The Simplest Path to Personal and Planetary Awakening, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND: 10 Keys for Unlocking Your Personal Potential, Achieving Spiritual Awakening, ... of Humanity's Ultimate Cosmic Destiny

Average customer rating:

Way Beyond "Socrates Revisited"

True, but gimmicky

A Unique and Inspiring Wake-up Call

Challenge Consensus Reality!

A Simple Cure For What's "Eating Us"

The Simplest Path to Personal and Planetary Awakening, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND: 10 Keys for Unlocking Your Personal Potential, Achieving Spiritual Awakening, ... of Humanity's Ultimate Cosmic Destiny
Vincent Casspriano Jr.
Manufacturer: Lulu.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Buddha | Buddhism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1847285783

Book Description

The Simplest Path, Step One: Free Your Mind delineates, in one slim volume, a complete system for achieving personal spiritual awakening, along with a straightforward, no-nonsense plan individuals and groups so enlightened can follow to awaken Humanity en masse and positively transform the world. This book contains keys to awakening. Awakening from our personal dream shatters the solid "box" of limitation memes have built around our lives, and frees us to fluidly craft our personalities, environments, relationships, careers, etc. as an artist paints a landscape or a sculptor teases form from formless clay. All of us awakening together from the shared dream of the planet will mark the birth of our species out of our current global nightmare of decline into a limitless future literally beyond our present ability to imagine, even in our "wildest dreams," indeed.

Customer Reviews:

Way Beyond "Socrates Revisited".......2007-08-22

After reading the commentary attached to the one star rating given by the young man from Texas, I feel compelled to step forward in defense of this very fine book. With only one exception, every point made in that negative review is simply wrong. Just not factually correct. The reviewer identifies himself as a young man (... "to my young mind"), and since all of his other Amazon reviews are of TV episodes on DVD, video games and rock music CDs I take him at his word. Well, I am an "old man," closing in on my sixty-third birthday, and I came to Mr. Casspriano's book after six decades of life experience, the last three of those decades a zealous practitioner of Zen Buddhism. I say this not to "brag," but simply to qualify myself as a reviewer before beginning.

I'll start where the one star reviewer closed his argument, with his statement that the simplest path reduces to two Socratic concepts: "Admit that you don't know anything" and "know yourself."

The first part is nominally true (the exception). Like Zen Buddhism, a central tenet of the simplest path is working to release the false notion we all hold that we know ourselves, other people, the world around us. But identifying and releasing our attachments to our illusions is a life's work, not some brash "I don't know nothin'!" as the young Texan seems to imply. Under normal circumstances, we go about our daily lives with no idea we are deluded about anything, as Maya (the illusion of the phenomenal world around and even inside us) is so convincing that most of us never even think to question its validity. Casspriano did not invent the notion of human beings being trapped in illusion, as this truth was known to the timeless authors of the Hindu Vedas and is central to all schools of Buddhism (not just Zen). But his scientific/spiritual exploration of the mechanism by which Maya ensnares our minds and can, with effort, be overcome is among the best "plain English" explanations of this process I have read. There is no "inscrutable mystery" in the simplest path (a criticism that has been accurately leveled toward Zen Buddhism, as a lot of Eastern thought truly does come off as "inscrutable" when translated into English and/or the metaphors of Western culture). Casspriano lays out in no-nonsense American English exactly what our brains are doing when they create the illusion we mistake for reality, then shows the reader in the same clear terms how to train his or her brain to break free of illusion and taste reality as-it-is. In just 216 pages, that is no mean feat. After thirty years of Zen practice and numerous kensho experiences (of varying depths and intensities), I can say from personal experience that Casspriano is correct. Enlightenment comes as the fruit of a long, incremental process of retraining the mind to touch reality in a new way, and the process described in the simplest path is the same as that followed in Zen practice, especially Rienzi Zen koan study (I'll have more to say about this in a later paragraph). Casspriano's approach and language is very different from traditional Zen (more "scientific," and no sitting meditation is required), which I think would appeal to Americans and other Westerners seeking to experience "awakening" without necessarily committing themselves to a religion like Buddhism, but the internal mental/spiritual process and final destination are the same.

"Know yourself," on the other hand, is not in this book at all, at least not in the way the young reviewer, or Socrates for that matter, uses the phrase. As in Buddhism, Casspriano takes pains to demonstrate that "self" is as much of an illusion as our misapprehension of the phenomenal world, and is a byproduct of exactly the same mind process that creates outer Maya. A core teaching of Buddhism is that our "self," our personality/ego, is nothing more than an aggregation of outside influences that cluster together in our minds like shiny stones gathered into a pile, and which we mistake not only for something "real," but tragically, for our essential selves. Yet this "pile" has nothing really to do with who we are at all. Buddhism teaches "no-self." Belief in the illusion of a unique and independent "self" is our greatest obstacle to enlightenment. Wasting time and energy getting to "know yourself" in the Western sense is foreign to Eastern thought. Casspriano again does a great job of translating the Buddhist concept of "no-self" into Western scientific/spiritual terminology. He shows the process by which our ego/personality aggregate "piles up," as well as how to take the pile down, stone by stone. Enlightenment is what the pile was covering up, and so it naturally appears as soon as the pile is removed - but oh how we cling to our personal pile of stones! "Self" is what we must trade for enlightenment, what must be surrendered, and Casspriano returns to this truth many times in the simplest path. My point is that the one star reviewer's reduction of the simplest path to "know yourself" has no basis at all in the actual book.

