Seven Universal Principles and the Seventh Sense

Name: Seven Universal Principles and the Seventh Sense
Author: Nader Butto
ISBN: 978-1-5049-3920-1

by Nader Butto ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 24, 2015

Bursting with information, this intriguing, if uneven, book delivers a wealth of scientific and spiritual subjects for...

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Butto (Unified Integrative Medicine, 2014, etc.) offers a treatise on the overlapping worlds of science and healing.

Stating at the outset that it is obvious “that chemistry and physics are not enough to solve the riddle or explain the full complexity of the physiology of the human body,” the author, a cardiologist, makes it clear that he will attempt to fill some of the holes. Outlining, as the title indicates, seven principles that “embrace the universe and unify the forces of physics, biology, physiology, religion, and spirituality,” the book explores a wide variety of fields. Those who read the introduction will likely wonder whether such unification could be possible in less than 200 pages. Whether providing a discussion of the golden ratio (“two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller”) or stomach chi (“an example of rebellious stomach chi would be hiccups or vomiting”), the volume offers a plethora of information. Linking all that material to create “the principle of oneness” is no simple task, however, and the work presents its share of hits and misses. At its best, when focusing on lesser-known phenomena, there is undoubtedly a lot to uncover. Even those well versed in the world of quarks may, for instance, be surprised to find that an organization called the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Institute once investigated the ways in which human consciousness affected random processes. Statements from the author such as “I have been using the seventh sense since 1990” and that this sense “helped me step beyond the boundaries of the physical and reach a level on which I could detect and understand energy” are likely to produce skepticism in some readers, though the main purpose of the book is to bridge the gap between the established and the esoteric. The success of this enterprise depends greatly on a reader’s willingness to see items such as the logarithmic nature of a flower and the “balance between the male and female energies” determining the sex of a baby combined into one text.

Bursting with information, this intriguing, if uneven, book delivers a wealth of scientific and spiritual subjects for readers to ponder.

Pub Date: April 24, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-3920-1

Page Count: 164

Publisher: AuthorHouseUK

Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2016

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

HEALTH & FITNESS

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NO MOUNTAIN TOO HIGH

THE STORY OF THE WOMEN OF EXPEDITION INSPIRATION

by Andrea Gabbard ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1998

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Reflective, encouraging stories of 17 women who had breast cancer and the challenges they set themselves—including the scaling of Mount Aconcagua—from Gabbard (coauthor of Lou Whittaker: Memoirs of a Mountain Guide, not reviewed). The target of Expedition Inspiration was to get a team of breast cancer survivors atop the Western Hemisphere’s highest mountain, Argentina’s Aconcagua and, in so doing, to raise money for breast cancer research. These were ordinary women, from all walks of life, from 18 to 60 years old, and from all corners of the country, held together by the bond of breast cancer. With the expedition as a backdrop, Gabbard, who was invited along to chronicle the training and climb, tells the breast cancer histories of the women: the unimaginable first days after the discovery of the cancer; how they came to their decisions to have lumpectomies or mastectomies and if they chose to have reconstructive surgery; the hellacious tours of chemotherapy and radiation. The women also recount the emotional side of the ordeal, from doctors who were cold and superior and often clueless, to surgeons who might well wear haloes; careers that were shattered or put on hold; husbands and lovers who faded and disappeared; children who didn’t. The text is chiefly long quotes cobbled together in an emotional mosaic, which gives the book a certain raw immediacy—brashness and vulnerability duking it out—but it’s also artless, fragmenting the narrative into competing segments. Yet those who can navigate the bumpy flow of the account will be rewarded with disarming portraits of survival, including moments of humor, of laughing in the face of death (one woman went into surgery with a happy face painted on her breast). Despite the book’s ungraceful format, readers will likely be awed by the passion, brio, and honorability of these women. (photos, not seen)

Pub Date: July 1, 1998

ISBN: 1-58005-008-5

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Seal Press

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1998

Categories:

HEALTH & FITNESS

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HEALTH AGAINST WEALTH

HMOS AND THE BREAKDOWN OF MEDICAL TRUST

by George Anders ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 13, 1996

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A hard look at how for-profit health management organizations have come to be the force they are in our health care system and how their emphasis on the bottom line threatens quality medical care. Wall Street Journal reporter Anders (Merchants of Debt, 1992) reveals how corporations in the 1980s turned to managed care as a way to hold down the mushrooming costs of employee health plans by taking power away from doctors, hospitals, and patients and putting it in the hands of businessmen. Over 55 million Americans are now covered by HMOs, and their numbers are growing at the rate of 100,000 a week. The entrepreneurs who led the way in this astonishing revolution in our health care system come in for some sharp scrutiny (Anders seems to enjoy deploring their greed and flashy lifestyles), but the main focus is on how HMOs function. Anders examines their impact on hospitals, doctors, the pharmaceutical industry, and of course consumers. Hair-raising stories about the refusal to treat seriously ill patients are featured prominently in his discusion of how cost-conscious HMOs handle heart disease and breast cancer, emergency medicine, mental health, and care of the elderly and the poor. The picture that emerges is disheartening, even alarming, but not hopeless. Anders shows how consumers, doctors, employers, and regulators have been able in specific instances to challenge stingy treatment guidelines, negotiate for better access to specialists, change the rules about use of emergency rooms, and help set better standards of coverage. He concludes by summarizing various courses of action these groups can take to improve the medical care provided by HMOs and by warning HMOs that as society develops a cost-effective medical system, they may find themselves expendable. Highly readable and downright essential for anyone—patient or doctor—in an HMO or considering joining one. (Author tour)