39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Spiritual Alliances" - A Book for the Ages, December 13, 2003
This review is from: Spiritual Alliances: Discovering the Roots of Health at the Casa de Dom Inacio (Paperback)
Rarely does a book sear the soul with the mark of truth like Spiritual Alliances has touched mine. Indeed, just having finished reading Emma Bragdon's landmark publication for the second time, I wish to share my thoughts with others about this book that has had such a profound effect on my life perspective.
A story about Joao Teixeira da Faria, a/k/a John of God, a spiritual healer in Brazil who regularly helps cure people of such extreme health problems as cancer, AIDS, heart disease, blindness, and paralysis, Spiritual Alliances is at once both fascinating and disturbing. Fascinating because of the way in which it describes in such detail the activities of a healer so wondrous that he is known as "The Miracle Man." Disturbing because, in this era of reality-show television, the mainstream media has not yet picked up on the revolutionary nature of this most amazing real-life man of marvel.
The tale of John of God is the type of topic that one wishes were dominating the airwaves. Indeed, the TV talk show hosts would likely see their ratings soar should they bring on their shows this incredible individual, so that word of the work he is doing can spread the world round. I can just imagine how riveting a guest he would be on The Oprah Show, and the heartwarming response viewers would have to such inspiring information.
What makes John of God's story so exhilarating is that it provides a beacon of hope for those in seemingly hopeless situations. While all of us may not be afflicted with some supposedly incurable disease or life-threatening condition, there are few of us who do not know someone else who could benefit mightily from the astonishing abilities of this extraordinary health care practitioner.
Yet Spiritual Alliances is not just a must-read because it offers hopefulness to those afflicted with severe health problems. It is a book that is just plain and simply good for the soul.
For those amongst us who believe in prayer, it is a resounding affirmation of its mighty power. At the same time, however, it makes "miracles" understandable and helps explain why the seemingly impossible is sometimes possible. Indeed, for all who believe in God or some sort of higher power, this is a book that you need to read. And for those of you who do not believe in any such thing, then you really need to read this book.
For all of the "faith-based" reasons, however, why Spiritual Alliances provides a dramatic account of some remarkable events, the book also contains numerous other elements that make an extremely persuasive case for the legitimacy of John of God's exceptional capabilities. Here, in no particular order or priority, are my personal "Top Ten":
1. The book includes multiple eyewitness accounts by traditional board certified physicians with conventional medical academic backgrounds verifying John of God's abilities.
2. Spiritual Alliances has actual interviews done with specific individuals who have personally experienced the phenomenon of having had their severe health problems healed through the help of John of God.
3. John of God's work has been documented on tape with literally thousands of hours of footage having been shot.
4. These videotapes are made accessible to interested parties in an open and candid manner.
5. The healing center, the Casa de Dom Inacio, where John of God performs his work, is open to people of all faiths.
6. Though donations are certainly accepted to help support the center, there are no fees charged to anyone for the treatments one receives there.
7. John of God does not at all discount the value of conventional medicine. In fact, he encourages people to avail themselves of all possible appropriate health care options.
8. The author comes from a background in which immediate family members possessed impeccable traditional educational and professional credentials. Thus, having had the benefit of being exposed up close to both conventional and alternative health care models, Emma Bragdon is able to present the material pertaining to John of God in a manner that is both credible and understandable.
9. John of God explains to patients that they must take an active role in their healing and accept personal responsibility for their health. He expects them to view the healing process as a 50-50 proposition in which they need to meet him halfway. Like all relationships in life, he presents the healer-patient dynamic as a two-way street.
10. Last, and definitely not least, is what my gut instinct tells me about what is written in this book. Indeed, most compelling of all is the feeling that I got inside as I went through Spiritual Alliances. Time and time again, I would read a certain part of it and say to myself: "My intuition tells me that this is the Real McKoy."
While there were many portions of Emma Bragdon's book that spoke to my heart, my favorite passage of hers in Spiritual Alliances ultimately turned out to be one that transcends the specific health problems of each of as individuals and points to the future potential of our race as a whole:
"Many Christian traditions teach that it is only Jesus and the apostles who had extraordinary gifts of healing. For the last two thousand years religious leaders have considered those who have claimed to have extraordinary healing abilities to be blasphemers, heretics, or charlatans. I am not suggesting that we liken John of God to a Christ or one of the apostles [indeed, John of God makes that abundantly clear in the book when he states, 'It is not me, but God who does the healing.'], but instead, that we consider that ordinary people, like Joao, can choose to have the Holy Spirit flow through them. It is not only our potential; it may be our next step in evolution. Joao may be guiding us in the transition to our next level, that of being in direct communication with the Holy Spirit, which not only helps us become more whole, but empowers us to be healing forces in the lives of others."
One more thing about the impact that this book has had on me. After I first read Spiritual Alliances a few months ago, I bought multiple copies of it and sent them to people who I thought could use it in their life - especially those who have some significant health problems. After rereading the book, I am planning on buying some more of them to send out, for my conscience tells me that I would do well - to the extent that my resources will allow - make this an ongoing habit.
One more thing (I never was big on brevity) - Emma Bragdon's Spiritual Alliances does present one major problem for the reader: after you finish it, the next book you pick up is almost certain to be a letdown by comparison.
John of God, Emma Bragdon . . . remember these names, because twenty to thirty years years from now, the history books will record these people as having been on the leading edge of an unprecedented breakthrough for our planet's population. We in the present, through Spiritual Alliances, are privileged to have a front-row seat to this history that is just now beginning to be made.
Robert Macomber...comparison.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Clear Eyed Report of Extraordinary Events, January 31, 2004
This review is from: Spiritual Alliances: Discovering the Roots of Health at the Casa de Dom Inacio (Paperback)
As someone with a longtime interest in alternative medicine and healing practices, I loved this book. Spiritual Alliances offers a clear-eyed report of extraordinary events at the Casa de Dom Inacio in Brazil, where dramatic healings are taking place, apparently through the intervention of spiritual entities who are either channeled by a man called Joao de Deus, or presencing directly in special group healing rooms.
Bearing witness to the events taking place at "The Casa", Spiritual Alliances powerfully suggests that there is profound healing support available from the spiritual dimension, and that this phenomenon may not be limited to special places like The Casa.
I appreciate author Emma Bragdon's impactful, yet non-polarizing look at the shortcomings of Western Medicine. I loved the interviews with Western medical types who came to observe, learn and be transformed by what they witnessed and experienced for themselves at The Casa. I was moved and inspired by the stories of people who came to the Casa and were healed, not only physically, but in their hearts, minds and spirits.
This book offers an inspiring gateway to the possibility that neither illness nor the process of healing are what we have been programmed to believe they are. Inherent in the book is Emma's deeply felt vision for how this gateway could potentially transform Western medicine and its practitioners, to the benefit of both patients and doctors.
I so appreciate Emma's evenhanded work in writing this book. She is clearly awed and inspired by what she has witnessed and experienced at the Casa, yet never ventures into "true believer" territory. Spiritual Alliances richly blends Emma's mastery as witness and reporter with her deeply human response to an extraordinary place in our world.
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