Sunday, February 24, 2008

The Secret Isn't

Up until now, I haven't written any negative book reviews. The main reason for this is Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap. The main purpose of this blog is to sort through all the crap so you don't have to. Therefore, if you don't see a book reviewed here, you can assume that either: I haven't read it yet; I don't understand it well enough to write a review yet; or it's crap (there's also the case where I haven't gotten to it yet -- ed.). So this will be a positive review with reservations.

My primary reservation about The Secret is that nothing in the book was a secret. If I'm proven wrong I'll happily delete this post and post a public apology, but there's nothing in this book that couldn't have been found somewhere else in the same shelf at Barnes & Noble or Borders even at the time the book was written.

That said, there is a lot of useful information in the book. The key concept, focus on what you want, is very important for recovering materialists. Not for the reason you may be thinking about, namely, "how can I get ...?", but more importantly, knowing that you can get (fill in the blank), and that it won't just be a matter of colliding Newtonian billiard balls. Practical demonstration is essential to spiritual development. Even if most, if not all, of what's in this book has been said before, if it takes yet another book for some people to get it then it takes another book.

You may have heard complaints that The Secret is superficial and simplistic. That's fine by me. A lesson that most of us learn, sooner or later is: "Be careful what you wish for; you may get it." Those who read this book will undoubtedly learn this lesson the hard way, if they haven't already. Besides, superficial and simplistic is just what is needed for a certain subset of the population. By the way, I do own a copy of the book and video, so just call me superficial and simplistic.

The bottom line? If you're a total newbie and haven't read any other books on the subject, or The Science of Mind or The Master Key System scare you, you may as well start with this book (or the video for the tl;dr crowd). Otherwise, save your time and money for something better. I guess that wasn't very positive after all. Oh, well.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

On Second Thought, 12 Steps May Be Too Many

In a prior post, 12 Steps for Recovering Materialists, I made my own version of the 12-step program created by Alcoholics Anonymous. On further reflection, it occurred to me that there was some duplication and that therefore some of the steps could be consolidated. So here's the second draft:

  1. We admitted that we did not have control over our lives. What we thought we were doing of our own free will was actually driven by our desires, impulses and beliefs, most of which came from our genes or environment.

  2. We decided to take seriously the idea that there was something out there besides the physical universe as we knew it.

  3. We resolved to devote our lives toward personal experience of this Something Else (hereinafter referred to as "God").

  4. We affirmed to God that we were willing to have a different perception of the world around us.

  5. We corrected any deficiencies that were in our power to correct, that resulted from our limited perception.

  6. We sought through meditation and study to experience God and perceive our world differently.

  7. Having direct experience of God, and having perceived the world differently, we strove to spread the message to materialists everywhere, and to improve our lives with the knowledge gained.


I'm sure that this list will change at least once more. What I said before about the "Something Else" and the support groups still stands.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Book Review: The Illuminatus! Trilogy

A warning to the impatient: the book I will be reviewing in this post will no doubt qualify for many of you as a tl;dr. Those of you who are more patient will be amply rewarded. That's because the book I am reviewing today is The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.

Have you ever wondered if there's a driving force behind all of the things that are wrong with the world today? Have you wondered if the chaos is an accident or by design? Have you ever wondered what it's like to take psychoactive drugs? Well, the answers are in this book. Whether or not they're correct answers is another question entirely.

Those of you who are familiar with Mr. Wilson's work will know that he was very knowledgeable about the subjects we discuss on this site. If you're looking for more of that type of information, this book will not disappoint you (check out the appendix, and pay close attention to the chapter headings). Just keep in mind that this of course is a work of fiction.

The main plot of the book is a battle between the forces of order, represented by one of the groups of Illuminati, and the forces of chaos. I say one of the groups of Illuminati because as far as I know, there are at least two: one works toward enlightenment according to our model; the other uses sacrifice, preferably human, definitely with a lot of fresh blood. If you believe David Icke, the second group is running things. But consider this: human sacrifice is definitely in the dualistic mindset, and therefore materialists-in-denial as far as we're concerned.

But we digress. As long as you approach this as a fun book, you'll have a good time and will certainly learn something in the process.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Materialists Anonymous -- Our 12 Steps

I looked over the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, and it turns out to be similar to what we as recovering materialists need. I have adapted the twelve steps for our particular situation:

  1. We admitted that we did not have control over our lives. What we thought we were doing of our own free will was actually driven by our desires, impulses and beliefs, most of which came from our genes or environment

  2. We decide to take seriously the idea that there was something out there besides the physical universe as we knew it.

  3. We resolved to devote our lives toward personal experience of this Something Else (hereinafter referred to as "God", but see note below).

