Message #24594

[ding dong]

If any of y'all are waiting to hear my thoughts about this book, I want to let you know that there is an

Introduction by a colleague
Preface
Foreword
Note to the reader
Prologue
Preface
Introduction by the author

I am just now arriving at the final introduction. There are already some interesting things that I'm sure I will want to write about here. For example, he opens the book by talking suggesting that "it was written through" him, which seems to me to be a form of imagination if not grandeur. Although he is the author of the book, he claims that "these writings are quite inexplicable." However, in the introduction he has begun to break down the different beliefs which could account for his lack of agency, giving various theories about it.

The first belief he gives has to do with reincarnation saying that, "my present incarnation is writing from memories of a previous incarnation" and that "if previous states of being are operative within me, they are below my current levels of awareness." As an alternative to that belief, he suggests that "this writing may come, as in the life of Eileen Garrett, the noted medium, from entities not currently of this physical bodily reality." I can tell you that, although I do not even know who Eileen Garrett is, I put no stock in mediums or mediumship at all. This is my belief which I'm sure there will plenty of opportunity to examine as I go through this book. After all, he says regarding these explanations, "if you feel-think that any or all are 'false', why do you?" I expect there to be a lot of that kind of internal belief examination system examination throughout this book. The third explanation for this writing he offers is that of some other external influence so that "by unknown means some terrestrial, extraterrestrial network of communication (not in our current science, but soon to be) feeds in the information below my levels of awareness." He then reassures the reader that, "in special states of consciousness I have seen this process taking place." Finally, he offers the explanation that I am most inclined to accept - that of his imagination; although the means by which this takes place he says he doesn't understand. He admits that "in certain states of consciousness this process seems real" by which I assume he means the normal, everyday waking state of consciousness that most of us experience most of the time. Maybe it is because I read the book from this very state that this explanation seems most sensible to me? I am sure we will explore this as the book proceeds.

So there it is. I am very interested in this book and hope you will enjoy or at least tolerate my shares about it here.