Customer Reviews

Becoming Like God: Kabbalah and Our Ultimate Destiny

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I am very open to the concept of it being our destiny to "become like God". However, this book is singularly unhelpful to doing so on any level. Sure it puts out the message. Sure it has a lot of related cheerleading. What it doesn't have is any real depth. The authority for the message is supposedly the Kabala and specifically the Zohar. Yet no real meat from these sources is presented. Nor are readers who are not already believers in the veracity and insight of these sources offered any further grounding despite the handwaving claims of this book not requiring any particular religious background.

The biggest lack in the book is the lack of any real spiritual guidance to the task at hand. There is the old platitudinal stuff about overcoming the "seeking to receive only for one's self". But there is very little guidance about how to actually do this or all the myriad guises of this same impulse and how to find a way beyond them all. A Course in Miracles does a much better and far more comprehensive job and is much more spiritually rich. The only guidance given here is to ssek one's deep humiliation and to give when it is disasterous to one's self to do so. This is not at all grounded or deep.

If I sat out to design a book that would make the entire business of Theosis look like an empty New Age rant I would not have done much worse than this empty tome. It is a great pity it is receiving the attention that it is.

I am hesitant but feel it neccessary to say that its important to review a book by making meaningful and informed post about the actual object that your reviewing, and not going off on tangents about jewish evangelistic whatever! I am not currently a student of the kabblah centre but have been, and possibly could be. WHat they teach is just as meaningful and realistic as what is being taught anywhere else in the world. Just because you see celebrities and individuals wearing the red string and make uninformed opinions without any real thought or effort put into discovering the true meaning behind their faith, does not make someone or some group uneffective or un-important.

I have had a chance to participate in a conference by the rabbi on this book. It is very very helpful regardless of your religuous background. The key lessons and points that are made are universal and can change your life if you allow it to do so.

"Right now, this minute, as you read these words, you're either heading for eternal life or you're committing suicide...God exists. And he would never consign the human race to endless suffering and unavoidable death. Union with God is possible, and its consequence is never-ending joy and the removal of death. God does not suffer and die; therefore, we don't need to suffer and die." --Michael Berg in Becoming Like God - Kabbalah And Our Ultimate Destiny

It seems that everywhere I turn anymore, I see the Kabbalah. Or Cabala. Or Qabalah. Or...well, you get my drift. A recent skit on Saturday Night Live featured a fake quote by Madonna where all she said was "Kabbalah, Kabbalah, Kabbalah"--a reference to the pop star's interest in this mystical off-shoot of Judaism. Her pilgrimage to Israel made the news, and People magazine recently featured a small piece on the party that she and Demi Moore threw in London for Kabbalistic Rabbi Michael Berg. Gwyneth Paltrow was in attendance, as were other luminaries like Guy Ritchie, Valentino, and Versace.

What were they all celebrating at this posh party? The release of Berg's new book Becoming Like God - Kabbalah And Our Ultimate Destiny. Michael Berg is the director of The Kabbalah Centre, and has achieved the amazing feat of translating the 23 volume Zohar from the Aramaic into English--all by the age of 28. (He began the translation at age 18.) The Zohar is the foundation of the Kabbalah, and according to Kabbalistic teachers like Berg, is not a book of religion but of ancient technology--a technology so powerful that it can end death itself.

I've tried to read books on the Kabbalah before, but I usually give up early in the game--bored to tears by Hebrew words that I don't understand and a Tree of Life that's never really explained in lucid terms. When I received a copy of Becoming Like God, I thought that perhaps this would be the facile version of this ancient mystical tradition that would finally hold some relevance.

An easy-to-read book that's peppered with quotes in hot-pink, all-caps script--there is nary a mention of the Tree of Life, Kether, Malkuth, Binah, Chesed or any of the usual Kabbalistic buzz-words. One of the fuschia quotes in this book is FOCUS AND CLARITY ARE THE OPPONENT'S MORTAL ENEMIES. WE MUST FIGHT FOR CLARITY EVERY MOMENT: CLARITY ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF CLARITY, CLARITY THAT WE'RE IN A PRISON, CLARITY THAT THERE'S A GOD FORMULA TO BE APPLIED, CLARITY THAT WE'RE DESTINED TO BE LIKE GOD. (Forgive me for cyber-shouting, but this is an example of how these quotes look in the book.)

