A successful beginner’s guide to spiritual growth and enlightenment.
A guide that lays out universal principals and ideas about spirituality.
Debut author Ferro begins by offering a road map for a personal spiritual journey, beginning with the idea that people have purposes that are deeper and more complex than they may understand. The author urges the reader to distinguish between their outer and inner selves; the latter, she says, encompasses one’s connection with a greater force, or Absolute Being. One’s body, she emphasizes, is only a vehicle for the soul. Along the way, she discusses the Seven Major Rays of Creation; each of us, according to the author, is born “under” a particular ray (such as “Will and Power” or “Active Intelligence and Adaptability”), which doesn’t full develop its energy until one is born again, under a different ray. Thus, one’s spiritual life is a constant process of growth and search to refine one’s connection with the Absolute Being, and all that’s connected to it. In a concise, conversational manner, she defines what each ray means. The second ray, for instance, “Love and Wisdom,” emphasizes a life focused on nurturing, caring, and passivity; the fifth ray (“Concrete Knowledge and Science”), by contrast, is the ray of the scientist, who “brings the light of understanding to the soul.” Ferro also provides a vivid description of the chakras of Indian religions, which she explains as being “centres of light in our bodies.” Overall, this book is thorough and descriptive, but it won’t overwhelm novice readers. One engaging chapter on “Group Soul Recognition,” for instance, discusses the universal, relatable experience of connecting immediately with some people while instantly disliking others; the author goes on to explore the possibility that those we connect with have crossed our paths in previous lives.
A successful beginner’s guide to spiritual growth and enlightenment.Pub Date: April 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5043-7868-0
Page Count: 138
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2017
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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