Messages of the Celestine Prophecy

Rating:
Summary: The Evidence Is Before You
Review: As you can see this book elicits a number or reactions. Redfield's work relays a wonderful adventure in which the reader is not only taken through the tangled forests of Peru but is also taken down a path of life that can be just as tangled. His characters make it through his tale by faith and a willingness to have an open mind and to live actively and with intent. His characters discover insights that are revealed to them only if and when they are ready to receive them. As is the old adage, "When the student is ready, the teacher will be there".

In his tale as in life some people never take a step along the path. Some people take a few steps and become so fascinated that they never take the next step. Some people walk on confidently weighing and understanding each step for themselves as they learn along the way.

Redfield has taken ancient insights and parlayed them into a tale that binds them all together into an understanding of spirituality that is clear to us today. He introduces a number or religious precedence as old as time though he weaves them into his tale in a way which evokes an understanding that is both clear and provoking. When reaching the end of his story you find yourself looking at the world with a broader mind and deeper insight. Through the use of storytelling he brings an understanding of what we can be, personally and for society, into a form which relates to the human psyche. I believe this tale is a masterpiece that gives the reader an excellent grasp on some very basic and intrinsic human values and needs. He shows us the value of our actions and of our existence and how valuable we are to one another. From his work the reader can also glean what happens when we choose not to be aware of our place in the universe and ignore our effects on it.

I recommend this book to everyone! Some may prefer to read it as a mere tale, an Indiana-Jones-like adventure though Peru. Others I believe will have the courage to listen to the insights and understand the way they apply to their life and to those around them. I believe you will be delighted at what a good feeling you will have found when you finally set the book down at its conclusion. It is not often that you can be so purely entertained and educated with the deepest of insights at the same time.

Read this book and pass it along to a friend. It is worth it!

Rating:
Summary: in response to critique
Review: I realize that this is many years later yet I feel that it is necessary to address the comment of our 1997 reviewer of Celestine . . . indeed, rather than to undermine Christianity and the truth of Christ's teachings, Celestine lends a deeper credence and more intense relevance and connection to Jesus Christ and the truth which is revealed through his example. Certainly for those who wish to continue to follow man-made rules as well as misinterpretation and literal translations of the Bible rather than to be illuminated from within, Celestine Prophecy poses a threat to their way of life just as awakenings have always stirred the Fear of those who wish to remain asleep and/or in power. In my interpretation of the incredible reception this book has received, we simply were ready for the knowledge we have already been experiencing in our own lives to be crystallized. Indeed, James has acted as a conduit to the Spirit . . . I have marvelled at his ability to do so since having absorbed every last drop of the essence of this initial writing~ as the great sculptor reveals the inner creation which cries out from within the stone for form to the world as he chips lovingly away at his medium, so has James Redfield done through his writing and rewritings. We have indeed created a "new religion" . . . one which encompasses all others and yet allows for their continued existence . . . one which lends deeper fulfillment to those of us who have sought a truer understanding for our existence on this planet than we had been given by the understanding which we had inherited. The Celestine Prophecy is not a fad but rather an answer . . . further whisperings from the Creation . . . to its Beloved. For those of us who receive its teachings with great gratitude and understanding have begun to recognize the incredible Love with which we were both created and cared for despite our inability to understand and to care for ourselves and the Creation. So, thank you James for having the courage to follow your Vision and having the Love to share it with the World. May God's glorious Light shine brightly not only upon those who read these words but also from within those same people...may you all come to see the beauty of God within yourselves but also within one another. Peace and Great Love.

Rating:
Summary: Beware!
Review: The Celestine Prophesy, James Redfield. A manuscript (Redfield uses a capital 'm') written in Aramaic 900 years ago and newly-discovered at a Peruvian archaeological dig, is suppressed by the Catholic Church via its control of the government. The tablet's nine "insights" are slowly revealed to the reader. This fiction was and is promoted with the subtle implication that the psycho-mystical occurrences in the story can be fact in our lives. Its words claim a godliness of purpose. Yet its inference is clearly focused on the self and is very denigrating of Christianity in general, and the Catholic Church in particular. It presents to those who have abandoned the major religions, that a "New Way" has come to put meaning & insight back into life: Visualization of nice material things gets them for you, meditation on human one-ness with the universe brings peace, and acceptance of any non-violent practice of life nurtures both the soul (a physical energy field) and a slowly self-perfecting society. On the last page, Mr. Redfield offers to interpret one's sun & moon sign for thirty bucks and solicits subscription to a New Age newsletter for another thirty. Most other reviews of this novel are quite negative. The reader loses the adventure fantasy because the author intrudes into the story with forced, instructive dialog and pedantic narration. This book is a historically-significant example of New Age literature and everyone should identify it first-hand for what it is. Mr. Redfield, realizing that P.T. Barnum was correct, hopes you'll buy his "enlightening" sequel, entitled The Tenth Insight (hardcover or paperback available). All CP believers who feel I've mean-spiritedly characterized them as gullible & misguided should recall the ancient insight: If the shoe fits... And yet, in compassion, it must be recognized that the search for insight is like the search for water in a vast green forest: You know water is there somewhere but could die of thirst searching on the wrong paths. Almost two thousand years ago a man, Who stands now always at your side, offered a path to water which quenches eternally. Drink and live

Rating:
Summary: Life changing experience!
Review: This book has incredible insight and at least to me it has made my life happier and I look at everything more positively. I am a practicing Catholic and this book, in no way, betrays my beliefs. Even attending Mass, I feel more connected and totally spiritual. Questions that I used to have, were answered or rather I saw more clearly and felt were explained. Maybe I am not making myself clear, but read the book and look into yourself and incredibly you will see things you cannot imagine why you didn't understand them before. By the way, the coincidences are happening more often to me because I have opened myself to them and I no longer feel fear, or at least I can work through it. I can't wait for my husband to read it so we can discuss it.