Book Talk: ATLANTIS AND 2012

Atlantis and 2012

Book Talk by Gayl Woityra

What possible connection might we discover between the current concern about the Mayan Calendar, 2012, and the psychic readings by the American “seer,” Edgar Cayce? In his newest book, Atlantis and 2012 (Bear & Company, 2010), author Frank Joseph presents insightful observations about numerous connections between the lost, ancient civilizations often referenced by Cayce in his readings and the prophecies of the Maya and other ancient cultures around the world. Readers interested in the Mayan Calendar and Edgar Cayce will enjoy this book.

Joseph’s introductory chapter sets the historical basis for all further discussions in the book. He acknowledges the current concern with the “catastrophic scenario popularly associated with this soon-to-be experienced incident [of December 21, 2012].” Further chapters provide related details. He also explains the astronomical facts of the date that terminates the Mayan Calendar. “In the late morning of December 21, 2012, the ecliptic (the sun’s apparent path across the sky) will intersect with the galactic ecliptic (the projection of the Milky Way’s disc on the sky) to place the Sun at the very center, in the crosshairs between the solar path and that of our galaxy, when the Sun is one degree above the horizon at the equator (73 degrees West).”

Now, from the perspective of us on Earth, this event happens “only once every 26,000 years.” So what does this mean, or portend? That is where much disagreement currently occurs. Author Joseph begins his exploration of possibilities with other historical and pre-historical data. “The first day of the [Mayan] calendar’s Long Count began in 3114 B.C.” Joseph notes some intriguing parallel dates. “The first Egyptian dynasty was inaugurated around 3100 B.C.” He begins, as well, to note various similarities between the Egyptian and Mesoamerican cultures. More importantly, he says, “Their similarities suggest an outside source that independently affected both.” This leads to ancient prehistory and the legends of Atlantis and Lemuria, thereby setting up the first connection to Edgar Cayce and his psychic readings about those legendary places. Further chapters in the book provide the details, often based on new scientific and archaeological discoveries.

Chapter One focuses on Greek philosopher Plato’s account of Atlantis. Several points become important. The author reflects on a point that Plato makes, one that the author and Edgar Cayce will both emphasize, and that is the cause of the destruction of Atlantis and its relation to a lesson for humanity today. Plato makes the point that “human societies begin to self-destruct when their citizens no longer regard organic relationships between the spiritual and the material spheres of existence.” Ultimately, “the consequences of cosmic disharmony reveal themselves in physical destruction.”

The author presents other interesting facts, many quite new. The Egyptian term for “Atlantis” was “Etelenty.” A recent (2001) translation of “Etelenty” means “the land that has been divided and submerged by water.” Anyone who studies world mythology will also learn that every culture in the world has a flood myth. New discoveries (1967) have found “elephant teeth from 40 different underwater locations along the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge” and these finds validate Plato’s placement of Atlantis at that location.

The next few chapters deal with other aspects of Atlantis, supported by linguistic analyses, known history, comparative symbols, and sacred numbers. Then connections between Atlantis and Mesoamerica begin to develop. One of the most amazing is a comparison of two carvings, one a fifth-century B.C. statue of Atlas from the Athenian Parthenon and part of the “Elgin Marbles” in the British Museum, and a relief carving inside the Temple of the Bearded Man at Chichen Itza’s Ball Court in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. They are nearly identical! How could this be?

Mayan deities similar to the Greek god Atlas “were believed to have come to Chichen Itza just after a world-class deluge destroyed their capital across the sea . . . a homeland described as ‘the Red and Black Land,’” matching Plato’s “description of the red (tufa) and black (lava) natural formations on the island of Atlantis.” The author presents example after example of parallels and connections between these two locations. He also builds a case for repeated cataclysms on the Earth as he references many new conclusions from recent research. For example, “A consensus of scientific opinion at Britain’s Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge during the summer of 1997, found that our planet had been subjected to a set of celestial bombardments beginning more than 5,000 years ago.” If we get out our calculators, we just might notice that 2000 (2011) plus 3100 (3114) adds up to approximately 5,000 years! The author presents evidence from cultures around the Earth, all of which have records of various cataclysms at nearly identical times. Amongst all such data, we find that a message prevails: “the delicate balance between [mankind’s] behavior and cosmic judgment.”

Further chapters in Part One of the book focus on various factors related to 2012. The author notes that the Maya believed that “coming events were foreshadowed in the past,” something that modern people might identify as natural cycles. Consequently, Joseph discusses how the Maya documented observations of past events, as did many native cultures around the world. He includes, as well, much current scientific research, such as the cyclic nature of ice ages. Russian researchers at the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences predict a “little ice age . . .by the mid 21st century.” Scientists in India predict “increasing volcanoes, tectonic movements, earthquakes and landslides.” Geophysicists at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences are concerned “that a super solar storm could catastrophically effect our world during 2012.”

Certainly all the data available about cataclysms of long ago and the potential for similar events in the present times, is enough to cause great concern. Within the context of Frank Joseph’s book, the discussion leads very naturally to the second half of his work entitled, “The Seer.”

The “seer” is, of course, Edgar Cayce, often called the “Sleeping Prophet” because all of his “readings” came from a deep trance-state. Most of his early “readings” involved medical diagnoses for thousands of clients.” All of his readings were stenographically recorded, and they have been thoroughly studied and researched by medical doctors over many years. Cayce has sometimes been called “the father of alternative medicine.” Later, in the 1920’s Cayce began to give “life readings” that involved “past lives,” sometimes from the time of the legendary Atlantis and Lemuria. He did 14,256 life readings for some 8,000 clients over a 43-year period. Edgar Cayce died in 1945.

A good part of Frank Joseph’s chapters on Edgar Cayce apply research and discoveries that evolved in the years following Cayce’s death, all of which corroborate and bring further light to his “readings” and predictions. For example, Cayce discussed the Essenes many years before the discovery of the Qumran community remains. Cayce said in a 1930’s reading that the Nile River flowed across the Sahara Desert to the ocean in Atlantean times. In 1994 a satellite survey confirmed that a former tributary of the Nile “connected Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean at Morocco.”

One part of Cayce’s story of Atlantis was considered complete fantasy for many years. He claimed that Atlantis had a high level of technology, especially involving the use of quartz crystal electronic technology. “None of this made scientific sense in the 1930s . . . until the advent of the crystalline silicon chip nearly 50 years later.” This, of course, was the technology that led to our current computer age. Cayce also predicted a “super cosmic ray that will be found in the next twenty years.” Then “lasers were invented [or reinvented] around 1960.”

The author also discusses the fascinating folk history of the Americas where nearly every native group’s folk memories “are replete with [stories] also describing the arrival of flood survivors from both Mu [Lemuria] and Atlantis.” One story, of special interest to me (who has Cornish copper mine engineer ancestors) is of pre-historic mining in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Plato had described the Atlanteans as “great miners and metal-smiths.” Their specialty was a superior bronze called orichalcum. Until last year I had never heard of “America’s greatest archaeological enigma: the excavation of at least half a billion pounds of copper ore in a stupendous mining enterprise that began suddenly in the Upper Great Lakes region of the Michigan peninsula about 5,000 years ago. . . . Menomonee Indian tradition remembers [the miners] as the Marine Men, white-skinned bearded foreigners who sailed out of the East.”

Cayce’s readings about the long-lost Atlantis tell of two rival factions from that time: the Children of the Laws of One who honored natural law, emphasizing healing and spiritual values, opposed by the Sons of Belial who “were interested in using natural resources only for their own material gain.” Thematic to both Plato and Cayce is the idea that the destruction of Atlantis was precipitated by greed and misuse of technology. Author Frank Joseph emphasizes that the story of Atlantis uncannily resembles “the present condition of world civilization.”

