Customer Reviews

Soul to Soul: Communications from the Heart

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The journey of the soul from the beginning of Creation to its eventually reuniting with the Maker is one of struggle with many lessons in life. This book gives a very deep understanding on why situations occur in life and how to cope with the inward struggle that we all face. In my many years on this plane having read many Esoteric, Spiritual, and Religious books this book series is the best I have come across. Everybody, rather every body should read them. Of course I highly recommend all of Zukav's books and also the book Understanding: Train of Thought.

Gary gets better and better. If you're trying to establish a way to start the day on a positive note, but you're not a morning person, this is it. Every passage is only 1-1/2 to 2 pages long, incredibly profound but also understandable if you're not at your peak understanding in the mornings. Page 196 that addresses the question "How do I avoid being drawn into the chaos of others?" is worth the price of the book. Thank you, Gary, and keep up the good work!

I have read several books by Gary Zukav and they are great. I liked this book for its insights and relevance. Also, I liked the division of the book into the two major sections. I am using this book not infrequently as I confront challenges and opportunities. You should read this.

I enjoy reading Gary because he is an excellent writer, and he has interesting insights into what could be called the laws of the universe. I don't agree with all of his ideas, though. For example, Gary has been saying for years that emotions are the forcefield of the soul. In my experience, emotions have nothing to do with the soul. Emotions come from thoughts. It is my mind that makes me angry over something one moment, and it is my mind that has the ability to transform that anger into something else. My soul remains unchanged in the process. My soul is divine and connected at every moment of life. It is my mind that creates emotional ups and downs and fragments reality.

But a great deal of Zukavs perceptions/ideas do have a certain ring of truth. It is not necessary for one to agree with everything he writes in order to benefit. Read him with an open mind and an open heart.

I have read all of Gary Zukav's books and I find Soul to Soul to be his best. It follows Seat of the Soul with nourishing meat for the Soul that is easy to understand and fills you with what is needed for your Spiritural Growth. What a journey.

Soul to Soul builds on two other books that I recently read by Gary Zukav - The Seat of the Soul and Soul Stories.

As in my other reviews I am not completely enamored with the books but I have found them helpful and enlightening. I therefore recommend the book to those on the spiritual path.

I follow the rule: "est all things, take what is valuable and not worry about the rest." I presume if you are looking at this book that you follow the same rule.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part has a number of short chapters (again as short stories in Gary's style). A number of questions and answers are organized in the second part. I found this second part particularly easy to read and insightful into Gary's theology.

It is natural for a person to have questions about their life, their purpose, and their soul. We all have struggled directly or indirectly with addictions, suffering, the perceived problems in our lives.

Gary has spent considerable time contemplating these topics and ways of leveraging all of these opportunities for our spiritual growth and for the benefit of others. He seems to be genuinely interested in helping others even when I don't entirely agree with his position. I admire him for that.

If you are dogmatically religious then you will either like or hate his perspective on certain topics such as reincarnation and karma depending on your faith.

If you are on the spiritual path this book may help you along the way.

Very well written and easy to read. Part One: Soul Subjects provides very fresh and new perspectives to look at every day life and to find meaning in even the most routine and taken-for-granted things in life. Part Two: Soul Questions provides direct, wise and spiritual solutions to our everyday challenges. The short passages cover a wide range of spiritual growth subjects and are easy to return to for guidance.

I remember the first time I heard of Gary Zukav. He was on Oprah. For me this was a life changing experience because it started me reviewing. Since then I have read most of Gary Zukav's books, so I was delighted when I found this one. His books have a comforting and compassionate message that is relevant to our daily lives. In this book he deals with issues like forgiveness and how we shouldn't judge other people (discernment is preferable). These are the same lessons Jesus tried to teach the world thousands of years ago. We are still trying to incorporate these lessons into our lives today in order to be more spiritual creatures.

When Jesus taught us to love our enemies did he mean that we can't protect ourselves when we are attacked? In the bible there are many stories of how Israel went to war with various enemies. Gary Zukav sees retaliation as the wrong response so you may or may not agree with his ideas about 9/11. In an ideal world where everyone was spiritually advanced there would never be war and everyone would share their resources. This hasn't happened yet so the ideas in this book are a little ahead of their time.

In "Soul to Soul" Gary Zukav deals with many questions that need to be answered. His main belief still seems to be that we are all at "earth school" in order to learn lessons for soul growth. Some of the questions he answers include:

What is the difference between a personality and a soul?
What is the difference between habit and addiction?
Can visualization and affirmation change Karma?
How does a person know what he was put on earth to do?
What is the difference between a healthy boundary and emotional withdrawal?
Can I remain a Christian and create authentic power?

I liked his ideas about how we can't always become fearless but we can decide how to respond to fear. Most of the thoughts in this book will make you think about life on a deeper level. One of the things he talks about a lot is nonphysical teachers which sound like angels to me. When he discusses the Universe this could also be taken as God or a Divine Presence.

While I agreed with most of the book, two sentences caused me some concern. One was about how it is not possible to do the wrong thing while on earth. Everyone makes mistakes so it is very possible to do the wrong thing. I also don't believe that when you fight evil you join it. Are you not fighting on the side of good? I also wondered if Gary had ever read about near-death experiences because he doesn't mention them when discussing life after death and how humans return to a nonphysical reality. Apparently we will still have bodies after death, at least this is what I've read in regards to near-death experiences. When you go to heaven your relatives are there to greet you so how could they have been reincarnated? Gary also believes in reincarnation so I'm not sure how you go to a nonphysical reality and are also reincarnated at the same time. Perhaps he believes you go to one and then the other. This was a little confusing.

For the most part, I think Gary Zukav is striving for an ideal world in which we all have control over our emotions and everyone is loving and forgiving. "Soul to Soul" presents many pathways for those who want to be spiritually mature. If you are struggling with negative emotions or addictions then this book has much to offer. The main message is that we are souls having a human experience in which we change ourselves (fight negativity and regain control of our emotions) in order to become more spiritual.

~The Rebecca Review

This is a good companion book for the other Gary Zukav books,but I wouldn't start with it.
I would call it illustrative of the ideas found in Seat of the Soul and Heart of the Soul. Since I like his books in general, I enjoyed it.

He writes practically in words that are understandable which is vital to the growth in the number and variety of practical mystics. One can feel his care for the development of awareness for the world to heal as a whole, one human at a time. Soul Stories found me at a public library sale, and though I focused on reading it only for about 6 months, because the simple and concise descriptions, I was able to quickly understand and begin integrating concepts into life for about 3 years without looking back at the book. This book reminds me of the concepts, written with different stories which brings about further understanding. As a student of the Course, Practical Mysticism, Tibetian Book of the Dead, etc. I am equally a student of Gary Zukav.