3 out of 4 stars
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It took me a bit of time to finish reviewing this book. Finally, here I am with the review of The Unbound Soul by Richard L Haight. The author’s intent was to guide the reader through his journey towards the “unfoldment”, and my idea is to unfold what I think of this book. I will try to keep my personal believes as far away as possible from this review, to make it a fair one.
As per the basic details, this book contains 219 pages, which contain 24 chapters. The book is divided into four main parts. The first part, named as “My Story”, contains an autobiography of the author. As a summary, it is a motivational story of a child with intellectual disabilities, who later became a spiritual guide, with the help of various people, through his own effort, and with the guidance of the God. The second part, named as “The Path”, contains the essential explanations regarding various pathways to the unfoldment process, the harmonious and disharmonious things with or within us, and about the meditating techniques, which are unique per the author, as per my understanding. In the third part, named “Daily Unfoldment”, he talks about how we should care for our body and mind in the process of unfoldment. The fourth part is dedicated to talk about soul, spirit and the unconditioned love. Hence, it is named as “Soul and Spirit”.
This is not the place for discussing the facts in the book, yet I noted some points, which are worthy enough to mention here as well. The author teaches a new way of meditating, which he calls as “Active Meditating”. This is simply being aware of what you are doing and what happens in your surrounding while you participate in your daily chores. It is an effective way to keep yourself safe as well as to accomplish your tasks accurately. I could learn few new things as well such as, “Aikido”, a Japanese martial art and, “Sotai-ho”, a type of therapy that helps to relieve pain. There were lots of scientific stuff to learn, and if you need any further clarifications or proof regarding the facts, the reference links are placed then and there. And the author points out some important points regarding healthy eating. Though I do not fully understand what the author means by ‘let your body choose its foods’, it is important to make your meal as healthy as possible, whether you meditate or not.
Now coming to the pros and cons about the book, I would like to start with the good things. It was an easy and an interesting read, and through the first part, it felt almost like reading a fiction. The language was easy, and for the hard or new terms, either they were explained in text itself or it was included in the appendix at the end of the book.
The author points out the questions that may arise in the readers mind while reading the book, and he answers them while going on with his teaching. It is a good way to break the monotonous flow. Here is an example.
Most of the things that the author teaches are very practical. This example about solving the issues that you face while meditating is to prove the fact.You have said using the senses reinforces the mind, yet you are using senses in your introductory meditation. Why is that?
When we use some senses to the exclusion of the other senses, which is what people habitually do, it leads us back into the mind. But when the senses all work together in an unconditioned fashion, there is a harmonic effect that tunes us to the 11th frequency class, which is harmonious.
The book is presented in a well-organized manner. The author discusses about nearly each and every fact, in a methodical order, which helps the reader to grasp the teachings easily. The book is exceptionally well edited, and I found almost zero errors.If you start to doze off, then the knees and hands will begin to fall and that is likely to awaken you enough to correct the posture and remain in the meditation.
I would like to give this a rating of 4 stars, but I have to reduce that to a final rating of 3 out of 4 stars, since I feel like the author is being circumstantial when expressing his ideas. The things which can be said directly in few words are made into lengthy paragraphs, by saying the same thing again and again in different words. This book could have been far shorter if the author made his teachings to the point.
Though this review is getting a bit lengthy, I am compelled to quote some beautiful sayings that I came through while reading the book.
When we think of apocalypse, we think of total destruction, but what we fail to see is its other aspect, revelation. It entails breaking everything down to such an extent that the only thing remaining is truth.
Before ending the review, I would like to point out some minor facts regarding Buddhism that the author has mentioned, with which many of the Buddhists may not agree.Human civilization has historically been (and remains) based on war and dominance of resources.
When Buddhists die, for example, they may have to cross a river,
As a Buddhist, I have never come across such teachings or have never heard any one speaking of such things. And also, we Buddhists very well believe that Lord Buddha attained “nibbana” and he is no more for us to hear his calling at our death bed. There are stories regarding people hearing or seeing the gods at death bed, but not Lord Buddha.A Buddhist may perceive that the message comes from Buddha,
I recommend this book to anyone who seeks some spiritual guidance for their lives. Others also can use this book to get few health tips which may be important to your body as well as mind. But be warned if you are a non-believer, because the stuff like spiritual callings and visions may annoy you.
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The Unbound Soul
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