Frank Joseph’s Atlantis and 2010: The Science of the Lost Civilization and the Prophecies of the Maya presents thoughtful insights to readers. Much easier to read than many of the rather technical books on the Mayan Calendar, this work provides much food for thought for readers concerned about 2012. Moreover, it delights fans of Edgar Cayce with its many corroborating results from recent studies and explorations. The author’s idea to coordinate a discussion of the Mayan Calendar, 2010, and Edgar Cayce results in a fascinating book for readers.

Book Talk: Testimony of Light

BOOK TALK: Testimony of Light

Perhaps it is a truism that most humans, out of fear, either avoid thinking about death and the hereafter, or spend much time searching for answers about that very subject. As we age in our Earthly lives, the topic becomes more and more intriguing when we ponder what may be in our immediate or near future. Fortunately, various authors have provided resources that prove helpful to at least some of us. We find some answers in books by talented mediums, such as James Van Praagh in Unfinished Business (Harper-Collins, 2009). The books by psychotherapist Michael Newton, Ph.D.—Journey of Souls (Llewellyn, 1994) and Destiny of Souls (Llewellyn, 2002), provide many insights into the after-life.

I was especially delighted, however, to discover another remarkable work, recommended by a friend: Testimony of Light: An Extraordinary Message of Life After Death by Helen Greaves (Jeremy P. Tarcher / Penguin, New York 2009). This unique work, originally published in Great Britain by the [Anglican] Churches’ Fellowship for Psychical and Spiritual Studies in 1969, has been in print for some forty years, but I had never heard of it—perhaps because it wasn’t published in the U.S. until more recently. Now, however, I have come to treasure this easy to read, instructive and intriguing volume.

Most books about the afterlife are either mediumistic reports or articles from psychotherapists who discuss the experiences of various clients. Never, until this book, have I read a day-to-day report of one person’s experiences after death over a period of two years in Earth time. This work is truly unique, intense, and inspirational.

The book begins with a brief synopsis of the life of Frances Banks, an English woman who spent 25 years as a nun in the Anglican Church, much of her time as Sister Frances Mary of the Community of the Resurrection in Grahamstown, South Africa. Besides serving as Principal of the Teachers’ Training School College, she earned an M.A. in Psychology and was “author of many books on psychology.” Later in life she left the order to explore the psychic and spiritual in the Anglican Church’s Fellowship for Psychical and Spiritual Studies, a group that has “helped countless people integrate their psychic experiences within a fully orthodox Christian faith.” At that time she met Helen Greaves, an author, and “for the last eight years of her life [they] worked together psychically and spiritually.” Helen’s first impression of Frances Banks was “that this was a woman of tremendous force of character and tremendous willpower.” They worked together until Frances died of cancer on November 2, 1965.

The book begins with Helen’s description of Frances’ last days and her death. Then it quickly moves to a re-establishment of the previously strong telepathic link between the two women. Helen became aware at first of “a Presence” about three weeks after Frances’ death. Then some days later she felt the telepathic link with Frances’ mind impinge on her own. It became apparent that it was Frances’ intention to dictate the story of her after death experiences to and through her friend, Helen Greaves. Helen reports, “Now that she was evidently restored to consciousness and awareness after the change into her new life, the first burning desire would be to make known all that was happening [and] to send back at first hand.” For Helen, ”It was almost as though I took dictation.” Apparently, this activity was not just the desire of Frances to tell her story, but as she explained later, she was “under the inspiration of a group, or band, for this transmitting of her impressions of the Life Beyond to be translated into a book.” We may infer from this that some entities in the after world wanted to send this information back to humans on Earth as a helpful service to them. This idea of service to others is a major theme throughout the book.

And so the dictation to Helen began on December 5, 1965, and continued on a fairly regular basis for the next two years. From this process we, the readers, have an intense description of the day-to-day, week-to-week progress of Frances’ experiences and journey in the afterlife. In every case we find her experiences fascinating, inspiring, and consoling.

In order to gain all the insights and information about the afterlife as shared by Frances, one needs to read the entire book. That is an easy task as it is only 160 pages in length. But we can discuss some of the major themes that are explored in this delightful work:
1) The newly transitioned individuals receive appropriate healing while they become accustomed to the changes in their consciousness.
2) As they settle in, they move to their appropriate place in the spiritual world.
3) One moves forward spiritually through service to others.
4) Everyone belongs to a Group, actually many different kinds of groups.
5) The extent of Life after Life is endless.

Probably most people wonder, “What will happen to ‘me’ when I die?”
The story of Frances is very reassuring. Every individual who crosses over—with a few exceptions explained in the book—will receive immediate, kind, loving care. Frances “wakes up” in a kind of “rest home” run “by the Sisters of the community to which [she] belonged when in incarnation, and under the care of her former Mother Superior Florence and Anglican priest, Father Joseph. She needed some time to recuperate from her illness. She learns that “Souls are brought here from earth and from other places. . . . They are ‘nursed’ and taken care of here, as am I.”

We learn from Frances’ reports to and through author Helen Greaves that individuals come and go after different intervals. This portion of the book is intensely interesting as we meet the various individuals who pass through the “rest home hospital.” Each is cared for in relation to their needs. Some stay for relatively short periods and others remain for a long time. Frances tries to explain how time doesn’t really exist in the afterlife, but she needs to use those terms to explain processes to readers.

As Frances adjusts to the energies and different consciousness there, she feels “great joy to learn that one can still exercise one’s skills in this new life.” She chooses to help out at the rest home and to use her teaching and tutoring skills. Each day she learns more and more. She says the early days are “a stretching of the mind period.” She is still “herself” but she now views her problems and hopes “from an entirely different angle and with far greater dawning comprehension.”

Many students of metaphysics have heard of the “life review,” that intense reviewing of one’s Earthly life in order to perceive what one did “right” or “wrong.” Frances notes: “There is no compulsion . . . to review one’s past life on earth as soon as one arrives. . . . Some take a long time to tackle the problem.” She does report her own shock when she starts to review her life: “a true humbling of yourself to find that you did so little when you would have done so much; that you went wrong so often when you were sure you were right.”

The various “patients” that pass through the rest home provide learning experiences for both Frances and the readers of the book. They range from Doctor X, who believed his life to have been a failure, but who had actually achieved much and was an old, advanced soul—to a man who had been a Nazi leader who had committed suicide. He had been “rescued” from where he had been “wandering in the lower places, imprisoned by his own evil.” Frances says, “He has come to us to be healed.” He will spend a long time in a kind of sleep state. Another lovely temporary visit in the rest home is a young child who quickly moves on to join family members.

And so we learn through Frances’ experiences that every individual has an appropriate place in the afterlife, a place of great love and comfort. We also learn that each one has many opportunities to learn and evolve spiritually in order to progress to higher and higher spiritual levels. Often this progress involves various kinds of service to others, often utilizing one’s already developed talents and skills. Frances reports that “bit by bit, we move away from earth ideas and limitations, and advance more into Light and Wisdom.”

Frances learns, with some humility and dismay, that one cannot leap up to high spiritual levels of vibration in one jump. It is a gradual, step-by-step process that one moves through; each step of advancement must be earned. She reports, “The Planes of the Spirit stretch onward into infinity. . . . You can’t push yourself into heavens beyond you; the Law of Progression is exact.” In the afterlife “the newly transported soul graduates always to the rightful place it has earned and prepared.” Gradually, with each experience Frances has, she grows in understanding. She says, “We have to learn to live in this new frequency; to guard the doors of one’s mind. . . . Here the thought-pattern is determinate of one’s welfare, one’s progress, one’s happiness and joy. . . . Every soul must assimilate the Way before proceeding onward into planes of even higher frequencies.”

Frances continues to teach and learn. She works with many who arrive expecting to find what Frances terms “a super Welfare State,” a “heaven of utter delight” in which “no efforts would ever be needed by them.” Many expect to rest “in the arms of Jesus.” Now Frances had spent much of her earthly life within a Christian religious organization. But here she has learned that “Lord Jesus lives in a Plane far beyond this [where she is]. Moreover she has learned that “no soul coming here from earth’s limitations, however advanced it may be in spiritual truth, is able to stand the stepped-up vibrations or the translucent Light of these High Planes. . . . One has to earn every step of advancement.”

