Journey to self

"Journey to Self" is an extraordinary and at times, painfully honest book. 

The convent school's psychological hurt caused to the author by their failure to understand  or recognise dyslexia, let alone be supportive of her special needs.    The acknowledgement that disingenuousness and even hypocrisy could be seen in the nuns who found their own special ways to flirt with the priests.  " God came a poor second when presented with a live flesh and blood man"  even among these women for whom there was "an element of running away from men and life." 

After laying the foundations of her childhood it was easier to understand the authors' spiritual journey and why she pursued it with such tenacity.  As a reader I found it to be very moving especially because I personally have never felt this kind of spiritual intensity.

The book is really in two different sections.  The first is the author's personal spiritual journey which is truly interesting.  The second part of the book consists of essays which reflect the author's spiritual conclusions.

Pete W.

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January 2010 edition of Paradigm Shift Magazine, page 32

www.paradigmshiftmagazine.com

Book Review

In this book Margaret Dempsey shares a frank and often brutally honest account of her own spiritual journey along with some essays.  She wrote about insights she gained along the way.

 
In the first part we follow her from her choice at 11 years old to go to a Catholic boarding school to her first introduction to Buddhism, a trip to India her first mild kundalini experience which was
followed by a much stronger and persistent experience during a meditation retreat, a second trip to India and finally her involvement with the Landmark Forum in London.  In the second part Margaret shares what she feels are the most important things she has learned on her journey.  Margaret talks a lot about her challenges, doubts and confusion along the way and stresses that you don't have to be special to follow a path to Enlightenment.

 
There is always some value in reading about other perople's journey's and a book like this will often answer questions you didn't know you had or strengthen opinions that have already been
formed.  For me this book did both'.

 

Review as cut-and-pasted from an e.mail to Ki Publishing website

I, too, found the link to the Philosophical Discussion

Kundalini, Soul, and the Right Side of the Brain by Ravindra Kumar and Margaret Dempsey.

Http://www..scribd.com/doc/2547147/Kundalini-Soul-and-the-Right-Side-of-the-Brain-Ravindra-Kumar-and-Margaret-Dempsey.

This led to a similar discussion

teh_grouse's neurotheology Folder / Scrib

Kundalini, Soul and the Right Side of the Brain – Ravindra Kumar and Margaret Dempsey

Pdf_16x16 11 pages; teh_grouse uploaded this 04.15.2008; 175 views ….

<a href="http://www.scribd.com/people/documents/571410/folder/11445">http://www.scribd.com/people/documents/571410/folder/11445</a>

and to the

Llewellyn Journal – The Secrets of Shaktipat

25 Mar 2002 … Sincere thanks due to Margaret Dempsey for her editing and for suggesting some useful changes. ...

Kumar, Ravindra 2000. Kundalini for Beginners. …

<a href="http://www.llewellynjournal.com/article/358">http://www.llewellynjournal.com/article/358</a>

and to

Intune Holistics

Sincere thanks are due to Margaret Dempsey for her editing and for … Kumar, Ravindra 2000 Kundalini for Beginners. Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., MN, USA

http:<a href="http://www.intuneholistics.com/resources/articles.html">www.intuneholistics.com/resources/articles.html</a>

and to:

EBSCOhost Connection: Kundalini, Soul and the Right Side of the Brain.
Authors: Dempsey, Margaret, Kumar, Ravindra. Source: Journal of Religion and Psychical Research. Jul 2002, Vol. 25, Issue 3, p.148, 10p. Documents Type: Article ...
D4BD7A5CF7CBC45.ehctc1

Dr. Ravindra Kumar, also known as SWAMI ATMANANDA, has had an interesting career:

http://www.quantumsoulaware.com.about.htm

 

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Review reported by Blonde Venus at iffeature@talktalk.net

Over the last twenty years or so there has been a vertitable explosion of books purporting to validate

this or that spiritual awakening. At the best most of this literature witnessesmerely to the mor spiritual rootlessness endemic to our time; at works it witnesses merely to the ego inflation of the author. Like much else that is written today, Margaret Dempsey's is eclectic. What makes it different is the author's honesty and humility. Without any reliable teacher to guide her, she demonstrates an extraoprdinary knack for distinguishing teachings which challenge the ego from those whish merely sooth it. This is a warts and all account of a woman's spiritual awakening

starting from her earliest years, and charting a long and difficult search. No easy answers here – rather than a challenge to the reader to address his or her own experience with the same radical honesty and commitment. Warmly recommended.

Jeremy Cranswick,

Buyer, Gnosticism, Christianity, Theosophy, and Classical Antiquity.

,Watkins, Cecil Court, Central London

<a href="http://www.watkinsbooks.com/">www.watkinsbooks.com</a>

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</div> <div class="single-review">Review by Roger C
Margaret's book is deep and honest and well thought through. Her writing is philosophical and, when I Googled her it appears to has the beginnings of a track record in this area of writing and ... 
More observation. This is a book that makes the reader ponder about the interconnectedness of the person, the world and even beyond that. An essay co-written by Margaret's can be found at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2547147/Kundalini-Soul-and-the-Right-Side-of-the-Brain-Ravindra-Kumar-and-Margaret-Dempsey</div> <div class="single-review">
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</div> <div class="single-review">Written by Margaret Dempsey dempseym2002@yahoo.com
I am the author of this book which I have written to inspire others to take on a spiritual path for themselves. I also write a blog which can be found also on Google: http://dempseym.blogspot.com ... 
More, which you are more than welcome to view. I have upwards of 400 people reading it with 10% viewing it between 101 and 200 times.
Since having a powerful experience on a meditation retreat in Southern England in 1999 I have made it my ongoing commitment to raise awareness about the spiritual energy that rests at the base of the spine and when it rises it gives rise to the elevated consciousness that characterises spiritual awakening and begins the journey of the consciousness towards the state of Enlightenment.
I have declared that everything that happens to me I view from within a spiritual framework. So the blog is a faithful record of things that happen in life and how I deal with them within a spiritual framework. My invitation is to come along and visit it and also to comment if you read anything there that inspires you to do so. 
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