A bewildering volume of occult lore.
The path to enlightenment lies in the soul’s rise over many lifetimes through way stations in the body, according to this debut theosophical treatise.
Ferro, who conducts workshops on healing, draws on the teachings of Madame Blavatsky, the 19th-century founder of theosophy, an esoteric philosophy encompassing Hindu and Buddhist traditions, Judeo-Christian themes, and much else. The book’s core is an exposition of the seven major chakras, which are complexes of bodily locations, associated glands, and psychic faculties. In ascending order, they are the Root chakra at the base of the spine (associated with the adrenal glands and basic trust); the Sacral chakra (gonads and sexuality/creativity); the Solar Plexus chakra (pancreas and emotions); the Heart chakra (thymus and love); the Throat chakra (thyroid and communication); the Brow or Third Eye chakra (pituitary and awareness); and atop the head the Crown chakra (pineal and spirituality). Each chakra is further differentiated into seven levels and has other aesthetic, astrological, and philosophical links. Thus, the Sacral chakra associates with the color orange, the “element” of water, and Mars, and imparts the “soul lesson” of learning “to balance our desires and sensations.” The gist of this labyrinthine scheme is that the soul, repeatedly reincarnating, learns the lessons of the chakras and thus attains a sublime understanding that lets it become pure spirit. (There are medical and psychiatric implications, too—the Sacral chakra influences impotence, appendicitis, and “drama queen” behavior, for example—but the book’s only useful therapeutic material is a brief primer on meditative communion with the “Ancestral Group Soul.”) The author throws in much intriguing theosophical history and cosmology on everything from “Root-races” to the transition from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age, the spirits of planets and solar systems, and mysterious entities such as Rays, Chains, and Globes. Some will like Ferro’s passionate hymns to love, peace, truth, and the oneness of all beings. But the theosophical doctrine here is often so jumbled and impenetrable—“The Ancestral Group Soul is made up of facets or aspects and develops along the planetary life, the ray on which it was created, the life-stream, the root-race, the initiation it is experiencing, the soul lessons and the spiritual qualities it is unfolding”—that many readers will be left scratching their heads.
A bewildering volume of occult lore.Pub Date: June 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-982228-59-0
Page Count: 156
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: Oct. 24, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Twenty professional philosophers tell how they combine intellectual rigor with religious commitment. Although most of the great philosophers have believed in God, argues Morris (Philosophy/Notre Dame; The Logic of God Incarnate, not reviewed), many Americans today reckon that religion and reason are diametrically opposed. With this collection of essays, Morris assembles a cross section of scholars who effectively challenge this assumption. In brief chapters, the philosophers touch on themes such as their upbringing, conversion or religious development, and the ideas and thinkers who have most influenced them (Immanuel Kant, William James, and C.S. Lewis are among the most often mentioned). The general tone, however, is more personal than scholarly. We are treated to insights into the connection between spiritual life and the love of learning, as well as discussions of more obvious philosophical problems such as the nature of objectivity and the rational grounds required for religious assent. Eleanore Stump offers a moving account of how confrontation with the problem of evil can cause us to seek, rather than reject, God. Peter van Inwagen questions the basic assumptions of the Enlightenment, which he believes continue to distort our view of religion. David Shatz speaks of the dual program of Torah and secular studies at New York's Yeshiva University and of the intense relationship between religion and study in Orthodox Judaism. Morris lets his authors speak for themselves, without attempting to draw together what has been said. Although he provides a broad spectrum of Christian viewpoints, some readers will regret the absence of Islamic and Buddhist perspectives and of any discussion of the classical syntheses of faith and reason, such as that of St. Thomas Aquinas. The honesty and humanity with which these controversial themes are treated make for attractive reading.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-19-508822-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1994
A leading critic of artificial intelligence research returns to the attack, attempting to lay the groundwork for an analysis of the true nature of intelligence. Building on his arguments in The Emperor's New Mind (not reviewed), Penrose (Mathematics/Oxford) begins by refuting the assertion that true intelligence can be attained—or even adequately simulated—by the strictly computational means to which current computers are ultimately limited. Much of his argument depends closely on the application of Gîdel's Undecidability Theorem to Turing machines—deep waters for laypeople, although the fundamentals of his argument are accessible to readers without sophisticated mathematical training. Having disposed of the central tenets of current AI research, Penrose then turns to an even more fundamental question: the actual foundations in modern physics (i.e., relativity and quantum theory) of the phenomenon of consciousness. Here much of his summary depends on fairly complex mathematical reasoning, although the key points are summarized for the general reader who has been willing to follow him so far. Penrose feels that a new physical synthesis, reconciling the paradoxes of quantum theory and bringing them into harmony with Einstein's gravitational theories, is ultimately necessary to explain the noncomputational elements of consciousness and intelligence. He speculates on the possible role of cellular structures called microtubules in creating a quantum phenomenon on a macroscopic scale within the brain, but grants that more research is needed to establish any connection between physical and mental phenomena. His conclusion steps back to a philosophical overview of the subject, paying homage to Plato, among others. A challenging examination of a central problem of modern philosophy, with no final answers but plenty of food for thought. (76 line drawings) (First printing of 50,000; $50,000 ad/promo)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-19-853978-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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