The Seat of the Soul

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Summary: A Comprehensive Theory of Personality
Review: Seat of the Soul By Gary Zurkov

In my training as a therapist I have studied many theories of personality. Like the Transpersonal Psychologists Gary Zurkov, in his book "Seat of the Soul," challenges psychology to include the language of the spirit. Psychology and spirituality are integrated in Transpersonal Psychology but the American Psychological Association, APA, does not recognize Transpersonal Psychology because the "soul" cannot be verified scientifically. However, many of Gary's descriptions of the human psyche ring true for me. That we are evolving from a five-sensory to multi-sensory beings; that we have non-physical teachers; that our purpose in life is to align the personality with the soul; that mental illness is a shattered spirit; that we are reincarnated; that our choices result in positive or negative karma; that evil is an absence of light and that the universe is alive, intelligent and compassionate. It's sad when a physicist presents a more comprehensive theory of personality than a psychologist. But I'm also glad that "Seat of the Soul" had touched and helped so many people.

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Summary: Deeper Answers to Old Questions
Review: Some claim that humankind is on the verge of a spiritual awakening. Within the context of this theory - and along the same lines as The Celestine Prophecy, this book offers some fascinating explanations to our old questions, and those that we may have only been asking unconsciously.

In sometimes dizzying verbiage, in which only a physicist can engage, Zukav peels away the layers of our conscious and unconscious commitments and gets to the very reason for our existance. Some of his explanations are unnerving for our conventional society, yet those who are restless can hear the truth in his answers.

While his theories could easily stay in the abstract, he strikes a nerve of personal accountability in those willing to listen. Zukav equips us with the everyday tools to help us make the wise choices.

For those more serious, it can change the way you live your life. For those less serious, it offers interesting insights into age-old issues.

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Summary: How does he know?
Review: What happens when we die? What is the purpose of life? What is God like? Is there life on other planets? Why do bad things happen to good people? In his book, The Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukav answers these questions and many others. And if his answers are correct, his book is perhaps the most significant document in the history of humanity.

In the course of answering these questions, Zukav presents the reader with a whole host of fascinating claims. We are reincarnated. There is life on every other planet- and even planets themselves are alive. Animals have a collective soul. ESP exists and so do Angels, the nature of who Zukav knows intimately. We have "non-physical teachers." Every "bad" event that happens to a person is the result of accumulated negative karma and for this reason anyone who suffers a "tragedy" (which don't really exist since the universe is always benevolent) is only getting what they deserve. Much like a puppet master, the "universe" arranges opportunities for us to learn the very lessons we are meant to learn in this lifetime. The purpose of life is to "align the personality with the soul." I could go on.

This now may lead some readers to a further question: how does Zukav know all of this? How can anyone know whether his amazing claims are not merely illusion or fantasy? Anyone curious enough to ask questions such as these will likely find the book very frustrating.

Hoping for clarification, I visited Zukav's web page (zukav.com) where he answered the question of how he knows what he knows by saying, "I pay attention to my experiences. I listen to my inner sense of what is worth listening to." In other words, Zukav answers humanity's most profound questions simply by looking inside of himself. How I wish it could be that easy.

The problem with relying on intuition alone as a path to knowledge is that so many other people- ranging from religious leaders, to mystics of all sorts, to terrorists, to cult leaders, to dictators- have used the intuitive path, but arrived at radically different conclusions from those presented in The Seat of the Soul. Why should one accept the divine answers that Zukav has claimed to receive as opposed to the divine answers that someone else has claimed to receive? How do you resolve a conflict if your intuition disagrees with someone else's intuition? I was not be able to answer these questions after reading the book. Zukav treats his answers as if they are self-evident and that any explanation or reason for his beliefs would destroy their validity.

Intuition has its place for sure, but intuition alone is indistinguishable from fantasy. And anyone who believes that intuition alone is a sure way to knowledge, must read Mark Pinske's Dec. 5, 1999 review to learn why Zukav's understanding of Darwinian evolution is shockingly wrong.

Much like the thieves in "The Emperor's's New Clothes," Zukav claims that anyone who does not automatically see the truth of his ideas is simply being "five sensory." Underlying many of his claims is the implication that anyone who does not accept his ideas is- unlike him- out of touch with the infallible non-physical teachers of the "Universe." Claims such as these- which really boil down to "I am right and I just know it"- are really the only way to defend ideas arrived at only through intuition and faith. Perhaps this is why religious groups have tended to settle their differences with swords and guns rather than persuasion and dialogue. It is also why so many other reviewers have accused Zukav of great arrogance- though I don't believe that was his intention.