As to the book being "gimmicky": Yes, the words "The Simplest Path" recur frequently throughout the book, but not in reference to the book itself (at least that's not how I took it), but rather to the system of understanding the mind and working toward "awakening" Casspriano is describing - and it is a complete system that deserves to be considered as a whole, on its own. At times the repetition does have a feel of "branding" in the commercial sense, so I understand where the reviewer may have taken his impression. But the simplest path, while resonant with Zen Buddhism (and apparently, according to Casspriano, with the Toltec philosophy espoused by Carlos Castaneda, of which I have no personal knowledge, so I'll have to take the author's word for that) is far enough different that it needs its own "name" to set it apart from other schools of similar but not identical thought. The reviewer's criticism is like saying that every use of the term "Zen" in a book called "Zen Buddhism" should be taken as a reference to the book, and not to the larger practice of Zen Buddhism as a spiritual discipline that the book is describing. Casspriano's point in repeatedly linking The Simplest Path, Zen Buddhism and Toltec Shamanism throughout the book, at least as I understood it, is to highlight these three spiritual practices as related reliable paths through a dark forest of illusion, a forest in which many apparent (and more popular) paths, including most (all?) religious beliefs, actively vie to mislead travelers toward deeper ensnarement in the dream, rather than leading them toward "awakening."

I want to say a word about koan study in Rienzi Zen and how it relates to the simplest path. Koans are those quirky Zen sayings and stories like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?" or "what was your original face before you (or your parents) were born?" that have no rational answer, and which Zen students turn and turn in their minds like the tumblers of a combination lock until their imprisoned psyches "explode" in a "super-rational" experience of reality beyond the illusion ("irrational" would be the wrong term, as that implies "nonsense"). That "super-rational" vision of reality is called "kensho." I have experienced it myself, more than once in my lifetime. I have come to think of Casspriano's "Key Questions" in the second half of the simplest path, especially the later seven of the ten, as "cultural koans" designed to trigger "collective kensho" for the whole human race at once. Like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?", unflinching consideration of the value of human life, of how our beliefs about the future shape the present, of the true origin and destiny of life on Earth, etc., especially as seen through the lens of Casspriano's "Key Question Technique," reveals that none of these questions have rational answers, yet all require our active and immediate response. Successful resolution of these larger riddles that impact everyone will require us all to eventually "explode" into reality, together, in a "super-rational" way. We'll have to break through the illusion and wake up together, as one (which has been the goal of Mahayana Buddhism, of which Zen is a sect, since around 200 BCE). That is the "Planetary Awakening" addressed in this book, and I believe Casspriano's "Key Questions" are a concrete step in that direction. I'm glad I spent my fifteen dollars.

This is my "old man" take on the simplest path, having encountered it after 30 years of Zen Buddhist practice (I'm not veering off my chosen path here, just bowing respectfully in passing toward Casspriano's). From a Buddhist perspective, the simplest path is true Dharma, though I do not get the impression from reading his book that Vincent Casspriano is himself a Buddhist or a follower of any religion. That to my mind makes his book all the more interesting.

True, but gimmicky.......2007-08-09

Casspriano's book is scientifically and philosophically sound as best as my young mind can tell, but I don't recommend this book. Its scattered with numerous pages of advertising about how his "program" works and how it compares to other religions and spiritual movements. Why must this author physically write out "The Simplest Path" in reference to his book every other page, and talk about his second volume? Perhaps because he's not out for pure truth, but for our money.

All this book comes down to after you strip away the nonsense is two things. First, admit that you don't truly know anything. Second, know yourself. Do those two things (they essentially both mean to question EVERYTHING), and you'll have Casspriano's "Planetary Awakening," with 15 bucks still in your pocket. And you'll be following the fundamental truths already said by Socrates.. so do yourself a favor and pick up Plato's "Apology" and read up on the Socratic dialogue on how to live a good life. And don't stop there, because you can't be sure he's right.

And I have 10 bucks that says these other couple of reviews were written by the book publisher. In any case, ignore the hype.

