Dreaming in Real Time: The Shanti Shanti Story

Rating:
Summary: Shanti Shanti, Baby!!!
Review: Author Linda Forman in Dreaming in Real Time writes the story of her family as they go on a miraculous spiritual journey after finding out that her daughters can chant ancient Sanskrit after learning it swiftly on their own. Some the theological difficulties of having the daughters chant Hindu prayers for Christian churches are explored, but since new agers tend to believe that all religions are one despite apparent contradictions and hostilities, this is not a subject that is explored in depth.

Forman has many delightful parlour stories about her family and some of the extraordinary events they have experienced. They seem to be people blessed with knowing what their purpose in life is, for the most part, while many of us struggle to find any rhyme or reason to it.

One of the main points of the story is that chanting sanskrit can make people dramatically feel better and peoples' unusual and immediate emotional reactions to the music are presented in the book. Even dogs and plants seem to love the vibes. I can't really say I had such a dramatic reaction to the CD included with the book. "Ganesh Prayers" had nice melodies and harmonies to it and I found "Shanti Mantra" good for meditating as the young women chant very fast and hypnotically for 5 minutes. The rest sounds like Sunday Morning Contempory Christian church music--a little too sweet, bland, and feminine for my tastes, as I listened to their sugary light pop confections.

It wasn't unpleasant, but I thought they should go for a more exotic, mysterious world music sound and get their East Indian musician friends to help them come up with a more authentic sound. It's peaceful music, but I really can't say it's anymore therapeutic than any other music, at this point. I'd give the CD three stars. New Agers are always making wild claims about their CDs; it's not just good music, it's "healing" and therefore better than standard pop music.

Rating:
Summary: A Dream of a Read
Review: This is a well-written, funny, uplifting, and spiritually satisfying book that I couldn't put down. To know that it's a true story makes it all the more gratifying. The author's intelligence and humor shines through. I laughed outloud in several places. Plus, the book contains a CD of Shanti Shanti's songs and chants. You can't beat that for lasting enjoyment! I liked this book so much that I have ordered several more to give as gifts to my spiritually like-minded friends.
Dreaming in Real Time is written by Linda Forman, the mother of Andrea and Sara Forman who together are known as the singing duo Shanti Shanti. The author states in the introduction that she comes from a family of storytellers. Her talent for relating the stories of her family's extraordinary life experiences definitely shows in this book. During her telling of how her young daughters came to "remember" Sanskrit and chant the Vedas, she also relates her own cosmic insight and spiritual growth. Her explanation of her dreams and out-of-time, transcendental experiences are wonderfully clear. Her insights into Vedic healing techniques such as sound therapy gave me an "Ah ha" moment.
Those of you who have clear experiences of God's guidance or "God things" as she puts it, will relate and appreciate her down-to-earth, honest retelling of the spiritual guidance that is an integral part of her family's spiritual journey.
You also come to know and love the family: mom and dad, Linda and Robert; sisters, Andrea and Sara; brother Micah, and you want to know what happens next. I hope Linda Forman keeps on writing.
I highly recommend this magical book for all ages.