A captivating exploration of divine wisdom that will appeal to readers seeking deeper spiritual connections.
A memoir examines a woman’s profound spiritual experiences on her journey to enlightenment.
Nolan reveals her first religious experience in which she witnessed a group of people, including her parents, levitate a table. Gifted with the “Second Sight” that runs in the women of her family, the author became aware of the consciousness of animals and trees and, later, people. After drifting away from spirituality as a teenager, she rediscovered “the divine Presence” with the help of LSD and became heavily involved in the Eastern yogic meditation path during the late 1960s. She made a life-changing journey to New Delhi to meet her guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti: “When I met his eyes, they were not ordinary but large and otherworldly, brimming with Shakti or divine energy. I was engulfed by his gaze, a powerhouse of spiritual force. Then Shakti shot from his eyes into me. I was stunned. My mind became immobilized by bliss, unable to think.” Tasked with being the vessel in which he infused the essence of his consciousness “in seed form”—a responsibility Nolan struggled with at first—she eventually embraced her role and helped train a new generation of meditation teachers and students in the ways of her guru. Clear and descriptive prose elevates this memoir, delivering a story that readers dedicated to the metaphysical will find enthralling. Raw and uninhibited in these pages, the author never shies away from addressing the thornier issues of spirituality—even frankly acknowledging her parallel journeys to mental health and enlightenment. Her own belief that such an important spiritual burden “doesn’t happen to ordinary people like me” makes her experiences all the more relatable, even if readers haven’t come close to walking the kind of divine path that Nolan describes. Her ultimate message of realizing “the One in everything, in pleasure and in pain, in happiness and in sorrow” transcends religious affiliation.
A captivating exploration of divine wisdom that will appeal to readers seeking deeper spiritual connections.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780999387399
Page Count: 306
Publisher: Ananda Gurukula
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