With all this talk about clarity...well, you'd think the book would be more clear. Instead, there is mention of an Opponent who's a "he"; I thought for sure he'd be unmasked as Satan himself at the end of the book, but instead, this nebulous Opponent's name is Why do you ask my name? (no lie)--as well as the desire to receive for self alone. What isn't explained is exactly what ego is within the context of the Zohar or the Kabbalah. Rather, Berg tries to convince us that we're all in a prison, that this Opponent is prison guard, that life must be a constant struggle of ruthlessness against this hated Opponent and that we must be ever-vigilant in the battle to become like God.

There is much talk in Becoming Like God about evil versus good, deception versus truth, and life versus death. Some concepts I totally agree with and "get": that the illusion of separation causes needless suffering, that the ego is crafty and seeks to keep us isolated, that we were made in the image of God and are ever-evolving to realize our Divinity, etc.

Yet, God is really never explained, either, and Berg portrays "Him" quite similarly to the typical male Patriarch of the Old Testament. The Earth is described as a warzone where the stakes are high (our very souls, in fact), and that we are basically warriors that are either committing suicide or becoming like God in every moment. Wow, the pressure! There is an urgent tone to this book that almost borders on paranoia and apocalyptic gloom. I agree that it would be nice for critical mass to occur and for humans to spontaneously evolve into Oneness...but quite frankly, I don't think the Creator is fretting about us going to hell in a handbasket because He/She knows that all is well.

The tone of this book is far different than what I feel in my Spirit and what I've read from books like Journey of Souls, which chronicles copious amounts of information from past-life regressions on the nature of creation, souls, the afterlife, life between lives, and the purpose of incarnating. Even if the Earth were to blow up, I'm confident that the Creator would find another suitable place in this vast Universe for us to continue our spiritual schooling! And, in books like Journey of Souls, we are informed that all things serve a purpose and for our highest good.

Yet, in Berg's book, I feel like I'm back in Pentecostal Sunday School where I'm being admonished that there's a boogey man out to get me and that I better get my act together or go to hell. For a book that proclaims Oneness, sharing, and the "illusion of the middle" (in other words, there's no in-between on the road to godhood: We're either on the road to light or on the road to darkness, says Berg)--there's a heckuva lot of duality and fear-based dogma therein.

It just doesn't jive with me. I see all the people flocking to this kind of teaching and I can't help but feel like the child in Emperor's New Clothes--wondering why celebs fawn over elaborate, silken clothes that just aren't there.

DON'T EVEN BOTHER with this one~! Unless you are a totally egomaniacal, out-for-number-One money grubbin' type. In which case, you probably wouldn't be looking at this genre of books anyway. If you've never pondered the query, "how can I be a better person?" even this tiny tome will fly right over your head. If you have done a modicum of self-examination, leading to spiritual growth, this book is apt to leave you cold, as it did me.

A MUCH better, and meatier book, for around the same price, is Wayne Dyer's The Power of Intention -- it fills in all the blanks left in this Berg book, while leading one to get OUT of their own ego, into service for others and moving toward the life they would desire or intend, at the same time, with plenty of "exercises" for attaining both.

This book could well have been summed up in one sentence: GET OUT OF YOURSELF ~! and saved a lotta trees (for printing). After having read Yehuda Berg's The Power of Kabbalah, not once but twice, and passing it around to my friends, I eagerly anticipated at least as much inspiration and instruction from Michael Berg's work. Instead, I was greatly disappointed.

As someone living on a small (under $600.00/month), fixed (social security) income, I only spend around $25.00-30.00 every other month on books, anyway, preferring to share as much as possible with organizations helping those less fortunate -- Native American college fund, medical services for Africa and environmental causes -- so in a sense, Berg was preaching to the choir, here.

