Customer Reviews

Suddenly Psychic: A Skeptic's Journey

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Many books have been written about the differences in thought and perception between the rational, scientific mind and the new age thinker; but few use the personal experience of a psychic from one with a physics degree to draw connections between similarities and differences between the two. SUDDENLY PSYCHIC is both a memoir and a survey of the scientific basis for understanding how psychic abilities might function: it provides much food for thought, couched in scientific understanding, and is a pick not only for new age and metaphysical bookshelves, but for general-interest libraries and academic library science holdings, as well.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

How fortunate I've been to have stumbled on this gem of a book! Far more than the re-hashing of tired "New Age" clichés, Maureen Caudill invites us along on her personal journey from the heart of materialism to the heights of spiritual experience. At the same time she manages to summarize the latest discoveries in physics and tie them in a clear and concise way to psychic phenomena.

With her scientific training she easily explains in layman's terms how the hard sciences are converging with the mystical, and her personal path in this discovery -- all with detailed references and footnotes. Entertaining as it is informative, this book is truly a rare find and an inspiration. Read it with an open mind and it may change your life.

Psychic phenomena are too numerous to be completely discounted and it has always bothered me that its association with quackery and charlatanism flies in the face of some sincere opinions and experience to the contrary. I am the greatest of sceptics and always found comfort in the absence of empirical evidence because such things frighten me. "There are things we cannot explain" is my way of answering myself and someone will find a credible explanation one day for things we don't understand in our culture but for which other cultures have elaborate ritual and explanation. Maureen Caudill treads the scientific path and is very clear about things, knowing that much of her readership will be, as I am, not necessarily too well-read in scientific jargon. Strip away fear and awe -- there is an explanation for many things and Caudill shows us how exciting this information can be and what we can teach ourselves to do. We are like expensive computers that we currently use only to play solitaire and send email. WOW!! I've been waiting for this book for a long time and I want to go further and study more. It's good, really good.

I expected some exercises in this book. There were none and that did not bother me. At the end of the book the lack of exercises is all made up for. I love how easy this book is to read. Maureen is never vague and she explains to satisfaction. She is funny and great a great story-teller. There are touching moments. I read this book straight through only breaking for sleep and eat. Reading this book is like reading several books. It's worth the full price. Maureen helped me come to some very significant realizations that are having the effect of changing my life.

I just finished reading this book, and I honestly don't know what to say, for the following reasons:

1- The writers attitude of consistent questioning of her newly acquired skills was something I could personally relate to (not the skills, the questioning part.)
2- The level of depth and detail in the scientific aspect of it, and the attempt to use it to explain psychic phenomena. So if you are not familiar with it, you will indeed feel lost when it comes to that part.
3- As for the psychic aspect, the level of detail was almost surprising for me, because it almost pushes you out of your comfort zone.

I would treat it as it is, a personal journey, and differentiate between the scientific aspect, the personal psychic experiences, and the writers attempt to explain them, which are all an interesting part of this book.

I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it was a lengthy detailed read and at sometimes I felt there was too much detail. I also felt it somewhat a personal journey that not many could relate to.

Disappointing! I've a 40-year collection of solid accounts by psychics, mediums, healers & others; and I love a gripping autobiographical saga -- which this purports to be. Unfortunately, it doesn't qualify as any of the above. It seems to be a confused, nearly-incoherent mish-mash of guesswork and supposition, heavily laced with other people's studies and test results. An author who claims a scientific, objective frame of mind should at least have been able to give a good chronological account of events that occurred during the seminar that "opened her eyes" -- but even this was MIA. She'd also declared herself a lifelong "skeptic," yet I found her consistently credulous and perhaps even deluded on every front. Example: She claimed to have accomplished "remote healing" on her terminally ill cat, Sammy, reporting that her vet was later "amazed." What really happened (according to her own account) was that when she returned home from the seminar, she took the cat to the vet, who verified that the cat was undeniably STILL DYING -- but was "amazed" that a cat so ill was still inclined to PLAY. What we have, then, is the author's purely subjective FEELING about whatever psychic interplay might have transpired -- but without empirical results, that's not "evidence" of any kind. As a reader who has experienced, and believes in, much of the psychic phenomena Ms. Caudill discusses, I was predisposed to sink into this book and enjoy it. Instead, I found it as shallow and unclear as a mud-puddle in the street. Splashy, but for the most part unedifying.

