Book Reviews Perceptions Magazine, November 2014
by: Brent Raynes
Exploring the Realm Where
Science and Spirit Meet
By Matthew Fox and Rupert Sheldrake
Monkfish Book Publishing Co.
22 East Market Street, Suite 304
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
2014, 219 pages, Paperback, US $16.95/CAN $18.50
ISBN: 978-1-939681-28-7
Ebook: 978-1-939681-29-4 US $8.99/CAN $9.99
Reviewed by Brent Raynes
There is a fascinating and thought-provoking dialogue here between two brilliant men, one of spirituality and the other of science. Matthew Fox, a world acclaimed spiritual theologian and Episcopal priest and Rupert Sheldrake, a renowned biologist best known for his theory of morphic fields and resonance. They both bring to the table penetrating new insights and deep wisdom, bridging the proverbial chasm between religion and science, showing that when perceived properly they each may compliment the other instead of create the great division most are accustomed to seeing.
Together they review different perspectives as expressed in the ancient, historic, and scholarly works of Dionysius the Areopagite, Hildegard of Bingen, and St. Thomas Aquinas, translating them into our modern language and science-based perspectives. I found myself mesmerized by their comparisons of angels with photons, both characterized by timelessness and masslessness, both existing in the “eternal now,” the angelic realm traditionally associated with light. Even after an estimated 14 billion years, we still have light out there left over from the Big Bang, known as the cosmic microwave background radiation. How different a knowledge base sprinkled with thoughtful and caring wisdom may alter ones perspective. Sheldrake points out that Einstein stated that matter is composed of energy fields, that matter is energy bound within fields, and that the stuff of matter itself, the atom, is more than 99.9 percent empty space. “Our mental fields are vastly larger than our brains, and as our conceptions enlarge and extend, as our sense of the cosmos enlarges, our fields become cosmic in scope,” Sheldrake added.
Frankly I was most pleasantly surprised at how a scientist of Sheldrake’s standing could so proficiently understand and incorporate so much ancient spiritual wisdom and knowledge into his science-based background and perspective. It was quite refreshing to see men of these two backgrounds, generally opposed on most major points of understanding, instead come together and offer us all another perspective entirely that fulfilled the needs of both camps. They made it look so easy.
The authors even point out that after the now famous theory of evolution by natural selection was first proposed back in 1858 by Charles Darwin and co-author Alfred Russel Wallace, that Wallace later came to part company with this now “orthodox doctrine of academic biology,” stating that there was more involved in evolution than the forces of happenstance natural selection—that creative intelligences, that he identified as angels, were also involved in this process.
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UFO & Alien Management:
A Guide to Discovering, Evaluating,
And Directing Sightings, Abductions,
& Contactee Experiences
By Dinah Roseberry
Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
4880 Lower Valley Road
Atglen, PA 19310
2014, 80 pages, US $12.99
ISBN: 978-0-7643-4606-4
Reviewed by Brent Raynes
Dinah Roseberry, a certified hypnotherapist who specializes in UFO, abduction and contactee investigations, as well as past-life regressions, compiles in this book a guided meditation and various suggestions and ideas for anyone who may wish to explore their subconscious memories and impressions of possible UFO/alien encounter events that may be repressed in their subconscious mind. In addition, this book also explores the use of using visualization methods to seek possible interactive responses from these intelligences, so long as no obvious contraindications (like intense trauma or fear) or as long as protective psychic measures (like doing a prayer of protection; one in particular that has worked for this writer) are present. The author states that you would not be practicing hypnotism, but rather you’d simply be using and working with visualization as a tool to explore your consciousness and that this approach would give you the control over your visualization experience, as you could decide what you wanted to know and what you didn’t want to know, and approach it in ways that would be most comfortable for you.
The meditative/visualization approach described in this book can be followed up with hypnotic regression work later if desired, or a need is indicated, but for many following the techniques outlined in this book may well suffice.
