IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFEApril 1, 2007 5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Someone I did not know handed me this book about 18 years ago and said, "Here I think you should read this." They were right. It changed my entire outlook on life and has been my only comfort in some very difficult times. For those who are ready to hear the truth, this is it.
a truly expansive look at lifeMarch 17, 2006 3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The gentleness and love in this book are palpable. I love looking at life through Emmanuel's eyes. He gently yet forcefully leads the reader to a sense of power and oneness.
I read this book when it first came out and recommended it to hundreds of people. Seth is a classic but Emmanuel makes it so much easier to understand the same concepts.
Confused attitude about homosexualityMay 5, 2005 16 out of 30 found this review helpful
I hate to judge a book like this based on only one issue, but as a gay man, this is an important issue for me. In answer to the question "What role does homosexuality play in human relationship?", Emmanual gives the following answer (I'll use slashes instead of the poetic line breaks):
"A necessary one./It is a means of loving./It is a means of reaching for oneness./It is a means to camouflage fear./It is, in short, a path.
"It is difficult to accept unification/because you live in a world/that encourages the either-or illusion./But things are becoming more closely aligned./Many people are learning to accept/their androgynous natures./Some express it in homosexuality,/which is an overstatement, however,/because of the need to accept/the sexual structure of the physical world./Nevertheless, in the long run/it is a healthy statement in your civilization./Ultimately we are all androgynous."
Despite the apparently encouraging beginning ("It is necessary"), this passage is troubling for several reasons. Homosexuality is defined as "a means to camouflage fear," whereas heterosexual relationships are not defined thus. Next, Emmanuel seems to identify homosexuality with androgeny, which are obviously two different things. A man can be extremely masculine and gay, just as a man can be feminine in some ways and be straight.
Then Emmanuel says that homosexuality is an "overstatement," whatever that means, "because of the need to accept the sexual structure of the physical world." Emmanuel seems to be saying here that homosexuality is somehow less favorable because of an inherent heterosexual structure to the physical world.
I cannot believe that the God which Emmanuel describes throughout the book would really care or choose to distinguish between the genders of two souls who reach out to each other. Perhaps Emmanuel's views on this subject are colored by Pat Rodegast's own confused and ambivalent attitudes toward homosexuality.
Thanks but no thanks.
Emmanuel, My Friend.October 30, 2004 8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I bought this book 15 years ago and I have purchased several since for friends and family in circumstances when I thought they might benefit from Emmanuel's sage advice. I don't know for sure if Emmanuel is a real spirit channeling through Pat Rodegast but I do know that everything he (or she) has to say has struck the chord of Truth within me and has given me comfort and strength whenever my faith in something greater than myself begins to waiver. Emmanuel is like a brilliant, wise and loving friend that is always there if you need them. This book is like taking a deep relaxing breath. There is nothing negative about it. That is why I still have this book after all these years and why I highly recommend it.
A life-manual for loving soulsAugust 24, 2004 12 out of 13 found this review helpful
The 'method' of authorship of this book is sometimes referred to as 'channeling', although it must be noted the quality and variety of material claiming to be 'channeled' does vary enormously. The final 'proof' of anything can only be in its usefulness to the growth of the individual. I can only vouch that this book has served me like no other.
The word Emmanuel means 'God is with us', and if you are a soul who finds meaning and faith in the deeper reality of love, then you too may find your own divinity reflected back to you in this book.
This first Emmanuel's book is particularly striking to me in its comprehensive clarity, insight, and compassion for the human condition. The words speak directly to my humanity from the knowing light I once experienced in a 'Near Death like' experience. Emmanuel presents 'himself' as a 'spiritual entity', a being of light who has completed a whole round of incarnations on earth. He has an extraordinary depth of compassion and appreciation for the duality of human condition. One example: 'He' has a distinctly human appreciation of irony and humor, something other 'spiritual entities' may lack if they have not spent (valuable) time in the human realm.
Emmanuel's Books are presented in a question and answer format. There are few exercises as such, other than inspirations to question suffering, darkness, fear and guilt, and constant reminders of the eternal validity of love - of Self - of truth.
I have been deeply grateful for Emmanuel's wisdom in my life. Very highly recommended.
