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59 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
True Enlightenment, August 15, 2009
This review is from: The Gospel According to Acharya S (Paperback)
Going around the net, I see a lot of comments about Acharya's work from people who obviously haven't read it. Case in point, someone is ranting about this book being "angry," when in fact it's the total opposite. It's a VERY HAPPY book full of GOOD NEWS, as Acharya says is the meaning of "gospel". When it comes to Acharya's books, the "Little Liars for the Lord" are out in force, posting lies about books they've never read. Some sites apparently don't care about having any integrity about allowing falsehoods. Just consider the source when reading about Murdock's work--follow the links to see who these people are.
Honestly, I have to wonder if people are reading the same book I am. While another guy rants on about "feminist" this and that, there is ONE essay in this book that discusses women, and all it does is present FACTS about how badly women are treated in patriarchal religion. Acharya is completely right-on when discussing the abuse of women in religion.
In the meantime, this is one of the most important books I've ever read. I think that when the author says this "purple bible" is the antidote to the world's crazy scriptures, she's absolutely right. For such a small book, it's packed full of wisdom on every page. Like her other books, the Gospel is full of great FACTS that everyone should know. Unlike her other books, this one's a bit easier to read--it's shorter & there's more philosophy, instead of the very scholarly info she provides in her other books, which are so dense and SO SCHOLARLY they can be difficult for many people to read.
This one's much less difficult & a great introduction to Acharya's work for people who haven't read it yet. I highly recommend this excellent HAPPY book--buy it and spread it around. You will be better for it, and so will everyone else who reads it. In fact I think this one book could prevent a lot of warfare & hatred being spread by the organized religions all over the world.
I think this book is about the most important and interesting issues we humans face, like:
What is God?
Is belief in God righteous?
Should we praise God?
Who speaks for God?
Is the Bible God's Word?
Does prayer work?
Are we born in sin?
What is the origin of good and evil?
Who is the Devil?
Is the Bible prophetic?
Do we have free will?
What is the purpose in life?
The back cover also says:
"The Gospel According to Acharya S provides intriguing insights into these important, probing questions and many more, presenting potent observations which seek to define humanity in as enlightened and evolved a manner as is possible. These powerful and profound perceptions reflect crucial concepts that need to be cherished and protected as the greatest of human rights and liberties."
The book is footnoted and has over 130 illustrations, with a long list describing all the images. It's obvious that Acharya worked very hard on this book, as she does on her others, like Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ & Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection Here's a list of the chapters in "The Gospel":
Prologue
What is God?
Belief in God
Praising the Lord
Egotists on Earth
Speaking for God
God's Word
On Being Religious
On a Wing and a Prayer
Born in Sin?
Eternal Life for Everyone?
Holy Days
The Origins of Good and Evil
The Devil is Divine
Prophecy or Blueprint?
Is Cannibalism a Religious Experience? (Loved that one!)
What is a Cult?
Is God a Transsexual?
Abusing Women is Not Religion
A Question of Free Will
Celebration of Life
A Truly Sacred Scripture
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index
One of my favorite quotes from the book (p. 158) is:
"Humans Can Be Radiant and Superb
Human beings are also at their best when they are around animals and babies, which can be perfectly enjoyable in a perfect world. Children are frequently simply amazing beings who express endless joy and love...And this natural, innocent state of babyhood is one reason why people have children: To experience vicariously their awe and bliss, which represent divine qualities. Of course, not all children are fortunate to have this rapturous life. But humans at their best strive to provide all others, including animals, with this ultimate life experience of being surrounded by love and wonderment..."
As a parent, I totally agree with Acharya's words & I really appreciated reading them.
Contrary to the blatant lies being posted, this book is really a "Celebration of Life," which is the title of one of the chapters. I found it very inspiring and refreshing, and I wish more websites would have the integrity not to allow lies about such great works as this one. Very sad to read such trash from dishonest people, and I really hope it doesn't prevent people from reading this important book.
Do yourself and your loved ones a favor - read this book as soon as possible!
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Book of Spiritual and Religious Truth, September 18, 2009
This review is from: The Gospel According to Acharya S (Paperback)
Let me say that Acharya has done a great job with this book. I found it very interesting and full of good information and real facts. But I also found it profoundly spiritual.
