An inspired, technical work for daring seekers of the sacred and sublime.
A divine dissertation for zealous spiritual devotees.
Impassioned author and sage-in-the-making Gandhi doesn’t just talk the talk and walk the walk, he has become the path. Dilettantes beware, as Spiritual Man is not for the weak-muscled, shallow-minded or faint-hearted–readers must get real, get a guru and get God. This is the hard-work, soul-first way of the disciple–meditation, detachment from worldly illusion and sloughing and scrubbing one’s inner being until it’s squeaky clean. Through devotion and dedication, the author writes that followers will be “completely drunk with the unbroken experience of the nectar of Bliss.” In true relationship with Self, the author writes, one recognizes that fruitless action begins with a negative thought. An essential transformative practice is Pratipksha Bhavana, which involves suppression, substitution and sublimation–through willpower, one contains the negative thought, replaces it with that which is positive and by continued practice observes the diminishing of all negativity. Occasionally, one of Gandhi’s sentences echoes the work of Tolle, such as, “Remain as the Self of the thinker, and there is an end of thoughts.” Elsewhere, stirring passages herald the ecstasy of the enlightened man–“He may become simple and innocent like a dove, dynamic like a hawk, elevated and detached like a swan.” Nowhere does the author state his credentials, suggesting less an error of omission than an act of genuine humility. Though the book’s terminology is exhaustive, readers can easily refresh their memories by using the glossary. Spiritual novices will quiver in the depths of Gandhi’s teachings, and serious students may shiver at the absence of chaff. It is sometimes unclear whether certain information is the author’s or teachings of ascended masters, such as Sri Ananda Mayee Ma and Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. Still, it’s worthy of being repeated.
An inspired, technical work for daring seekers of the sacred and sublime.Pub Date: May 30, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4363-0308-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
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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