  4. We made an inventory of our personal "baggage" that would prevent said experience.

  5. We admitted to God that our baggage was preventing us from experiencing it.

  6. We affirmed to God that we were willing to have a different perception of the world around us.

  7. We asked God to help us do what was necessary to have direct experience of it.

  8. We made a list of all of the things we did and are doing, that are suboptimal as a result of our limited perception, and affirmed our willingness to act differently in the future.

  9. We corrected any deficiencies that were in our power to correct, that resulted from our limited perception.

  10. We continued to inventory and throw out our "baggage."

  11. We sought through meditation to experience God and perceive our world differently.

  12. Having direct experience of God, and having perceived the world differently, we strove to spread the message to materialists everywhere, and to improve our lives with the knowledge gained.


This obviously needs more work, but we must start somewhere. By the way, there are support groups for this sort of thing. You may not have noticed because they tend to call themselves "mystery schools," or something similar. You will probably find one after completing the first or second step

Note: God is a perfectly fine name for the Something Else. The Infinite or the Universe would also work for our purposes. The important thing is, that whatever we call this Something Else, we realize that it is not separate from us.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Book Review: The Field


For a newly-recovering materialist, The Field: the Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe by Lynne McTaggart is an excellent introduction to the anomalies ignored or suppressed by mainstream science. Ms. McTaggart, by the way, is one of the speakers interviewed for What the Bleep: Down the Rabbit Hole. The book covers in extensive details many of the themes touched on by that movie.

My favorite section of the book is chapter 2, titled "Beings of Light." It recounts the findings of Fritz-Albert Popp, a German biologist. He was studying a carcinogen called benzo[a]pyrene. In the course of his research, he illuminated the substance with ultraviolet light, and found that it re-emitted the light at a different frequency. He tested other chemicals, and found that the carcinogenic chemicals all altered the frequency of the light, but the harmless chemicals didn't. The frequency that he used to light the chemicals happens to be the same frequency used for what is called "photo-repair." Other researchers had found that damaged cells could be repaired by exposure to ultraviolet light at a certain frequency. If the carcinogens blocked light at that frequency, then he had a potential cause for cancer.

The book has much more of this sort of thing, including remote viewing and random-number generators being affected by important events. I recommend it to recovering materialists, and those still in denial.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

You'll Pay to Know What You Think

I saw the results of a Gallup Poll about the Iraq War today. The numbers aren't important; the interesting thing was the list of options: set a timetable for withdrawal of troops, withdraw troops when the situation improves, or no opinion. Was there really no one who wanted to withdraw troops right away, or was the option just not given? I think we know the answer, which brings me to the point of the post: a poll that is supposed to reflect our opinion is actually manipulating it.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Book Review: Discordia


Discordia: Hail Eris Goddess of Chaos and Confusion by Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst is a reprint of the cult classic Principia Discordia: How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her. It's philosophy disguised as humor disguised as philosophy, or something like that. To be honest, I'm not really sure. Take the following illustrative quote:

Malaclypse the Younger: Everything is true.
Greater Pope: Even false things?
Malaclypse the Younger: Even false things are true.
Greater Pope: How can that be?
Malaclypse the Younger: I don't know, man, I didn't do it.

The basic concept behind discordianism is that a balance is required between order and chaos. Since there are organizations dedicated to "law and order," there needs to be a similar disorganization devoted to chaos. My take on this is that chaos doesn't need any help. But the book is funny, and if it helps you laugh at some of your baggage, so much the better.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Book Review: The Gospel According to Biff



If there are any Christian fundamentalists reading this, please hit the back button now. I mean it. This is for your own safety.

Of course, what I just said guaranteed that they are still here, but I'll continue anyway. Today, I would like to talk about Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. This is, of course, a novel dramatizing the Jesus story according to the accepted gospels, with the missing years filled in, and some amusing bits about the 13th apostle living in modern-day Manhattan with an angel. In this novel, the missing years between age 12, when Jesus was debating various points in a temple with rabbis, and age 30, when Jesus began his ministry. This novel has Jesus traveling through the East, exploring the paths I mentioned in a prior post with the three Magi who came to see him when he was born. There is, as you would expect, a slight plot twist at the end.

What I like most about the book is that the characters are real flesh-and-blood people like ourselves, including the darker urges that aren't mentioned very often in church. The author also has obviously done extensive research. The most important thing, however, is that if Jesus was a man like us, that means we can (and should) be like him. And isn't that the important thing?