Over time Frances comes to comprehend the importance of Groups. She sees that “Our ‘patients’ stay with us until they have adjusted to this new life and are ready to join their dear ones or their Special Groups.” She notes how on Earth individuality tends to be emphasized and society has largely down-played the significance of Groups. She says, “We are, to my limited knowledge, all members not of one Group, but of many, and the many make up the Great Group or the Great Soul Being in which we live and move and have our being.”

She then identifies some of the Groups to which we belong. First “we belong to a Family Group.” The next Groups are “Groups of interest,” such as “the arts, music, education, social sciences and social service.” When souls arrive in the afterlife and “have cleared the receiving houses [like the rest home where Frances serves], they pass on to, first, the Family and then later to the Special Group of their interests.” There are groups at higher levels that Frances equates to “advanced classes in a university.” Those Groups are guided by “great Beings [who] watch over the progress of their cell-like clusters of souls.” Beyond these Groups are other Greater Groups. “All is progress. . . . Life is a continuing Path towards one’s particular Group.”

This unique, remarkable little book provides readers with endless insight and inspiration. Each page is so rich that it is impossible in a book discussion such as this to do more than just touch upon a few of its treasures. I have read it twice and intend to repeat it again and again. No one can fear Death after reading this book. The same goes for Life on Earth because the book shows how here we also have opportunities to learn and grow in ways that we can continue to utilize in the after life. There is no end to the All that Is.

A good way to conclude our journey through Helen Greaves’ and Frances Banks’ Testimony of Light is to note just a few words of wisdom that touch our soul in this book. Frances summarizes the “message which we want to put across” in this work:
1) There should be no fear of death, for the death of the body is but a gentle passing to a much freer life.
2) That all Life is lived as a serial, that we go from one experience of living to another experience of living at a different rate, i.e., on a higher level of awareness.
3) That much of what we thought praiseworthy on earth is mediocre to us in the Light of wider knowledge, and conversely much for which we blamed ourselves and were blamed by others, is viewed here from a wider angle and even becomes merit!

This wonderful book assures us that “all is order, advancement, progress. And all is Unity.”

BOOK TALK - WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGES, CHANGE EVERYTHING

BOOK TALK: WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGES, CHANGE EVERYTHING

A book discussion by Gayl Woityra



Right now every single one of us is living through extensive and intensive changes in our lives. The world around us constantly challenges us with new technologies and new systems, changes that are often most difficult for older citizens to handle. In developed societies around the world ordinary citizens, experiencing the economic downturns, are facing loss of homes, jobs, retirement savings, and all forms they consider to be “security.” Add to this all the normal everyday changes that happen to us all—ill health, loss of loved ones, relationship struggles, and indeed, we are all hit with stresses from changes in our lives, changes we probably never planned for and don’t want at all.

Author and spiritual teacher Neale Donald Walsch offers us a path to sanity in his new book, When Everything Changes, Change Everything: In a time of turmoil, a Pathway to Peace (Hampton Roads publishing Company, Inc. 2009). Walsch also authored the best seling Conversations with God series. Presented in the form of a friendly, easy to understand conversation with the reader, Walsch offers encouragement, practical steps, and a “fresh and startling perspective” on change.

Acknowledging that “while change has always been a part of human life, “ Walsch points out that “social scientists say that the rate of change is increasing exponentially.” What used to take years only a century ago, now happens in days, hours, or even minutes. This speed of change is what creates the stress that all of us are experiencing currently as we try to process the many changes in our lives that are hitting us with both speed and intensity. Walsch’s intention is to provide “specific instructions on how to use mental and spiritual tools to change the way change changes you.” His ideas in the book are “based in ancient wisdom, modern science, everyday psychology, practical metaphysics, and contemporary spirituality.”

Walsch begins with the premise that “Change is what is,” and that it is “not going to stop . . . . What can be changed is the way you deal with change, and the way you’re changed by change.” He divides his presentation into two fairly equal sections. Part One discusses “The Mechanics of the Mind” and “how knowing about that can help you change your experience of the change you’re experiencing.” Part Two explains “The System of the Soul” and “how knowing about that can help you create the changes in your life, rather than endure them.”

Within these two approaches to the issue of change, Walsch converses with the reader about the “Nine Changes That Can Change Everything.” Here’s the list:
1. Change your decision to “go it alone.”
2. Change your choice of emotions
3. Change your choice of thoughts
4. Change your choice of truths.
5. Change your idea about Change Itself
6. Change your idea about why Change occurs
7. Change your idea about future Change
8. Change your idea about life
9. Change your identity

For the purpose of our discussion of Walsch’s book, we will touch upon these
nine changes and some of the insights Walsch shares with readers. In section one where the author describes how our minds work, readers are likely to relate immediately to his discussion. His early words relate to Change #1: Change your decision to “go it alone” helps readers understand that “this is not something that is just happening to you.” We are all in this same speeding boat. He encourages us to recognize our fears and urges us to “connect,” if only by learning more about this situation, perhaps by reading this book.

The next two changes are big points for each of us to ponder. Change #2 says: “Change your choice of emotions.” Many folks might be surprised that Walsch insists “you can change your choice of emotions.” While neuroscientists may tell us that emotion comes before thought, Walsch says the opposite is true. Most of us could attest to that very fact. When we think of a sad situation, we then feel the sadness. Therefore the author urges readers to “change your thoughts” and that becomes Change #3.

In the very short discussion of Change #3, Walsch introduces three “realities” that weave their way throughout the book: Ultimate Reality, Observed Reality, and Distorted Reality. Ultimate Reality holds the greatest truth about “what is ‘so’ about what is going on and why;” Observed Reality is “what is readily apparent;” Distorted Reality is “what we imagine is going on.” Unfortunately, most of us spend a lot of time in Distorted Reality.

Change #4 tells us to “change your choice of truths.” Most of us never consider that truth involves choices. Walsch identifies three kinds of truth: Actual, Apparent, and Imagined. Once again, most of live at the Imagined Truth level. Walsch unequivocally says, “There is no such thing as absolute truth,” and so we can set aside “actual” truth for now. What we all need to work on is Apparent Truth: “What we have observed,”-- what is going on now and you can actually observe it.

Now the author spends the rest of Part One of his book explaining the mechanics of the mind, and how the mind can help or hinder us as we deal with changes in our life. One paragraph gives us a clue to this process. “Events do not have meanings. Events are events, and meanings are thoughts. Nothing has any meaning save the meaning you give it. And the meaning you give to things does not derive from any event, circumstance, condition, or situation exterior to yourself. The Giving of Meaning is entirely an internal process. Entirely.”

Hence we gather that the process is something inside us, inside our mind, and that is what we need to master. Walsch says, “The trick is to raise your consciousness from the lowest to the highest level of awareness, no matter what is going on around you.” He urges us to remember that “reactions are instinctive; responses are thought out.” So if we take the time to think, the mind has the ability to decide how to feel, how to respond. For example, he points out that we can each choose to change “worry into wonder, expectation into anticipation, resistance into acceptance, . . . addiction into preference, . . . judgment into observation, and reaction into response.”

In an interesting discussion Walsch helps readers become aware that most of us base our “truth” and “reality” on past data—reality as we have experienced it. This results in a very subjective perspective toward what is actually happening in the present. More objective reality only comes from Observed Reality, that is dealing with the present and not processing it through past judgments. Throughout these pages the author gently guides readers to understand how the brain works and how to use that understanding to make new choices and “embrace new truths.”

We now reach “Part Two: The System of the Soul, and how knowing about that can help you create the changes in your life, rather than endure them.” Here Walsch describes briefly and simply his understanding of God and the Universe. He says, “God is the Largest Manifestation of a System that Replicates Itself on Smaller and Smaller Versions Through a Process That Empowers the System Itself to Exist and to Expand.” In other words, “God is in everything; life is in everything.” Walsch says, “The soul knows the Actual Truth while the mind stops at Apparent Truth. Unless it does not.” His answer to everything is: “All change is for the better. There is no such thing as change for the worse.”