A Unique and Inspiring Wake-up Call.......2007-05-15

This is one of the most clear-headed books I've read in years on the subject of real, nitty gritty, get your hands dirty spiritual development (as opposed to the fru fru New Age variety). So much of what passes for "spirituality" in our time amounts to some author, celebrity, priest, philosopher or self-appointed guru telling us what to "believe," sight unseen, if we want to reach heaven, attain enlightenment, achieve "ascension," etc. Casspriano takes an at times startling opposite approach. For Casspriano, such unquestioned/unquestionable beliefs are not only NOT the path to spiritual awakening, they represent the chief obstacle blocking our realization of higher consciousness. And it's not just religious beliefs ("faith") he's talking about, but all our beliefs about reality, especially those that enclose our thinking in "boxes" that limit our freedom to find solutions to real-world threats like Peak Oil, overpopulation, Global Warming, etc. Though much of the book focuses on individual enlightenment, for Casspriano, these larger planetary issues are "spiritual," as well. Whether the issue is our personal inability to find happiness or Humanity's collective rush toward physical extinction, the cause is the same - our wrong-headed beliefs about what's real. The solution is the same, as well - continuous, deep questioning. Using Richard Dawkins' concept of "memes" as a central metaphor, Casspriano first breaks down the basic process of belief, showing the mechanism in our brains by which beliefs misdirect and control our psyches, then he walks the reader through an exploration of a series of ten "anti-meme questions" aimed at breaking down the walls of our mental "boxes" and setting our minds free. With each question, he supplies an exercise designed to allow the reader to attain a personal taste of reality "beyond the box," especially as flavored by that chapter's "Key Question." For the most part, this formula works very well (with a few rare moments of over-exuberance on the author's part, as already described in other reviews, though as a card carrying vegan environmentalist, I can't say I particularly minded), delivering a cumulative series of death-blows to some of the most basic "pillars" of our present human consensus reality. Beyond the walls those pillars supported lies real reality, where we are all interconnected and interdependent, and, in Casspriano's view, mutually destined for greatness, if we can just wake up and grab the reins of our runaway culture in time. This is not a book for spiritual "feel gooders" seeking soft assurances that they're perfect just they way they are and everything's going to be all right, no matter what. This is a wake up call, a tool kit and a concrete action plan for becoming individually enlightened and collectively saving the world, all rolled up into one. That, I think, is a cause well-worthy of exuberance.

Challenge Consensus Reality!.......2007-05-10

This is a thoughtful book that addresses how we may go about developing a process to question our everyday consensus reality. I suppose if I have learned anything in 49 years of life, it is that all personal and social problems stem from our fundamental views on the nature of reality itself. Vincent Casspriano uses the concept of a "meme" as a fundamental unit of ideas, assumptions, etc. that often block our understanding of reality itself. One such meme, for example, may be that we have to "fight for our freedom" or the world's a "fearful" place and hence, we have to be ready to kill to protect ourselves. I suppose you could also use the word "paradigm" here as well, but the essential point of this book is that we "unconsciously" function in our life with many limited points of view that block our ability to solve problems on both a personal and a social basis.

While Vince Casspriano is to be congradulated for producing a book that presents both a methodology and a motivation for personal transformation, there are a few pitfalls here that the potential reader should be aware of before tackling this material. The author has some rather strong views on fossil fuel consumption, meet consumption, and the role of humans in the cycle of procreation. While I generally agree with his analysis on fossil fuel consumtion and meat consumption (as I have viewed large tracks of deforrested grazing land in developing countries), these viewpoints can distract the reader from the essential point here which is to rigourously question consensus reality. Since I am single, and have no motivation to have children, I definitely disagree with his views on the necessity of human procreation on this planet, but here again, it is important to extract the essential meaning rather than get caught in the specific political/social debates that these issues may spawn.

If you are serious about personal transformation with the potential for changing our global consciousness, than this book can be an invaluable tool. I do agree with the Author that a world population of "high functioning" people can resolve every planetary problem we face today. As we systematically question our consensus reality, we will see our problems in new ways, and with this new perspective, problems can often be quickly resolved or transcended.

A Simple Cure For What's "Eating Us".......2006-11-13

I considered titling this review, "Stop Whining, Wake Up and Get Busy Saving the World," but decided "Eating Us" would be more attention-grabbing - which matters because I believe Vincent Casspriano, Jr.'s "The Simplest Path, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND" is an important book, and I want to do whatever I can to draw your attention to it. Pick the title you like best. Both very fittingly describe what you will find within the pages of this remarkable new release from New Paradigm Press.

I have selected three short quotations to explore in this review that I think best summarize Casspriano's overall message:

From Chapter One, "The Boxes We Dream In":

"Right now, this very moment, you are asleep... Even if you are reading these words in broad daylight - sitting at your desk or beside the kitchen table, your feet firmly planted on the floor, eyes open, senses alert, feeling the weight of this book in your hands as sounds of life rise and fall rhythmically around you - you are deeply asleep, and dreaming furiously"

Now, the idea that Humans are sleeping, and must therefore "awaken," is by no means unique to Casspriano's "Simplest Path" spiritual system, being the root observation underlying pretty much all Eastern religion, and a lot of Western Occultism and New Age metaphysics, as well. In fairness, Casspriano makes no claim to this as an original insight, openly supporting his assessment of the human predicament with quotations taken from Animism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. He then flows seamlessly into a list of complementary illustrations from the secular realms of Quantum Physics, brain/consciousness research, and most to-the-point, the study of memes and memetics, ala Evolutionary Biologist and world's best-known cheerleader for scientific atheism, Richard Dawkins.

If you've never heard of memes or memetics, a quick Google of those terms will reveal hundreds of serious, information-rich websites devoted to this now thirty-year old science. In a nutshell, a "meme" is a sort of contagious thought-form that spreads between people by way of imitation. Obvious memes in our environment include advertising jingles, fads and fashions, etc. Casspriano somewhat radically extends the concept to include just about everything that makes up the contents of our individual brains and shared human culture. While he resists redefining the word "meme" wholesale, he decidedly expands its definition to make memes and "memeplexes" (what you get when a number of memes band together into an organic, relational unit, like a religion or cultural or political movement) the basic, fundamental building blocks of everything we habitually label "real..."

