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.
Book Description
Discover the universal spiritual path to a higher state of consciousness, free from human limitations. Learn how to overcome fear, guilt and other toxic emotions. Learn how to free yourself from toxic energies and other obstructions to your peace of mind. Learn a systematic approach to manifesting the same state of consciousness demonstrated by Jesus and other spiritual masters.
Customer Reviews:
It is an interview with Jesus.......2007-05-22
Kim Michaels has been on the path back to God for lifetimes I believe, and this book, as well as his other ones, show a high degree of attunement with the master Jesus. I keep reading this book over and over, finding new insights each time. The oneness of life is the key theme. In order to attune to the universal Christ who Jesus represents, we need to let go of our egos and rise above the duality of life. In this book Jesus gives many guidelines and suggestions on how to enter into the oneness of life and love. I highly recommend it to anyone open to the reality that Jesus is still teaching today. Review by Clifford J. Mikkelson, author of Gospel of One, Letters of Aul
Save Yourself is For Real.......2006-01-25
This is a book written by Kim Michaels in which he give the teachings of Jesus Christ--not channeled but a raising of consciousness to reach up to Jesus Christ. I've read a number of books like "A Course in Miracles, Walsh's books, The Poem of the Man-God, etc. but none had a complete ring of truth to it as this book does. I note in the first page of each book I read the page number of things I found profound. I use the entire width of the page for these going left to right. In this book I fit 15 into a line and there are 10 rows of them! That's 150+ points in this book I found profound. I don't own any other book with so much highlighting in it. Chapter titles are:
Chapter 1 The Secret of Life
Chapter 2 Leaving the School of Hard Knocks
Chapter 3 The Key of Knowledge
Chapter 4 Take Control of Your Life
Here in this chapter I found info that now one ever offer me in New Age/New Thought circle. When talking about meditation: "I am not hereby saying that people need to give up meditation or other Eastern techniques. However, they need to realize that most Eastern techniques were meant to be given to people who lived in the protected environment of a retreat or ashram." Years ago I was learning these types of meditation techniques and I could not figure out when after doing them, I was usually more irritable then before I started them. Now I know I didn't protect myself my lower forces of energy and they were affecting me. Specific protection is given in this book for this.
Chapter 5 Come Apart
Chapter 6 The Flow of Love
Chapter 7 Rise Above Your Past
Chapter 8 Rise Above Your Psychology
Chapter 9 Escaping the Prince of this World
Chapter 10 Rise Above Difficult Situations
Chapter 11 Rise Above Guilt
Chapter 12 Take Command of Your Soul
Chapter 13 The Outer and the inner path
Chapter 14 The Second Turning Point
Chapter 15 Rise Above the False Teachers
Chapter 16 Rise Above the Enemy Within
Chapter 17 Take Command of Your Identity
Chapter 18 As Above, so Below
Chapter 19 Is Jesus Obsolete?
Overall, not meant to be in a bookshelf forgotten and lost with the others, keep it where you are and refer to it often.
Book Description
From one of the most daring young writers in America, Jesus Saves, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, is a suburban gothic that explores the sources of evil, confronts the dynamic shifts within theology, and traces the consequences of suburban alienation. Set in the modern launch pads of adolescent ritual, the strip malls and duplexes on the back side of suburbia, it's the story of two girls: Ginger, a troubled minister's daughter; and Sandy Patrick, who has been abducted from summer camp and now smiles from missing-child posters all over town. Layering the dreamscapes of Alice in Wonderland with the subculture of River's Edge, Darcey Steinke's Jesus Saves is an unforgettable passage through the depths of the literary imagination.
Customer Reviews:
Not terrible.......2006-11-02
I skimmed over some of the other reviews, and pretty much everything I might want to say has been said, so I'll just tell you what's helpful.
Yes, the book is symbolic and slow-paced. It is, however, well-written, flowery prose that I enjoyed reading...to a point. The people who gave this book negative reviews were appalled by the graphic nature and the "misleading" title. Yes, the book is graphic, and not for children. In a couple of scenes, I would definitely even consider it pornographic. It describes certain things in a way that is both crude and poetic, if such a thing is possible (apparently it is).
I don't think the title is so much trying to mislead as it is trying to be ironic. If some people missed that, then it's saying something about the IQ of the reader, not the author.
Overall, I wouldn't say that this book has a wide appeal, but the author does have talent, so if you don't mind dark fiction, and a lack of a sound ending, give it a read.
Consider Me Saved.......2006-02-02
I just went to buy this book for a friend and I was stunned by the low ratings and mixed reviews. This book does some emotional damage on its reader, but in the best possible way. The author picked up on our culture's fascination with child abductions years before the current media outbreak. There's something very prescient about the storyline.