This pronouncement leads to “Change #5: Change your idea about change itself.” By leaving the realm of mind and entering the realm of Soul, we have a new perception of change. “We see that change is not an alteration in the condition and circumstance of our lives; it is the condition and circumstance of our lives.” Hence, change is the norm. There is no need to wonder “whether life will contain change, but [rather] what kind of change life will contain.”

The author asks readers to consider past experiences of change, especially the “worst moments” of our lives. Is it not true that most of us will discover that from those dreadful moments derived some of the “best things that ever happened to us,” –new insights and opportunities, leaps in self-understanding, or turning points in our lives? Walsch points out that “Life itself can fundamentally alter itself in only one direction: the direction that evolution requires.” “Change is the fundamental impulse of Life itselfl”

Change #6 says: “Change your idea about why change occurs.” Most of us don’t understand or even perceive improvement when it is occurring. Often our personal growth comes through difficult and challenging circumstances or events that we might prefer to avoid. So who or what is running the show? Walsch says the Soul makes the choices to experience these things, these changes. He says “There is a reason that things are happening the way they are happening.” His point is that although the mind is a “marvelous mechanism,” we are more than our mind: “ we are also a soul.” The Soul knows more about us than the mind. “The functi0n of the soul is to help you remember all that you already know—but not too much, too fast.”

The insights that originate in our soul provide a different perspective from that of the mind. Walsch says, “The largest message of this book [is that] perspective is everything.” In fact, “in the matter of changing everything when everything changes, perspective is the key.” To do that “we must adopt an integrative approach to the living of our lives.” To explain this point the author lists what he calls “Life’s Four Fundamental Questions:
1. Who am I?
2. Where am I?
3. Why am I where I am?
4. What am I doing here?

Walsch’s discussion of these questions is a significant contribution to our understanding of ourselves and Life itself. He provides a clear metaphysical discussion that should provide helpful insights to every reader. A kind of summary of his points is this sentence: “The Realm of the Absolute (also known as the Realm of Spirituality) is where KNOWING everything takes place, and that the Realm of the Relative (also known as the Realm of the Physical) is where EXPERIENCING everything takes place.” And so, he suggests “that souls come to the earth in order to gain a world of experience.”

After his in depth explication of spirituality and soul purpose, Walsch identifies Change #7: “Change your idea about future change.” You know how it is that we tend to dread what changes might occur in our future? We often work diligently to keep things as they are because we feel more secure with that we’ve already experienced. But Walsch reminds us that “it is only in your mind that it [change] does not seem welcome.” He points out a truth that some of us learn, especially in old age: “that everything that’s ever happened to you has happened for the better.” Anything we have labeled as “bad” is a perspective we’ve added with our thoughts. And usually we have resisted whatever was happening. Walsch says, “I have learned that everything ends well if I let go and let God; if I simply allow whatever change is occurring in my life to occur without opposition.”

It’s no surprise that Walsch’s insight leads to Change #8: “Change your idea about life” and Change #9: “Change your identity.” Reading this delightful book that is so useful in today’s chaotic world, we learn that life IS change. Everything is always changing. It is what provides us all with the opportunities tp learn and evolve. This lovely book helps us “see life and everything in life as an opportunity, . . . as a gift.” And after we change our ideas about life and its purpose, we are “only one step away from changing [our] idea about . . . our very identity. And that, indeed, changes everything!



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BOOK TALK: UNFINISHED BUSINESS

BOOK TALK: UNFINISHED BUSINESS

I have always enjoyed James Van Praagh’s books, but his new one, Unfinished Business: What the Dead Can Teach Us About Life (Harper One, 2009) is one of his best. As always, readers will find Van Praagh’s works easy to read while they are also highly insightful and interesting. He combines many examples of stories from the other side as they develop in various seminars or appearances that he makes each year with his own commentary about what we all can learn from the other side.

In this particular book, Van Praagh provides examples of many usual human problems and lessons for learning as seen from those who have crossed over. Once there, individuals seem to be able to see these problems much more clearly and they are anxious to share their insights with their loved ones. As Van Praagh notes, “When people shed their physical bodies at death, their spiritual selves see life from a whole new perspective. It’s as if they had Lasik surgery. They can finally take off their glasses and see everything more clearly. Their
communications can help us all better understand guilt, regrets, love versus fear, the blame game, forgiveness, karma, and many other human issues.

What I found most helpful in this delightful book are the many “words of wisdom” that Van Praagh intersperses throughout his stories and commentary. Without doubt, every reader should be able to find inspiration in some, or all, of these insights. Rather than discussing some of the stories and what they teach, I have decided to just list many of my favorite “words of wisdom” from this book as a reference for anyone who might find some of them useful.

Words of Wisdom from James Van Praagh (with page references)

The only power we have is in the “now,” and our now affects our future. (3)

When a tragedy occurs, we become angry and guilt-ridden instead of seeing the opportunity to create good from it. (3)

It’s all about being responsible for your thoughts and actions. (3)

We can stop the blame game by accepting responsibility, correcting mistakes, and turning grief into accomplishments. (3)

Our regrets may serve as wonderful opportunities from which we can learn, or they may become slayers of our self-esteem and hold us back from future opportunities. (27)

Most regrets have to do with family ties. (28)

Almost all, on both sides of the veil, regretted lost moments of family togetherness because of their narrow-mindedness and stubbornness. (29)

It is vital for everyone to understand the exact ramifications of carrying regrets from this life into the next. We must free ourselves of this emotional roadblock and heal here. (33)

[Those on the other side] beg those of us on earth for forgiveness and compassion, so that they can let go of their emotional baggage and move on to the next stage in their evolution. (33)

When adults have no concept of right and wrong because they were not taught it by their parents, the end results are nothing less than devastating. (38)

Regrets can fester inside us, causing a lifetime of misunderstanding and judgment, and keep us in a constant state of stress and grief. (42)

Even the most grievous offenses can be forgiven. (42)

The opposite of love is fear. (45)

Some have to wait until death in order to fully understand the negative impact of not only their lives, but also their beliefs on another’s growth. (50)

Fear blocks any recognition of our true selves. (54)

The truth is that life on earth is a temporary illusion. (55)

As we are made in the likeness of God, and God is Love, then we must strive to express our love in everything we do, say, and are. (59)

It’s much easier to blame than to make an attempt to understand others through love and forgiveness. (63)

We are on this earth to learn many lessons, but the most important lesson is to love and accept ourselves for who we are. (68)

I honestly believe that many societal problems come from . . . victim mentality. In many ways, depression, anger, insecurity, distrust, and violence stem from this type of thinking. (69)

When we think with a them-against-me mentality, we narrow our understanding of the world’s diversity. (69)

Until we rise up and take responsibility for our thoughts, we will be stuck in this blame-game mentality. (73)
Ultimately, it is your thoughts that color the atmosphere around you. No one can MAKE you feel anything. You have to be willing to feel a certain way. (74)

Forgiveness plays an important role in letting go of blame and victimization. (80)

Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. (81)

By choosing to forgive, we do not minimize the responsibility of the offender or justify the wrong. Rather, we free ourselves of our own negative thoughts. (81)

[With friends and family] we set ourselves up for hurt. We expect them to be a certain way and don’t like it when they are themselves and not like we expect. (82)

If the person does not want to change, then we must accept that fact and move on. (82)

When we start to look at life from a spiritual perspective, we realize that we have been put together with others in certain circumstances we have chosen to experience before we were born into this incarnation.

