Spiritual Traditions: Essential Teachings to Transform Your Life
Timothy Freke
Sterling
Nonfiction, Spirituality
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Description
There are countless religions in the world, all purporting to take their followers on a path of personal spiritual enlightenment through their teachings. However, any casual observer can see that simply going through the motions of belief does little but divide humanity rather than enlighten it. So how does one choose a spiritual path? How does one actually obtain enlightenment, inside or outside religion? This book outlines many spiritual teachings from many cultures to give readers an idea of the myriad paths to enlightenment in the world, with the goal of helping readers find their own way.
Review
I think my biggest problem with this book is that I was looking for more. I wanted a book that would give me a good idea of what the different religions of the world believed, how they aligned and where they differed, primarily for a writing reference (religions and cults being integral to most worlds, especially fantasy worlds where the forces worshipped might actually show up in person.) What I got was an oddly bland mixture of teachings, leaning toward Sufi and Taoist teachers, who keep repeating the same things amid various spiritual exercises. Despite claiming to have no particular religious bias, the author drew on these same sources again and again for quotes and lessons, indicating a clear preference or bias. There is, of course, some value in this book, but I can't say I found myself particularly enlightened by its pages, and it certainly doesn't do me much good as a reference. It came from Half Price Books, and it went back there, too.