A word about the language--it's surreal and strange and ultimately closer to poetry than prose. To me this is one of the book's great strengths. It's not an easy book, but it's a wild ride. Check it out.
a good, yet difficult read.......2005-06-21
The title is not literal. The message of the book is not Christian. Jesus does not save anyone in the book. Don't read this if you're a conservative Christian nut who finds everything secular to be "evil". You will be quite disappointed and probably pretty irritated and offended.
Although this book was both confusing and difficult, it holds a lot of meaning, but the meaning is hard to understand, the symbolism hard to figure out. I think the author meant this book to be difficult in the way that the meaning is not just given to you. It's not "here you go kids, some milk and cookies, eat and drink and be merry", it's hidden, it's hard, you have to figure it out yourself, and the imagery and symbolism can mean different things to different people.
I agree with another person who has written a review who said that the plot was basically non-existent. It's not a book rich in plot, but rich in symbolism, and thought about life. Life is not always happy and merry and chirping birds and blue skies. People aren't perfect, they aren't happy, they keep secrets and do "bad" things. This book deals with reality and I beleive that's partially why some people don't like it. It's cold, but it's truth.
Mixed bag.......2005-05-10
First of all, if you prefer a plot-driven book that doesn't require a lot of thought about symbolism, then Jesus Saves isn't for you. The plot in this book, even admitted by critics who liked the book, is pretty much non-existent. It isn't an action packed novel, but instead relies on a dry prose to present subtle symbolism to get it's point across.
I enjoy books that don't spoonfeed me the moral, but I also like challenging books to have a good plot on the surface. Figuring out the symbolism and meaning of this book was fun, but reading it was boring at times. The bulk of the novel is spent describing Ginger's aimless wanderings in a suburban town that's gone downhill and the horrors faced by Sandy (a girl kidnapped by a child molester).
If you want books with symbolism that are actually entertaining, read Douglas Coupland or Chuck Palahniuk.
Spiritual Confusion and Suburban Angst.......2005-02-17
I don't know what those who have posted negative reviews of this excellent novel are talking about. This is one of the best books I have ever read. In clear, shaking prose, Steinke lays out an entire landscape of malls, churches and subdivisions, a world achingly familiar but strikingly different from our own. The thoughts of her two conflicted and endangered adolescent female characters ring true and brutal. As the novel progresses, Steinke's world becomes more and more unreal. Her characters descend into a world like that of Henry Darger's paintings - visceral, violent, and beautiful.
This is an important book. I recommend it to everyone of every age - especially young women. I read this book first at age 14 and it changed my life. Now that I'm 20, I still read it every few months. Don't let bad press keep you away from this amazing novel.
Book Description
Part of The Way of the Master Basic Training Course, this 4-CD Kit contains the audio portion of the Basic Training Course videos, for additional ease in learning the material or as a refresher. Based on the award-winning TV series "The Way of the Master," the eight-session Basic Training Course will teach you to overcome your fears by using a proven, powerfully effective way to make the gospel make sense to those you care about. Learn to bypass the intellect (the place of argument) and speak directly to the conscience (the place of knowledge of right and wrong)--the way Jesus did.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Witnessing Tool With a Different Approach.......2007-03-30
Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort have teamed up to produce what I think is a great witnessing tool. May authors use the approach that accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life will make you feel happy and fulfilled in this life. Instead, Cameron and Comfort use the Old Testament Law (10 Commandments) to show how EVERYONE at some point and time in their life has broken at least one of the commandments and is danger of God's judgement. Additionally, the emphasis is also on the next life since we will spend far more time in heaven or hell than here on earth.
We had this course taught at our church and the basic class format is as follows: go over what we learned from the previous week's assignment, watch the DVD that goes with the book, discuss the DVD, and go over next week's assignment.
The book's chapters are as follows:
1. Cultivating Compassion for the Lost.
2. Discovering Hell's Best Kept Secret.
3. Learning to Overcome Fear.
4. Practicing What You Preach.
5. Crafting the Message.
6. Answering the Top Ten Questions.
7. Exposing the Myth of the Modern Message.
8. Spreading Your Wings.
If you or your church are looking for another witnessing tool, this is an excellent one to consider.
Enjoy reading the book and be challenged. Highly recommended!