This book is simply amazing! It goes from spoon bending to high levels of awareness description; it is like cake for the curious minds!

This book sort of answers few questions about the mystery of life, however it created more questions than it answered...
Life after death, sure! What's after our spiritual life?

There are few things I didn't like about the book, it talks too much about physics, and there are too many foot notes. However, it seems like any metaphysic books describe complex physics concepts/experiences to say that the current science is off as it tries to stitch all sciences theory into one.

On another note, this book motivated me to buy the Gateway Series from the MTI
(The Monroe Institute), which I received last night... Pretty cool stuff!!! (While trying to achieve the focus level 10, I caught myself snoring, while I was totally aware of all my surroundings!!! Cool!)

The content of the book is also consistent with some other books I read about life after death...

Good exploration!

I really enjoyed reading Suddenly Psychic where the author Maureen Caudill takes the reader through life changing events related to her expanding experience that there is more to life than the simply physics.

Maureen was a physicist by training. As a scientist, a techie nerd, she basically stumbled across "paranormal" experiences that were completely and totally at odds with her world view.

She spends considerable time in the book discussing how new scientific theories can begin to explain, at least part of, mystical and psychic experiences. If you are an engineer or otherwise technically inclined (as I am) you should find this intellectually stimulating and helpful. If you've never heard of string theory and the 10 verses 11 dimensions debate then you might be put off by these parts of the book.

Don't be. The bulk of the book is a fair documentation of her journey from a "psychic 0" with a materialistic/mechanical view of the world to a highly developed psychic with extraordinary experiences of a much richer universe of universes.

I don't necessarily believe everything she writes, but neither does she. If she could not explain it, she reports that as well as the "facts of the experience". We hear of her reactions when things get strange. You can almost feel her angst at times and her triumphs at other times. She makes a compelling case that everyone could make a similar journey.

This book may stretch your perceptions of the world at large. It may be scary to realize that you have the potential for dramatic psychic abilities. That extraordinary abilities are actually potentially very ordinary. And that you can develop these abilities in a rather short period of time.

Or it may be just the book to help you take the next step in your journey.

This book was a turnoff for me. Not written for the general public. I bought this book based on the fact that it was listed on the Astral Dynamics website. I love Robert Bruce's books on projection so figured it would be a really good read. The author of this book "Suddenly Psychic" went through the Gateway experience and "focused" entirely on it throughout the book. Most commoners do not have the privilege of going through this program so are left lost. Because of this, the author couldn't really relate to the $11 book crowd. Additionally the author claims to visit all of these focus levels that are apparently impossible for any other normal human being to achieve; leaving the feeling that she is an egomaniac and braggart. Personally, I didn't know these experiences were to be classified in a Kindergarten through Doctorate fashion. A spiritual experience is a spiritual experience for goodness sake! Sorry, but a real disappointment for me. There are many much better books out there on the subject. On a happy note, the book cover is pretty.

I feel a little duped. The title is "Suddenly Psychic" yet there is no clear evidence that MC is psychic. All of these books affiliated with the Monroe Institute plug other authors (similarly affiliated) and the Institute programs (MC is a program facilitator). There is very little story here and that fact is covered up with a whole lot of layman's physics (If I wanted to read about physics I'd read Steven Hawking). The clincher for me was her reaction to her first Monroe Institute seminar. When she arrived and was surrounded by new age "crazies", she balks at the prospect of going out of body, and wondered what she got herself into. Hello, didn't she read the brochure before she signed up for the $1600 seminar??? After having read ALOT of metaphysical books (and cosmology and physics too, btw) this book didn't do anything for me.