God: A Story of Revelation by Deepak Chopra

God: A Story of Revelation by Deepak Chopra

In Deepak Chopra's powerful, groundbreaking, and imaginative new work, a unique blend of storytelling and teaching, the New York Times bestselling author explores the evolution of God. By capturing the lives of ten historical prophets, saints, mystics, and martyrs who are touched by a divine power, Chopra reveals a riveting portrait of a constantly changing God. Our belief—and therefore God itself—transforms with each passing century. In this new novel, Chopra brings to life the defining moments of our most influential sages, ultimately revealing universal lessons about the true nature of God.

Job in the Old Testament experienced something completely different from Paul in the New Testament, Socrates chased a mercurial spirit almost unrecognizable to the strange voice that called to Rumi, and Shankara moved from town to town sharing the truth about a God that stood in marked contrast to the one that guided Anne Hutchinson—yet one sees an undeniable pattern. These visionaries took the human race down unknown roads, and Chopra invites us to revisit their destinations. Tearing at our hearts and uplifting our souls, God leads us to a profound and life-altering understanding about the nature of belief, the power of faith, and the spirit that resides within us all. (blurb from Goodreads)

Ratings: PG, 4 stars
Trigger warnings: violence

This book was not at all what I expected, and I’m not even sure what, exactly, I was expecting. I suppose I was anticipating either a straight novelized narrative, or a nonfiction analysis of the mystics in this book. What I got was a strange mixture of both. Each chapter in this book starts out by narrating a scene or two from the mystic’s life. It starts off very specific--for example, the chapter on Anne Hutchinson starts with her seeing a beached whale with her children. After the specific scenes, the narrative continues on for a bit in a more general light. The second half of each chapter provides analysis about what that individual can tell us about God, both in general and in context of their life and historical era. I suppose, in a way, it was little bit like the gospel and homily part of Catholic mass--first you get the story, then you get the application of the story.

This unexpected formatting did make the book slow-going at first, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the format. The chapter-by-chapter focused allowed Chopra to introduce the reader to a wide variety of mystics from a wide variety of religious traditions. Each individual that the book covered caught my interest, often for different reasons.

I know that Deepak Chopra has written other books in a similar vein to God, and I now look forward to reading them. God is an interesting read from both spiritual and historical perspectives, and if the format doesn’t bother you, I highly recommend it.

Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh

Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh

 Without fear, we are able to see more clearly our connections to others. Without fear, we have more room for understanding and compassion. Without fear, we are truly free.
—from Fear

 Most of us live in a constant state of fear—of our past, of illness and aging and death, and of losing the things we treasure most. But it doesn't have to be this way, promises Zen master and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

 Drawing on a lifetime of mindfulness in action, Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to use the practice of living in the present to acknowledge and embrace our fears, recognize their origins, and render them powerless. The world-renowned Zen teacher guides us through practical exercises for transforming fear into clarity. The worries of the past and the anxiety of the future disappear as we discover the power of the present moment. Not only are we are able to handle challenging emotions as they arise, but we can summon feelings of well-being and contentment, no matter what the unknown may bring.

 Rooted in the moment, we have the capacity to restore balance and happiness and be present with what is beautiful and affirming inside us and around us, every day. (blurb from Goodreads)

 Rating: G, 4 stars
Trigger warnings: none

 This has been a summer of reading several Thich Nhat Hanh books. What can I say: I love the guy. I love his peaceful demeanor that is clear even in his writing. I love the strides he’s made to make the mindfulness practice more accessible to non-Buddhists. After living in his monastic community for a week, I’ve gotta say that I love that, too.

 One of the things that I love about Thich Nhat Hanh’s books is how similar they all sound...they all have the same calm tone that makes it feel like you’re reading a section of an incredibly long work. Others may dislike the quality, but I like it.

 Fear, as you may have guessed deals almost entirely with fear and anxiety in life. I loved Thay’s focus on acknowledging the child within us, a practice which I believe should be employed more often, whether that is calming the child or embracing the child and doing something fun and silly.

 I find myself continually frustrated with the way that books like this seem to ignore the realities of emotional states caused by mental illness--sadness caused by depression, fear caused by an anxiety disorder, that sort of thing. I think it’s too easy for a book like this to insinuate that if your anxiety isn’t being helped by the advice in the book, then you aren’t trying hard enough. I will say that the book kept me engaged enough that I didn’t feel that anxiety while I was reading. Once I had finished, I still felt frustrated that the fact that it’s ok to be anxious was never brought up. There is still a lot of stigma to mental illness, and books dealing with a topic like anxiety that don’t even bring up diagnosable illness aren’t helping to erase that stigma.