Nonetheless, judging by the number of positive reviews, the book has touched a lot of people. So there must be something about it. I am not quite sure what it is. In questioning much of what Zukav has said, I don't want to deny the importance of love, harmony, and spirituality in human life. I believe it is these elements of Zukav's book- which are lacking in so many people's lives- that so many people respond to so strongly. And if he has helped a number of people overcome addictions and fear, then this deserves to be praised. Perhaps this book can help you too. Just don't ask too many questions or expect to discover the most profound book in the history of humanity.

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Summary: We're All Here for a Reason
Review: I just read some scalding reviews of the thoughts, insights, and metaphors that came to a man who is seriously on his path. Everyone seems to be missing that his path doesn't have to be theirs. If God/Universe/Creator is anything - it's Diverse. Look around you. Can't you see it? These are honest, true, mind-expanding ideas - take what works for you and move on... "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most do." -Dale Carnegie

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Summary: Sincere Attempt!
Review: If you need complexity to consider accepting yourself as Soul evolving toward a greater knowledge of the divine "god- qualities" within you,-- then this is the book for you. It is a sincere attempt by the author to explain existence and spiritual growth. So much has already been written on this subject. Mr Zukav covers familiar ground. I liked his interview on "Oprah". Again, this is a sincere attempt to help readers explore, understand, and learn how to help themselves. Get in touch with your "higher self"? Empower yourself through greater self- knowledge? Well, why not?

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Summary: Do not buy this book!
Review: This book was just a bunch of pyschological babble. I could not figure out what message he was trying to get across. I had to continuously re-read what I had just read to even come close to getting the point. I would not recommend this book!

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Summary: a nice message, but kind of boring
Review: I enjoyed the main messages from the book. However, the book just did not excite me. I had a hard time sticking with it, as it became kind of boring. It seemed to offer a lot of "cotton candy" philosophy, but little concrete examples to help me apply it to my everyday life.

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Summary: Man, I wish Amazon allowed for negative stars
Review: I admit it, I only read 20 pages of this tripe. And only because I am constantly vigilant of new (incredibly) Pseudo-science books foisted upon the masses. I certainly didnt contribute to Mr. Zukav's coffers, thats for darn sure. It is a sad commentary on American culture that ANYone, let alone thousands of people could derive any pleasure, knowledge, or entertainment from this useless anti-science drivel. Books like this harm society in many ways. It gives laypeople the feeling that they are now armed with certain knowledge about certain disciplines which, in painful reality, they are very, VERY misinformed. Oprah is the most powerful agent of this ever expanding group of morons who believe, via Zukav, "nice" people are more evolved than, "mean" people. Or that strange school of anti science that somehow justifies and mutates Quantum Physics into a feel good new age cult of happiness. Folks, Science is Science. It is based upon repeatedly tested LAWS. Zukav, Chopra, and their ilk, do more harm than any perceived good, and its about time America stopped becoming the laughingstock of the free world and buying into this ridiculous garbage.

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Summary: A CHAIR FOR RELAXING YOUR SPIRIT
Review: If we allow ourselves to be trapped between the jaws of our imagination and our reality -- between that better world we dream of and the worse one we inhabit -- we may find our condition a very unsatisfactory one. Life is the price we pay for death, not the reverse. The worse our life, the more we pay; the better, the cheaper. Evolution is the growth of experience, of intelligence, of knowledge, and this growth engenders moments of insights, moments when we see deeper purposes, truer causes, more intended effects. Zukav in his work attempts to launch a bridge between material life and interior analysis, between body and soul and the anxiety of conflict between the two. In fact, anxiety is the name we give to an unpleasant effect on us, and personal to us, of the general necessity for spiritual (intellectual) satisfaction. All anxieties are in some sense goads. They may goad the weak beyond endurance; but it is essential that humanity as a whole is goaded. There are esoteric metaphysical anxieties and practical daily anxieties. There are fundamental universal anxieties and special individual anxieties. The more sensitive and self-conscious and aware of others man becomes, the more anxious, in his present ill-organized world, he is going to become.

I believe Gary Zukav here positively tries to appease my metaphysical anxiety, and that's good, extremely good! In the end there is no end: let's finally eliminate our childish belief in an afterlife, through which, like a hole in a bucket, real life leaks away. If death is absolute, life is absolute; life is sacred; kindness to other life is essential; today is more than tomorrow; noon conquers night. To do is now, living; death is never able to do. Everything finally means, nothing is end. All we call immortal is mortal. What a nuclear holocaust may do, time will certainly do. So live now, and teach it.

The mystery is not in the beginning or the end, but in the NOW. There was no beginning; there will be no end.

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Summary: Life Changing [e-mail]
Review: Gary's spiritual insight has been an exciting tool for my clients...I often suggest this book to those of whom are ready to evolve and live an authentic life. Gary has been very instrumental in my life...as a Radical Life Coach-Seat of the Soul has allowed me to dream and live my dream. It has motivated me to complete The Relationship Kit...Stop Wasting Time...and Never Look Back!