Breakthrough Books

A number of worthy offerings in the genre of the spiritual new age take up the questions, Who am I? Why am I here?

Many captivating books, guideposts all, have propelled me through a lifetime of seeking understanding of consciousness and spirit. About halfway through the pages of 35 Golden Keys to Who You Are and Why You're Here by Linda Anderson, a thought burst in with that electrical solemnity of absolute knowing, "This is the book I've looked for all my life." If it had been in my family's bookcase when I was a kid, think of the time I would have saved! I'm used to reading fairly weighty stuff, so I was put off at first by Anderson's simple style. But as subject followed subject and clear explanations of universal spiritual laws illustrated by arresting anecdotes proceded, I found it hard to put down.

If you've experienced sounds that others can't explain for you, have seen light that's somehow very special, have wondered about extraordinarily realistic dreams, or how to make good use of spiritual exercises, or why the chant Hu has been revered for millenia among groups the world over, 35 Golden Keys will clue you in.

By the time you've gotten several chapters into it ("You Can See the Light Without Nearly Dying, " "You Don't Have a Soul," "You're in Training to be More Than an Angel," "You Live in Parallel Dimensions," "You Can Soul Travel," etc.), I think you'll see why one of the cover blurbs says, "People of all faiths will find treasure in this book. An excellent introduction to a religion with a fresh approach for modern times!" Endorsed by luminaries in fields of psychology, sociology, spirit, motivation and new age interests as well as by professors of religion, this lucid and elegant presentation of the teachings of Eckankar is sure to be a classic no matter under what category you might find it in bookstores. Several large book retailers in the Chicago area are presently featuring the fast-selling 35 Golden Keys... in their window displays. (450-plus pages, $11 -- no, that's not a misprint; Eckankar Books.)

It's almost a given that if you ask everyone in the room, "What/Who is God?" you'll get as many answers as there are people. David Panozzo has taken the challenge in Awakening from Oz. You may love his answers or puzzle over them, but in the spirit of New Thought understandings and experience, he simplifies beautifully and sets the heart at ease. His clear explanation of zero and one and their relationship to each other will add a mathematical concept to your thinking about God and yourself; his analogy of the much-loved Oz story to the enlightenment process is a metaphysical delight. Subtitle? A Path to Enlightenment in a Paradoxical Universe. (111 pages; $14; Obodoni Press, P.O. Box 409036, Chicago, IL 60640-9036; 773/506-1070; Fax 773/506-2044.)

Quantum physicists, mathematicians and students of consciousness sat up and took notice when The Pattern by Lynnclaire Dennis became available -- and you may, too, as you study the extraordinary geometric pattern the author brought back from a near-death experience in a hot air balloon above the Austrian Alps. Her search to complete the pattern correctly reads with the kind of suspense that builds in the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and astounding, often humorous synchronicities weave throughout the events that follow. Joan Borysenko (Minding the Body, Mending the Mind, etc.) believes "...its re-emergence in this era will be a powerful catalyst to individual and planetary healing." Kenneth Ring, author of The Omega Project and Heading Toward Omega, writes, "What she brought back from...the Light...is something that may not only change your life, it may change the world." The inside cover holds six views of the pattern that are worthy of contemplation. (180 pages, $22.95; Integral Publishing.)

And now for something completely different: The Inscrutable Americans, a novel based on the college experiences of New Delhi, India author Anurag Mathur when he attended school in America. As Business India said, the story "brings us face to face with the U.S. from a delightfully new angle...." The International Herald Tribune crows, Gopal, "at sea in the American heartland has struck a chord with Indian intellectuals." Mathur writes with a glad hand of the mis/adventures of Gopal, an Indian student and subcontinental Everyman at a small college in the midwest. Quirky aspects of American language and culture ring true, Gopal's sense of humor though confronted with the frustrations of terminal strangeness is endearing, and the unlikely culmination of a search for a lay before the end of the school year is just plain fun, and touching, too. A best-seller in India, The Inscrutable Americans is a laugh-aloud read. (250 pages; $12.95; NewWorld Library.)

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