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Showing posts from November, 2022

“Sound Spiritual (Interfaith!) Practice that Stands the Test of Time”: A Review of The Power of Positive Thinking (Interfaith 21st Century Edition) by Norman Vincent Peale, with Hasan Abdullah Ismaik

   (Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA: Waterside Productions, 2022). ISBN: 978-1-958848-19-7 Originally published in 1952, The Power of Positive Thinking became not only a New York Times bestseller, but the acorn from which has grown a strong, tall oak we all know as the Spiritual Self-Help genre. Having first read Rev. Dr. Peale’s life-changing masterpiece in 1997, during a time of profound upheaval and transition in my life (while listening to tens of hours of his recorded presentations), my second reading—after twenty-five years of voracious study of similar books and principles—illuminated just how many pillars of the Spiritual Self-Help community he has inspired. From Wayne Dyer to Gay Hendricks, from Caroline Myss to Joe Dispenza, the foundational principles presented by Rev. Dr. Peale are all readily apparent in each of their programs. He was certainly an excellent role model. Peale authored 46 books, was a pastor for more than 50 years, and cofounded the first school for pastoral psych

“A Firsthand Account of Ancient Aliens”: A Review of Thiaoouba Prophecy (first published as Abduction to the 9th Planet), by Michel Desmarquet.

  “A Firsthand Account of Ancient Aliens”: A Review of Thiaoouba Prophecy (first published as Abduction to the 9th Planet ), by Michel Desmarquet. Trans. from French manuscript (now lost) by Kay Smith. Edited and corrected by Dr. Tom Chalko, Louise Ovcar, and Manninder Sekhon (Arafura Publishing, 2004). ISBN: 0 9577882 3 1 Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence . —Carl Sagan (1980) Although the opening epigraph is primarily attributed to the famous host of Cosmos , it was also similarly stated by Thomas Jefferson (1808), Pierre-Simon Laplace (1814), Théodore Flournoy (1899), and Marcello Truzzi (1978). Then again, the famed UFOlogist, author, and lecturer, Stanton Friedman, might have countered that “an absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” As an experiencer and longtime investigator of high strangeness, UFOlogy, and the survival of consciousness after death, it is always a challenge to review and assess the veracity of books such as this one. First, th

“Physics to Help Humanity”: A Review of Master of Reality: Super Relativity – The Unified Field Theory, by Mark Fiorentino

   (2020). ISBN: 9798615149856 What if I were to tell you that much of what we thought we knew about physics was either inaccurate or only the partial truth? Or that the speed of light was not a constant? That there is ample evidence that the U.S. government has reverse-engineered UFOs/UAPs and has at least a working understanding of anti-gravity propulsion systems? Still not feeling intrigued? What if the physics and technologies that are part of Mark Fiorentino’s Super Relativity Theory could make possible interstellar time-travel? Too big of an idea? Perhaps being anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes, or protecting the planet from destruction by asteroids, climate change, or other impending disasters? Interested yet? At 490 pages, Master of Reality is a big book, full of big ideas and bigger possibilities. Fiorentino is taking a page out of Dr. John Mack’s philosophy and “subverting the dominant paradigm.” This is a difficult road to travel—Mack, an eminent, Pulitzer