Great.......2006-08-30
This is really a great product. I had read a commentary by Ray Comfort and his approach to evangelism online and I bought this book and cds after investigating his website. What a powerful and useful approach to those who need to hear the message of Christ. I bought this along with Ray's book as a kit. This CD kit is an 8-part series on "The Way of the Master" that is basically the video series on Biblical Evangelism in sound-only form. It is a real bargin, although I would invest in the videos if I was teaching this to a class. It thoroughly walks you through breaking down the barriers that people have to hearing someone share their faith and it helps you to break down your own fears in sharing your faith. I look at this as another great tool that God is providing to reach people for Him. I strongly recommend this to anyone who feels the fire within but is worried about how to reach those around them for Christ.
Truth as you've never seen it before!.......2006-06-28
This book is used along side the DVD version. It is like nothing you have seend before!
Do people say that you are a good person? Maybe you think you really are good in Gods eyes.
Do you really understand why Jesus had to die for your sin?
Way of the Master Basic training shows you how God sees your sin and how to share your faith without getting into an argument. Do you know someone who is not saved? A mother, father, brother, sister or just a friend? Then this training material is for you. It may even help you to answer those hard questions that come up around the office. WOTM has helped me to share my faith more boldly, but most importantly biblically. The way Jesus did.
Product Description
"Death is not the end of human existence. The Bible states that 'it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that comes the judgment.' After the judgment every person will find themselves forever in heaven or in hell. Your eternal destiny will be determined by whether or not you believe the claims of Jesus Christ." - Chuck Smith, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California.
Average customer rating:
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NAS Update Jesus Saves New Testament (Package of 48 Copies)
The Lockman Foundation
Manufacturer: Foundation Publications Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 New American Standard
| Translations
| Bibles
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
New Testament
| Bibles
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1581350775 |
Book Description
Evangelism Notes, Verse Format, Black Letter, Two Column Text. This is a great low cost evangelism tool with a complete plan of salvation.
Customer Reviews:
Don't waste your time.......2006-06-04
Despite the fact that the description for this item says "package of 48 copies," Amazon will only send you a single copy. When they did this, I called them and let them know what happened. They said they would send me a package of 48 copies. They then sent me another single copy. I called them about that one, and they again said they'd send a case of them. However, they never sent any more copies or replied to my further e-mails about this problem. Don't waste your time here. Order from christianbook.com instead.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book.......2002-02-02
This is an excellent book that will encourage all who read it to give glory to God. It also is the perfect book for a person who is spiritually seeking or is a new believer in Christ.
Average customer rating:
- Rising above the notions of polygamy for our survival.
- Solid, gospel-based review of America's destiny
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America's Hope: Why Every Other Civilization Has Failed and What You Can Do to Save This One
Douglas E. Brinley
Manufacturer: Deseret Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Political
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mormonism
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Eschatology
| Theology
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1590384431
Release Date: 2005-08-01 |
Book Description
See current events in a different light!
Several civilizations have lived on the American continent over the centuries, and each of them has been destroyed or decimated. Do we know - really know - what led to their destruction? And does a similar fate await us? Douglas E. Brinley has carefully studied the Book of Mormon, the teachings of modern prophets, and recent traumatic world events to outline what happened to the previous inhabitants of America. He describes ten stages of decline that each of the previous societies passed through prior to their destruction, comparing our current conditions to theirs. Providing insights that offer hope and opportunity in a time of upheaval, this book offers counsel on what we must do to avoid the fate that befell former civilizations.
Customer Reviews:
Rising above the notions of polygamy for our survival........2006-01-08
This is a great book to enliven conscience and visit a panoramic view of some of the tests of this life through the lens of the Book of Mormon, as related to gospel subjects, duties, and challenges for our time.
I was disappointed when chapter eleven referenced Jacob 2:35; 3:6, 7; and other scriptures, in portraying forms of apostasy among the Nephites and virtues among the Lamanites, while evading the full verse which delineates the precise command of the Lord in question, and precisely why the Lamanites would not be utterly destroyed: monogamous fidelity (the command for "this people" of the Americas to have one wife only--Jacob 3:5, 6; Jacob 2:22-35). Surely in our information age (after numerous works such as Richard S. Van Wagoner's MORMON POLYGAMY:A HISTORY, Richard L. Bushman's JOSEPH SMITH: ROUGH STONE ROLLING, Leonard J. Arrington's ADVENTURES OF A CHURCH HISTORIAN, Gary James Bergera's CONFLICT IN THE QUORUM, Eugene England's "On Fidelity, Polygamy, and Celestial Marriage," Stephen C. Taysom's "A Uniform and Common Recollection: Joseph Smith's Legacy, Polygamy, and the Creation of Mormon Public Memory, 1852-2002," Kathryn M. Danes' MORE WIVES THAN ONE: TRANSFORMATION OF THE MORMON MARRIAGE SYSTEM 1840-1910, and the resurfacing of THE BIBLE & POLYGAMY, DOES THE BIBLE SANCTION POLYGAMY?, etc., increasingly unfold the likelihood that our early consideration, promotion and practice of LDS polygamy were substantially errant wanderings from which we must rise) we must better acknowledge our own succumbing to error as well as pointing out the sins of the outside world (if our own credibility and integrity are important). The risks and dangers of mortality (well portrayed in Brinley's book) plead that we better acknowledge and discern how God's chosen also err (D&C 1:25; 33:2-4; 2 Ne. 28:14; Prov. 10:17, Mark 12:24), and that we must rise above such. Surely we aren't going to keep implying that polygamy by fundamentalist break-offs, or that polygamy by the outside world, offends the God of this land, while "our" form of the same practice pleased Him?
