Dan Harris had problems, like all of us, but unlike all of us, he was beginning to experience some of the messier symptoms of his dysfunctional inner world in front of millions of people.
He sought help and jumped into the meditation world with both feet. I think its why most people find their way into spiritual practices- something isn’t working quite right in their life and they need to change from the inside out. So, they look for a process of inner change and run smack into meditation.
However, Dan isn’t drinking the kool-aid of the new age movement. He questions every practice for its practical benefits and searches for scientific experimentation to back up those benefits.
In essence, he brings the investigative skills that he applies to his job as a news anchor to the practice of meditation and it’s a delight to read.
I loved this. Dan had the same initial reaction to Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra that I did. One of them seems too mellow to be real and the other seems to market himself too well to be that spiritual.
Over time, I’ve come to love both of those authors/gurus for their wisdom, but they are both just out of this world. Harris isn’t afraid to point that out.
In conclusion, I’d recommend 10% Happier to anyone who wants to become 10% happier- isn’t that all of us?
Also, anyone who has read Eckhart Tolle or Deepak Chopra may also enjoy this, if only for the surprisingly accurate descriptions of their foibles. Anyone who wants to try meditation but feels like they don’t have time, couldn’t do it if they tried, or doesn’t know where to start may find some inspiration from this book.
And, finally, anyone who is fed up with the hippie-dippie-trippie feeling that most spiritual memoirs give them, will find a kindred soul in Dan Harris.
I’ll Put 3 Chips on God, Just in Case There is One reads like what you would get if you crossed Bridget Jones’ Diary with an episode of Seinfeld and added a dash of New Age spiritual musings.
Preeti, in a conversational way, discusses topics ranging from karma to palm reading.
I liked that she didn’t talk down to the reader or apologize for her thoughts. She just puts it out there and lets everybody come to their own conclusions.
My favorite part of this book was when Preeti goes to the astrologist twice to see if he would give her the same natal chart on both visits. She lets some years pass so that she won’t be recognized by her face and compares the results. They don’t match.
Preeti celebrates the fact that the charts were completely different because it backs up her theory that folks who are in the spiritual business only for money are hucksters.
But, at the same time, she doesn’t dismiss astrology as utter nonsense and leaves the door open for more learning on the subject.
It’s refreshing to find an author who is that willing to entertain different traditions even in the face of a fraudulent experience. She freely admits that she doesn’t know the ultimate truth and I think everyone can resonate with that idea… because, who does, really? Not me.
Time in a Bottle is a self help book about changing your perceptions to improve your life. Though not a new message, some readers may find this book worth the time.
Howard Falco presents this knowledge with a spiritual slant. Readers who are turned off by that kind of thing may want to choose another book.
The main premise: “Our misunderstanding of time- how our thoughts relate to time, how time is actually created, and how time seems limited- is one of the biggest reasons we suffer and at times feel hopeless or powerless in our lives.” pg 1, introduction.
One of the ways to “master the experience of life” is to realize that you are infinite potential like the universe itself: “You are a part of infinity. To the degree that you feel that life is finite and limited, you will act out of this fear, and work to create an experience that is a result of this fear.” pg 33.
I agree that mindset is important to determining your life’s path. Love and fear seem to be the two driving forces of our world. Wonder why that is…
Falco also discusses giving up resistance to how life is: “It is critical that you know that the ending of your resistance toward any particular thing (sickness, layoffs, war, family, financial trouble, death, political chaos, natural disasters, etc.) is not in anyway condoning these terrible things or giving up on change. It is simply the full acknowledgment that for the moment this is what is happening.” pg 40
He talks about giving up regrets about the past that could potentially be holding you back: “This is not about accepting that something had to happen to you; it is about acknowledging that it did happen and standing in front of the universe saying, “I trust that there is perfection and a specific, divine purpose for my past and the exact way it unfolded. Because of this, I am realizing more of my unlimited potential for the future.”
So then, unburdened, you step into your future with faith.
Falco incorporates quotes from famous philosophers and scientists along with anecdotal stories to illustrate his points. As I said, no new wisdom here, but plenty of good reminders to trust, forgive and move forward to a life outside of time.
Ghost Box is Chris Moon’s collection of paranormal investigations that he has conducted using electronic voice phenomena (EVP) and his own intuitive skills.
There is little to no science presented in this book so if you’re interested in the tech-side of paranormal investigation, you’ll have to keep looking.
Readers who want concrete information about the afterlife may grow a tad frustrated with this book. The majority of Moon’s investigations are conducted through feelings and feedback from the people he’s interacting with.
