Customer Reviews

Ecumensus: The Next Vision

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The man knows his truth! It may sound cliched, but if you liked The Celestine Prophecy, you'll love this book. Mark really has a knack for developing his characters, and you'll get to know them intimately. And his description of the New Mexico landscape is so vivid that you'll want to go there soon or maybe you'll feel like you're already there!

The story involves an eclectic group of individuals who join together to plan an upcoming meeting of the world's great spiritual teachers. These enlightened masters will decide on how mankind is to spiritually evolve over the next 2,000 years.

Mark keeps the reader captivated with humor, romance, great storytelling, and illuminating spiritual truths. I won't give away the ending, but it's unforgettable. The only drawback in my opinion is that he focuses so much attention on the planning stages that he has to perhaps cut short the exciting final part of the story where the meeting actually takes place. Maybe there's a sequel planned...

By the way, I knew the author had a firm grasp on the ways of the heart and the spirit when one of his characters puts in a Van Morrison CD into the car player as he and his partner are headed for a romantic weekend in the mountains!

I highly recommend Ecumensus!

I enjoyed this book, there are moments of brilliance that kept me wanting to know more. There are elements of mystery, romance, and fantasy. At times it was a real page turner for me, but others it stalled out on insignificant details, repetitive ponderings, or a lack of depth due to too many story lines. I kept envisioning the cast of Monty Python standing behind the author shouting "Get on with it!". Fortunately the story does get back on track after these lulls.

I found the spiritual content in the book to be interesting and enlightening. Most of the time it was well integrated into the story, but occasionally it would be a bit dry or preachy. It is a visionary work that includes all the major religions in hopes of finding unity.

Entertainment: 4 stars
Enlightenment: 5 stars

Reading "Ecumensus: The Next Vision" is a thought-provoking, mesmerizing experience. As a faithful Christian, I found the perspective and interpretation of the universe's religion presented by the author to be a captivating accompaniment to my own beliefs, allowing expansion of what I accept to be truth and elaboration of what I accept to be possible. It would be impossible to read this book and not feel an alteration in your world of thoughts.

What's after Jesus? "Ecumensus: The Next Vision" is a fictional imagining of what lies next for the spiritual world in a hypothetical situation when the current era ends and the next begins. Asking many questions and coming up with many ideas about what's next, and how the spiritual world will be for the next two millennia for mankind, he presents many ideas that prove to be much food for thought. "Ecumensus" is a must for any spirituality thinker.

I saw this book on a list of best selling local authors in Austin and took a chance. It is fun and highly speculative, but as the mysterious historical connections unfold it is a very readable story about real people. Don't know if a follow-up is planned but there is a lot more story telling left in this theme.

This book is twofold, it is a story of how the wealthy Russell Layne brings together seven people to plan the universal religious meeting that will set the spiritual path for the next 2000 years. At the same time it contains teachings that will test your own beliefs and take you closer to the universal spiritual truths that is inside each one of us.
This book is very well written and has a very entertaining story that brings the characters to life. The final meeting that takes place in the story brings together spiritual masters from around the world from all continents and religions to agree upon truths that finally unite mankind. The author believes it is time for the world to quit putting gurus and religious icons on pedestals, and see the divine that resides with in.

Clifford Mark's first book is a very deep and thoughtful work that tells both a facinating story and hints at a better way we can all live our lives. Ecumensus offers us a roadmap to ways that spirituality can be personalized and enhanced by focusing less on the structure of one church or one religious dogma and more on the inner-personal faith inherent in each of us. Along the way, Ecumensus tells a compelling story of a group of ordinary men and women who are drawn into the effort to plan an historic meeting of seven master spiritual teachers. This journey to organize the meeting at a pueblo in New Mexico create a compelling story that has lessons for us all. I highly recommend Ecumensus.

I found a lot to like about C.L. Mark's new novel, Ecumensus: The Next Vision. It rather defies pigeonholing in a genre, for one thing. It can be read as a mystery, a New Age fantasy or a novel of ideas. Meanwhile though, one finds oneself enjoying getting to know the well-drawn characters and being drawn into the beauty of the New Mexico setting, all the while getting set up for a remarkable climax. Vastly enjoyable.

If you knew we were on the verge of a shift of consciousness, what would you do? Would you be a part of it? Would you hide from the change? Deny it? Notice it? Forever, there have been wise ones, enlightened ones who have told us that we could do as they do, be as they are. We have been lost in the process and sometimes lost sight of the goal.

The character Thomas Walls was drawn to do something in preparation for an event so monumental it would change the course of humanity for the next two thousand years. As synchronicity works, the people that needed to be planners for the event came together. They were given clues that had been presented by a guru, so that they would be sure of the ones who would come to teach. The souls of the masters reborn to show us the way didn't really need to have clues foretell of their coming though. They were known when the time came.

The planning of the gathering at a sacred spot all fell into place over months of work. Would it have occurred regardless? The planners learned much along the way and shared of themselves. In this sharing the reader also learns to let go of beliefs, look for their own path to enlightenment and embrace what becomes. The pinnacle of the book, the event itself, is much anticipated.

The writing is well executed and the story purposeful. The beginning is a bit slow but the momentum of the plot builds like the path up the sacred mesa. It is well worth the exercise. A book with a different kind of vision, "Ecumensus" is full of hope, promising a new age of enlightenment that I sincerely wish to be non-fiction.

Ecumensus: The Next Vision is a powerful spiritual adventure full of rich imagery and captivating characters. The story takes place in the very near future as the new spiritual consciousness unfolds, bringing with it an awakening of spiritual connectedness. If you enjoyed Eckart Tolle's, A New Earth, this book masterfully weaves these concepts into a believable story of hope and renewal for all of humanity. I finished this book energized with anticipation for the future and new understandings to carry into my daily life. Read it with an open mind and see the possibilities for yourself. I highly recommend it!