And then he demonstrates, in at times excruciating detail, the complete emptiness of the "apparent-reality" that is a byproduct of memetic activity in our brains. What we call "real" is not real at all. It's an illusion spun up by our memes. And our memes are not original to us. They are "viral invaders" assailing our minds from without. Worse - and, while even this thought is not wholly unique to Casspriano, he certainly gives it his own very effective spin - memes are by no means mere passive beliefs or simple "harmless ideas." They are, Casspriano believes, actively predatory psychic parasites whose survival depends on our buying into the illusions they create in our minds. Think of illusion (Samsara, Maya, etc.) as a web we're caught in. Memes are the spider. We are the fly. Gotcha.

One thing I like very much about Casspriano's book is that he never asks us to take anything on faith, least of all this rather ugly depiction of the human psychic/spiritual condition. He not only challenges readers to test his hypothesis firsthand in order to experience what is real and true for ourselves, he spends a large chunk of the book outlining specific exercises anyone can do to escape memetic interference and personally experience reality as-it-is. The exercises in Part II of the book are powerful medicine... But this is a digression, so let me return to the point.

Memes are the spider, and we are the fly. A better metaphor might be that memes are the farmer, and we are the cow. Domesticated and docile, we allow memes to milk us daily, to extract from our minds the potent human psychic energy which, if reclaimed by us and put to proper human use, would quickly and positively transform our lives and our world. This transformation is awakening, ascension, enlightenment, metanoia, the Buddha-like change of consciousness most religions and spiritual systems on Earth hint at, but few ever actually deliver to followers. In this analysis, Casspriano's "Simplest Path" is very much in line with Gurdjieff's "Fourth Way," Carlos Castaneda's Toltec sorcery, and a few other well known spiritual practices inhabiting a somewhat darker, though perhaps more realistic corner of the New Age. But unlike most of those other systems, Casspriano's prescription for escaping illusion and awakening to reality is remarkably, well... simple.

From Chapter Three, "Waking Up":

"The simple truth is that we are sleeping because we lack sufficient energy to wake up."

And later in the same chapter:

"The real work that brings about awakening, rather than merely granting the external appearance of "being spiritual," while actually embroiling us ever more deeply in the dream, is a rigorous, daily commitment to the identification and elimination of every self-serving belief from which our personal dream-lives are constructed."

For "belief" in the quotation above, read "meme/memeplex." Casspriano certainly does, treating the terms as largely interchangeable. In the end, this genuinely simple - at least in the sense of being uncomplicated and pragmatic - spiritual practice amounts to discovering reality as-it-actually-is less by searching for a glimpse beyond the illusion, than by systematically withdrawing our participation in, and identification with, the dream. When we disentangle our psyches from memetic illusion, only reality remains. We don't have to chase it; to a meme-free mind, reality just appears. This is "Satori" in Zen Buddhism. This is "stopping the world" in the Toltec sorcery of Castaneda and others. Casspriano's genius lies in his talent for exposing the core mechanism behind such complex and often inscrutable spiritual systems, and for putting into plain language clear instructions for unraveling the dream and achieving personal awakening. The virus-like process by which memes take over and control our human minds, as described by Casspriano is, to my mind, very complicated (but well worth struggling through). What is genuinely simple about "The Simplest Path," however, is Casspriano's prescription for breaking those bonds, once you've made the effort to understand how they are created and maintained. For Casspriano, remaining a victim of spiritual sleep and energetic exploitation by memes is a complex activity in which we unconsciously invest enormous amounts of psychic energy every day of our lives. Awakening is the product of a simple act of withdrawing that investment, which automatically re-energizes of our minds and lives. Or as Casspriano cleverly phrases it when closing Chapter Three, "Waking Up":

"Unweave the tapestry of the dream, and awakening happens."

Anyone can do this. Spiritual awakening, in Casspriano's view, may be hard work, but it is not complicated work. The path to enlightenment is really rather shockingly simple. Fall out of love with the dream. Reclaim your psychic energy. Wake up to reality.

The ten "Key Questions" Casspriano explores in the second section of the book are designed to put the theory laid out in Part I to practical and immediate use. Essentially, I think Casspriano sees these ten issues - why we treat enlightenment as an "airy-fairy" ideal instead of a measurable transformation of brain functioning, the excuses we make for avoiding personal responsibility and integrity along the lines of Castaneda's "impeccability," the fallacy of belief in a "separate self," etc. - as pillars of both our personal and collective human dreams. They are by no means an exhaustive listing of the memes twisting our minds. But they are primary keystones on which layers upon layers of the grand illusion are built. Topple these ten baseline pillars and the larger structure crumbles.

Casspriano explores some "Keys" more successfully than others. One downside to the book is that, especially in the "Keys," Casspriano's own memetic prejudices shine at times rather glaringly through, as when, in his discussion of the American "What Would Jesus Do?" religious fad, he characterizes the Evangelical Christian purveyors of WWJD as, "ultra-conservative, right wing ideologues." Even should the reader personally agree with such pronouncements, its hard to resist thinking, "Hey Vince! Your memes are showing!" But where he nails his point, Casspriano's prose can be downright inspiring, as with the "Key" cosmological study "Is Earth the Center of the Universe?," which explores the gap between what we know, scientifically, about the Universe and what our daily choices and behavior says we really believe, about the cosmos and about ourselves. His closing "Key" "Are We Alone?" so poetically frames the true stakes of our global human predicament - species survival VS extinction - that its hard to imagine anyone keeping their gaze glued squarely to their own self-involved navel in the wake of reading it. Of course we are not alone. There are six and a half billion of us on Planet Earth, and whether we awaken to what's best in us or follow our darkest drives over History's cliff into oblivion, we do so as one. One planet, one fate.

