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Spirit-Zines: Reviews of Magazines Devoted to Personal and Spiritual Growth |
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Perhaps more than any other medium, the
magazine reflects trends in Western culture. It's no coincidence, then, that the last few
years have seen a surge in the number of periodicals devoted to personal and spiritual
growth. At some of the larger Colorado-area bookstores, there may be 10 or 12 such
magazines competing for the browser's attention, each with a slightly different slant and
approach. All of the magazines we've reviewed to date have much to commend them. There's a genuine sincerity in these publications. They reflect a very real attempt to provide material that will be attractive and useful to the reader. But--given the huge variety and the weightiness of the articles (which makes in-store reading difficult)--selection of a particular magazine is probably done more on the basis of peripheral or superficial "taste" issues than anything else. This means that the reader is liable to miss something worthwhile in a "spirit-zine" (to coin a phrase) that may not be sending the right message. A few words on the format: At the beginning of each review is the address of the magazine and several subjective and objective measures. The "orientation" listing is a subjective stab at placing the magazine in some sort of cultural gravitational context--the direction to which the publication seems to have the most attraction. The "Enneagram" listing suggests one or more of the Enneagram points that may find the contents particularly interesting for the reasons given. Finally, because these magazines seem--as a group--to use an unusual amount of heavy, coated paper stock, there is an objective measure of the weight per page, together with a tongue-in-cheek "eco-evaluation." Contents: |
| The Quest Philosophy, Science, Religion, the Arts Published Quarterly
by The Theosophical Society in America Issue Reviewed: March 1997 Orientation: Christian Transcendentalist/Buddhist/Unitarian Total Weight: 7.25 ounces The Quest is the most unabashedly "traditional" and past-oriented of these magazines, which seems strange when you realize that this is the publisher of Ken Wilber’s ground-breaking Spectrum of Consciousness. Nonetheless, with articles highlighting Socrates and the American Transcendentalists, this journal tethers itself to a past of certitude and order. The fulcrum here is a selection from Robert Ellwood’s The Pilgrim Self, a fine piece filled with homilies that seem nourishing as you read them but which somtimes dissolve on the mental palate like communion wafers. This is true "transcendental" writing, in the sense of a conscious needing or wanting to transcend the mundane. "It is said that we learn through pain and suffering," he says at one point. "No doubt true," Ellwood continues, "but it is even more true that we learn from joy." "No doubt true." "Even more true." This is an intellect used to dealing in Western scales of measure, abstraction, and grand assumptions. Within its sphere, The Quest provides a great deal of diversity. Georg Feuerstein writes "In Praise of the Philosophical Life," making a distinction between the "love of wisdom" and the love of experience, which he sees represented by various drug-gurus. Catherine Wessinger reaches back almost 100 years to Annie Besant (second president of the Theosophical Society) as an early model for her "fully human" (that is to say, androgynous) person. Mark Richard Barna contributes a piece on Thoreau, Emerson, and John Muir that points to the roots of American environmentalism to "rekindle in us a resolve to act with a higher wisdom toward nature." Then, there is Michael W. Fox’s ringing (and highly certain) indictment of the current "lack of ethical sensibility, corporate responsibility, and empathetic sensitivity in relation to the animals, plants, natural systems, and even human communities" in a sort of gonzo apocalyptic vegetarianism, calling for governments to outlaw (or at least discourage) meat-eating. Finally, there is a wonderful juxtaposition afforded by considering the articles at the beginning and the end of the current issue (March 1997.) Ellwood’s statement that "Karma lays down the conditions of life--where and when one is born. The subsequent decisions are yours" then comes back against Subhash Kak’s article on "The Rhythms of Consciousness," wherein Kak argues that there is "an internal genetic clock governed by the same forces that move the planets." There is no absolute contradiction in those two statements, but this is an area where one does not look for either answers or questions in The Quest. Intuition Intuitive Media, Inc. Issue Reviewed: April 1997 Orientation: Holistic Psychology Total Weight: 6 ounces Intuition was a pleasant surprise, if only because it was so disarmingly "down to earth" and filled with information that could best be characterized as "helpful." From the lead articles on "tribal wisdom" to features on techniques for heart-focused meditation, "mindmapping," and body-oriented therapies, the focus of this magazine is on suggesting techniques for readers to use in getting in touch with their intuition. What exactly is "intuition" as used here? It seems to be summed up in the phase "gut instinct." If there is a belief system promoted here, of course, it is that "gut instinct" is superior to purely head-based thought (if such a thing is indeed possible) because it expresses the complete self. An article on "mindmapping" seems to reflect the practical nature of this publication. Far from being