New Radiance Reviews
September 2003
Seeds for the Soul
by Chuck Hillig
Black Dot Publications, 2003
The author describes Seeds for the Soul as a “unique
collection of ideas, speculations, thoughts and musings” which mean “simply
whatever you want to read into them.” It is a sincere offering from
Chuck Hillig’s soul garden and we are invited to choose only those seeds which
we wish to plant.
Hillig is the author of Enlightenment for Beginners and
The Way IT Is; he also writes a monthly question and answer column on
spirituality and psychology which is published in two magazines.
Some of the topics included in his present book are
acceptance, fear, love, happiness, reality and illusion, and enlightenment.
Everything is expressed simply and clearly and we are not expected to
take everything he says too seriously. It is a worthwhile collection of thoughts
and we can always profit from the kind of reminders that he presents,
such as: “Your uncomfortable feelings will change faster as soon as you
stop trying so hard to change them.”
The
only jarring note for me was his discussion of the truth behind “Row, row, row
your boat.” It is true that one can read as much (or as little) as one wants
to into this round that we all know from childhood. I do find it odd, however,
that both Hillig and Jed
McKenna (author of Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing) chose to
close their books with epilogues that featured it. (click
here for Jed McKenna's review)
In Another Life:
Reincarnation in America
by Stephen Sakellarios
Gold Thread Video Productions, 2002
In Another Life is a video by Stephen Sakellarios, who
operates his one- man video production company from
Atlanta
,
Georgia
and it is his first documentary as producer. The program has already been
broadcast by a Denver PBS affiliate station and has been endorsed by Shirley
Maclaine.
It is advertised as being “for the person who
believes in reincarnation and would enjoy seeing interviews with prominent
people in the field; for the person who is cautiously open-minded and wants
accurate information; and for the skeptic who demands proof.”
I fall into the category of being
cautiously open-minded and found that Sakellarios’s presentation of the
subject was perfect for me. The prominent people who are profiled include such
names as Tom Shroder who is an editor for the Washington Post and Carol
Bowman, who has become an expert in the field of
past-life memories of children. Both have written books
that are available in most local libraries.
There are
visits to such well-known past-life therapists as Dr. Roger Woolger who
has also written about reincarnation. Featured
as well are disciples of two important Eastern spiritual teachers, namely
Swami Yogeshananda and Meher Baba. To round out this excellent overview of
reincarnation are segments with some “ordinary” Americans who recount either
their own experiences or that of their children. For me, the only weakness of
the presentation was the “con” viewpoint which was addressed by Ron Lehr. We
never find out who he is or why he was chosen to be the spokesperson for the
skeptics. It is however, a fascinating, matter-of-fact, scholarly exploration of
reincarnation as it relates to
America
.
For this viewer, at least, it has
generated an interest in the topic that has already led me to search out and
begin reading works by the experts profiled. This well-produced video has
an excellent narrator and makes good use of both photographs and art work
to illustrate some of the past life experiences presented here.
Reviews
by Brenda Dupas, MLS
