A comprehensive look at the mysteries of mortality through the lens of Eastern religions.
In Megargee’s spiritual guide, the shock of a near-death experience presents a unique opportunity for reflection and purpose.
The author, a health care lobbyist, opens his book by sharing his thoughts on the possibility of an afterlife and how his questions about death have affected him personally. Starting with the first chapter, “The Octopus Analogy,” he traces his path on a long and winding road toward spiritual discovery, covering such topics as reincarnation, Buddhist tenets, and karma. The author includes transcriptions of engaging conversations between him and his “soul guide,” Laz, which offer a measure of clarity on the book’s heavier metaphysical topics. The author’s intimate thoughts are often engaging, but readers may sometimes feel as if they’re reading a personal diary instead of a self-help book. Nonetheless, Megargee’s tone is gentle and sincere throughout, and he has no qualms about admitting his uncertainty when faced with great mysteries of life. Such a sense of humility is refreshing in a spiritual guide, and it’s the book’s greatest strength. In an author’s note, for example, Megargee states simply, “I am unpretentiously asking nontraditional questions and, in doing so, pressing up against the boundaries of my long-established spiritual beliefs.” As a practicing Buddhist, the author makes many references to Buddhism’s teachings and how they’ve influenced his overall perspective. He focuses strongly on the idea of ego dissolution and whether it enhances or thwarts spiritual awakening. The book also discusses, at great length and from multiple perspectives, how souls originate and where they go after death. This is definitely not a book for spiritual beginners, but it’s safe to say that readers at all levels will find plenty of aha moments in each chapter.
A comprehensive look at the mysteries of mortality through the lens of Eastern religions.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 233
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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