A well-rounded enlightenment guidebook.
A spiritual seeker’s interfaith guide to understanding the stages of spiritual wisdom.
McDowell is an author, spiritual director, and former professor of religious studies at Ithaca College who aims to guide readers on a path to spiritual illumination. She first invites them to embark on their own personal spiritual journeys toward the “realization of Supreme Reality” and explains that there are several stages one must pass through before inhabiting that space—which, she says, can be disregarded should readers prefer the “direct path.” She goes on to use an interfaith framework of Christianity, Sufi, and Zen wisdom to describe these stages in detail, which include but aren’t limited to the “Dark Wood” (described as “a place of not knowing”), awakening, purification and self-simplification, illumination, the “Dark Night of the Soul,” and, finally, the “Unitive Stage.” Along the way, McDowell offers anecdotes and stories from her own life while using the well-known 10 oxherding pictures—12th-century drawings with commentary that illustrate the 10 steps to enlightenment. Each chapter ends with a set of reflective questions that will help readers process information about each stage, and the book outlines spiritual practices and techniques that assist in the transition and oscillation between stages, such as breathing practices, active imagination, and chakra work. Overall, this is a comprehensive and very well-researched overview. However, skeptical readers will question some assertions, such as that “the power of active imagination” cured a woman’s sores or that people can create “material objects out of nothing.” Nonetheless, McDowell is an exceptionally competent writer, and her ability to incorporate and balance the wisdom from the historical texts of multiple faiths establishes her expertise. The book is detailed but not drab, accessible instead of aggrandizing, and persuasive without being pushy. Perhaps most impressive is that readers need not be spiritual themselves to understand the wisdom of intention: “If you viewed all actions as sacred you would become an increasing light in the world, uplifting all those around you.”
A well-rounded enlightenment guidebook.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-950743-73-5
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Wisdom Editions
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.
Memories and life lessons inspired by the author’s mother, who was murdered in 2021.
“Neither my mother nor I knew that her last text to me would be the words ‘Think you’ll be happy,’ ” Avant writes, "but it is fitting that she left me with a mantra for resiliency.” The author, a filmmaker and former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, begins her first book on the night she learned her mother, Jacqueline Avant, had been fatally shot during a home invasion. “One of my first thoughts,” she writes, “was, ‘Oh God, please don’t let me hate this man. Give me the strength not to hate him.’ ” Daughter of Clarence Avant, known as the “Black Godfather” due to his work as a pioneering music executive, the author describes growing up “in a house that had a revolving door of famous people,” from Ella Fitzgerald to Muhammad Ali. “I don’t take for granted anything I have achieved in my life as a Black American woman,” writes Avant. “And I recognize my unique upbringing…..I was taught to honor our past and pay forward our fruits.” The book, which is occasionally repetitive, includes tributes to her mother from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, but the narrative core is the author’s direct, faith-based, unwaveringly positive messages to readers—e.g., “I don’t want to carry the sadness and anger I have toward the man who did this to my mother…so I’m worshiping God amid the worst storm imaginable”; "Success and feeling good are contagious. I’m all about positive contagious vibrations!” Avant frequently quotes Bible verses, and the bulk of the text reflects the spirit of her daily prayer “that everything is in divine order.” Imploring readers to practice proactive behavior, she writes, “We have to always find the blessing, to be the blessing.”
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780063304413
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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