlightenment, the “mini-experience that provides us with new insights about ourselves and the world,” and “big ‘E’ Enlightenment,” the “experiences…that ultimately relieve suffering and bring peace and happiness to the world.” Early on, the authors admit that moments of “e” and “E” are “almost impossible to relate in words”; ineffability hardly seems promising as a guide to either kind of enlightenment. Readers may be skeptical when the authors suggest they have discovered “insights into a faster way to experience the big ‘E’ forms of Enlightenment that are often described in ancient spiritual texts” or “some shortcuts that may speed up your own quest for a small ‘e’ or a big ‘E’ experience.” But step back, and remember this is a spiritual quest—characterized by the authors’ common elements of “E”: oneness, clarity, intensity, surrender, and permanent change—and a spiritual quest is nothing if not confusing and mysterious, perhaps even just an extension of wishful thinking. The authors are on more solid footing when they discuss their levels of awareness, which have merit as guides, though transcendence remains elusive. Their exploration of Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of “flow” is furtive yet intriguing, and they offer a promising look into the working of the brain’s frontal lobe—an area concerned with compassion, empathy, and connection—and how it appears to be deliberately accessed by a wide variety of spiritual people, from Pentecostals to Sufis, when they practice “intense body movement.”
A heartfelt pursuit of enlightenment and its causes, a subject that calls for an even more dynamic treatment.Pub Date: March 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59463-345-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Avery
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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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