 That being said, I give mad props to Thay for not making me frustrated while reading. And really, that’s my only criticism with the book. I loved the tone and the gentle nature of the writing. I never felt attacked or blamed for feeling the way I feel. It was a short, enjoyable, and thought-provoking read. I recommend Fear to anyone who likes Thich Nhat Hanh, his writing, or Buddhism in general. I issue a note of caution (though not *quite* a trigger warning) to those suffering from an anxiety disorder...it’s likely you’ll still enjoy the book, but you may find yourself frustrated once you’ve finished.

 Again, Fear is an excellent book, and its short length makes it a quick read, although it’s message will definitely last a long time.

Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

Rating: PG; 3 stars

Summary: Heaven is For Real is the story of a little boy, Colton Burpo, who, after nearly dying in the hospital, started telling his parents things about God and heaven that a four-year-old shouldn't have known. Although at first his parents wrote him off as just telling stories, after several repeat incidences, they began to believe him. The book describes this journey starting from before the hospital and ending with how the family decided to deal with what seemed like a gift from God.

Opinions: I want to make it very clear that my opinions on this book do not stem from whether or not I believe Colton's account. I picked up this book because I curious as to how much I would find believable. After reading it, there were some things that I did believe, and some things that I didn't.

My disappointment with this book lie in the writing style. While I appreciate the need for Colton's father to write this story because of how young Colton was, I think that he occasionally lost sight of what the book was about. In particular, I thought there was too much focus on the father: his thoughts, feelings, and motives. I got the book expecting to read a story about Colton, and instead what I got was a story about how Todd dealt with Colton.

Now don't get me wrong, there are times when Todd's perspective really did improve the book. I really liked the parts about how both parents dealt with Colton talking about the holes in Jesus' hands, a grandfather he never met, and other things that were just unbelievable. These were moments that were really crucial to hear from the parents' perspectives. However, I felt that the parents' perspectives were used too much. I don't think that I need to know all of Todd's thoughts and emotions step-by-step when Colton is in the hospital. However, maybe I would think differently if I was a parent.

I think that in general, this book was misrepresented. I expected a story about a boy's cohesive narrative of heaven, and that's not what the majority of the book was about. However, I do think this is a worthwhile read if you like spiritual nonfiction. I don't think that you have to completely believe everything in it to enjoy it, however I do think it becomes more enjoyable if you keep an open mind while reading it. Because of the subject matter of the book, the Burpo family's religious ideals and interpretations are quite out in the open. It is quite likely that many readers don't see eye-to-eye with their views. I approached this book with an open curiosity, and that's the attitude that I recommend.

I gave this book 3 stars for writing style, perspective, and misrepresentation. However, I still did enjoy this book. I read almost all of it in one sitting. The tone makes it very easy to read. This isn't a book for everyone, but I think those with an open mind will definitely find some things to think about in reading it.

An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor

An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor

Rating: G; 4 stars

Summary: An Altar in the World is a book celebrating religion and spirituality for the rest of us. In short chapters, it discusses how the divine can be encountered everywhere in life, from prayer, to Sabbath, to pain, to work. Taylor makes use of both personal anecdotes and cultural expectations to get her point across. She focuses on details and paying attention to the world around us, and shows that little things can achieve big results.

Opinions: So I had to read this book for a class I took this past January, called “Spirituality for Busy People.” The goal of the class was very similar to the goal of this book: to find the spiritual in all aspects of life, and to learn to take the time to notice the divine in the world around us. I feel that this book is the perfect companion to the that class and to trying to live a more spiritual life in general.

Something that really appealed to me about this book was the intimate nature of it. An Altar in the World read like a combination between a memoir and a self-help book. It had the personal examples and anecdotes of memoir, but also still had the intimacy and personalization of a self-help book.

I'm going to come right out and say that I didn't agree with everything Taylor said in this book. Some of it just didn't seem to ring true for me. However, Taylor writes in such a way that even when I disagree, I can definitely see and appreciate where she's coming from. Spirituality is a deeply personal thing, and so it's inevitable that not everything will work for everyone. I think Taylor did an excellent job in mixing general and specific topics and examples so that so much of it can be true for different people in different ways. Based on class discussions, I'd say that the majority of the students in my class found truth within this book, but I bet that if you polled students on how it affected them, there would be an incredibly wide variety of responses.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in religion or spirituality, but I think it is especially suited to those who say they are “spiritual but not religious.” In my opinion, An Altar in the World bridges that gap quite nicely. This is a nice, easy read that promotes some soul-searching, but only in a good way. The book inspired me to take some action back in January, and perhaps it is time for me to re-read it, so that I can add some energy to my spiritual side.