A new and lucid introduction of New Age spirituality to practicing Muslims that will likely be of limited interest to...
A debut book attempts to combine a popular New Age principle, the law of attraction, with Islam.
Al-Ateeqi begins what is chiefly a self-help book with an account of a video that explains the law of attraction, an idea widely popularized in the cosmos of New Age spirituality. As the author observes, the notion fits neatly into a family of ideas that includes self-fulfilling prophecy, the power of suggestion, and positive visualization, all common in the literature of neuro-linguistic programming, hypnosis, and even martial arts. The key notion is the near omnipotence of the mind—everything good or bad that happens in one’s life is a function of one’s thoughts and imaginings. If someone consistently visualizes positive things, they will attract positive outcomes in life, and vice versa. Humans’ thoughts are so deeply efficacious that they can even change their bodies’ chemical compositions and heal disease. After explaining the foundation of this “secret,” the author then interprets it through “an Islamic lens,” plumbing the Quran for evidence in support of the law of attraction or against it. Al-Ateeqi goes to great pains to establish the general credibility of the Quran, which he claims has “never been incorrect since its existence.” This unusual work discovers no shortage of parallels—for example, the notion of “manifesting” described within the law of attraction is comparable to prayer. But there are also points of disagreement—the Quran denies that people can live a life free of moral judgment. Al-Ateeqi’s book is refreshingly original—while some version of Christianity is often absorbed into a New Age spiritual outlook, Islam is typically considered a counterweight to it. For those who consider the science of the law of attraction deeply suspect, though, there is nothing here that will compel a reconsideration. In addition, this is a book narrowly tailored to a very specific audience—those who accept both the law of attraction’s philosophical credibility and the authority of the Quran.
A new and lucid introduction of New Age spirituality to practicing Muslims that will likely be of limited interest to readers outside the intersection of those two worlds.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4828-8236-0
Page Count: 126
Publisher: PartridgeSingapore
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A moving, heartfelt account of a hospice veteran.
Lessons about life from those preparing to die.
A longtime hospice chaplain, Egan (Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago, 2004) shares what she has learned through the stories of those nearing death. She notices that for every life, there are shared stories of heartbreak, pain, guilt, fear, and regret. “Every one of us will go through things that destroy our inner compass and pull meaning out from under us,” she writes. “Everyone who does not die young will go through some sort of spiritual crisis.” The author is also straightforward in noting that through her experiences with the brokenness of others, and in trying to assist in that brokenness, she has found healing for herself. Several years ago, during a C-section, Egan suffered a bad reaction to the anesthesia, leading to months of psychotic disorders and years of recovery. The experience left her with tremendous emotional pain and latent feelings of shame, regret, and anger. However, with each patient she helped, the author found herself better understanding her own past. Despite her role as a chaplain, Egan notes that she rarely discussed God or religious subjects with her patients. Mainly, when people could talk at all, they discussed their families, “because that is how we talk about God. That is how we talk about the meaning of our lives.” It is through families, Egan began to realize, that “we find meaning, and this is where our purpose becomes clear.” The author’s anecdotes are often thought-provoking combinations of sublime humor and tragic pathos. She is not afraid to point out times where she made mistakes, even downright failures, in the course of her work. However, the nature of her work means “living in the gray,” where right and wrong answers are often hard to identify.
A moving, heartfelt account of a hospice veteran.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-59463-481-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
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