Death and Dying

Book: “What the Dead Are Dying to Teach Us: Lessons Learned From the Afterlife,” by Claire Broad, Watkins Publishing, 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available September 10, 2019

Claire Broad tries hard and for that I have to give her some credit. She has written a basic book about mediumship and what the dead are trying to teach us. It is a good beginner introduction but if you are aware of anything about what decease spirits are saying, it is repetitive from other sources. If you watch Long Island Medium, Mama Medium, Mom’s a Medium or have seen John Edward, Colette Baron-Reid, John Holland, James Van Praagh you should be aware of the major points spiritual people are making.

I found myself becoming quite busy and so had to leave the book mainly read but not entirely. It was a mistake because I was not “called” back to the book. I eventually came back to it to finish it off and give it a proper reading. I am sorry to say but much of what has been said in this book has been said by many others beforehand.

Here are the seven main points. “You are spirit or conscious awareness. Death is an illusion because consciousness is not confined. You are never alone. You can rise above fear. Love never dies as your life has purpose. Ask and it will be given. And nobody dies alone.”

To be fair, I went over my notes and I found that I liked Claire’s Call to Action sections.

To conclude, I would have to say that if you are dealing with death or are curious about the afterlife, this is a good introductory book. I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. If you interested in life between lives, I would recommend the hypnotic work of Dr. Michael Newton of the Newton Institute.

Tags:  Claire Broad, Waktins Publishing, death, medium, mediumship, dead, spirit, spiritual, psychic, Long Island Medium, Mama Medium, John Edward, Colette Baron-Reid, John Holland, James Van Praagh, spirit, consciousness, illusion, fear, love, purpose, Dr. Michael Newton, Newton Institute, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review

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Mindfulness

 

Book: “What’s Beyond Mindfulness: Waking Up to This Precious Life?” by Stephen Fulder, Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available January 15, 2019

It has taken me quite some time to read this book as I had to keep getting re-acquainted to the book as I needed to keep putting it down for consideration and reflection The book is about mindfulness. It is about Buddhism being part of our way of life that can be inclusive of already understood religions like the Judeo-Christian ones. Buddhism, as a way of life, adds to these existing religions in a way that is not adverse to them and so it is a good adjunct.

Stephen Fulder has done a lot of things including having Israeli-Palestinian workshops trying to give peace a chance in the Middle East. People leave behind their pre-conceived notions of the “enemy” and come to see that there is a humanity and spirituality in all people.

I appreciated the appendix as it offered a question/answer format. I would have, in many ways, preferred if the entire book had been written this way. Buddhism some may say is easy to learn, however, I find it much more difficult to understand and therefore difficult to write and read about.

I appreciated quotes from spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi and the many Buddhist and Hindu spiritual leaders. The books goes into the stories of the bible like Jonah and Job, as well as into a number of psalms. Stephen also has written a number of poems throughout the book.

One quote early on I like is “We can live a wise inner life of reflection, creativity and inspiration, a life with wide horizons.” Another quote towards the middle that I like is “Consciousness is pure, it is our Buddha-nature, our pure being.” Finally, a quote near the end is that “The Sanskrit wordsamadhiis used for deep quiet, serenity and concentration, and it actually means to gather ourselves together. To bring ourselves back home.” The eight tenets of Buddhism were mentioned as well.

There is a lot of information provided but I am coming from a spiritual/New Age perspective so I found myself at odds with a number of the concepts. One example is karma. I disagree with what the books says. I do think it is about cause and effect. I do think that what you have done in a previous lifetimes affects you in your current life. Many situations that you are dealing with in life are as a result of either good intention or bad intention actions in past lives.

I appreciated the vocabulary of terms in the appendix in the back. I commend Stephen Fulder for the positive work he has done in society overall.

I am giving this book 3.5 stars out of 5 because it is informative but not in a structured way. Like I mentioned above, I think the book would have been more logical to understand and also more focussed if it were a question-answer process as the concepts are difficult to grasp due to our dualistic way of thinking.

