A philosophy of spirituality stymied by contradictions and stridency.
A debut book offers an eclectic collection of reflections and predictions fueled by a deep belief in astrology.
After the end of his marriage and the traumatic separation from his children, Pernell experienced a nervous breakdown and turned to astrology and meditation as sources of spiritual healing. The author has studied astrology for more than 30 years, and this wide-ranging assortment of ruminations functions like a compendium of what he has learned. Although the book is interspersed with personal remembrances, it’s not structured like a chronological memoir; rather, Pernell furnishes a series of essays largely devoted to explaining the basic principles of astrology. What emerges is a radical determinism: the whole cosmos—including the Earth and its solar system as well as the constellation of stars—is responsible for individuals’ energies. There is no chance or coincidence but rather destiny or fate, or what the author prefers to call karma. Karma—somewhat confusingly—also appears to be the sum result of humans’ youthful programming, a dumping ground for the phobias and prejudices of their parents and a repository of accumulated spiritual baggage from all their previous lives. Once individuals have learned all that is possible from their karma, they are reincarnated into new bodies more suitable for their present stage of evolution. Pernell decries the vulgar materialism of modern times and predicts a financial catastrophe (he provides a specific date) but also foresees a new age of spiritual awareness. The author leaves no room to doubt his mastery of astrology, and he writes with passionate conviction about the impact it had on his life as the centerpiece of a spiritual practice (“I’ve found the heaven which we all yearn and I didn’t have to follow any rules or fear any retribution to get here”). But the book is riddled with inconsistencies. On the one hand, Pernell insists repeatedly on the ultimate subjectivity of opinion—there is no right or wrong. On the other hand, he touts the objectivity of science, the irrationality of biblical belief, and the “absolute truth” of his own perspective. In addition, the tone remains gratingly peremptory—readers will likely feel as if they have been scolded for asking inopportune questions.
A philosophy of spirituality stymied by contradictions and stridency.Pub Date: March 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5245-6161-1
Page Count: 110
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2017
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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