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In a philosophical corner of the universe somewhere in the same quadrant as David Abram's
The Spell of the Sensuous and Joseph Campbell's
Power of Myth shines this brilliantly original, if somewhat confounding, investigation into the origin and meaning of myth. Never again will the reader be forced to ponder, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Sansonese spells it out so that even the least enlightened among us can understand--that is, if we have enough power of concentration to follow his highly complex explanations. The clapping of one hand is the sound of our own listening--the actual noises of outer space and inner place. An exploration of shamanic trance and pranayama yoga unravels mysteries of consciousness leading Sansonese to discover the sacred geography whence myth arose--it is in priopreception (subconscious physiological self-perception) that we first heard the stories and the allegories. The bulk of the book is devoted to Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian prehistorical legends as they sprang from our ancestors' anatomy. This is a fascinating read for the epistemologically curious among us, and certainly for the self-absorbed. One imagines Pogo commenting, "We have met the origins of our mythology, and he is us."
--P. Randall Cohan
From Library Journal
Much like a musical composition by Claude Debussy, this is an impressionistic book, full of mythological and physiological allusions that affect the reader with "Eureka"-type discoveries. The book's organization is unorthodox, yet it succeeds in convincing the reader that there is definitely a physical connection between the human body and mythologies. Sansonese, who has practiced raja yoga for years and here shows how yoga can be used as an effective means of attaining a deeper self-consciousness, reveals himself to be a natural successor to Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. Readers in public and academic libraries who appreciate and delight in the juxtaposition of science and religion, East and West, will especially enjoy this esoteric volume.
Gary P. Gillum, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Ut.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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