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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To the Young at Heart., September 21, 2004
This review is from: The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over the Rainbow (Hardcover)
On one of my recent journeys through the Land of Oz, the Ozarks, I visited with my friend Roger S. Baum, the great-grandson of L. Frank Baum-the author of the "Wizard of Oz". I asked him what he thought about the theory of his great-grandfather being a Zen Master. He admitted he really didn't know. That he hadn't read "The Zen of Oz". That it has been his experience that such things were only done by people that saw an opportunity to make money off Great Grandfather's work. After I explained the gist of Joey Green's premise I did notice a slow smile take over Roger's face. He was intrigued. Though he would not corroborate Joey's claims he did state that Great Grandfather would probably not turn over in his grave if he knew about "The Zen of Oz". The one caveat Roger then mentioned was that first and foremost the Oz Series is a collection of fantasies for the young at heart. Meant to be taken with sincerity but not too seriously. The rest of our conversation was private.
As for me, I find "The Zen of Oz" quite clever and entertaining. It has added to my enjoyment of the classic movie. I see the movie in a whole new light. Almost as though I am seeing it for the first time. We are Dorothy. Prodigal sons and daughters venturing out into the world on our own only to find out that there is no place like home. That the Wizard can't really give us anything we don't already have. That there is an inner spark of the Divine within each of us. That the Yellow Brick Road is an inner path that leads to the great beyond and that each of us must make the journey for ourselves. To realize that no matter where we are we are already over the rainbow for we make the rainbow. That life is a great mystery and that we are the greatest mystery of all. That life is full of wonder and joy, as well as pain and sorrow. That as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
A personal thought that I would like to add to "The Zen of Oz." Totality, "Toto", is a synergetic organic unity greater than one but less than two. The whole of ultimate reality is greater than the sum of its parts. We are not alone. Though there is more than one of us there is not a second. We are family and there is no place like home. And dogs, and cats like Slimmy, really are man's best friend.
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The low down on the hoe down ..., April 19, 2000
This review is from: The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over the Rainbow (Hardcover)
Just when you thought you had a firm grip on those psychological heroes from the cultural abyss, Green takes a hold of these sacred virginic icons and gives your life a run for its spiritual money.
By examining our subconscious choices, Green drives us deep into the realities of exactly why those characters were who they were, and why they preformed true to form.
One word of caution though, if you've always identified with the Masterful Wizard, you may be in for a shock to the proverbial system, finding out that he was nothing but a bully, and equally as bad as the Wicked Witch.
I always saw myself in the Scarecrow, a man made of straw. Regarded by few and respected by none, caught an eternal crossroads of life with an arm going in both directions - but feet - frozen by own indecision.
Examining Karma can be a good thing and enlightening, when done without the rote mental aberrations and tasks that push us away from our true selves that usually block us from feeling fulfilled and whole.
So ... jump down off that cross, clock tower, wooden pole in a corn field, or where ever it is you find yourself unfortunately by choice and read this book. If you like pretty illustrations ... this one has plenty.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Tao Te Ching of the Silver Screen, January 6, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over the Rainbow (Hardcover)
The Zen of Oz is a book worthy of both the Tao Te Ching and The Wizard of Oz. Both of these famous philosophical tools can be used as a guide for following the Yellow Brick Road toward a greater understanding of self and life. Joey Green masterfully applies the wisdom of the East to demonstrate the profound power and simplicity of the wisdom contained within the most popular film ever made in the West. As the author of a book about the Wizard of Oz myself, "The Oz Factors", I applaud Joey Green for his marvelous, magical book. If ever a Wiz(ard) there was, there was...
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