something esoteric, mindmapping turns out to be a simple technique to facilitate brainstorming on paper. Rather than develop ideas using an outline format, with restrictive number and letter divisions, mindmaps are simple flow charts using key words (nouns and verbs) that are selected to be highly meaningful and suggestive, allowing for a large number of subsequent associations. The only disappointment here was an article on "The Mystical Power of Poetry," if only because of the limited range of the poets discussed. It's not that the poets aren't relevant to the topic (Emerson, some of the English Romantics, and Allen Ginsberg). It's that there are SO relevant to, and predictable for, the topic. Here, as elsewhere, the editors seem to be trying for useful insights with down-to-earth and familiar material. One cannot really fault them for this. It works, after all; and the insights are surprisingly simple: "Reading poetry encourages an intimate appreciation of the sublime suchness of things, and a feeling of unity with them." It’s just too bad that a poet like William Carlos Williams (whose mind-body mantra was "no ideas but in things") couldn’t have been included. Finally, a sidebar accompanying an interview with anthropologist Angeles Arrien provided the most helpful tool of all: a simple preference test involving five shapes that seems to offer a strong correlation between our attraction to certain types of shapes and our place in our own creative or growth process. Of course, it’s all in the interpretation. That requires some objective correlation of the results with the actual creative situation of subjects. And that gets into "science." Body Mind Published Bi-Monthly Island Publishing Company, Inc. Issue Reviewed: February/March 1997 Orientation: Spiritual Cosmopolitan Total Weight 6.5 ounces Body Mind Spirit is as much a "gal’s" magazine, as Andrew Cohen’s "What is Enlightenment" (see below) is a "guy’s magazine. And the stereotypes behind that statement are a perfect indication of the orientation of BMS. There’s Phylicia Rashad on the cover, beside the title "Giving Every Day," with her primly coifed 'do, sensible earrings, and perky smile. Not to carp, however. The contents of this magazine are really first class within its orientation, with significant contributions from Joan Borysenko, Pema Chödrön (a teacher at the Colorado-based Shambhala meditation schools), and Barbara De Angelis. There’s also an earnest and informative article on psychoneuroimmunology (a controversial field loosely based on modern hormonal and neurotransmitter research which relates thoughts and therapeutic touch to healing) by Barbara Ganim. Perhaps more than many other magazines of its type, BMS is a "review" magazine, with a huge number of media reviews of books and CD’s. Interestingly enough, the undercurrent here is on casting off the expectations, false duties, and other burdens associated with the very stereotypes normally associated with the concepts given visibility here for purposes of attracting a feminine audience: giving, relationships, feelings. Joan Borysenko talks about the increasing ability to say no to expectations from others as women begin to develop their masculine sides in middle age. Pema Chödrön speaks of the insights that can be gained from taking a time out and allowing feelings like resentment, embarrassment, irritation, anger, fear, and jealousy--the so called "negative" emotions which many women (and men, for that matter) have been taught to disallow or submerge. I've never been a huge fan of Barbara De Angelis. Even though I've enjoyed reading a few of her books and found her delightful in person, there's always that up-front show-womanship that I associate with hucksters. (No doubt, this is at least partly a projection on my part.) The two pieces here are typical. They are really excellent, with all the right words and ideas. But somehow, the idea of an "emotional map," with six discrete layers that are applicable to everyone, seems a bit too programmatic for me. Others will not have this problem, of course. In all, BMS attempts to be chicken soup for the conventional or stereotypical feminine self-image, the life progress of which is set forth in Joan Borysenko’s moving article "The Biology, Psychology, and Spirituality of the Feminine Life Cycle." It seems to do that very well. Whether or not this is chicken soup for the soul . . . . well, I’m just not sure. Dedicated to the discovery of what enlightenment is Moksha Press Issue Reviewed: Spring/Summer 1997 Orientation: Spiritual Epicurianism Total Weight: 12.5 ounces What is Enlightenment? is the personal project of Andrew Cohen, who began teaching in 1986 after a spiritual realization that changed his life, and has published this magazine as a reflection of his current lines of inquiry for six years. Issues focus on a strong central theme, such as the recent "Women, Enlightenment and the Divine Mother," and the present "Can Science Enlighten Us?" This allows an exhaustive treatment of issues and some excellent opportunities for insightful juxtaposition. It can also be literally exhausting, as you'll soon see. The scientists represented in this particular issue include physicist David Bohm, economist E.F. Schumacher, Fritjof Capra (author of The Tao of Physics), physics professor Amit Goswami (University of Oregon), "controversial" biologist Rupert Sheldrake, and physics professor Frank J. Tipler (Tulane University.) Sandwiched into this group is Huston Smith, an authority on world religions from MIT who is asked the question: "why have religious structures seemingly lost the Vision, so that people have