Book Review: Living Deeply

If you’ve never been ‘there’ - Think of this book as Your Official Introduction into The Transformative Process.

INTROSPECTION & HEALTHY CURIOSITY.

An Awesome Study & Timely Book by
Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Ph.D. and associates

Reviewed by: M. Joyce McMenamin, Founder Network Abundance and Sensitive Pie Productions

THIS IS A STUDY VERY WELL DONE AND PRESENTED IN A MANNER THAT IS EASILY READ AND ABSORBED.

WHILE READING THIS BOOK, I WAS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED THAT THE AUTHORS AND PUBLISHER HAD FAILED TO INCLUDE AN INDEX. THEN I QUICKLY REALIZED THAT A CROSS-REFERENCED INDEX, TO A BOOK OF THIS SCOPE, WOULD POTENTIALLY BE AS LARGE (OR LARGER) THAN THE SUM OF THE TEXT ITSELF. THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT. THAT STATEMENT, IN AND OF ITSELF, PROPOSES THAT THIS BOOK IS A CULMINATION OF PERSPECTIVES ON A MASSIVE SCALE. YES, IT IS.

THE MAJOR THEME THAT BRINGS IT TOGETHER IS THE PRACTICE OF SELF TRANSFORMATION AND THE WISDOM OF THOSE, FROM VARIOUS CULTURES, TRADITIONS AND RELIGIONS, WHO HAVE BEEN PUBLICLY RECOGNIZED FOR, OR WHO FEEL THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED THEIR OWN TRANSFORMATION AT A VERY DEEP LEVEL. THOSE WHO ONE MIGHT SAY: LIVE DEEPLY.

IN A WORLD THAT HAS COME TO FOCUS MERELY ON THE “INTENTION” SIDE OF LIFE, THE AUTHORS HAVE REMINDED US THAT THE KEY ELEMENTS TO ANY TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESS ARE AS FOLLOWS: INTENTION, ATTENTION, REPITITION & GUIDANCE. NOW, LET ME TELL YOU THAT I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK THAT DIDN’T COME TO ME AT THE RIGHT TIME BEARING THE SEED OF PERSPECTIVE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT, OF COURSE - BUT THAT IS, SIMPLY: MY TRUTH. SHORTLY BEFORE THIS BOOK WAS DELIVERED TO ME, I HAD BEEN DEVELOPING A NEW PROGRAM FOR CONSULTANTS, COACHES, MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS & CORPORATE FACILITATORS, THROUGH MY SENSITIVE PIE PRODUCTIONS DIVISION AND I HAD SPECIFICALLY OUTLINED THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF ANY TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESS IN A SIMILAR LIGHT, BUT IN A DIFFERENT “ORDER”. TRUE TO MY OWN VERY DEEP, VERY PERSONAL & CONSTANTLY EVOLVING TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPERIENCES, THIS BOOK CAME TO ME AT THE RIGHT TIME - TO HELP (PERHAPS) VALIDATE MY OWN INSTINCTIVE DIRECTION. THAT HAS BEEN MY EXPERIENCE THROUGHOUT MY LIFE. I SHARE THIS ONLY TO HELP MY READER UNDERSTAND THAT MY ROLE, IN REVIEWING THIS BOOK, IS JUST A SMALL PART OF WHAT LIVING DEEPLY IS ALL ABOUT.

THE INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES PERFORMED A DECADE LONG STUDY TO BRING THIS INFORMATION TO THE MASSES. I CAN ONLY SENSE THAT, IN DOING THIS, WE HAVE COME TO A PLACE WHERE, IN ONE BOOK, ONE NOW HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO GAIN INSIGHT INTO A MAJORITY OF THE DOCUMENTED HISTORICAL PRACTICES OF THE PAST. PERHAPS THIS WILL HELP FREE INDIVIDUALS TO DEVELOP, OR VALIDATE, THEIR OWN UNIQUE & HIGHLY INDIVIDUALIZED TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESSES. TRUE SELF-TRANSFORMATION, NEEDN’T RELY MERELY ON HISTORICAL PRACTICES - IN DOING SO, ONE WOULD BE CONSTRICTED TO HISTORY AND WOULD NEVER FIND THE FREEDOM TO ACTUALLY TRANSFORM AT A LEVEL THAT IS NEEDED FOR THE FUTURE.

WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE FEW PEOPLE HAVE AWOKEN FROM AN EGO-BASED OR SURVIVAL-BASED DREAM. TO THIS END, I WOULD INVITE THE ‘WORLD AT LARGE’ TO A CRAM COURSE IN SELF-TRANSFORMATION, WHICH CAN CERTAINLY BE OBTAINED IN A LITTLE MORE THAN THE TWO HUNDRED PAGES THAT ENCOMPASS THIS REMARKABLE AND COHESIVE STUDY OF EXISTING TRANSFORMATIVE PROCESSES. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THAT THOSE INVOLVED IN THIS WORK EVENTUALLY FELT, THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS, THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE, SOMETHING YET UNDISCOVERED ON THE TRANSFORMATIVE SCALE. PERHAPS THIS BOOK WILL SERVE AS A CATALYST IN UNCOVERING THE NEXT LEVEL OF TRANSFORMATION. AT A MINIMUM, THIS BOOK IS AN EXCELLENT PRIMER FOR THE INDIVIDUAL.

AT NO OTHER TIME IN HISTORY HAVE WE BEEN AT PLACE THAT IS SO FREE AND YET SO VOLATILE. THE PROCESS OF SELF TRANSFORMATION, IN FACT, AS THIS BOOK REMINDS US - HAS LESS TO DO WITH EGO AND MUCH MORE TO DO WITH A GREATER GOOD. YET, TRANSFORMATION, ONE MIGHT SAY, BEGINS ‘AT HOME’ -- AND THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME FOR INDIVIDUALS TO USE THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION AS A CATALYST FOR SELF-GROWTH ON THE EDGE OF WHAT, FOR SOME, MIGHT APPEAR TO BE AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE AND FOR OTHERS WILL CERTAINLY APPEAR AS A MORE TRAUMATIC TIME.

ONE MIGHT ALSO SAY THAT TRUE TRANSFORMATION IS IN THE HEART OF THE ONE EXPERIENCING IT & NOT NECESSARILY BOUND TO A SPECIFIC PRACTICE. AFTER ALL, PRACTICES THAT STILL SOME, MOTIVATE OTHERS. IN THE WORLD OF TRANSFORMATION, I BELIEVE THAT THIS BOOK LAYS THE GROUNDWORK, JUST IN TIME, FOR INDIVIDUALS TO SEE THAT THE CHALLENGES THEY FACE TODAY ARE, INDEED, THE SEED OF THEIR OWN TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESS, WHICH COLLECTIVELY WILL DETERMINE THE UNIVERSAL OUTCOME FOR HUMANITY & THE PLANET WE CALL HOME.