#NextonDeck

What’s On My Plate

Currently on my plate is a little thing called Beyond Past Lives by Mira Kelly. Let me be honest I am not very excited about this book, this latest offense by Hay House is a bit out of my grasp at the moment. I was first drawn into past life regression for by Brian Weiss. I thought this book would be followable. Well it’s not.  I am really close to DNFing (this is a term introduced to my girlfriend who blogs over at Best Books Ever…basically means you just pitch the book because it’s become impossible)  this title.  I am a good portion thru this and am more excited about the other things on my plate.

However…I am totally stoked about The Map of Heaven, by Eben Alexander, the same doctor who had a near death experience who penned Proof of Heaven. This book is published by Simon and Schuster and is slated to be released later this fall. Upon just flipping through the first few chapters I am really excited about it. I know it seems like I only review books that i like, or am excited about. But I think I do. I also think it’s possible to write a book without running leading your reader in 50 directions at once. The biggest stumbling block for me with this Mira Kelly title is that she throws this huge concept of ‘oversouls’ and parallel lives out there without really ever preparing the reader. She relays her initial reaction to the phenomena but outside of that there isn’t much else for me to go on, that concept alone sparked a trajectory toward rejection on my part with this title from the moment Kelly introduced it. I am pushing through this title. but I don’t have to like it. But in order to give an informed review and criticism i must push through. To be clear this isn’t just a Kelly issue, it’s a Hay House issue. I am not sure why they pander to these kinds of audiences, but it doesn’t seem to gel together well to me. I might be wrong, but so far this book isn’t panning out too well. And in all honesty with all this over soul and parallel universe business they could have made this about 3 books. I could be slow but I feel like they are stretching the minds of their audience too fast too much. the plasticity of the mind is like delicate bread dough to be slowly pulled and stretched. this takes patience guys patience.

In other news….Meditation Relapse (my Bad Universe). I have had a few setbacks lately that have made finding a zen space rather difficult lately. Sensei Simmons would not be proud of me, but I don’t think he’d judge me either I am back on the wagon again, on that long road to infinity. The pendulum has begun to swing back in my direction. And with any hope I will be back in the swing of things (no pun intended). But I will be in Washington D.C, in a weeks time to see Oprah and Friends on her Life You Want Tour. I am a bit excited about that.

Adventures of the Soul

Adventures of the Soul: Journeys Through the Physical and Spiritual Dimensions

Author: James Van Praagh

Published: September 8, 2014

Publisher: Hay House

Source: ARC

In Adventures of the Soul Van Praagh attempts to give his readers a glimpse into the spirit world by giving accounts into his encounters with discarnate spirits, and offering several wafers of wisdom; which i can only assume come from a lifetime of reading and communicating with spirits; and a lifetime of in an industry where trips to other dimensions are common place.  There is an entire chapter dedicated to the out of body experiences or OBE’s as they are commonly referred to in the New Age community. In this chapter Van Praag delineated the differences between OBEs and remote viewing. He also gives personal account he has had with OBEs, as well as a moment he had with a friend who was in transition.  He floats over dozens of metaphors illustrating in the readers mind blatant examples of things that are hard for the normal human mind to grasp. For example at the outset of the book he explains the difference between the soul and the spirit; using a piece is cinematic americana to do it. Taking from The Wizard of Oz; the spirit he offers is more pure and vast than the soul. The spirit is more connected to ‘the source’ most would call God. While the soul intentionally comes to earth to collect information in order to learn lessons. Generally to express the Universe in the best way they know how; with the circumstances in front of them. The way it clicked for me while reading, is he likened the soul to Glinda the good witch, and the bubble that carried her up, up up, and away at the end of the movie to the spirit.  So basically the soul is the spirit incarnate.

He also makes no bones about the realities of life and death. And that we all make mistakes. He continues that we build our own world with the choices we make, whether those choices are made as a result of love or fear. As a teacher in this respect Van Praagh is one of the highest caliber in this realm of New Age and New thought. He may not be as wordy and disciplined in his prose as a Micheal Singer or Eckhart Tolle, but he’s driving home the same point. And like any good teacher he uses the most worn tool in his arsenal: repetition. Which is my only major gripe with this book. Like a hard headed pupil I must confess I skimmed over the portions I felt were repetitious (which were not plenty).  I trust this is a device Van Praagh uses as a teaching tool for anyone who may be picking up one of his books for the first time. I was not one of those readers but I appreciated the consistency in his writing style and prose. The thing that annoyed me may offer a jewel or an ‘aha’ moment to the novice to the genre reading a Van Praagh title for the first time.  I can not crucify a man for doing what both of the other above listed authors do just as often. If you are looking to dip your toe into the water in new thought/new age I offer Adventures of the Soul; as Van Praagh having been raised catholic is gentle with those coming from a traditional religious background. So if you have read similar titles, or been to talks, and would like to expand on a shift that you have had. This is a good title to keep the juices flowing.

 

 

Book Review: The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

Author: Michael Singer

Published: October 7, 2007

Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Source: Purchased 

It only took me about three months to read but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Imagine if Gary Zukav’s Seat of the Soul and Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth had a baby. That is what would happen here. It didn’t shift my worldview as much as Tolle did but I loved it. Singer was very concise, and didn’t use any whimsical language to make any of his points. There is one chapter entitled ‘Taking Down the Walls.’ where he walks the reader through an entire beautiful field, and building a majestic mansion in that field. The mansion in this allegory is the mind, and the field is consciousness, or a finite bounds of the universe. It is, and can be a beautiful thing. I read this book as I began to cultivate meditative habits that I picked up from Russell Simmons in his new book Success Through Stillness.

I would highly recommend The Untethered Soul: the Journey Beyond Yourself, to anyone who is a seeker like myself. I cannot promise you answers, I can’t even promise you that you will understand anything Singer is saying. Like I said at the outset, it took me a minute to get through this one. It should be drank like fine Chardonnay. Without giving you too much to swallow this book is a great supplement to the larger journey we are all on,