to seek it elsewhere?" For the record, he essentially responds with the "old saw" that science (or, more correctly, "scientism") has become our religion: "We have turned science into scientism--scientism being defined as the assumption that science is the only reliable way of getting at truth, and that only the kinds of things it tells us about really exist." That seems to describe pretty well one pole of the controversy carried on here. The other is represented by Goswami, who flatly asserts that consciousness creates the material world: "Consciousness is the ground of all being. In this view, consciousness imposes ‘downward causation,’ In other words, our free will is real. When we act on the world, we really are acting with causal power." (To use a few extreme examples, then, the geological record is created by sentient beings to explain what exists, in the same way that human consciousness created dinosaur fossils--presumably to populate museums and provide subject matter for feature films.) The interviewer gushes breathlessly at one point that interviewing Goswami was a "mind-bending and concept-challenging experience." By the end of the interview, however, it’s clear that Goswami doesn’t REALLY mean that. But he does still mean that "consciousness is the ground of all being." And he repeats that a few times to make sure we know it. This is surely nominalism of the highest order. Interestingly, his thought seems to be remarkably free of actual physical examples of anything, other than one subatomic particle experiment that he asserts "proves" the existence of transcendence, the interpretation of which would seem to be open to question. The feature article in this issue is the interview with F. David Peat, who has just published a biography of David Bohm and contributes some thoughts on Bohm's relationship with J. Krishnamurti and Bohm's ideas that have relevance to spiritual inquiry, including: the "theory of hidden variables" (the universe can never be encompassed fully by human thought), the "theory of implicate order" (an unknowable hidden order out of which the "explicable" order of the universe is created), and the reintroduction of time and the concept of a field of "active information" which unites matter and energy. Despite his enthusiasm in relaying Bohm's thought, which he clearly relishes, Peat seems uncomfortable about the possibility of being associated--in the magazine--with people who he considers flakes. Hearing that a colleague has published an assertion he can't agree with, Peat muses, "Ah, so he's actually come out with it then." At times it’s difficult to discern the editorial point of view here, as if the editors are trying to communicate with us in code. A reviewer of Frank Tipler’s book The Physics of Immortality (an assertion of the scientific verifiability of human resurrection) threatens at times to shade over into ridicule. But there’s always a return to resolute open-mindedness that doesn't seem to fit with the edgy sarcasm evidenced at times. Somewhere during my reading of the interview with Rupert Sheldrake, I realized that the frustrating thing about the entire line of inquiry was that impossible-to-answer questions were being raised, provisionally answered with speculation, and then plowed back under. For example, Sheldrake asks: "if the universe is alive, if solar systems are alive, if galaxies are alive, if planets are alive, are they conscious? Or are they alive but unconscious, in the same way that perhaps a worm or a bacterium might be alive but unconscious. And, is the kind of life that may exist in the cosmos more conscious than ourselves or do we have to assume it’s a great deal less conscious than ourselves? Are we the smartest beings in the universe?" These questions are validated by Sheldrake with a questionable condemnation of science, which he says has "wiped out consciousness from everything in the universe except human brains." But this doesn’t really answer anything. It just keeps open a possibility of anthropomorphism; as if the sun is supremely capable of tuning in to stray, interstellar snatches of "I Love Lucy" reruns. There’s a real Philosophy 101 earnestness in this magazine. I hadn’t thought of some of the minor questions raised since I was 19 or 20. But it almost seems that transcendence is being appealed to to answer some of these unanswerable questions because it allows a limitless amount of elbow or "wiggle" room. Is the question here "what is enlightenment?" or "what is certainty?" or "what it possible?" In the midst of the interview with Goswami, the editors (apparently seeking to disengage themselves from Goswami's radical views) ask a question attributed to Einstein: "Does the moon only exist when I look at it?" In apparent answer, Ken Wilber is quoted in a side-bar on the opposite page: "you find a little indeterminacy in the physical realm and you go nuts." That seems to sum up the unstated editorial position: just because the scientific method doesn't always explain every phenomenon doesn't mean that it's better to conjure answers out of thin air. Acceptance and open-mindedness is admirable. But when do you call a spade a spade? Can Science "Enlighten" us? Based on the articles in this magazine, in-so-far as science can show us what we don't know or may never know, the answer would seem to be "yes." But if enlightenment is "absolute knowledge" the same sources indicate that the very question is a bad one to begin with. - Darrell M. Dodge, TelosNet |
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© 1997 TelosNet Updated: March 24, 2008 |
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