We will be present [or not] at a loved one’s passing if we are meant to be there [or not]. (92)

When we understand the full scope of the concept of karma, we realize that each of us is solely responsible for our life, including everything that we create in thought, word, and deed. (99)

Karma is neutral; it is merely a tool for learning and having experiences. (99)

If you are on the path you are meant to be on, everything falls into place; the Universe is telling you that. If you are not on your right path, you will experience roadblocks all along the way, and this is also the Universe telling you to stop, look, and ask if this is where you are supposed to be.” (102)

The situations and people in our life that cause us the most trouble are also our greatest teachers. (103)

Those souls we call our family (including our extended family and close friends) have spent many lifetimes with us on this earth learning various lessons. (106)

People are also here to learn and work out karmic obligations by being part of a specific racial, ethnic, religious, or minority group. (107)

Bumper sticker: “How you treat me is your karma. How I react is mine.” (115)

[Life’s] obstacles are opportunities to learn more about ourselves and the world in which we live. (120)

Nothing is so bad that we cannot grow from it, but we need a good attitude. (120)

[Laughter] actually changes our brain chemistry, and it does so without any artificial stimulants or drugs. (125)

The Universe gives us EXACTLY what we think and expect about money. (127)

Stop thinking you need things to be happy. (128)

One of the hardest things to learn is that you cannot control other people’s actions or motivations. (146)

You must think positively in every aspect of your life in order to attract positive things to you. (149)

See how many times you catch yourself with a negative thought and replace it with a positive one. (149)

Don’t try to control how the Universe will bring your goals to you. Just let go and let God, knowing all shall be given to you in divine, right time. (150)

Admitting you are wrong and apologizing go a long way in your development as a spiritual human being. (153)

It is difficult to have a sense of who we are when we are living out our parents’, spouse’s, church’s, and the media’s conscious and unconscious projections. (159)

The only thing we have control over is the present. (159)

Spirits realize that God is not a person in a different geographic location, but an omnipresent energy, a consciousness that permeates everything and everyone. (160)

We are all one on a living planet, and only our egos, fears, and beliefs separate us. (178)

Don’t take life so seriously. It’s just a game. (198)

It doesn’t matter what role you play [in life], whether it is a servant or head of state; it is what you do with your role that matters. (198)

Do the most with what you are given. (198)

We change our reality by changing what is within us. (198)

We know that our life’s purpose is to contribute our talents and abilities to make the Universe whole and complete. (200)

When you meditate, do so without any expectations whatsoever. (203)

The Universe always gives you exactly what you persistently think, so pay close attention to your thoughts. (205)

Doing the right thing cannot be judged solely by the outcome or by the opinions of others. (214)

To attract positive, joyful, and prosperous situations to you, you must be that way yourself. (220)

You have chosen to come back at this time and place to achieve greatness in life and peace in your soul. (224)

Readers who enjoy James Van Praagh’s works can also visit him on line at www.vanpraagh.com.

Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol

Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol:
(A Discussion of the underlying spiritual and scientific ideas in the book)

Dan Brown’s new best seller, The Lost Symbol (Doubleday, 2009) displays Brown’s usual fast-paced cliff-hanger plot. It also is filled with edgy references, direct and indirect, to many subject areas of New Age philosophy and quantum physics research. Given that the plot centers on the well-known influences of Freemasonry on Washington, D.C. architecture and city planning, Brown also provides a fairly complete explanation of the Masonic traditions woven cleverly into the story so that it isn’t just a didactic discourse.

My only complaint about Brown’s novels is that he doesn’t provide a bibliography of his sources, and quite obviously he has many. A few times he mentions authors and their works in his books, but not often. Many of his references to new thought, philosophies, and science are brief and so cleverly interwoven with the plot, most readers unfamiliar with the subjects will just gloss over them. On the other hand, millions of readers will, with these mentions, get somewhat acquainted with topics they might not have previously discovered.

In this discussion I would like to provide some sources for these ideas and topics that float through The Lost Symbol. Some are clearly ones that Brown has used in writing this book. Others may be similar sources that readers might like to peruse on topics that seem interesting to them. I’ll do this presentation by quoting briefly the Brown reference with page numbers, and then I’ll note one or more sources that relate to that reference. For a few topics I just make some additional comments. Note: when I use italics within a quotation, they are the author’s.

This might be a good place to note that when the first hints of Dan Brown’s forthcoming book leaked out about five years ago, various authors wrote books presenting background they expected Brown to use. Also they thought the new title would be “The Solomon Key.” One of the best such books is:
DaVinci in America: Unlocking the Secrets of Dan Brown’s The Solomon Key by Greg Taylor (Daily Grail Publishing, 2004).
For an overview of much in this book that refers to the “Ancient Mysteries,” there is no better source than the encyclopedic work:
The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall (Jeremy Tarcher / Penguin, 1988, 2003).

First, I would ask readers to notice the name of the villain of this book: Mal’akh. The root “mal” is easily recognizable as the word suggesting evil, as in words like malice, malevolent, and malefactor. “Akh” is an Egyptian root referring to a dead spirit. The name reinforces the character’s evil malevolence throughout the book.

Brown makes several references to astrology in his story. He notes that “the Capitol cornerstone [was] laid while Caput Draconis was in Virgo.” (29) “Caput Draconis” is Latin for what astrologers call the Dragon’s Head or the North Node. There is no need to give long explanations here beyond the fact that the North Node in a horoscope indicates, for spiritually oriented astrologers, what the individual, place, or nation, is destined to move toward in its most positive evolution or development. Clearly, the founders of the United States of America were concerned with positive future outcomes for the nation’s Capitol. Brown, through his main character, Professor Robert Langdon, notes the “coincidence” that the “cornerstones of the three structures that make up Federal Triangle—the Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument—were all laid in different years but were carefully timed to occur under this exact same astrological condition.”(29)

This comment refers to facts presented in great detail in a book, The Secret Architecture of Our Nation’s Capital: The Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C. by David Ovason (Harper Collins, 2000). In that 500-page, highly detailed book, readers learn that images of the astrological sign of Virgo dominate in the city of Washington, D.C. Author Ovason concludes that ancient ideas associated with Virgo—the Virgin, Vestal Virgins, Isis, and the Virgin Mary—all hark back to a “vision of a civilized mankind.” (Ovason 377)
His argument is highly complex, but quite fascinating. How strange, for instance, that the cornerstones of the Capitol, the White House, and the Washington Monument were all laid when either the Sun was at 23 degrees Virgo or when other planets were in that degree. Without doubt, whoever was directing the planning of Washington, D.C. not only had a considerable knowledge of astrology, but also had a vested interest in emphasizing the role of the sign Virgo. (Ovason 65)

Throughout his early chapters Brown takes pains to explain facts about Masonry for his general readers. He does this via a lecture, recalled by Langdon, that includes a discussion with Langdon’s students. The general myth about the Masons is that it is some kind of cult-like secret society. Brown puts that idea to rest with his explanations. Most general readers may be surprised to discover that so many of our honored forefathers were Masons, including the Father of our Country George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the architect designer of Washington, D.C., Pierre L’Enfant. (Chapter 6) Professor Langdon emphasizes that “Masonry is open to men of all races, colors, and creeds, and provides a spiritual fraternity that does not discriminate in any way.” (32) He compares this
to our current age “when different cultures are killing each other over whose definition of God is better.” (31) Readers will find many books about Masons available at any bookstore. A classic book about the Masons and Washington, D.C. is:
The Secret Destiny of America by Manly P. Hall (The Philosophical Research Society, Inc. (1944,1972).

Brown makes an indirect reference to the Mayan Calendar and all the current concern about the significance of 2012 (53-54). He notes that “now, as has been prophesied, there was a change coming . . . . This moment had been . . . prophesied . . . by the primeval calendars, and even by the stars themselves. The date was specific, its arrival imminent. It would be preceded by a brilliant explosion of knowledge.” (53-54) Readers can find an endless number of books on the subject of the Mayan Calendar and the year 2012. Some are listed below:
Apocalypse 2012 by Lawrence E. Joseph (Morgan Road Books, 2007).
Fractal Time: The Secret of 2012 and a New World Age by Gregg Braden (Hay House, 2009).
The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness by Carl Joan Callerman, Ph.D. (Bear and Company, 2004).
The Mayan Code: Time Acceleration and Awakening the World Mind by Barbara Hand Clow (Bear and Company, 2007).
The Mayan Prophecies by Adrian G. Gilbert (Element, 1995).

