Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer: The Hidden Power of Beauty, Blessings, Wisdom, and Hurt Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer: The Hidden Power of Beauty, Blessings, Wisdom, and Hurt? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer: The Hidden Power of Beauty, Blessings, Wisdom, and Hurt. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer: The Hidden Power of Beauty, Blessings, Wisdom, and Hurt Review"There's almost a universal sense that we have ancient magical powers within us. From the time we're children, we fantasize about our ability to do things that are beyond the realm of reason and logic. And why not? While we're children, the rules that say miracles can't happen in our lives have not yet been ingrained in us to the point that they become limits in our beliefs." - From the book
From Christianity to Hinduism, Sufism to Judaism, prayer serves as a vital cornerstone to spiritual traditions worldwide. It has been said that prayer is talking to the Divine, while meditation is listening for the answer. But what if the body--our physical, earthen vessel--contains a lost mode of prayer? And what if sacred texts and traditions reference this type of prayer--some of which were lost during human editing?
In Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer, author Gregg Braden explores ideas both scientific and spiritual in the quest for understanding the mechanics of prayer and its effects on "reality". Explaining quantum physics and "The Field", Braden demonstrates how "reality" is simply the mirror of our beliefs. That is, the sum total of our experience is, in fact, the result--indeed, the projection--of our beliefs.
By praying "for" peace, Braden surmises, are we not inviting more war by acknowledging that peace is not already here? While this may seem like New Age gobbledygook, the author presents convincing evidence that spiritual traditions and avatars knew a secret to prayer that was beyond mere words--a mode based on "feeling".
The Gnostic Gospels and the New Testament were edited for various reasons, but Braden shares an intriguing version of John 16:24: "Ask without hidden motive and be surrounded by your answer." He then relates a story about accompanying a Native American to the sacred medicine wheel to "pray rain". Not pray FOR rain...but to :pray rain". Rather than supplicate a deity to provide what isn't there, this particular spiritual tradition advocated being surrounded by the answer. That is, imagining the smell of impending rain, actually "feeling" the droplets on an upturned face, and visualizing lush flora.
Echoing this same idea, Braden facilitated a 22-day pilgrimage to Tibet, and the monks and nuns shared instructions for a way to pray that was largely lost to the West because of fourth-century Biblical edits. Preserved in ancient texts and traditions, this "lost" mode of prayer has no words or outward expression, but is based solely on feeling.
Braden cites scientific studies on prayer and the Quantum Field, showing how the "observer" affects reality not only on an individual level, but also on a larger, societal level. Braden also shares the wisdom from various spiritual traditions--from Jesus to the Dalai Lama, Navajo to Gnostics--pointing to why we are here on Earth and how to make the best out of our Earthly journey.
Peppered with poignant personal anecdotes, Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer reveals five powerful secrets to prayer and spiritual growth:
1.Our Lost Mode of Prayer - Braden shares the powerful secret of "feeling" prayer and being surrounded by the answer.
2.Hurt is the Teacher, Wisdom is the Lesson - Braden says that balance is not all it's cracked up to be. Using fractal geometry as an example, he explains that just when things seem to be "just so", chaos ensues. However, the Universe never brings about any situation until we already have the tools to handle it.
3.Blessing is the Release - Describing blessing as an "emotional lubricant", Braden discusses how "frozen" hurts can cause illness, and how blessing can move us beyond confusing and frustrating situations--allowing these feelings to move THROUGH us.
4.Beauty is the Transformer - Using the raging fires of Taos as an example--as well as encounters with "imperfect" people--the author movingly shows readers how beauty surrounds us always.
5.Creating Your Own Prayers - Childhood rhymes and traditional singsong prayers may hold the key to a powerful mode of praying.
Printed on 194 glossy pages with an attractive "puffy" covers, Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer taps into a potent spiritual "technology" that enhances life, heals hurts, and transforms perspectives. Sharing personal stories, scientific theory, and sacred wisdom from several traditions, Braden offers humanity a powerful blueprint for consciously creating a beautiful, peaceful reality.