This notion of "oneness" and of a common, intertwined human spiritual and biological destiny is a core theme in The Simplest Path, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND that sets it apart from any spiritual book in recent memory. My final quotation from the book returns us to the opening lines of Chapter One, "The Boxes We Dream In":

"We are all aware of the challenges facing us as we enter together into the 21st Century:

· World oil supplies are running out.

· Global warming is transforming the Earth into a steamy greenhouse.

· Even as our technology connects the world, ideological extremism, terrorism and militarism divide us as never before.

· Headlines bombard us with news of war, famine, pestilence and death until we feel overwhelmed and unable to respond.

· Time is running out..."

Vincent Casspriano, Jr.'s "The Simplest Path to Personal and Planetary Transformation, Step One: FREE YOUR MIND" does not offer easy escape from these very pressing real-world human ills, but rather, a down to Earth, workable prescription for their cure. Yes, we must awaken as individuals, and, rest assured, "The Simplest Path" shows spiritual seekers exactly how to do that. But a prime message of "The Simplest Path" is that, for personal awakening to have meaning, it must occur within the context of a complete re-visioning of global culture, and a mass wrenching away of the wheel of History from the control of viral memes, that we might create a common cosmic human destiny worthy of our highest potential as a species.

Now that's a meme worth feeding.

Average customer rating:

Excellent reading
Historical Fiction at its Finest
Review of Samsara Moon
Sweeping
Good relationship story

samsara moon
S. H. Post
Manufacturer: Kirk House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 188651397X

Book Description

On a sunny day amidst the jubilant London crowds celebrating Queen Vistoria's Diamon Jubilee, Captain Stephen Hamilton finds himself at the prime of his life, living his childhood dream…

…With a beautiful wife, two loving children and a successful military career, his future and the world beckons…

…tragedy strikes and Samsara moon takes the reader on Stephen's journey of recovery. From Ireland to South Africa to India this is an epic tale of faith, conviction, and personal evolution set on the grand stage of vast British Empire.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent reading.......2007-09-09

A great blend of England's colonialism and personal human challenges of family, love and war. I enjoyed every part.

Historical Fiction at its Finest.......2007-08-22

Samsara Moon initially finds our hero, Stephen Hamilton, in the late 19th Century/British Empire era. Soon, the reader is immersed among beautiful images of far-off lands where colorful characters abound. While this tale contains plenty of action to keep the story moving, ultimately Samsara Moon is a tender story of family, faith and determination. S.H. Post has crafted a heartbreaking yet uplifting story full of unexpected and page-turning twists and turns.

Superb debut effort by S.H. Post.

Review of Samsara Moon.......2007-02-22

I thought Steve did an excellent job with the Samsara Moon novel. Prior to reading his book my reading interests have been mostly with Crime/Corruption type fictional novels so I was not sure how I would like this Historic Period piece.

Did not take me long to get hooked on this book. Steve's knowledge, vivid descriptives and weaving of historical events made you believe that this was a very true story. His development of the characters in the book really got me interested in and had me rooting for the good ones.

As I got into the book was rooting very hard for Captain Hamilton to persevere and find his way through all his hardships. The fact that he managed to be able to do that and still stay focused on his career with the KDG was very inspiring.

I look forward to the future works of Steve and this book has allowed me to broaden my reading interests.

Sweeping.......2007-02-20

Samsara Moon struck a special chord with me as I'm currently going thru my own personsal journey in moving to New York City. Throughout the ages, I have amassed friends from various backgrounds: Persian, British, Latin, Asian, etc. etc. This book made me go down memory lane involving my adventures (good & bad) and the wonderful friendships forged along the way. This book made me think of the movie called "Four Feathers", which highlights love, loss, friendship, and nobility. The whole story was seamless and allowed me to get captured in the changing landscapes like a gypsy would do on their travels......

Good relationship story.......2006-12-27

Steven Post's first novel exhibits his extensive knowledge of history by evocative, accurate settings in England, Ireland, India, South Africa and Ceylon from Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 to 1901, a 13-year span in Capt. Stephen Hamilton's military career and family life. This is a step back in time as an eye witness account of men involved in battle, and a strong man's developing relationships with his son and daughter and his changing perceptions as the British Empire evolved during political upheaval.

Post's characters are realistic, human, and well-rounded, including a close friend known for colorful language common to males in uniform. Capt Hamilton's platonic relationships with female friends after his beloved wife's death are honorable, positive examples for boys and girls--so encourage sons and daughters to read this second chance at love. The lack of gratuitous sex makes this one I can suggest to middle schoolers and above.

This story of healthy, growing relationships, male/female and man to man, could appeal to either sex. I am curious to hear my Navy ROTC college-age son's opinion of the military aspect.

An Anglophile may find the author's vocabulary challenging (he stumped me twice in the first two pages), yet readers unfamiliar with this era could follow the terminology thru Post's use of connotation and denotation. He often sets up an explanation of the background that makes this a wonderful way to learn history in an enjoyable way.