Tags:Buddhism Buddha, Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi. Judeo-Christian, Jonah, Job, Psalm, karma, situations, dualism, cause and effect, spirit, spirituality, New Age, lifetime, consciousness, reflection, creativity, Sanskrit, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review.

Akashic Records

Book: “Discover Your Soul’s Path Through the Akashic’s Records: Taking Your Life from Ordinary to Extraordinary” by Linda Howe

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

I find it difficult to review this book for a number of reasons. I found myself highlighting a lot of sections based on what I considered good insight by the author, Linda Howe. However, I found the

specific concepts on the Akashic Records systems very new to me and so difficult to appreciate. For example there are five pillars of light consisting of Incarnation, Authority, Discipline, Responsibility and Commitment. Without a graphic, I found it hard to visualize where this in my body and how long they are and exactly where they are positioned. There was a written description, and I understand the concepts but the actual simulation of light around the body in a star formation is difficult for me to conceptualize without a drawing of the body. I would have preferred if the book came with a diagram or sketch.

Further to that, there is the triangle of heart, mind and will. It is located somewhere in the body. The closest I got to its location is that the heart is found in the heart chakra and the mind is found in the top head chakra. The will is then found at the throat chakra. All of this makes sense, but in my mind, I do not see how it creates a triangle that is supposed to be equilateral and balanced. Again, a diagram would have been nice to visualize the concept better.

I understand that the central pillar of light is grace composed of compassion and related components. I understand visually that it is the central pillar of light running through our bodies. I understand it is divine and comes from the source. I can see this one.

I understand that the following is a pattern that we should be using to deal with our problems in our lives: acknowledge, appreciate, acceptance and appropriate action. This makes sense as the stepping stones to dealing with present day problems based on the Akashic Records.

I understand that the Akashic Records is a system that keeps record of every thought, action or energy we have displayed in previous lifetimes, in the current manifestation or in future lifetimes. I understand that there is an energy grid. I don’t understand how someone like Edgar Cayce (The Sleeping Prophet) could only access the Akashic Records while under a deep state of relaxation and that we can somehow access it ourselves without transcending into a deep altered state of mind as well.

I found the questions helpful especially for the group questions. I would recommend that as you read this book, you highlight the Opening Prayer and Closing Prayer. I was using an e-book so it was difficult to go back and forth. (Plus, the Adobe Digital Edition software was not co-operating and would keep messing up which in and of itself was frustrating.) I would recommend typing the opening and closing prayers onto a paper or into a word document. If you have a physical hard copy of the book, you can highlight or dog-ear the page and reference it as needed.

I also found the Appendix helpful. There is a better explanation of what state you should be in for the opening prayer in it on pages 165 to 167. I think it would have been helpful to have read Ms. Howe’s earlier books to get a better idea of the Akashic Records. I think she would have covered some more detail that may have been overlooked or assumed to have been known in this book. Overall, I am a visual person and I would have liked the five pillars of light or consciousness graphed out along with the triangle. Without these concepts down, I feel lost in reading and following the book.

The final recommendation I will make regarding this book is that you should audio record the reflections onto your computer or digital device and then play it back to yourself while you are in the process of doing a reflection. This will give you more time to think of being in a higher spiritual realm of thinking and give you time to make the connections with the Masters, Teachers, Loved Ones and the Lords of the Akashic Records.

Despite my difficulties with the book and some of my personal frustrations, I would still recommend the book to those who are interested in their spiritual development.

Tags: Spiritual Development, Concepts, Five Pillars of Light, Consciousness, triangle, heart, mind, will, grace, heart chakra, head chakra, throat chakra, Akashic Records, Edgar Cayce, The Sleeping Prophet, Masters, Teachers, Loved Ones, Lords of the Akashic Records, Energy, Thought, Action.