I loved this book! I felt spiritually nourished while reading it, often moved to tears by Braden's stories. But I also felt anticipation and excitement, especially at the thought that if humanity gets a hold of this "lost mode" of prayer--and puts these simple yet profound ideas into practice--that anything is possible.Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer: The Hidden Power of Beauty, Blessings, Wisdom, and Hurt Overview

Want to learn more information about Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer: The Hidden Power of Beauty, Blessings, Wisdom, and Hurt?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are ReviewI think this is one of those reviews that I'm going to take some heat over because I know this book and the author are very popular in Christian circles right now. That's why I wanted to read it myself, because I had heard so much about it.
First, the positive. I know several bloggers who are sharing their own 1000 gifts/gratitude lists and I'm always blessed to read them. I have kept my own accounting of what I call "grace notes" for years so I understand the blessing of looking for things to be thankful for. Voskamp shares from her heart with stories about her family and her own spiritual journey, and I think anyone reading this book would come away with a heightened sense of looking for God's grace in daily life whether it be having one's child come through surgery or the admiring the beauty of a full moon. I appreciate the encouragement to live life fully right where we are without feeling we need to work through a "bucket list" of daring experiences or exotic locations before we can be fulfilled.
But, this was a difficult book for me to read. Voscamp is obviously a poet at heart but the entire book is sing-songy with long descriptions and awkward word phrases and metaphors that I found distracting. It doesn't read as someone would actually talk in real life conversation.
As an example: "...tonight over our farm will rise the Great Hexagon of the blazing winter stars - Sirius, Rigel, ruby Aldebran, Capella, the fiery Gemini twins, and Procyon, and in the center, scarlet Betelgeuse, the red supergiant larger than twice the size of earth's orbit around the sun - and I will embrace the skin of a boy child that my body grew from a seed. The low heavens outside the paned windows fill with more snowflakes than stars, no two-stacked crystals the same; the trees in the wood draw in collective green breath to the still of January hibernation, and God in the world with birth ice from His womb, frost of heaven, bind the chains of the Pleiades, loose the cords of Orion, and number again the strands on my head."
Those who like this kind of poetic narrative with mystical undertones will enjoy this book. Those who don't will likely struggle to find the message in the sea of words. For me, it was just too much page after page, and it took me a while to finish the book because I had to take it in small doses.
I was also wary of the mystical/contemplative spirituality/emergent church references, as she references those known to be mystics, panentheists, universalists, or New Age authors such as Brother Lawrence, Henri Nouwen, Annie Dillard, Brennan Manning, Sarah Ban Breathnach, Teresa of Avila, and Dallas Willard, among others. The influence of the teachings of these various authors is apparent in Voskamp's writing.
In addition, I was uncomfortable with the chapter on making love to Jesus in which the author speaks of seeking communion with God in what can only be termed as sexual language, taking it to a level that I personally don't believe scripture intends. Voskamp writes, "Mystical union. This, the highest degree of importance. God as Husband in sacred wedlock, bound together, body and soul, fed by His body, quenched by His blood . . . God, He has blessed - caressed. I could bless God - caress with thanks. It's our making love. God makes love with grace upon grace, every moment a making of His love for us. . . . couldn't I make love to God, making every moment love for Him? To know Him the way Adam knew Eve. Spirit skin to spirit skin. . . The intercourse of soul with God is the very climax of joy . . . To enter into Christ and Christ enter into us - to cohabit."
Scripture doesn't teach that our relationship with God is to be a sexual, orgasmic experience or that we are to know him the way Adam as husband knew Eve as his wife. Further, what are children and men supposed to do with the notion of making love to Jesus?
Despite the doctrinal and personal issues with this book, I tried to stay focused on what I felt the author's intended message of the book was: live fully and abundantly in daily life by being thankful for the gifts that come from God's grace, no matter how small. I am inspired to live more fully in this kind of gratitude.
This review is simply my opinion of what was actually in the book and not a reflection on the author herself, whom I do not know personally. Her writing style just doesn't appeal to me and I have to question some of the "theology" in the book which is why I recommend discernment when reading it.
One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are Overview

Want to learn more information about One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...