Home-schoolers, take note: RECOMMEND this to MALES and females over 14 interested in British Empire military history, the grieving process, father/child relationships, critical thinking, travel and romance--in that order.

Armchair Interviews says: Interesting read for middle-schoolers and a bit older.

Average customer rating:

Love & Death in Old Hong Kong
A Great Read!
A very highly recommended work of suspense
Samsara

Samsara
John Lewis
Manufacturer: Durban House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1930754299

Book Description

This is likely the most exciting thriller to appear this year. The vivid imagery of a story-teller takes the reader to an alien land they can only imagine, as the author weaves his tale of strong, believable characters in their life and death struggles. A book you can't put down. Tom Johnson, editor, Detective Mystery Stories.

Customer Reviews:

Love & Death in Old Hong Kong.......2003-11-23

"Samsara _n. Hinduism and Buddhism_. The eternal cycle of birth, suffering, death and rebirth." - American Heritage Dictionary

Author John Hamilton Lewis has lived and worked in the Middle East and Far East for over fifteen years; experiences he puts to good use in his new novel, _Samsara_. Though the story opens in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp late in the Second World War, most of the action takes place in postwar Hong Kong, a city Lewis shows by his writing that he knows intimately. Situated precariously on the edge of a newly-Communist China, Hong Kong in 1950 was just emerging as an economic powerhouse. As such, it is the perfect backdrop for a tale of suspense and intrigue.

The book opens with Royal Air Force pilot Nick Ridley locked in a fierce battle of nerves with the POW camp's commandant, the sadistic Tetsuro Matashima. Try as he does, Matashima is unable to break Ridley's indomitable spirit despite his use of physical and mental torture. Increasingly distraught as the defeat of the Japanese Empire becomes more and more inevitable, Matashima challenges Ridley to a sword duel. Ridley is badly wounded in the engagement before rallying to chop off the commandant's leg. Sent to a Philippine hospital for recuperation after the war, Ridley does not learn of his tormentor's fate.

Flashing forward five years, former POW Ridley has become the successful head of Cathay Airlines, which is about to win recognition from the British colonial government as Hong Kong's official airline. Despite his success, however, all is not well in Nick Ridley's world. The woman he left behind before the war mysteriously disappeared just before his release from the POW camp. Worse yet, his old enemy from before the war, Thomas Gradek, has become the colony's most powerful businessman and is determined to prevent Cathay from winning the airline concession. When a vicious heroin-fueled gang war breaks out, Ridley is asked by the colonial government to help with the investigation, much to his eventual regret. He finds himself drawn deeper into the intrigue; unaware that he has also become the target of Matashima as the crippled former commandant plots his revenge. When an old face from his past suddenly reappears in Ridley's life, it sets in motion a violent series of events.

Lewis is also very knowledgeable about history, using real events to spice up his narrative. The story is as richly textured as Hong Kong itself, and is peppered with colorful minor characters with names like Formidable Fung, Charlie Sing Sing and Terrible Wu. Lewis weaves in numerous subplots, bringing them all together in an explosive climax. At 244 pages, the book is fast-paced and lively. Lovers of historical mysteries will find themselves right at home with "Samsara".

A Futures Magazine book review.

A Great Read!.......2003-11-16

I read this book recently during a series of long flights on Delta Airlines. One of Delta's music features available on their headset selection at the time was "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" which I listened to while reading "Samsara." It was a perfect match to the text. Lewis is great at both characterization and suspense.

I'm personally preoccupied with the concept of joss and write about it myself in a somewhat different sense than Lewis does. So, if you don't know your joss, then you need read this book to find out what it is. Highly recommended.

A very highly recommended work of suspense.......2003-08-11

Set in Hong Kong after World War II, Samsara is a superbly crafted novel of love and conflict. Nick Ridley is a war veteran who suffered horrific treatment when taken prisoner by Japanese forces attempts to rebuild his life, yet demons from the past encroach upon him and kidnap the love of his life. Nick must confront a monster and engage in a life and death struggle to survive in body and spirit both in this gripping and tautly written thriller. A very highly recommended work of suspense, Samsara showcases the considerable literary skills and storytelling originality of author John Hamilton Lewis.

Samsara.......2003-05-19

I purchased a copy of Samsara at the Los Angeles Festival of Books and highly recommend for anyone who appreciates great writing. It is a thrilling tale of love, hate, and revenge that kept me turning pages all night. I loved all of the characters, the good, bad, and ugly. And, I loved the beauty of the read, even with the underlying violence. I think that's what impressed me the most, being transported to an exotic land populated by memorable characters. I've read Lewis' other books (Basha, Opal Eye Devil), and his writing lives on in my mind.

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SamSara: Mel Mathew's Finest Book to Date
Journeys
An Adventure Not to be Missed! This Book has Soul.
SamSara, reviewed by Gustav Jack Moos

SamSara
Mel Mathews
Manufacturer: Fisher King Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0977607623

Book Description

In SamSara you might stumble upon a typo or a misspelled word here or there, but you stand a far greater chance of reclaiming a misplaced piece of your soul. A lost-in-life tractor salesman plopped smack dab in the center of Florence, Italy seems a bit odd, but even more bizarre, he's the only man in a group of eighteen women psychologist who are attending a seminar concerning the feminine aspect of the psyche. In other words, primitive man meets goddess.

