When they read accounts of western near-death experience to the Dalai Lama all he had to say was that he didn't believe them because the people who experienced them reported being greeted by dead relatives and dead relatives "would have to have taken rebirth in some realm long before." He went on to say that this was "only barely possible." He didn't claim to have any firsthand knowledge of this whatsoever, and in fact when once asked if he could point to anyone he actually knew who had attained enlightenment all he could say was: "There MAY be someone in caves somewhere."

He also didn't buy that the light people see in near death experiences was the same as the "clear light of the void." He politely only said they could be considered "analagous" or something of that sort. And when asked in this book to point to even just very advanced meditators who could go into the "clear light" at will, he only said it would be very difficult because "they are all so scattered" and also that such people are uncooperative because they are "stubborn."

So, honestly, at this point one might as well be talking with the Pope or a methodist minister in the sense that here is someone with a belief system who never seriously questions it. In other words, his belief system is "gospel" which is of course a way of saying it's beyond question. Ok, everyone get angry at me, because I'm asking if we in the west haven't overrated the tibetans because of their huge reputation for esoteric knowledge bestowed on them by such questionable people as Madam Blavatsky and Gurdjieff. Thankyou and I apologize to those of you who are now angry because I have questioned the unquestionable.

Several moderm day researchers spend a week with the Dalia Lama and discuss the topics of the books title. The material delivered from the Dalai Lama himself is the best part of this book.

Can you imagine a conversation about the essence of art taking place between, oh, say, Picasso and art therapists who treat mental patients, and some chemists who concoct formulaes for oil paints? Something like that is taking place here. The title alone is enough to pique your interest, but the content is less than secret-divulging. If you're not a neurologist,or a specialist in a related area,then much of the material presented by the neurologist will be for all practical purposes useless. If you're not familiar with the basic assumptions of esoteric buddhist psychology, then much of what HH Dalai Lama has to say will sound like so much dogma or articles of faith. I know next to nothing about brain sciences, but am academically acquainted with the buddhist conception of reality, so I found what the Dalai Lama had to say both interesting and amusing. Interesting, because he speaks as plainly as he can about things that are usually wrapped in some hairy buddhist language. Amusing, becuase the Dalai Lama would show utmost courtesy in listening to all the dry academic presentations, which even I found somewhat tedious, and then offer his views about the matter at hand by often beginning with what sounds like a gentle correction rather than a positing of difference of perspective only. I paraphrase from memory: "Well, your numbers and theories are all very nice, but no, it's actually like this." Some of the discussions on REM, and animal responses to dream states are interesting, but just merely interesting. Better on the Discovery channel. Much of the philosopher Charles Taylor's presentations concerning the Western/Christian conception of the Self is reliable but elementary. And dealing with the subject matter at hand, even an eminent philosopher can do only so much with Ratio alone. The book is of some value if one is willing to be open to the possibility that the Dalai Lama may be speaking of things that are real but not measurable, at least not with knobs and dials. Not yet. He never mentions it specifically in the book, but the idea of rebirth and the attendant conditions are indirectly there, for example when he questions the authenticity of the phenomenon of seeing one's departed ones in a near-death experience. He says, "Maybe the person is hallucinating at that point or projecting a wish. They (the loved ones who departed long ago) would have found new bodies by then." Taken as an record of an encounter with the Dalai Lama, this book sheds some light into that aspect of the man that won't show up when he is on Larry King or speaking of compassion to the multitude in Central Park. The guy is a professional in his own field, after all, and he knows his chops. Here, refreshingly enough, he sheds some of his avuncular "hey, be cool, people!" image and divulges some of his professional knowledge at a speed and intensity of delivery considerably higher than the mass media have shown him to be capable.

I guess I should have read the title more carefully. I went to school in Halifax (1990-94) and having seen among other things, anchors embedded in sidewalks, was curious as to the 'why'. The Halifax explosion was the answer I got.

The book covers the means to the end (the explosion) in the first 30 pages or so, and the rest of the book is about recovery and how it was dealt with and stories of individual survivers. I really wanted to know the details of what led to the explosion and had my answer after the first 30 pages. I never bothered to finish the book, wasn't interested in the survivors stories.

Jason

Ms. Kitz offers an exciting and balanced view of this little-know event in Canada's history. The tragedy that was the "Halifax Explosion" comes to life and gives another view of the home front during the Great War. Seldom do we catch such a glimpse of the dangers of life away from the frontline. This is a "must read" for those who wish to know the rest of the story - about Waorld WarI, Halifax AND the transportation of munitions. I am amazed, as a history teacher, that so little is known of this incident and that this books ranks in the 42,000s among Amazon readers.

As usual, P.B. Waite has written another biography that reads like a good novel. Whether you are an avid Canadian Historian or you are new to it, this book will shine some light on the life of one of Canada's lesser known leaders. From average Halifax boy to one of the most dramatic deaths in the world. "The Man From Halifax" makes for a great round of nightly reading.

This book, as a blend of the contemporary subdivisions of anthropology, psychology, and religion, suffers greatly from an all too common error for such trans-disciplinary writings. Simply put, the author may know his anthropology (and I'm not even sure about that, not being an anthropologist myself), but has only a rudimentary grasp of psychology and certain Eastern religions. The end result is something like what might happen if an electronics expert with only a basic knowledge of metallurgy and ship-building attempted to build a modern battleship. The ship simply won't float. His frequent use of Jungian concepts to support his thesis ignores the fact that Jungian psychology is all but dead and buried (it may make for interesting reading, but has been experimentally and pragmatically supplanted by many other, more viable, theoretical approaches in psychology). His understanding of Eastern practices like Zen Buddhism and yoga is sadly misinformed--He may have studied yoga for a few years, and dabbled in Zen, but his descriptions of the goal of these approaches, the nature of enlightenment, and their supposed dangers clearly indicate that he didn't progress much in his practice (and his equation of Zen consciousness with the rational formulations and pseudo-objective detachments of the scientist is laughable). No historical account of the shaman is presented in the book either. I was originally attracted to this book by Joseph Campbell's praise of it as an excellent introductory text for shamansism. Unfortunately, its abuses of credible psychology and the nature of Eastern religions like Zen Buddhism make it a harmful exercise in fantasy.

Having read it some time ago, it is with extreme pleasure that I make use of this oportunity to review such a broad-spanning, extensively researched book. I recommend it to all of those which have interests in the subject of Shamanism or as an, extremely enticing and didactic, first book on the matter. I have to thank Stephen Larsen for enabling me to write that, if properly undertaken, "The Shaman's Doorway: Opening Imagination to Power and Myth" may become a traveled personal path, bringing its' reader to the gateway of a spiritual tomorrow.

Anne Lister's life if done as a biography or fictionalized novel would most likely be quite interesting, but reading 365 pages of her diary entries is not.

And its sad, because the woman who edited these diaries spent six years of her life de-coding Ms. Lister's journals.

However, the lesbian content is so slight it really is not worth wading through the tedious daily activities of these journals.