Those who call this an athiest rant are people who believe that God is a big man who sits on a throne in the sky doling out judgement on the human race. Here is what Acharya says about God on page 10. No athiest would ever write these words. --
"One can think of God as the life force or sentience that permeates the cosmos--gravity or levity, it matters not. . . .
"In the Far East, this life force has been termed 'the Tao'. The Tao is the 'thing' that makes birds chirp, cats purr and the sap of trees run. We can also call it 'cosmic consciousness'. It is simply an energy, sentience or spirit that pervades all living things. Far from having gender, as we have been led to believe, it is the magnetic principle between the male and female potencies. It is also the male and female polarities themselves. This Great Spirit, Tao, or God, encompasses all things. If it is not all encompassing, it is not God. Anything less than the totality is not God. The definition of 'God' is omnipresence itself. Nothing is outside of God."
(Page 11) "Anything that imposes limits on an infinite divinity is not a complete spiritual system or experience. Anything that projects form upon this genderless, raceless, formless and nonhierarchical godliness is not the ultimate truth. The ultimate truth, which is 'God', cannot have any form whatsoever, no gender, no race and no hierarchy."
How great is this conception of God compared to the petty and tyrannical little middle-eastern war god worshipped by the typical Judeo-Christian-Muslem!
Nor, is this an angry book, as one reviewer put it. There may be disgust at the ignorance that some human beings prefer to wallow in, but not anger. But Acharya also has great hope for the human race. Consider the following on page 157 and 158 about when human beings are at their best. --
"When human beings have fully blossomed, when they've reached a certain level of soul maturity that is balanced, neither too aggressive nor too effectual, they are a wonder to behold, bursting with life and love. These divine beings have a tremendous sense of humor, knowing well that there is no reason to take this long, strange trip seriously. This wondrous state of being requires not extraordinary intelligence but wisdom, which can be found even within a tiny seed. . . .
"People at their best maintain the awe and wonder of a child while developing the responsibility and integrity of true adulthood. They are sensitive and empathetic, sharing in the pain of others and providing remedy. Yet, they are not emotional basketcases who become too debilitated by tragedy for their own good and that of others."
And, as I said, this is a profoundly spiritual book, as shown in the following on page 11. --
"True spirituality is defined not by separation but by union, union with the whole, union with the life force, Great Spirit, Tao, or God, that lies behind creation and binds it together. Of course, the separation itself could also be thought of as a spiritual experience, in that it provides an opportunity for an individual soul truly to develop itself. Yet, in that development, we come back to the omnidimensionality of being one with the cosmos. This situation constitutes a paradox, yet one we like to live with, one that we ourselves created, as directors of our own drama. To be separate yet infinite--now, this state is 'God'."
(Page 14) "A true religious system is not one that demands slobbering at the feet of a separate god-ego--however large and frightening, whatever race or gender--but one that leads to communion and union with the quality of divinity itself."
Acharya is not against religion, God and certainly not men. But she is against the superstitious absurdity of false religions, of teaching fear and hatred to children, the enslavement of women, and the persecution of the innocent by the ignorant. And her only "agenda" is to bring a little more light into a spiritually dark world.
I congratulate Acharya S/D. M. Murdock on another excellent book.
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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Gospel According to Acharya S, August 3, 2009
This review is from: The Gospel According to Acharya S (Paperback)
Having read two of her other works, Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ, and "The Christ Conspiracy-The Greatest Story Ever Sold", I expected another scholarly in depth book. Turns out it is exactly that, but with a bit of a new twist.
Acharya takes off the gloves in this book and really bats around some heads. In the aforementioned books her approach is a bit more clinical, relying on facts and extremely well done research.
She surely hasn't abandoned that set of skills in this book.
However, I think she is a bit more casual in her writing, and rightfully a little pissed off. And that comes through. She also offers her view on life and living, hence the title the Gospel According to Acharya S.
Overall, I'd say this book is going to be a best seller for her. It's loaded with pictures, (perhaps to keep the attention of the less intelligent among us) and loaded with a lot of the relatively obscure words related to the subject matter. Notwithstanding the verbage, this book is an easy read and a real hard hitting, take no prisoners approach to exposing religion for what it truly is. Bravo. 5 Stars.
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