Solid, gospel-based review of America's destiny.......2005-08-21
The author is a Church History Professor at BYU, so this book is a well-researched, scripturally based account of the history of failed civilizations on this hemisphere and the destiny of America. No wild speculations here, so if that's what you're looking for, search elsewhere. Most of the exegesis is based on scripture unique to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) so it might not be of interest to others (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price).
But if you are interested, the author gives a quick overview of the covenant nature of this hemisphere (Serve the God of this land who is Jesus Christ or be swept off). He points out that this same covenant relationship has existed here since the beginning. The Adamic civilization was removed via the flood after the righteous had been saved through the Prophet Enoch. Then the Jaredites went through several cycles before they too were destroyed. Then the Nephites.
The author explains the reason the Lamanites were partly spared. Then he discusses the current dispensation. He ends with current prophet's views and why we should be optimistic. This book does not dwell on all the cataclysms expected before the Second Coming, but rather on why and how there is reason for optimism regarding this nation. Lots of quotes from Ezra Taft Benson as you might expect.
Now just 2 criticisms. First, the visions of Wilford Woodruff and the like are not mentioned. These accounts are not quite so pollyanna-ish but are needed for a fuller picture of upcoming events. And second, the idea of a covenant relationship is not at all solely an idea of the LDS church alone. Many of America's early Christians espoused this idea. The Mayflower Compact and the whole Puritan movement in this country were covenantal relationships. Many other similar groups from the Dutch to the Manifest Destiny believers also accepted this covenant idea.
Overall, upbeat and enjoyable with the single best contribution of this book being what ripening in destruction means, and what exactly determines a civilization being fully ripe (society casts out the righteous).
Customer Reviews:
Best Book On The Market Today!.......2003-07-05
Fire Works, Hand Dipped Ice Cream, Live Bait and Jesus Saves by F. Vernon Chandler is an all out great book. It is full of exciting short stories and real life experiences that Vernon has had in his 50 plus long years of life. It is an entertaining and thought provoking collection of writings that will have you not only laughing but also thinking about life and what is important. Vernon's sense of humor will always bring out a laugh and a smile and maybe a tear or two as you read this book. And yes, those "not so smart" things really happened. This book will also have you examing your on spiritual thoughts and ideas of what is really important in life. I highly recommend this book not just because he is my big brother, but because I know you will enjoy each and every page.
Average customer rating:
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How God Saves and Keeps
Manufacturer: Christian Book Depot
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000G20ZAM |
Books:
- The Sugar Solution: Weight Gain? Memory Lapses? Mood Swings? Fatigue? Your Symptoms Are Real - And Your Solution is Here
- The Sweet Potato Queens' First Big-Ass Novel: Stuff We Didn't Actually Do, but Could Have, and May Yet
- The Tale of Genji: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
- The Twelve Caesars (Penguin Classics)
- The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
- These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman
- Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
- Tired of Trying to Measure Up
- Tropical Houses: Living in Nature in Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Java, Bali, and the Coasts of Mexico and Belize
- True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership (J-B Warren Bennis Series)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Flotsam
- Wide-Angle Vision: Beat Your Competition by Focusing on Fringe Competitors, Lost Customers, and Rogu
- A Match Made in Heaven: American Jews, Christian Zionists, and One Man's Exploration of the Weird an
- Coaching for Improved Work Performance, Revised Edition
- Database Design for Mere Mortals: A Hands-On Guide to Relational Database Design, Second Edition
- Commodities and Capabilities
- Course Notes for Financial Accounting Fall, 1993
- A General Theory of Equilibrium Selection in Games
- Sentimental Heartbroken Rednecks: Stories
The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World
Parallel Universe Of Self
How to Meet Yourself: ...and find true happiness
Life Without a Centre: Awakening from the Dream of Separation
One: Essential Writings on Nonduality
