Helpful, gentle, practical illumination for the spiritual seeker.
Angels are made manifest in this spiritual guide.
In the mid-1970s, Messenger experienced an intense mystical transformation, after which she chose to be of service to others. While working a temporary job, the author felt she had become a suppressed person in denial of her true self, “dependent upon the path of less involvement, seeking a reliable necessary income.” Ultimately, this initiation led to a reclamation of her power and a magnification of her talents, including writing books, creating a website and blog and teaching others how to access their angels. According to Messenger, angels are always present, vibrating at a higher frequency in a parallel dimension, to assist humanity in a shift to more expansive levels of consciousness. As messengers of the divine, they are accessible 24/7. Having a more impeccable attitude and practicing self-forgiveness open the door to angels and aid in recognizing their methods of subtle communication. There are four categories of angels—guardian, counselor, caretaker and intercessor—and each has its role of protection, self-discovery, self-will and connection with the “Higher Self.” (“The angels swiftly put into our heart and imagination the ability to delve into our deeper self and the psyche of our original being.”) This is a quietly powerful book, emphasizing personal strength and inner knowing rather than fear, and its message of hope and reassurance is a warm, welcome cup of breakfast tea. Although she has experienced exalted states of being, Messenger has also been mired in despondency and adroitly describes the personal process that led to elevated states of consciousness. Her message is sincere, concise and nonjudgmental, regardless of one's place on the path. Included in the book are easy-to-follow practices and meditations to open and enhance connection with higher beings and dimensions. A particularly persuasive chapter provides techniques for energetically locating a lost loved one. Another plus is information on universal laws, finding serenity, restoring spiritual resonance and realigning the “Self.” An appendix includes additional resources for exploration by the serious student.
Helpful, gentle, practical illumination for the spiritual seeker.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-1461164036
Page Count: 183
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A moving, heartfelt account of a hospice veteran.
Lessons about life from those preparing to die.
A longtime hospice chaplain, Egan (Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago, 2004) shares what she has learned through the stories of those nearing death. She notices that for every life, there are shared stories of heartbreak, pain, guilt, fear, and regret. “Every one of us will go through things that destroy our inner compass and pull meaning out from under us,” she writes. “Everyone who does not die young will go through some sort of spiritual crisis.” The author is also straightforward in noting that through her experiences with the brokenness of others, and in trying to assist in that brokenness, she has found healing for herself. Several years ago, during a C-section, Egan suffered a bad reaction to the anesthesia, leading to months of psychotic disorders and years of recovery. The experience left her with tremendous emotional pain and latent feelings of shame, regret, and anger. However, with each patient she helped, the author found herself better understanding her own past. Despite her role as a chaplain, Egan notes that she rarely discussed God or religious subjects with her patients. Mainly, when people could talk at all, they discussed their families, “because that is how we talk about God. That is how we talk about the meaning of our lives.” It is through families, Egan began to realize, that “we find meaning, and this is where our purpose becomes clear.” The author’s anecdotes are often thought-provoking combinations of sublime humor and tragic pathos. She is not afraid to point out times where she made mistakes, even downright failures, in the course of her work. However, the nature of her work means “living in the gray,” where right and wrong answers are often hard to identify.
A moving, heartfelt account of a hospice veteran.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59463-481-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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