New Radiance Reviews
May 2003
Crappy to Happy:
Small Steps to Big Happiness NOW!
by Randy Peyser
Red Wheel/Weiser, 2002
Crappy to Happy is a snappy little self-help
book that by and large does not take itself too seriously. That is not
to say that there are no serious messages — there are — but most are
expressed in a humorous, light-hearted manner. The book itself is
divided into five sections and contains thirty-eight personal stories or
reflections. Each story is followed by four steps to happiness NOW. It’s
a very effective format as it makes the book both highly readable and
easy to reference.
One of Peyser’s life lessons which she shares with
us is the importance of letting go of what she refers to as “FUTURE
-FEARING.” In one of her more serious stories she outlines an illness
which she endured for a couple of years. In a following step to
happiness she asserts: “I had to learn that healing wasn’t about
failing or fixing. It was about being present and getting through each
moment the best I could. I learned that I had to let go of all the other
moments and let them take care of themselves.”
Each of us will take what we need from this book and
that of course is its intention. Being a serious person who owns several
sets of matching dishes (refer to Randy’s dish theory of personality
discernment), I appreciated the stories that were written in a more
serious vein. Others will appreciate its humorous approach.
Randy Peyser’s writing credentials are quite
impressive and are outlined in the May 7, 2003 New Radiance Updates
Newsletter. It was therefore surprising to note several proofreading
errors in the text as well as a common grammatical error repeated
throughout the book that I would not have expected in an otherwise
well-written work. As I was writing this review I came across the
following quote by Susan Sontag that seems applicable here: “Books are
funny little portable pieces of thought.” Enjoy!
(Reviewed by Brenda Dupas)
Spiritual Enlightenment:
The Damnedest Thing
by Jed McKenna
Wisefool Press, 2002
Jed McKenna sets the stage as well as the tone for his
book about enlightenment in the first chapter. In it, like most of the
others throughout the book, he engages in a fictional conversation with
one of the many students who has found her way to his home in Iowa. It’s
in the middle of farm country and Jed refers to it as a “rural
American ashram project.” Between fifteen to twenty people stay there
at a time and any number drop in to visit and do work around the place.
Overseeing it all is Sonaya, who is the “all-seeing all-knowing
mistress of the manor.” Jed himself is “like a prince in his palace”
who hasn’t “swung a hammer or emptied a wastebasket in years.” He
proclaims “I never decided to be a prince, it just happened when I
wasn’t looking and it’s not the sort of thing you can really bitch
about.”
Jed uses the conversations with his cast of students
as his vehicle for getting his points across and it’s highly effective
as it makes the book very readable. Unfortunately, the persona that Jed
has chosen to adopt in these exchanges as well as in the rest of the
text, serves to detract from the insights he wishes to impart as he
usually comes across as an arrogant wise-guy.
What, however, are some of his insights? And what is
his definition of enlightenment? He calls it “truth-realization. Not
only is truth simple, it’s that which cannot be simpler - cannot be
further reduced.” As a way to arrive at our own truths, he recommends
a process he calls Spiritual Autolysis, which is basically the art of
writing down “what you know is true, or what you think is true, and
keep writing until you come up with something that is true.” He
himself claims to be fully-enlightened, fully truth-realized, and
estimates that there would be only “a few dozen truth-realized beings
alive on earth at any time.”
Jed offers us a fair bit of weighty content as he
discusses such subjects as fear of non-being, and duality and unity. He
also conjectures that the secret to happiness, if there were one, would
be the “ability to relax into the moment and let the universe do the
driving.” One of points he wants to get across is that “Allegiance
to any spiritual teaching or teacher - any outside authority - is the
most treacherous beast in the jungle.” I couldn’t agree more, but I
find his frequent references to it are seriously weakened by the
pervasive echoes throughout the entire book of the words of such
teachers as Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu.
He does acknowledge them in both the text and
bibliography, but often much of what he says parallels what has already
been written.
An interesting, very readable book that would have
profited from more adequate proofreading and a less is more approach to
his inclusion of endorsements at the front of the book.
(Reviewed by Brenda Dupas)
Sky Bounce
by Deanna Miller
Deanna Miller, 2003
"Sky Bounce" is a fantasy suitable for
readers ages twelve and up. Its author is currently an associate editor
for a weekly magazine and has already published another book for young
people, a guide to overcoming peer pressure. Her current work has been
field nominated for several American Library Association awards and is
due for release in May 2003.
The novel’s main character is a fifteen year old
Alula named Hesper who is a winged female who lives on a skymount. She
has formed a secret friendship with a Boytaur named Tristan with whom
she meets in order to go bounce-flying. Hesper is different from the
other Alulas in that she possesses the ability to hear voices that sound
like pleas “for hope sent by hopeless souls.” Her friend Tristan is
different from the Mantaurs and Boytaurs who live on the land beneath
the skymounts in that he possesses a glow and he lacks their violent
nature. He has hence become an outcast.
Soon after we meet the two friends, Hesper is chosen
by the council of Alulas to be Sent to live on the human plane. The
council has been Sending its young for some time to help restore the
imbalance that they have perceived has been developing among the
parallel planes. They also fear that an intrusion of aliens will
ultimately destroy all of the planes in their universe. Once a young
Alula is Sent, however, she loses all memory of the life she leaves
behind. After her Sending, Tristan goes on a quest to learn how to ride
the interplane without losing his memory so that he can find Hesper. The
two eventually do meet up again and Hesper is faced with many difficult
decisions and their friendship is put to the test.
This is a well paced, well written fantasy with
religious/spiritual overtones. It explores the nature of friendship,
loyalty, trust and faith. The messages the author wishes to convey,
however, appear incidental to the story and thus become a seamless part
of the whole. In that sense, it is similar to Madeleine L’Engle’s
works which offer her young readers much food for thought within a
fantasy framework. This is a spiritually uplifting book for young
readers with an interesting storyline.
(Reviewed by Brenda Dupas)
What Is Our Soul Seeking?
by Frank D. Smith
Creative Mind Publishers, 2002
Dr. Frank Smith has been a student and
teacher of Biblical wisdom for six decades. In his book, "What Is Our
Soul Seeking?" he employs both his learning and his faith to give
spiritual seekers a guide for uncovering their own "celestial
empowerment."
He presents believable answers to some very
interesting Biblical issues including reincarnation, the "virgin
birth," the miracles and healings of Jesus, the function of
"Satan," and what it means to be created in the likeness and
image of God. Dr. Smith touches on the books of Genesis, Matthew and John,
and the writings of St. Paul in Romans and Corinthians to shed light on
the esoteric teachings of Jesus, and goes into some detail to explain the
Sermon on the Mount and The Last Supper through a metaphysician's
perspective.
The style of writing shows Dr. Smith's
passion for the subject. He frequently emphasizes his hope that his
readers begin to understand their own worth and position as children of an
omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent creator. The author is both
cheerleader and lecturer, explaining how the teachings of Jesus are meant
to be used. He says, "Jesus was using his own life as an example to
show you what you are and how your life can and does outwardly demonstrate
your personal inner awareness and belief of yourself."
I enjoyed Dr. Smith's friendly approach and
injections of humor. I took his frequent underlinings and exclamation
points to represent enthusiasm for his subject, rather than an immature
writing style. His choice of Biblical quotations served him well in
emphasizing and explaining his ideas on issues which are still being
questioned after 2,000 years. The only real problem I had with the book
were the numerous punctuation irregularities. As a first time author,
Frank Smith has made a fine start.
(Reviewed by Barbara
Casey)