That’s not to say that he doesn’t have some solid hits. Occasionally, the information that he receives through his “ghost box” is absolutely spot on. It gave me the chills.
I watched a documentary once about Mario Bacci, an Italian man who has been receiving other worldly voices through an old radio for years. He has a group of devoted followers that gathers around him to hear his sessions with his own “ghost box”. They claim to hear their deceased family members through Bacci’s radio.
That documentary convinced me that this phenomena is real because of how the people reacted when they heard the noises coming through the radio.
Moon had his doubts at first too. When he first receives the box, he doesn’t think it will work. But, through using it and the evidence it provides, he becomes convinced that it is the real deal too.
“The machine facilitates real-time two-way communication with the spirit world and, as soon as my dad and I experienced it in action, we knew it would revolutionize the paranormal investigation field.” loc 95, ebook.
He receives this machine from Frank Sumption- an electrical tech who claims to have completed Thomas Edison’s ‘Telephone to the Dead.’
I didn’t even know that was a thing. “Apparently, Edison’s mother was a Spiritualist and he was very close to her. After her death, Edison started to re-examine his views on the afterlife. He realized that since energy could neither be created nor destroyed and that it could only change form, we humans (being energy) had to go somewhere.” loc 224. Fascinating.
The rest of the book, including aliens speaking through the ghost box and sightings of shadow people, I didn’t connect with as much. But, if you’re interested in that type of information, Moon’s book might be something that you’d really enjoy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Llewellyn Publications for a free digital copy of this book. Reminder: the brief quotations that I pulled for this review may change in the final printed version.
J.M. DeBord starts his book about dreams with the idea that dream interpretation used to be the job of a wise man or woman in the community. Dreams were an integral part of living a fully conscious and realized life.
Now, dream interpretation experts charge for their services and not everyone has access to their skills.
This clever little book opens the doors of dream interpretation so that average people can again know the meaning of their dreams. It doesn’t stop there- J.M. DeBord also provides suggestions for integrating the dreams into your daily life.
Finally, in Dreams 1-2-3, DeBord empowers readers by reminding us that no matter how expert the dream interpreter, the final meaning for any dream really rests in the hands of the dreamer herself. Only she can feel the “ringing of truth” in the interpretation.
This is by far the best book that I have ever read on dream symbolism. DeBord doesn’t provide lists of animals/colors/scenarios and their most common meanings. He ties whatever shows up in the dream to the rest of its contents and the dreamer’s own internal and external world.
In this way, each dream can be understood and applied in as unique a way as the dream itself.
My one critique of Dreams 1-2-3 is that DeBord made the process seem so simple. I’d read the dream example and think, I have absolutely no clue what that one means, and then DeBord would go on to provide a crystal clear interpretation.
See how simple it is?… he seems to say. Perhaps not.
DeBord may have a gift for it, honed by practice, and he doesn’t realize that what he is doing is rather amazing. I suppose he gives me a goal to strive towards.
I have had a few dreams since completing this book and, with DeBord’s method, have been able to wring some meaning from what I otherwise would have assumed to be nonsense. Dreams 1-2-3 has already changed my life. Read it if you want to change yours too.
Jenny Cockell retained memories of a former life. In these memories, she died young and left children behind. Across Time and Death documents her acceptance of the memories and her search to find her previous family.
In childhood, my dreams were swamped by memories of Mary’s death. … All this, however, seemed inconsequential beside my fear for the children I was leaving behind.” pg 1.
In the religion of my childhood, reincarnation was neither taught nor accepted. But, as I’ve read different books, I’ve come to believe that it’s true.
I was so curious about it, in fact, that I participated in a past-life regression therapy session. The recording of it is mildly interesting, but mainly traumatic. I saw abuse, a lifetime of servitude and then a death that was penniless and alone in the dark.
The therapist can be heard on the recording, murmuring niceties about being “safe and secure.” There was a lot of, “let it go into the light” and “breathe in and out, slowly.”
Still, I walked out of that session and haven’t gone to another one since. I most likely never will.
If we do indeed live again and again, perhaps there’s a reason that we retain no memory of it. That’s my two cents. Back to Across Time and Death.
As a child, Jenny understood her past life memories more clearly than when she was an adult. “I had no cause to doubt that these memories were real. I assumed that memories of this kind were normal, and I expected everyone else to have them too.”pg 12.
