Customer Reviews

The Secret Teachings of the Vedas: The Eastern Answers to the Mysteries of Life Volume One

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stephen Knapp's book focus on eastern answers to the mysterious horizons explaining the theories about the universe, the souls, life after death and the ideas of the Absolute Lord. It's an indepth introduction to vedic teachings. The easter philosophy is well explained with Chapters one to four giving clear insights into who and what is your real identity and vedas give an understand as to what life really is. Chapters Two and three explain how vedas influence great men of the decade and the vedic background info of its compilation. Fifth chapter focus on Law of Karma and reincarnation. The sixth chapter is on reincarnation of different lives in different bodies. Chapter seven describes a little about universe structure and heaven n hell. Chapter eight reveals the evolution theory and vedic spiritual growth with a cycle of repeated birth and death. Chapter nine gives an insight of human existence. Tenth and eleventh chapter explain how God is Supreme Power whose influence should be recognized in our everyday Life.Chapter Twelve speaks of spiritual world which is found only in vedic literature.

I remember reading 'Our Daily Bread' booklets and having read Bible stories & Bhagwad Gita parts, do feel that Vedic Literature stands class apart when it comes to spiritual knowledge and it demands understanding and indepth reading.As most of vedic philosophy scholars know, originally refer original four vedas : The Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Vedas. The book on Vedas refer to upanishads, Vedanta sutras, Brahmanas and aranyakas - all the texts revealing knowledge whereas the remaining parts of Vedic literature consists of the Mahabharata, Bhagwad gita, Ramayana and Puranas.Stephen's Book is must read for people who are trying to understand human evolution and existence and how to attain happiness, cause of suffering, real unity between us, how to achieve freedom, how to achieve individual and global peace, law of karma and incarnation, the Absolute - Supreme God realization and much more.

The Secret Teachings of the Vedas is a great book to look into the lofty spiritual insights of the Vedic literature. I rarely write any such reviews, but I've been reading Knapp's books for some years now and have always found them easy to read and understand the uplifting nature of the Vedic philosophy. I also wanted to say that I don't understand how Henry Booth wrote in to say he was disappointed. It's as if he took a few points he had problems with and forgot all the other significant things in the book.
Like he says Knapp believes you only go from one physical birth to another. This is absolutely untrue since the book spends many pages dealing with the spiritual realm, along with heaven, hell, subtle realms and subtle beings. If that is not life between physical births then what is? Maybe he just didn't get that. Or did he really read the whole book? He also says that Knapp doesn't buy the Big Bang theory, which he says is a proven premise. But that depends on who you talk to. Some scientists are already saying that the Big Bang theory does not uphold the law of matter and energy, and does not properly explain how various elements could have been created. Others feel that the superclusters in space are not what would be expected from an explosive model like the Big Bang, nor would the smooth nature of the background microwave radiation that is detected. So these and other factors point out that there has to be some other explanation. So maybe there is good reason why the Vedic literature does not support what some think is the Big Bang.
So these theories are changing, as is always the case in science. But the Vedic literature does say that the universe is expanding, which is the premise from whcih the Big Bang theory was developed. So it perturbs me when someone writes a review of something based on their own lack of information. So let me conclude that this book on the Vedic viewpoint remains a great source of spiritual wisdom and insight. There are a lot of other points that this book deals with. No one will go wrong with buying this book.

For too long, and for too many insidious reasons, the Vedas have been ignored, marginalised or just plain derided by Western scholars. They deserve far better treatment, and Stephen Knapp shows us why. Hidden in the Sanskrit texts of the ancient Vedic writings one can find sublime knowledge on every imaginable subject. The author is doing a great service by making this knowledge easily accessible, and anyone searching for answers to life's problems could much worse than start looking here. Well done Mr Knapp.

A very readable explanation of the Vedic philosophical view of life, the world, God, etc. Must reading for anyone interested in philosophy or religion.

Stephen Knapp has the rare ability to communicate Vedic spirituality and philosophy in an insightfull and enlightened way to the average reader. One does not require previous knowledge about Vedism, just an open mind. A very worthhwile read for any person seeking a better understanding of who they are, and their role in this world.

This book oozes truth. Knapp is absolutely fantastic, if somewhat detailed. It's one of those books that takes a long time to read - you just have to chew on it bit by bit.

If you are searching for meaning and the answers to the deepest questions, begin here. If you've "decided" on your spiritual views, you should still read this amazing book. It will change you for the better, no matter what your beliefs.

This book oozes truth. Knapp is absolutely fantastic, if somewhat detailed. It's one of those books that takes a long time to read - you just have to chew on it bit by bit.

If you are searching for meaning and the answers to the deepest questions, begin here. If you've "decided" on your spiritual views, you should still read this amazing book. It will change you for the better, no matter what your beliefs.

Not a good choice, unless you are a highly conservative, fundamentalist practitioner of Hinduism. Full of "wages of sin are..." stuff. Very little love to be seen among the "punishing god" writings here. So narrow-minded is the author that he even disparages Advaita Vendata, which is a very legitimate school within the Hindu tradition. Describes India's greatest 20th century saint, Ramana Maharshi, who was an Advaita sage/teacher as teaching "Shaivism"; not clear if due to ignorance or confusion. In some of his other writings, Mr. Knapp also criticizes Shankara for corrupting Hinduism (Shankara is generally considered as historically the most famous teacher of Advaita). Preaches horrible punishments to anyone who is not a vegetarian. Does not seem to feel that any other branch of Hinduism, much less any other religion, has any redeeming merit. The author is a vociferous advocate of, literally, a "personal god," which most Westerners studying Eastern spiritual traditions are not interested in, since they most likely would have stayed being Christians if they felt that that a "personal god" resonated with them (I will note for interest that even Joseph Campbell explicitly told a priest who was asking him about beliefs that he does not believe in a personal god). I felt dirty and sullied upon reading the book; it lowered my vibration, instead of raising it. If you would like an open-hearted and loving discourse on Hinduism, I would recommend instead "Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi."

Namaste.

The book is quite heavy going, but very informative. You need patience and perserverence to wade through, but if you are really keen about the Vedas, the effort spent reading this book is worthwhile

I had been looking for a good book for long to understand the basics/essence of Vedic Philosophy and got tired of reading books written by arm-chair authors from some university. I'm gald I found this book. It's authentic and easy-to-understand. Stephen Knapp has been praticing vedic culture for more than 40 years and contributing significanlty to preserve and protect this highest knowledge that is universal. So, this is a practical book also. This book has truly inspired me and has brought some positive changes within me.
I read a lot of books on self help, personality development, leadership (all time best-sellers) and I've to tell you that to be honest they are all mundane. I'm already feeling that I wasted all these years looking into all other books except Vedic Knowledge. Anyway, I'm glad now that I've realized the value of it after a lot of research.

I also liked the following 2 books from the same author:
~ The Power of the Dharma: An Introduction to Hinduism and Vedic Culture
~ Proof of Vedic Culture's Global Existence