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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masculinity Revisited, October 29, 2001
This review is from: The Quest for Maleness (Paperback)
The Quest for Maleness by Theun Mares 228pgs. Lionheart Press, 1999. Reviewed by Anthony Gagliano As a boy I was thrilled by the adventures of the great explorers of the past. Their journeys into the unknown seemed to me the essence of what manhood was all about. The modern world, by comparison, seemed a place bereft of new frontiers. I did what I could to reconcile myself to a mundane existence where all earthly geography had been conquered, a world of nine to five jobs where everyone seemed wired to a paycheck and the dream of a pension. I indulged in the fantasy of believing I had been born to late, and, as a young man,I gave myself over to the unfulfilling life of the disenchanted and self-destructive renegade. I was not unique in this, and today, as much as ever before, the question of what being a man is all about for many remains an unanswered question. Read the newspapers. Has there ever been a time in the history of the planet when the answer to this question was more important?
I can't say that The Quest for Maleness changed my life overnight, but what it did do was give me back my sense of adventure and offered me a frontier as limitless in scope as any ocean any Viking ever faced in times gone by. That frontier is the birthright of every man who is willing to accept the challenge of exploring his own masculine potential, and in doing so -- if he has the courage and the patience -- of sailing beyond the preset boundaries of his social conditioning into the uncharted depths of what it means to be a true male.
Like all Mr. Mares' works, The Quest for Maleness is grounded in the Toltec Tradition, that long lost legacy first revealed to contemporary readers through the teachings of Don Juan through the agency of his most famous pupil, the late Dr. Carlos Castaneda. In light of this fact, Mr. Mares, a Nagal and Toltec of The Third Attention, is careful to point out that none of what he writes is a matter of personal opinion or philosophy but the result of universal laws discovered by Toltec seers of ancient times. I know that this requires a leap of faith, but believe me, by the time you have come to the end of The Quest for Maleness your every idea of what constitutes manhood will have been challenged to the core. The world is not what we have come to believe it is, and your masculine potential is a realm yet to be thoroughly explored.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A guide-book to true living, January 9, 2001
This review is from: The Quest for Maleness (Paperback)
From the first pages of this book I was filled with a strong desire, the forgotten desire to find my maleness, to become true male. And even if I didn't know these words that time, I was aware that what I felt was something that I gave up long time ago because of not finding any place of it in my life. So, I knew that I am already on my quest for maleness, but then I was caught up in the expectation that it will be a fast journey to some place. I was reading too fast never made the required exercises and at the end was baffled why the book doesn't quite work for me. But with the time I started to look around and investigate the men and women around me and my relationships with them. I was quick to find why it looks so impossible to live like a true male. For example, how many man hold dear the emotional crap they derived from their mothers, saying 'This is my emotionality!'? To live the teachings imparted in this book is not so sophisticated, provided that one holds to his own feelings and desires and not to the prejudices of the society and finds the required perseverance to cultivate his self-discipline. Though the rewards are vast not only for the man concerned, but for all around him. If you believe that just reading one book no matter how brilliant it is will make you true male then just enjoy the style of this book or find some other that will prove to you that you are already true male. But if you are in search of practical ways to get closer to what you always felt was missing in your life, then with time you will become more and more mystified by your great fortune to find this book exactly when you needed it.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I had great results implementing this book's instructions., February 20, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Quest for Maleness (Paperback)
I recently finished reviewing this book after having read it a few months ago. Whilst I may indulge in my doubts about some of the author's "opinions", I have no doubts about the results I experienced in applying this book's practical wisdom. My relationships with females in general, my partner and my mother in particular were instantly improved though not without effort on my part in applying the practical aspects of the book, including listening with every fibre of my being. It takes effort to truly listen and see beyond the face value of this book's facade to the practical wisdom. Nevertheless, I continue to experience the rewards of my effort with warmer, more intimate relationships and increasing success in most areas of my life. I can understand the critics' indulgence, yet it is quite obvious to me that they simply judged this book by its cover.
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