There IS much to be gained from a study of the Torah, the Kabbalah and in the Zohar -- but this is watered-down trivia and by being so simplified, it almost totally misses the mark. Rather like telling someone the recipe for German chocolate cake "has flour in it" -- there's a lot more to spirituality than Becoming like God.

A seeker would be just as well off going to the Berg consortium's websites, www.72.com or www.kabbalah.com and reading, there, for free.

I've never written an amazon review before, but seeing some of the responses on this board have made me decide to respond. Some of the reviews are completely positive, giving it five stars, and others are caked in negativity giving it one star and bashing it as "drivel."

My input is this... I've seen better material from the Kabbalah Centre and other kabbalistic sources. Whereas this book is simple and has some theological weaknesses, it seems to me to be a great introduction to some of the ideas of kabbalah and a great place to launch from. Kabbalah does teach that we are the "fallen sparks" of the Creator. We do indeed possess a portion of the divine within us, and our purpose is to elevate these sparks to reunite with the divine and to cleave to the Creator. That's what the book is about... breaking free from the shells of negativity that seem to encase so many and realizing the divine sparks within each and every one of us. If you see the negativity around you, and you think, "There's got to be a better way..." then this book is for you!

I am deeply offended that this "rabbi" is using Jewish spiritual texts to write a cheap self-help book. Anyone who finds this book helpful is obviously not mentally suited to interpret kabbalah, and should spend time with a therapist rather than with this "rabbi's" attempt to make a quick buck.

Very good book. Loved it and reading it again now.
It's full of the revelations about the real nature of all things in our lives, the small and big treasures, that we had never noticed or questioned before. a real practical guide to life.

One of those books, after which you are not the same person anymore.

A lot of people see Kabbalah as a new-age fad. Well, if 4000 years can be considered as 'new' then they are right...
Some start learning the teaching, only to realize that there is a lot of work they need to do, and also that they need to realize that they are resbonsible for everything that happens in their life. And then there are those who are religious, who robotically follow what others tell them to do, without questioning anything. If you are one of those people, you will not like this book. But, if you want to take control of your life, take your potential to the next level, to where you were intented to be, then you will see the precious gift that Michael Berg is handing you. The writing is as clear as day light, and the concepts are as simple as we make them be. After the reading, starts the work. The book itself won't help if we do not desire to change, to become better, to transform and improve our life. If you do own that desire, you will be able to use the wisdom in the book and become closer to 'Becoming like God'.

Becoming Like God is a diamond. The tone is invigorating, revealing and compelling. The visuals are unlike anything I've seen in a `spiritual' book - very in your face and challenging.

The stories Michael Berg tells go deep, straight to the bone. His metaphor of life being a prison is chilling in its clarity.

"...we feast on a steady diet of chaos and sickness and are finally sentenced to death."

Wow. Michael Berg is ruthless in his honesty about our condition and he delivers on what he promises, a technique to become like god. And he is anything but vague. He gives you a good idea of what becoming god is all about. Also, his passion, his anger at the hold death has over us, challenged me to pick my head up and start living, to be better than what I have settled for all these years. He made me care about this treasure I've been given - life.

Life being a treasure was always a cliché to me, but for the first time I feel the depth of this expression. I guess Michael does what all true Masters do - they send their energy to you through their words, triggering something within that connects us all to each other.

My favorite lines of the book are, "...battleground for our soul on this battlefield called life..." and "We use only 4% of our brain. How much of our heart and soul do we use?"

What is presented in this book will seem simple in concept-the best ideas usually are. I should warn you that there is a tendency to view these simple ideas from a surface level without really internalizing and practicing them. Therefore I recommend that you read this book a minimum of 5 times. And each time you read it, rather than using your rational, intellectual mind, which analyzes things to death, use your illogical, adventurous side and make an effort to incorporate these tools into your life.

This is the cleanest work from Michael. I can't put it down. You will get Kabbalah after you read it.

Made me realise what life is really about -- amazing experience.

I suggested it to my friends and they LOVE it.

The best book I have read so far and I've read a lot of them. Rereading it again now....