One of the main characters in The Lost Symbol is Katherine Solomon, who is identified as a “Noetic Scientist.” Brown reports “the basic ideology of Noetic Science [is] the untapped potential of the human mind.” (55) Later he defines noetic as “translating roughly to ‘inner knowledge’ or ‘intuitive consciousness,’” (74) He makes direct reference to the real-life Institute of Noetic Sciences (founded by ex-astronaut, Dr. Edgar Mitchell) in California and the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (PEAR) and their studies that “had categorically proven that human thought, if properly focused, had the ability to affect and change physical mass.” (55) These experiments proved that “our thoughts actually interacted with the physical world, whether or not we knew it, affecting change all the way down to the subatomic realm.” (56) This proves (to Prof. Langdon) the old idea of “mind over matter.”

Readers can learn more about IONS at their website: www.noetic.org.
Subscribers to their monthly e-zine would discover that in the October, 2009 issue, IONS writes enthusiastically about Dan Brown’s discussion of noetic science in his new book. They expect that “the field of noetic science will receive considerably more scrutiny than it has in the past” and they are happy about that. They also note numerous television programs, such as on NBC Dateline (Oct. 16) and Discovery Channel will focus on the symbolism in the book and will feature IONS scientists in the discussion groups. Below are two excellent recent books based on the research programs at IONS:
Living Deeply, edited by Marilyn M. Schlitz, Ph.D., et al (New Harbinger Publications and Noetic Books, 2007).
The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer (New Harbinger Publications and Noetic Books, 2007).

Readers might also like to check out the website for the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research program. See: www.princeton.edu/%7Epear/
Their website notes that the PEAR program “has completed its experimental agenda of studying the interaction of human consciousness with sensitive physical devices, systems, and processes” and is moving into the “broader venue of the International Consciousness Research Laboratories (ICRL).

In his discussion about new discoveries regarding human consciousness, Dan Brown mentions noetic author Lynne McTaggart, author of The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World (Simon & Schuster, 2007), who claimed that “human consciousness . . . was a substance outside the confines of the body . . . a highly ordered energy capable of changing the physical world.” (56) McTaggart also sponsored a global, web-based study (at www.theintentionexperiment.com) “aimed at discovering how human intention could affect the world.” (56) Readers will also learn a lot more about human consciousness studies in:
Bridging Science and Spirit by Norman Friedman (Living Lake Books, 1990).
Cosmic Consciousness by Richard M. Bucke, M.D. (E.P. Dutton, 1901).
The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav (Harper Collins, 1979)
The Evolution of Consciousness by Rudolf Steiner (Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1979).
The Field by Lynn McTaggart (Harper Collins, 2002).
Mind into Matter: A New Alchemy of Science and Spirit by Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D. (Moment Point Press, 2001).
The Spectrum of Consciousness by Ken Wilbur (Theosophical Publishing House, 1977).

Dan Brown, through the character of Noetic Scientist Katherine Solomon and her brother Peter, also refers to various aspects of quantum physics and its relation to new theories of metaphysics, such as entanglement theory (58). He notes that “subatomic research had now proven categorically that all matter was interconnected . . . entangled in a single unified mesh . . . a kind of universal oneness.” (58) A discussion reveals that ancient philosophies contained similar ideas. Katherine, at one point in the story, introduces the concept of thought as things. She says, hypothetically, “What if I told you that a thought . . . any tiny idea that forms in your mind . . . actually has mass? What if I told you that a thought is an actual thing, a measurable entity, with a measurable mass? . . . What are the implications?” (76)
Readers interested in learning more along this line could check out:
Entangled Minds by Dean Radin, Ph.D. (Paraview Pocket Books 2006).
Quantum Shift in the Global Brain: How the New Scientific Reality can Change Us and Our World by Ervin Laszlo (Inner Traditions, 2008).
Science and the Re-enchantment of the Cosmos by Ervin Laszlo, (Inner Traditions, 2006).
The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World by Amit Goswami, Ph.D. (Jeremy P. Tarcher/ Putnam 1995).

Art and its symbology played a significant part in Brown’s previous best sellers, The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. It turns up in several places in The Lost Symbol as well. One fascinating point begins with a pointing hand that is part of the plot. Readers learn through the main character Langdon: “This pointing-hand gesture—with its index finger and thumb extended upward—is a well-known symbol of the Ancient Mysteries, and it appears all over the world in ancient art. This same gesture appears in three of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous encoded masterpieces—The Last Supper, Adoration of the Magi, and Saint John the Baptist. It’s a symbol of man’s mystical connection to God.” (87) He refers to this symbology as referencing the idea of “As above, so below.” One can also see this in Raphael’s School of Athens. Another fascinating art reference is to the “magic square,” an ancient Suduko-like puzzle in Albrecht Durer’s famous engraving, Melencolia I (1514). (See p. 262).

It is quite fascinating to ponder that the villain of Brown’s book is intent on stopping all the change and potential progress that could follow humanity’s growing understanding of the mind, consciousness, and human heritage. He thinks,” I cannot let that happen. The world must stay as it is . . . adrift in ignorant darkness.”(100) In effect, Mal’akh becomes symbolic himself, a symbol of any force that fights enlightenment. In a later section, he worries that Katherine’s noetic experiments could answer “ancient philosophical questions” for humans and “a fundamental shift would begin in the consciousness of man.” (208) This is, of course, a reference to the predicted “shift” in the books about 2012 and the Mayan Calendar.

Ultimately, Dan Brown leaves readers with an optimistic perspective. Late in his book he refers to esoteric philosopher, Manly P. Hall, who said, “If the infinite had not desired man to be wise, he would not have bestowed upon him the faculty of knowing.” (501) Character Katherine Solomon says, “If thoughts affect the world, then we must be very careful how we think.” (501) The potential presented in the story comes from Katherine as well: “We have scientifically proven that the power of human thought grows exponentially with the number of minds that share that thought. . . . The idea of universal consciousness is . . . a hard-core scientific reality . . . and harnessing it has the potential to transform our world.”

The idea is presented: “God is found in the collection of Many . . . rather than in the One.” (504) Aha! “E Pluribus Unum: out of many, one,” the motto of the United States of America. Perhaps it means more than a collection of states. It seems to provide something important for the author: “Hope.” (509)

BOOK TALK: A Whole New Mind

BOOK TALK: A WHOLE NEW MIND: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future

I came upon a remarkable book because of Oprah Winfrey. That shouldn’t be a surprise because we all know that Oprah loves books and isn’t afraid to pass on a good word or two about those she especially likes. The book is A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink (Riverhead Books, 2005). Oprah tells the story herself: “In June 2008, I was invited to Stanford University to give the commencement address.” She had just finished reading this book by Daniel Pink and was so impressed that she wanted to share the book with as many people as possible. And so she “ordered 4,500 copies, one for each student in Stanford’s class of 2008.” She presented them along with another Oprah favorite book—Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth--as graduation presents. This story led me to order the book. Following Oprah’s model, I have also sent a copy to my granddaughter, a 2009 graduate of Michigan State University.

This book intrigues me in many ways. I have been interested in the right-brain/left brain discussions over the years. The sub-title of the book states that “right-brainers will rule the future.” Early in the book the author explains how our recent society has been largely focused on left-brain thinking: “linear, sequential, spreadsheet kind of faculties.” Now, he says, we need more of the right-brain characteristics: “artistry, empathy, inventiveness, and big-picture thinking.” Ultimately, of course, the point is to balance the two, using both sides of the brain to our greatest efficiency and thereby having “A Whole New Mind.”

The author provides a mini-history of mankind’s eras of development.