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SamSara: Mel Mathew's Finest Book to Date.......2007-05-10

For those who have had the pleasure of discovering Mel Mathews through his first two books, 'LeRoi' and 'Menopause Man', the wandering, questing central figure of Malcolm Clay has become a new literary icon. The promises so obviously made in the first parts of this (to date) trilogy happily have come to fruition in 'SamSara' - a novel of sophisticated writing, thoughtful ruminations, keen humor, informative explorations of themes from religion to traits of visited countries, and so many clever double entendres - that Mathews' place in the ranks of fine contemporary writers is assured.

Mel Mathews has developed a style of interlocking his many characters, placing them strategically throughout the three books whether in flashbacks or dreams or weighing comparisons, of narrating in first person with his 40-year-old protagonist who has waded through a life of addiction, child abuse, frustrated love affairs, the success and boredom of being a tractor salesman, to the point of confrontation with his basic inner demons that prevent his success with women. In 'SamSara' he has reached a plane where he is seeking spiritual guidance, rolfing, and ultimately joining a group of twenty women in a trek to Florence, Italy for a seminar "Exploring the Images in Word and Art of Mary Magdalene: central to the theme is developing one's inner image of the feminine psyche". That is how committed to change is Malcolm Clay!

From Carmel, California to Zurich, to Florence for the seminar (a period in which Mathews details so much interesting information about the feminine aspect of Christianity, Gnosticism, the concept that Mary Magdalene as the Holy Grail bore a child named Sara Kali by Christ and escaped to a French village Saintes Maries de la Mer where the annual celebration of Sara AKA the Black Queen still exists), to France, and to Ireland Malcolm Clay writes in diary fashion, emails, and in dreams shared about his progress in dissembling his dysfunctional approach to women and in the process finding the validity of his own existence. 'You know, there's something about becoming more aware of what unconsciously runs a person. Awareness is a thief. It's robbed me of an illusion; it's robbed me of the belief that the only way a man can make love to a woman is by physically penetrating her.' And from this stance Malcolm grows into an enlightened man, forgiving his past, and getting in touch with his internal masculine and feminine counterparts.

One of the uniquely beautiful aspects of Mathews' writing is his ability to explore these thoughtful (even profound) topics with a effervescent sense of humor and a gift for communicating details of living in Florence, struggling with the French attitude, and seeking out the funky little eateries and Internet cafes in Ireland. For after all, the main reason for this meandering journey to Europe is to follow-up on a brief but meaningful encounter with a lass named Kelli whom he met in Carmel and agrees to meet in Ireland in hopes that he has finally found his perfect mate, hopefully with the added growth of his own sense of self. But the ending leaves some unanswered questions that suggest we may still be following Malcolm Clay through future novels!

After reading three books by Mathews, growing with his developing facility with construction of a novel, with his finessing of his style, the gifts of this author become increasingly apparent. He is wise, clever, earthy, and has many surprises up his sleeve. Example: 'SamSara' as a title for this book references the Hindu/Buddhist word for 'cycle of rebirth, of flowing together from this life into a reincarnation, an ignorance of True Self', yet it also is the name of the Irish pub where he comes to an awareness of his plight with Kelli, and in separating SamSara with the capital 'S' he also pulls in the name 'Sara', the product of Mary Magdalene coupling with Christ. That is the pleasure of reading Mel Mathews - he takes the reader on an engaging journey of self realization peppered by countless chuckles and observations of the human condition. He is an important author: he deserves to be widely read! Grady Harp, May 07

Journeys.......2007-05-07

As other reviewers have mentioned, Samsara could be seen as a mere travelogue, detailing in a hybrid daily journal-dream journal-manuscript form the protagonist, Malcolm Clay's, journey from California to Switzerland, Italy, France, and Ireland. This would be a mistake. Having read and reviewed the other two Malcolm Clay books, I have come to immediately look for the many layers of meaning in anything Mel Mathews relates through his complicated and often unlikable (anti)hero. The woman pursued by Malcolm is both real and ghost, both unique individual and a manifestation of Malcolm's own psyche, as are all of the characters he meets. This book delves into Jungian dream analysis, Mary Magadelene and the sacred feminine and the nature of Love. I find Malcolm, with all his yo-yo-ing, contradictions, generalizations,and prejudices to be a fascinating literary character and Samsara is an extension of these traits, reading at times like literature and at others like purely unedited journal entries. The book is framed in a larger world by a brief introduction by Adam, Malcolm's spiritual mentor, who tells us he received the manuscript, handwritten, by Malcolm, from Ireland. The book offers the most tantalizing and complex writing in any of the three books in its last handful of pages, where the lines between reality and dream, literature and confession converge and blur. There is a most intriguing typo (?) just two pages from the end where an drunken Irishman calls Malcolm "Saint Mal" and then "Saint Mel." The last paragraph is even more intriguing. I am curious to see where Malcolm continues to take us and how he continues to (albeit slowly) morph and grow.

An Adventure Not to be Missed! This Book has Soul........2007-04-16

Malcolm Clay is a profoundly honest and brave man who chases a beautiful woman from Carmel to Ireland, and at the end of the rainbow he finds hidden treasure within his own soul. SamSara is a work of fiction, but it is deeply authentic in its vivid detail of human internal struggle to understand the riddles of one's life.

