Topic: Arts & Literature

I'm not a yogi and haven't studied much on that path. However, I have studied several other natural healing and enlightenment paths, so I was intrigued to read Light On Life to see if there was any information I could integrate into my healing work.

Becoming Like God - Kabbalah And Our Ultimate Destiny touches a sensitive nerve because it will appeal to most readers interested in these questions omnipresent through all ages. One remembers Paul Gauguin's 1897 Whence Do We Come? What Are We? Whither Are We Going? People went as far as to create an obsessive myth of eternity so omnipotent in literature and in filmmaking. Young Balzac and The Old Man And The Lamp (the old man who kisses young virgin females in order take away their breath by force); stories of vampires who suck the blood of their victims; Duncan MacLeod and the immortals; the 40 "Immortals" of the French Academy, are a few examples of death terrorizing mankind; even the Bible, which brings us on a journey through the Old Testament with all its prophecies announcing the coming of Christ through Jesus in the New Testament, Jesus who demonstrates through the resurrection that there is no death. Everybody is facing the "absolute" the best they can. And there are also those, who do not believe in any Christ, in any Buddha, in any Lucifer, but who believe that evolution is the answer so well put in 1897 by Gauguin.

It's true, you can't judge a book by its cover. Nor can you judge a book by its title or by the series to which it belongs. I was reminded of this fact recently when a bulky envelope from the folks at Penguin Books arrived in my mailbox. When I tore open the wrapping, I discovered that I was the owner of a review copy of the Second Edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide To Psychic Awareness

Even before Mel Gibson completed his film The Passion of Christ, corporate media had already rated it two thumbs down. When he was ready to distribute it, a maelstrom of critics appeared faster than spam in your mailbox. AOL immediately published two reviews. I thought, "Hmm, at last: fair and balanced reporting." The first review denounced the gore aspect of the film. OK, fair enough: the movie is gory. At the bottom of the article, a button suggested, "Click here for an alternate view." Naturally, I assumed it would reveal the film's redeeming qualities. I clicked. To my surprise, the critic dutifully explained how The Passion was anti-Semitic. Again, fair and balanced reporting proved to be one-sided bias.

Sometime in 1969, WCBS-FM in New York City got their hands on a recording of a couple of songs by the Beatles that were supposedly going to comprise the first single released from their upcoming “Get Back” album. The “A” side was “Let It Be,” and if memory serves the recording wasn't of very good quality.

Taoism is undoubtedly the most beautiful and seductive of the eastern philosophies. Unfortunately, despite the deep and peaceful insights expressed in Taoist writings, on its own the philosophy isn't good for much. It lacks the gritty “skillful means” of Tibetan Buddhism, and many of its western practitioners come to realize that the insights gained through Taoist practices are mainly fleeting and temporary.

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In 1951, at a time when the vast majority of Americans were busy supporting the spiritual status quo, Robert and Earlyne Chaney, an actress and a spiritualist medium, started Astara, one of the first New Age organizations in the country. Through hard work, prudence and perseverance, Astara would eventually grow into one of the largest and most influential of the entry level New Age organizations.