For thousands of years we lived in an agricultural age. This involved very hands-on, physical labor. People largely hunted or grew their own food. The last 150 years or so, however, have been very different, and the changes along the way have happened faster and faster. First came the Industrial Age. With this machine age, our great manufacturing systems developed. Mass production focused on workers favored for their physical strength and endurance. That lasted for a while, but following World War II, technology developed automation. In 30 years or so, the manufacturing lines moved largely from hands-on machines to automated ones, to in current days, largely computer run equipment. What happened to the workers? The few workers needed were no longer required to be Herculean. Even a small woman could press a button or operate a computer. The work was easily shipped to less expensive sites overseas.

This development was linked to what Pink calls the Information Age.

So now, both agriculture and manufacturing are largely a part of computerized, managed operations. Now the major worker was “the knowledge worker.” This was still a left-brain directed thinking process. Daniel Pink notes that “Each year, India’s colleges and universities produce about 350,000 engineering graduates.” Similarly, they are graduating computer specialists and business students. Whereas in the U.S. “a typical chip designer earns about $7,000 per month; in India, she earns about $1,000.” Is it any wonder that so many of these jobs go overseas. The author’s explanation of how this has all happened is easy to read and understand. We get a truly clear picture of this transition and why it has occurred.

All of this leads us to the author’s main point: that we are now in a very different time. Manufacturing is largely automated. Anyone can do it—anywhere in the world. Computers have linked the world, and educated people, anywhere in the world, can work with computerized functions. Where does this leave the American worker? What is our next step? In other words, if someone overseas can do it cheaper, and if a computer can do it faster, what does the contemporary worker need to offer that is different and useful? Pink’s answer is: right-brain directed thinking. That is what this book is largely about. He says, “I’ve distilled the answer to six specific high-concept and high-touch aptitudes that have become essential in this new era. I call these aptitudes “the six senses.” Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning. And it is to helping you understand and master these six aptitudes that I devote the second part of this book.”

So what we find in this work is about 60 pages of highly interesting, easy reading explaining the basic background to this theory. And then about 200 fascinating and highly useful pages tell us how to learn more R-Directed thinking. Each of those six aptitudes become chapters that both explain and lead the reader to complete understanding. Each chapter follows the same pattern. First the author thoroughly explains the concept, making it easy for the reader to grasp the point. He includes many interesting facts, photos, and stories that make this book easy to read. The second part of each chapter, he calls a “Portfolio.” Here the author gets the reader right into the program with all sorts of exercises, things to do, books to read, places to explore, and websites to check-out. Each chapter offers appropriate sources and ideas to learn how to actually use that particular aptitude. For example, I ended up with a personal list of books I want to read and websites I want to see.

There is so much thoughtful, even fascinating information in each chapter that it is beyond our discussion to include any of that. Instead, we’ll just briefly review what the author means with those six aptitudes. “Design” involves more than the usual left-brained “function.” Pink notes, “Today it’s economically crucial and personally rewarding to create something that is also beautiful, whimsical, or emotionally engaging.” Just think about how design influences us all. Don’t we choose a product, or a home because there is something about it that just feels or looks right to us? That involves design. And design is largely a right-brained aptitude.

Today we hear lots of arguments about everything. That is largely L-brained. Pink says that “Story” is becoming more and more important. “The essence of persuasion, communication, and self-understanding has become the ability also to fashion a compelling narrative.” Writing narratives and telling stories is largely a R-brained activity.

What does he mean by Symphony? He isn’t talking about music, although music is known to be quite right-brained. What Daniel Pink means here is “putting the pieces together.” I recall in previous studies of the right and left brain that the left brain analyzes the pieces. The right brain sees the whole picture. Pink says, “What’s in greatest demand today isn’t analysis but synthesis—seeing the big picture, crossing boundaries, and being able to combine disparate pieces into an arresting new whole.” Therefore “symphony” refers to a harmony, like a blend of ideas or sounds that portray the “whole picture.”

Pink notes that logic has been very important in the past, and of course, it continues to be important, but Empathy is also needed. Logic alone will no longer do. In this new global society where our co-workers may be somewhere around the globe, or working at home, or come from totally different cultures, “what will distinguish those who thrive will be their ability to understand what makes their fellow woman or man tick, to forge relationships, and to care for others.”

The author’s inclusion of “Play” as an important attribute may be surprising. I guess I am reminded of the old proverb, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Pink notes the “Ample evidence [that] points to the enormous health and professional benefits of laughter, lightheartedness, games, and humor.” He says, “In the Conceptual Age, in work and in life, we all need to play.”

Finally, Daniel Pink notes how contemporary society is more and more concerned about “Meaning.” In the past the focus may have been on “accumulation,” but we all end up finally asking big questions about the meaning of it all. The author notes how our material plenty has actually freed us enough from “day-to-day struggles” so that we can “pursue more significant desires: purpose, transcendence, and spiritual fulfillment.”

The whole point of the book is to bring these six aptitudes to our focus so that we can understand them, learn how to use them, and thereby prepare ourselves to participate in our rapidly changing world and its rapidly changing demands for new ideas. Does mean that we will forego our left-brain aptitudes? Daniel Pink asserts that “Thinking remains necessary but [is] no longer sufficient.” For the economy of the United States to recover and to regain its position in the world, “We must perform work that overseas knowledge workers can’t do cheaper, that computers can’t do faster, and that satisfies the aesthetic, emotional, and spiritual demands of a prosperous time.” In other words, we must develop our “Whole New Mind.” This thought-provoking, but also entertaining book, is a must read for everybody, but especially for all those young folks who are entering the workplace. This brings us back to Oprah Winfrey and her insight in deciding to present copies of this work to a graduating class from Stanford. This book will open a lot of eyes to where we are today and how we can become better and stronger as individuals and as a country. As one reviewer wrote: [This book] “Will give you a new way to look at your work, your talent, your future.”

Life Between Lives - Part Two

BOOK TALK: LIFE BETWEEN LIVES--Part 2

Dr. Michael Newton, Ph.D., Master Hypnotherapist with a doctorate in Counseling, rather unwillingly became involved with past-life regression, which then led him to discover, through his clients, possible answers to the age-old mystery of what happens to souls in the spirit world after death. His first book on the subject, Journey of Souls, was published in 1994 (Llewellyn Publication) with a Fifth Revised Edition published in 1996. We discussed a few of the truly amazing stories and insights highlighted in that volume in our last “Book Talk.”

One of Dr. Newton’s missions in that book was to “combat the fear of death by offering people understanding about the nature of their souls and their spiritual home.” In that first work Newton “presented a tight, orderly progression of events of what it is like to die and cross over--who meets us, where we go, and what we do in the spirit world before choosing our next body for reincarnation.” It was a kind of “travelogue through time using actual case histories from clients.” He thought he was done with this exploration and that the material was relatively complete, but people at his lectures and interviews wanted more and clients clamored for his attention. When he resumed his client practice he “noticed a higher percentage of more developed souls” turning up in counseling sessions, perhaps because they wanted to explore life between lives and didn’t need to solve earthly problems. What he learned through these clients led to his second book, Destiny of Souls (Llewellyn Publications, 2000). Newton “designed this book by topical categories rather than by progressive time and location.” Hence this “second expedition” into the spirit world deals in much greater detail with some topics introduced in the first volume.

It is important, I believe, to remind readers once again of the consistency in Dr. Newton’s clients’ reports. He “found that it did not matter if a person was an atheist, deeply religious, or believed in any philosophical persuasion in between--once they were in the proper superconscious state of hypnosis, all were consistent in their reports.” This consistency is important to me as a reader because it underscores the authenticity of the reported information.

The author begins this second volume with an overview of what he has learned through his clients’ regressions into the world after death. Dr. Newton grew “to think of souls as intelligent light forms of energy” which can surprisingly “divide into identical parts.” Readers will need to read the books to comprehend this because it is too complex to explain here. Evil-doing is not punished, but rather, “rehabilitated” in various ways, including treatment in “intensive care units.” “Wrongdoing, intentional or unintentional [is] redressed in some form in a future life.” This is not considered to be punishment, but rather “an opportunity for karmic growth.”