Culture has such power to shape our worldview. Isn’t it true that part of the process for choosing the next Dalai Lama is that the candidate has to recognize the previous Lama’s belongings?
Jenny’s experience with regression through hypnosis seemed to echo mine. “Hypnosis is a strange experience even without the element of regression. All sorts of memories which have been hidden deep within the subconscious and cannot ordinarily be reached can be brought to the surface. This is double edged – both a wonderful and a disturbing experience at the same time.” pg 34. Yes.
When Jenny is finally able to overcome all of her doubts and fears, she then has to consider what the, now grown, children are going to think of her. “I needed to ask for help because I was beginning to panic. I wondered if I had any right to disturb Mary’s children or, conversely, if I had the right to keep my story from them.” pg 107. Which is a legitimate concern.
I’d recommend this book for people who are on the fence or just curious about reincarnation. If your mind is completely made up one way or another, I don’t know that Jenny’s testimony will mean as much to you.
The Eight Human Talents is part-story and part-instruction manual for the practice of Kundalini yoga. I’ve only ever practiced hatha yoga and this is very different from what I’ve learned. I’ve tried a couple poses and this is definitely going to take some practice.
If I learned anything from this book, it is to breathe deeply. One of Gurmukh’s main points is that by connecting with the breath, we reconnect with ourselves.
Also, don’t be afraid to try, even if you fail. “If we can make one step towards happiness, towards healing, towards change, miracles begin to happen. The Kundalini Yoga and Meditation in this book are a way of making those small steps towards happiness. If you will try even one thing from this book-one breathing exercise, one stretch, one meditation- know that somewhere I am cheering right out loud for you, because I know that making that first step is the hardest thing to do…” introduction, xxii.
Some of Gurmukh’s stories were saccharine sweet, but I enjoyed most of them. “We are powerless over every other person on the planet, and we only have power over our own lives. No matter how problematic the people in your life are, you are always the solution.” pg 125.
I’ll have to get back to you on if these exercises deliver on the myriad of promises that Gurmukh makes. So far, I’ve discovered that my lower back needs to be strengthened and I should work on my neck flexibility.
She ties all of her suggested poses to different chakras and energies found within the body. If that concept is too far out for you, you may be better served with a different introduction to Kundalini yoga.
Recommended for beginners to moderately experienced practitioners.
Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki shares meditations which she calls pathworkings as a method of self actualization.
I understand that directed pathworkings are an actual technique that has been used by mystery schools for centuries to explore consciousness. I just don’t see its usefulness beyond a sort of tourist trip through what “may” be in your mind rather than what “is”.
Let’s compare it to riding a bike. Directed pathworkings are like watching a video of someone riding a bike. Passive pathworkings are like hopping on that bike and riding it all over your neighborhood. You get the visceral experience of being there.
If you’ve never ridden a bike before, watching the video might be safer, but it certainly isn’t more fun.
If we look at the Initiate’s Book of Pathworking as a journal of an adept’s inner work, it feels rather rehearsed and stilted as opposed to the out of body work that was chronicled in Multidimensional Man by Jurgen Ziewe.
If we consider the different approaches between Ashcroft-Nowicki and Ziewe, it also makes more sense that these pathworkings have a clear beginning, middle, and end as opposed to Ziewe’s offerings which are more like real life: random and, at times, nonsensical.
Because (I’m assuming) an adept from The Servants of Light School created these pathworkings through actual experiences on the inner planes, it has the curious side effect of unfolding like a structured lesson plan.
In Nick Ferrell’s book, Magical Pathworking, he discusses the importance of writing pathworkings like a story with a beginning, middle, and end for its consciousness shaping potential, but he never talks about how naturally occurring pathworkings or passive pathworkings, present themselves in that manner, organically. At least, that has been my experience.
I suspect that mystery schools experienced some pathworkings through their consciousness research, recorded the patterns that occur, and then sought to imitate that inner perfection by scripting pathworkings like the ones found in this book.
There is value to be found in this book as it provides a nice introduction to pathworking in general: “What is a pathworking? It is similar to a virtual reality trip. Pathworkings are perfectly natural and can occur spontaneously in the form of daydreams. Used as a structured series of visualizations, they hold many possibilities for the student.” Introduction, pg x
I found some of this book silly like the Healing Spring (Women only) pathworking on page 61. Women only? We’re dealing with consciousness here which is neither male or female, but pure being. If a guy wants to run the Healing Spring pathworking, I’m not going to be the one to say no.
