Customer Reviews

The Book of Light: The Nature of God, the Structure of Consciousness, and the Universe Within You

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Be warned, the cover illustration and title are very seductive.. Don't waste your money. This is vanity press at its worst. I was excited to read the reviews here on Amazon and bought this on the strength of them. I have been exploring the A Course in Miracles/Story Waters path for several years and was eager to find the next step. Unfortunately this is mammoth leap in reverse.

Contrary to what you will read here Dr Sharp is an embarrassingly bad author, actually, he is merely a man with a PC. The Book of Light reads like a verbose and self satisfied e-mail from someone who delludedly believes they're funny - complete with smiley faces and annecdotal 'amusing' and totally irrelevant asides "You may, if you wish, scrunch up your eyebrows..."

His writing is not literate or informative and his message is absurd. Rather than it pursuing the essential purity of the unity it builds a ridiculous mythology filled with irrelevant equasions and sequences to give it a history and fill space. He even answers his own questions inadequately, let alone mine. When talking us through one of his pointless numerical processes that supposedly took place at 'the creation' he asks: "why 12 and not another number? Well, for no other reason than twelve seemed a good idea at the time." Surely a statement like this renders further pursuit of any particular equasion meaningless, but Sharp continues for a chapter or two regardless.

This book includes a lot of white paper with clip art, first person quips and convoluted formulae replacing paragraphs of text. The prose is amateur, unedited and therefore infuriatingly rambling. The Book of Light - if edited by a professional could be reduced to a 10 page pamphlet that would take up less space in the landfill. Most revealing of Sharp's motivation is his choice to omit information essential to his theory. (despite the white space available on the page, and though editing) Instead Sharp tells us which of his other books to run and buy if we want to know.

If you have ever sensed the unity for yourself, if you know it's real and that this reality is anything but real this book is an insult to your intelligence. It creates formulae and ritual where there is nothing but 'God' as a pure and simple force, it fabricates plodding numeric sequences where there is nothing but one ariel love. On the other hand, if you enjoy unicorn T-shirts, crystals, incense and telling people at parties that you're a witch this may be what you're looking for... however, I make no promises

When it comes to Dr Sharp I have learned my lesson well. The exploitative, unprofessional drivel I found between these covers broke through any serenity I had managed to achieve and managed to piss me off! No small feat these days... I'm still trying to work out why my higher self put this nonsense into my reality - perhaps so that I will look inward rather than outward for the answers, no one is better qualified than me/you to see the light, definitely not Dr Sharp.

Using poetic, flowing language, Michael Sharp spins a tale of creation that is both familiar and new in the first volume of his fourth book, `The Book of Light.'
Having been raised as a Christian and not having explored the metaphysical concepts set forth in either this book or any of Sharp's previous publications, I approached this book with some mixed feelings. However, I did not find Sharp's picture of creation entirely foreign or completely contradictory to my own beliefs and I could certainly appreciate his command of the language and his style of writing. I found myself entranced with the imagery he created within the pages of `The Book of Light,' re-reading passages and forging ahead to discover each new step. The mantras repeated throughout the book are words to live by, no matter what your faith background may be.
Sharp introduces the book by saying it is an attempt to answer the really big questions all human beings have asked at some point in their lives: What is the nature of God? What is the nature of creation? What is my purpose? and more, adding that his hope is that readers will finish the book with a new perspective on spiritual theories.
The book begins at the stage of creation when there was only awareness and consciousness in the form of "a single speck of light, a single perspective of self and a single monadic spark."
But this existence could only last for a period of time before the entity became bored with this state of being and began to wonder what could conquer the boredom.
Sharp says when you have an eternity to ponder, boredom is inevitable and from this boredom comes the opportunity to create new and wonderful things. Every step in the unfolding of creation as laid out in `The Book of Light' is brought on by trying to solve the problem of boredom.
And so a new toy was created, a "Plastercine of Paradise," but eventually boredom set in again and a new inspiration was sought. The only solution was to add another "eye" to creation.
With each new "eye" or "monad" that comes into being and brings with it the creation of new and exciting dimensions, there is no inequality or hierarchy. With each level, narrower viewpoints emerge, but this is not a negative circumstance.
Sharp says we are all equal in creation and we are all capable of getting everything we want as long as everyone is having fun. This insistence on everyone being motivated by fun reminded me of the greatest happiness principle endorsed by the founder of Utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham, who said we should decide if our actions are moral by asking ourselves if they will result in bringing the greatest amount of happiness to the greatest number of people.
In fact, this was not the only aspect of `The Book of Light' which seemed familiar to me. Although Sharp wants his readers to gain new insights into important spiritual questions, he admits "new" is a bit of a misnomer since many of the ideas are "old;" they are simply put together in a new and interesting manner.
For anyone who has asked themselves these questions, `The Book of Light' is a fascinating read that will not only benefit your life, but also the lives of children with leprosy since 100 per cent of the author royalties of the North American paperback edition of this book will be donated to charity.