The concept of “soul groups” was introduced in the first book. “Soul groups may range between 3 and 25 members, with the average having about 15.” The way souls “view their group cluster setting” depends on the soul’s state of advancement. Education continues in the after life and “educational placement depends on the level of soul development.”

The author found very meaningful in his research the discovery that souls display different colors. These colors have little or no relation to the aura associated with the physical body. Rather, these colors indicate a soul’s state of advancement. For example, “pure white denotes a younger soul;” more advanced souls move into “orange, yellow, green, and finally the blue ranges” with greatly advanced souls displaying a deep indigo. Again the author reiterates that “in the spirit world no soul is looked down upon as having less value than any other soul. We are all in a process of transformation to something greater . . . [and] each of us is considered uniquely qualified to make some contribution toward the whole, . . .”

The value system of the spirit world is one of “overwhelming kindness, tolerance, patience, and absolute love.” Each soul can make its own choices:
“In the spirit world we are not forced to reincarnate or participate in group projects. If souls want solitude they can have it.” One of the author’s major insights from what he has learned is “that the only thing of true importance in this material life is the way we live and how we treat people.”

Following this review of what he has learned in general about the spirit world, author Michael Newton begins his discussions of various specific topics, all of which are intensely interesting, but more than we can cover in our “Book Talk.” In his discussions in Destiny of Souls Dr. Newton includes 67 case histories, more than twice as many as in his first volume.

His first major topic is “Death, Grief, and Comfort,” chosen no doubt because so many people want to know more about connecting with departed loved ones. We see this concern manifested in current popular television shows, such as James Van Praagh’s Beyond, and John Edward’s Crossing Over. Michael Newton’s discussion should be comforting to everyone. Do you remember my mention several paragraphs back that souls can “divide into separate parts”? This difficult to comprehend point relates to an important insight that Newton and his clients discovered. It seems that we only bring part of our soul energy into any incarnation. “Part of your energy [self] was left behind in the spirit world. . . . When your [loved one] arrives back home again, you will already be there waiting with that portion of your energy which was left behind.” This was a whole new idea for me, but I find the thought quite wonderful. Also in this chapter Newton discusses many ways that spirits connect with the living, such as through objects, dreams, children, environmental settings, or even strangers.

Another very comforting chapter discussion is about “Spiritual Energy Restoration.” Most of us can think of multiple examples of individuals who upon their deaths might need help of various kinds. Those who die traumatic deaths might need reorientation and understanding of “what happened?” Those in great mental distress or depression and suicides could use emotional healing. Those who pass over after long debilitating bouts of cancer or other deteriorating diseases must feel great fatigue. It is stunning to learn that the spirit world is ready in all cases to help and heal each individual soul, according to its needs, when it returns from its tests on Earth. There is often “emergency treatment” right at the “gateway.” Newton reports that “most all returning souls will continue on to some sort of healing station before finally joining their groups.” We also learn that those souls who work as healers in the spirit world often work as healers when they are in the physical state. Dr. Newton includes several such cases in this chapter, such as a woman who is a Reiki practitioner in her current life.

Another intriguing discussion involves the creation of souls and soul group systems. Just as in physical life where no two individuals are identical, as fingerprints and eye scans can prove, every soul is unique. Newton’s clients’ descriptions of the “birth” of souls reads like science fiction. Nevertheless the point is reiterated by a client: “Each soul is unique in its totality of characteristics created by a perfection that I cannot begin to describe. What I can tell you is that no two souls are alike--none--ever!”

Some other points in this very complex chapter are very interesting. One statement is that “there are many physical worlds similar to Earth.” Clients also continually refer to schoolrooms, libraries, and temples in the spirit world, explained by one client this way: “We can create anything we want in the spirit world to remind us of places and things we enjoyed on Earth.” Another point involves so-called genetic memory, or what some writers today call “cell memory.” Newton says this is actually “soul memory emanating from the unconscious mind.” Part of this chapter also includes a much expanded explanation and discussion of the aforementioned colors associated with soul levels of advancement.

Because so many humans fear judgment and punishment after death, Dr. Newton’s chapter on “The Council of Elders” is especially relevant and reassuring. Much of human fear derives from physical life experiences, such as “religious institutions, civil courts and military tribunals [which] give us codes of morality and justice which impact the conduct of millions.” From these institutions people have experienced patterns of “crime and punishment and cultural traditions of harsh judgment for human transgressions” and then they transfer these patterns to their beliefs in an after life.

What Newton and his clients report instead is very different. He says, “Rather than stages of punishment, we go through stages of enlightenment.” Moreover, besides our individual guides, we have some major help along the way from very advanced souls. Dr. Newton says “the two most common names” he has heard “to describe these highly evolved masters are ‘council’ and ‘Elders,’ so I use these designations to describe this body.” As always, Newton tells us, “The spirit world is a place of order and the Council of Elders exemplifies justice. . . . These wise beings have great compassion for human weakness and they demonstrate infinite patience with our faults. We will be given many second chances in future lives.”

Once again Newton confirms the consistency of clients’ reports of their “between lives” experiences. “The descriptions about the form and procedure of council meetings are very consistent among all hypnosis subjects.” The place of meeting is often domed like temples, mosques, synagogues, and churches. At the first meeting following an incarnation, the Council reviews with the soul “the major choices we made in the life [just completed].” The soul’s spirit guide always accompanies and supports the soul during the soul’s review with the Council. The purpose of the meeting is not to “demean the souls . . . or to punish them. . . . The purpose of the Elders is to question the souls in order to help them achieve their goals in the next lifetime.” Newton says, “The Elders are like loving but firm parents, managing directors, encouraging teachers and behavioral counselors all rolled into one..” What is most important is “our intent in life” and if our influence in life was positive and made “original contributions.”

All of the information in this chapter and others in Newton’s book is exceptionally relevant and applicable to each reader’s current life. It all helps us understand better why we are here on Earth and what we are meant to do. We learn that even great problems, difficulties, and pain can have a positive outcome. One client reported a significant statement from a Council Elder: “That which you gain from each difficult life, you gain for all eternity.” A different client also shared a statement from an Elder he called “the Wise One:” “Forgive yourself . . . it is our desire that you accept yourself for who you are with the same unconditional love we have for you. We are here to support you in your work on Earth.” Clients also learn that small, seemingly insignificant deeds of kindness on Earth are recognized as important. “In the spirit world nothing is
insignificant. No act goes unrecorded.”

It is clear that one could go on and on about all the astonishing as well as comforting information in this important work by Dr. Michael Newton. One outstanding chapter explains the importance of relationships, both on Earth and in the spirit world. Newton notes, “Always there are karmic reasons behind the serious events involving relationships in our lives.” One significant, and huge, insight for many people is that “Being with the ‘wrong’ person for a period in your life does not mean that the time was wasted. The relationship was probably intended in advance.” This chapter also gets into the fascinating subjects of gender choice, and linkages between spiritual [groups] and human families. One thoughtful statement may help us feel greater compassion towards those we may consider abusive, or our enemies. “When we are hurt by someone close to us in life, or caused them hurt resulting in alienation and separation, it is because they volunteer to teach us lessons of some sort while learning lessons themselves.”

Clearly, Dr. Michael Newton’s two books, Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls, contain an exceptional richness of information. So much is thought provoking. So much is comforting. So much encourages each reader to grow, to evolve, to become more aware of one’s soul. We feel empowered by these books. A few words from the author will conclude our discussion. “We are not evaluated after death by our religious associations but rather by our conduct and values . . . we are measured more by what we do for others rather than ourselves. . . . You were not given your body by a chance of nature. It was selected for you by spiritual advisors and after previewing their offerings of other host bodies, you agreed to accept the body you have. Thus, you are not a victim of circumstance. . . . We must not lose sight of the idea that we accepted this sacred contract of life and this means the roles we play on Earth are actually greater than ourselves.”