Some of the poetry in the pathworkings is very beautiful and felt authentic, which again made me wonder who wrote these for the SOL. W.E. Butler? Dion Fortune? So curious:
“Forest Lord, with twelve-tined crown, Now we come to bed thee down. Rest content when sleeping deep, Leave the Summer Queen to weep.
Rest thee well till comes the Spring When harebells in the wood do ring; Then rouse thee up the maid to wed And seek the joy of the greenwood bed.
Hunter, blessed be thy sleep; Choose a maid thy bed to keep. Dreams of silver, dreams of gold Will guard against the winter’s cold.” pg 190
To give you a comparison, here is a chant from some pixies in a passive pathworking that I experienced a couple of months ago:
“Awake the trees, awake the night, awake the shining moon. Feed the plants, free the life that dwells within the bloom. To keep the forest growing tall, the pixie people sing, We bring the song and dance the call to wake the Forest King.
Awake the night, awake the moon, awake the powers old, We’re the ones that call upon the Spirit of the fold. Dance the dance, sing the songs, make the forest wake, In our stead, these plants have fed the thirst that never slakes.
Feels very similar, yes? That’s the fascinating thing about consciousness research to me. It feels so familiar but, at the same time, infinitely unknown.
It’s just my opinion but, I think, in addition to space, our own minds are the next frontier of human exploration.
“These “serial” workings will grow with you as you explore them, and can bring about many strange events, both in your astral life and in your physical existence. They are more potent than they seem, so take them slowly.” pg 214. One a week has worked pretty well for me. I feel like I’m learning and growing but not being overwhelmed by the changes.
A dated portion of this book that I found rather amusing, especially since the recent kerfluffle over the year 2012: “As the year 2000 comes ever closer, speculation as to the future of the world gets wilder. Exactly the same kind of hysteria hit the known world in the year 1000… The year 2000 will usher in a time of adventure, opportunity, and yes, a lot of changes. But we will survive. Things may be very different a hundred years from now, but we have survived big changes before and will do so again.” pg 231 Amen.
“One of the things an initiate learns is that every man and woman is essentially a “multi-versal” being. That is, we exist simultaneously in many dimensions and parallel universes. We have a consciousness in each one, a life in each one, a purpose and destiny in each one. But each is minutely different. With every passing moment in time, we change our future in each universe by constantly making decisions that affect the course of that future.” pg 240. I don’t know that I agree with everything in that passage, but isn’t it a beautiful view of reality? Layers within layers of truth, all interacting and changing each other, eternally.
If you liked the guided pathworkings in this book, you may want to read: Magical Pathworking: Techniques of Active Imagination by Nick Farrell, Pathworking and the Tree of Life: A Qabala Guide to Empowerment & Initiation by Ted Andrews, or the second half of A Garden of Pomegranates: Skrying on the Tree of Life by Israel Regardie. If you want examples of (mostly) passive, out of body experiences, read: Multidimensional Man by Jurgen Ziewe or Psychic Warrior: The True Story of America’s Foremost Psychic Spy and the Cover-Up of the CIA’s Top-Secret Stargate Program by David Morehouse.
This book is a powerful testament to Mother Teresa’s humanity, humbleness and faith. I do not share all of her views, but I found it impossible not to be swayed by her unwavering belief in the unseen.
“Not given to much talking, Mother Teresa spoke only when necessary. Thus her words, never labored nor many, were convincing.” pg vii, introduction.
“I have the feeling that we are in such a hurry that we do not even have time to look at one another and smile.” pg 23. I believe that too.
What does a smile cost? Nothing.
“Sometimes people can hunger for more than bread. It is possible that our children, our husband, our wife, do not hunger for bread, do not need clothes, do not lack a house. But are we equally sure that none of them feels alone, abandoned, neglected, needing some affection? That, too, is poverty.” pg 27.
I was most moved by Mother Teresa’s thoughts about poverty in the first-world. We do suffer from a plague of unkindness, loneliness and greed. I believe that the soul needs more than food to thrive.
“Peace and war begin at home. If we truly want peace in the world, let us begin by loving one another in our own families. If we want to spread joy, we need for every family to have joy.” pg 47. Yes.
Finally: “As far as I am concerned, the greatest suffering is to feel alone, unwanted, unloved. The greatest suffering is also having no one, forgetting what an intimate, truly human relationship is, not knowing what it means to be loved, not having a family or friends.” pg 91.
Wisdom from a woman who worked with some of the poorest people on the planet.
A beautiful collection of quotations from a beautiful soul- recommended for everyone but especially those in need of loving words and some peace.
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