Are you feeling tired and troubled? Is watching the slow decay of the Planet, Western Civilization, Democracy and Religion getting you down? Are you feeling like you want to become a part of the "Truth Movement" instead of the Bowel Movement that seems to be going on out there in the world right now? Are you ready to rediscover "fun?"

If you answered yes to any of these questions then read this book. Michael Sharp is one Sharp Michael. So Sharp in fact, that he cuts through thousands of years of dogma, chaos and confusion, to the simple truth in less than 200 pages.

This is a book of hope and a Book of Light, in a twilight-zone world. I went from thinking the golden age of man was over and it was all down hill from here, to being more optimistic about the future than I have ever been. And along the way I seem to have recaptured the magic and imagination of my childhood. The Book of Light allows you to leave fear behind, as you finally breath a sigh of relief and know that after all...The Universe is indeed, Unfolding As It Should.

Michael has somehow found a way to clearly explain the seemingly unfathomable concepts of timelessness, of no beginning and no end, of creation, and of our purpose here on earth. The whole book is one big "Ah Ha!" Whether you have never given a second thought to spirituality; whether you're a Buddhist, Catholic or Agnostic; whether you're a frizzy-haired granola-eating New Age wacko or a bible-thumping Baptist..This book will light up your imagination. The ring of simple truth in Michael's words can wipe away all the grime clouding up the window into your soul.

Read it, and you will find it is not something you feel you have to believe. It is simply something you feel.....

The Book of Light empowered me like no other.

I'm a philosophy major who studied law, economics and philosophy at graduate level, and I'm not so easily swayed by the bluster of those who claim to have found some metaphysical truth. I mean, I had my share of Platos in my life. But this one's different. I can't hardly express its magnificence: the most grand description of our existence in such down-to-earth language for everyone to understand easily. Simply amazing...

After reading this book, the person who I previously thought I was began to fade away, and a new one emerged, with vigor. And I feel much, much better, to put it mildly.

~.~

Reviewing this book is not only a privilege but an exceeding honor.

In this volume, Dr. Michael Sharp has begun, in my humble opinion, the untangling of the relentless Gordian Knot round about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

If you have been especially privy to the sensing of "It" in your own journey, you will surely recognize that which I refer to when I speak of "The Veiled Stuff" between Wonder and Sense; that come-hither, teasing Thinking Substance of unknown knowing, beckoning the Seeker forward into the understanding and the revelation of "It"self...carrying you, as it self-reveals, far beyond the religiosity-inspired, self-imposed, self-limiting Boundary of Safety.

Few, at best, have peered full face under "It"s Veil, much less brought back to us, with such splendor and clarity, the stellar resource of this work, which Dr. Sharp has gifted us through the material presented.

You shall not soon forget what you read!

Move over "The Disappearance of the Universe", you have not even begun to reveal the wonders contained in this exquisite gem of ascension revelation! Nor have you inspired us to completely raze the tower of the Believed Lie and run joyfully, playfully in wild abandon, for the City of Truth, as this text does.

From the opening words, which I personally would liken to the sensation of my first binaural beat experience in entrainment, you will find yourself awash and giddy with wide-eyed, child-like wonder as the pieces he logically and patiently presents begin to ACTUALLY fit, despite your wanting to protest!

Oh, you would be fool indeed, fellow Seeker, to miss this presentation.

I downloaded "The Book of Light" today and just finished it. For the past couple of years I've been paying close "detail" and researching the spiritual realm--you're book "The Book of Light" .....how can I say this....was the ICING ON THE CAKE for my level of understanding! I will read it once more, and take notes and then begin VOLUME 2 of "The Book of Light" which will be what I consider as my next level of understanding.

It's truly amazing; your way of putting things into perpective is phenomonal and EVERYTIME I get to a point where I'm like "umm I'm not sure I get that" , the following line is always some sort of logical analogy or similie that immediatly causes me to go..."oh! okay I see!!!" :)

YOUR WORDS HELP ME TO REMEMBER......I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

While reading this incredibly original and intelligent work, I experienced two life-changing things. First, I realized that we have all been kept in the dark for way too long. The systems, institutions, societies and religions that bind us are everywhere. Look at your own life and see that you might be afraid to truly speak and act how you feel. I'm talking rat race and society here, and MONEY. Indeed, we have been kept in the dark from our spiritual power and awareness for a very long time. Knowing this brings such freedom. The second revelation - and it was a giant revelation - was recognizing God within. I realized that God was looking out through my eyes as I read this book on the couch, and experiencing life from my perspective. How else could I be here reading unless I were God looking out from this perspective? Michael Sharp's book has also brought a sense of creative fun to life that I had completely forgotten. Thank you, Dr. Sharp, for waking us up and empowering us. I've studied Kant, Hegel and many other greats, but you showed me how to truly see the "I" as God intended.