In the beginning of this book, the author briefly reviews the various beliefs and explanations surrounding the UFO enigma, along with descriptions of some of the different kinds of entities described. She provides a few personal antidotes, like actually “calling down a UFO” (she writes that she and two others saw 19 in one night!) and her experiences with channeling “Light Beings.” She describes how to document your meditative experiences and provides a helpful reading list.
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The Gentle Way of the Heart: Discover the light within
By Anders Nilsson
Nordic Light Books
3368 La Mesa Drive, Unit 12
San Carlos, CA 94070
2014, 169 pages, US $14.95
ISBN: 978-0-9892746-0-9
Reviewed by Brent Raynes
Born in Sweden, with a Ph.D in physics from Sweden’s Uppsala University, and since 2000 a Professor of Photon Science at our own Stanford University, who perhaps better to explore the proverbial “light within,” though he admits he keeps his scientific work separate from his spiritual endeavors, and yet further acknowledges that both complement one other. In the early 1990’s, Professor Nilsson states that he had a spiritual awakening in his life, discovering that he had an inner guidance, a “true self,” an inner identity that he felt was a soft and pure emanation of a heart filled with light. From his home in Sweden he began to share his discoveries with others, and soon that sharing expanded into spiritual retreats and workshops, over the years helping thousands of people.
Now Professor Nilsson is following up on a suggestion made by a friend and fellow author that he expand even further the reach of his spiritual light work by producing this book. Besides sharing his fascinating spiritual journey with his readers, the author also provides them with the essential meditational steps by which they can accomplish the very same transformative changes of the inner self in an easy step-by-step series of meditational exercises. This book thus opens up all of the tools necessary for the reader to initiate this inner journey for himself, just in case traveling to Sweden to attend one of Professor Nilsson’s transformational workshops doesn’t fit into the budget at this time. This makes his unique knowledge, insights, and techniques available to everyone.
Professor Nilsson’s writing style is simple, direct, and easy to follow. He recommends taking things at a slow pace, giving his concepts time to sink in if necessary. “I recommend reading one chapter a week combined with doing the practices daily, or as often as possible, before moving to the next chapter,” Nilsson writes.
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The DNA Field and the Law of Resonance:
Creating Reality through Conscious Thought
By Pierre Franckh
Destiny Books, a division of Inner Traditions International
One Park Street
Rochester, Vermont 05767
2014, 192 pages, 6x9”, US $16.95
ISBN: 978-1-62055-347-3
Reviewed by Brent Raynes
Noted German author Pierre Franckh combines the dynamics of positive thinking with the latest new discoveries in science, to bring about our ability to reap significant changes in our state of well-being, healing and happiness. In his book, we read how “like attracts like” in the realm of mind (something acclaimed psychic researcher and author Harold Sherman, the founder and president of ESP Research Associates Foundation, wrote and proclaimed, using virtually the same words, over four decades ago). Today though Pierre Franckh provides compelling new evidence that wasn’t available back then that also provides support for how this complex mental process may actually work. For example, new evidence on how DNA can be changed by human emotions, even over long distances, whether nearby or halfway around the world. Lab experiments that have shown that DNA also influences photons (light energy). How the human heart energetically communicates with our brains and other organs (even extends outside of the physical body), producing an electrical pulse that is 60 times stronger than electrical brain signals and a magnetic field that is a staggering 5,000 times greater than our brains. In addition, the author is open to the role of quantum physics in much of this mental field potential, including how the power of our thoughts may influence future happenings, speculating that our future may already exist in countless versions, as well as the speculation that our DNA may traverse hyperspace by channeling information through worm holes.
Franckh has conducted self-help seminars that have reportedly helped thousands with many different things, including attracting a soul mate, healing, and achieving wealth. He also is a coach and a mental trainer with many clients in the business world, plus doctors, psychologists, and other health professionals. In this book, Franckh provides a variety of useful exercises, suggestions and guidance to put you on a positive and productive path in your life.