Only a few pages into SamSara, I found my-self on a grail quest as Malcolm Clay trekked about Europe with me along for the ride. In Firenze, Malcolm seeks understanding of the feminine amidst the relics of the Renaissance. "A lost in the world tractor salesman" tangled up with a group of female Ph.D.'s, some of which attempt to diagnose him & classify him because of their inability to relate on a soulful level. Malcolm presses on and continues to listen to wisdom only to find himself in a small French village waiting for the next clue in his quest. Onward to Ireland where he is led on a treasure hunt searching for the Leprechaun from Carmel.

Anyone who has the guts to search within himself and delve into the unknown will find this read an awesome adventure. Throughout his journey, Malcolm is a witness to lifeless souls existing rather than thriving, always a constant reminder to be true to himself and reclaim his life.

A tapestry of humanity and suffering, for it folly and glory, Mel Mathews bears the soul of Malcolm Clay and distils the spirit of being alive by facing the demons of the past in an attempt to separate from the bondage of false beliefs and dogma.

I look forward to Mel's next book.

SamSara, reviewed by Gustav Jack Moos.......2006-09-18

True this book takes you on a physical journey from California to Ireland via Switzerland, Italy, and France. However, if a potential reader quickly glancing over the back cover thinks this will be run of the mill - travel log kind of entertainment - beware. The cover may give a hint to some that this is more like a journey `to hell and back', but that's putting it lightly. SamSara is not only a page-turner, but provides valuable insights into a very small part of mankind, those who do not fear Freedom but instead demand it as their individual right.

I found this novel to be a very unique action thriller, which takes place in a micro cosmos of one single person: Malcolm Clay. He takes the longest and most convoluted journey anyone could imagine. Malcolm is in my eyes a hero taking the terrible risk of traveling the uncharted regions of his own psyche, deep down to vast regions of fear and pain but also of brilliant revelations full of light and hope.

SamSara portrays the struggles of a man searching for freedom from his puritanical up-bringing and the existential traumas of his youth. Again and again, he comes up against dead-ends and frightening reminders of images from his past. His dream sequences are wonderfully portrayed. One in particular comes to mind, about tigers and how a number of these dangerous animals invade a house, and professionals are called to exterminate them. But instead of killing them, the tigers are tranquillized, and one realizes that the animals are symbolic of the sometimes overwhelming demons within us, energies that have to be subdued and sometimes even separated so that we can slowly develop a relationship and come to terms with these integral aspects of ourselves as opposed to denying their existence and continuing to suffer in a host of neurotic or even psychotic ways.

After the stage for this fine novel has been set, the pace really picks up: I had a hard time fumbling through the pages fast enough, and the ending really threw me. No, I won't even give you a hint. But, let me just say: It has nothing to do with the snake biting at its own tail - swallowing, perhaps, but certainly not biting! If I may quote some very clever personality whose name I have never known: "The beginning is in the end."

In my opinion, the very essence of SamSara is about the transformation of images, and Mel Mathews is quite masterful in the way he moves readers through this process, building to high points of interest and excitement, before letting off, allowing the reader time to relax and enjoy a more normal flow of life as these old ghost are slowly transformed into vital companions. I found it rewarding and enlightening to accompany Malcolm during his metamorphose from a person haunted by his past, yet willing to gamble not only his worldly goods, but even his soul, to become the individually decisive and free man he longs to be.

The eternal self and the cycle of samsara: Introduction to Asian mythology and religion

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The eternal self and the cycle of samsara: Introduction to Asian mythology and religion
Rajeshwari Pandharipande
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Custom Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists (Dover Books on Anthropology & Ethnology)

ASIN: 0536592969

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The house of samsara
Ernest Hekkanen
Manufacturer: New Orphic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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A koan for samsara
Linda Lerner
Manufacturer: Ibbetson Street Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Las hogueras de San Juan (samsara) (Coleccion Letras hispanicas)

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Las hogueras de San Juan (samsara) (Coleccion Letras hispanicas)
Luis Garrido
Manufacturer: Grupo Libro 88
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Life, Death, and Samsara
Monk Lee Kwanjo
Manufacturer: Youl Hwa Dang Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 8930105637

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Love and Samsara
Eusebio, L. Rodrigues
Manufacturer: SCARITH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0979448816

Book Description

Love and Samsara is an epic diorama of the world in the early 16th century, stretching from Europe to Asia, taking in Brazil, Africa, the Middle East, India, and then the lands below the wind, the monsoon countries of South East Asia. The story marks a time when the modern world becomes linked with power-gunpowder for cannon, printing for the spread of knowledge, and astronomy for a new understanding of the heavens. Here is a samsara crowded with adventure, history, tragic love, philosophical speculation, religious confrontation, suspense and mystery, that reaches its climax in 1510 with the Portuguese conquest of Goa. Praise "Eusebio L. Rodrigues uses subtle metaphors of haunting memory to dramatize the Portuguese penetration of the Arab trading world of the sixteenth century, transforming it completely, an event more traumatic than the discovery of America." -Jaysinh Birjepatil, author of Chinnery's Hotel. "The most epic novel written about Goa." -José Pereira, author of Suárez: Between Scholasticism and Modernity. "This is fiction at its best, a masterful multi-layered epic novel, compelling and lyrical at the same time that will challenge and delight any devotee of the genre and of the English language." -Roberto Severino, Professor Emeritus of Italian, Georgetown University.

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