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I'll probably read this book at least once more again sometime in my life, if not twice. Read to find out, and find out as well all of their very unconventional Mystical experiences they often have while doing these crazy activities. Definetely recommended to the adventurous soul prone to extreme ways. I finished this book a few months ago, and in retrospect I think it is a breath of fresh air in the Spiritual department. Why do extreme athletes risk their lives doing these things.
First of all, the stories in this book are incredible.riveting.fascinating. After about the 20th explanation, where she's grasping for answers within the Inuit spiritual tradition or morphic fields for her answer, it gets ridiculous. This could have even been a great book if the author left it at that--stories that show the spiritual side of adventure sports.Instead, for each story the author tries to come up with a plausible explanation, and each time she turns to one of two places: Modern Science or Eastern Religion. She turns to Chinese mysticism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Transendentalism, the Occult, the New Age, even voodoo to find the answers.
Yet could any of the "spiritual friends" she mentions have been angels. You won't even find "Christianity" in the index, as if it were irrelevant to any major spriritual discussion. The author happens to mention that more than 1/3 of Americans report having seen angels at some point in their lives. HEAVEN FORBID that she would even HINT in her writings that Christianity exists. Do you know how many millions that is. Really.
One chapter focuses on spiritual visitors that been documented to have helped explorers and adventurers throughout history and up through modern times. It's ultimately sad to see how far out her way she goes to avoid it.So in the end we have a tragic indication of where Western culture has come--to the point where our own religious traditions can't even be mentioned in a wide-reaching book on spirituality.Read this book for the spiritual adventure stories if you must, but take the rest of it for what it is: A politically correct tome based on Eastern religion. The scientific explanations for the paranormal can be quickly dismissed--of course the spiritual world can't always be explained with logical, scientific responses.It's her attempt at spiritual explanations that are frustrating. In fact, she tries to find her explanations in no less than TWENTY-SIX different spiritual and cultural movements, even Greek mythology.HEAVEN FORBID that she should consider God, Jesus or even Christian mysticism for any answers.
why. She approaches mysteries with a true spirit of inquiry.Also, I couldn't put it down. I bought the Kindle version after hearing Coffey on Oprah's Soul Series. While the book is full of ghosts and other psychic phenomena, Coffey is even-handed in exploring these. In this snowy season, it did change my attitude about facing the cold as a mini-adventure. I read it more as a spiritual searcher than as an endurance athlete. The book was comprehensive in its exploration of what drives people to put themselves in the path of great suffering (made me think of the monks who built monasteries on chunks of rock off the coast of Ireland).
However, it has application to those of us who are not extreme but can, just the same, be overwhelmed by the grandeur of nature. Sources are cited if you want to go look them up and a good index is provided, essential if you want to use this for some reference.
If you hike, ski, snowboard, climb, swim, surf, fly, jump, sail, bike, or rum it will have some great stories for you. There is some repetition that could have been handled better by a brief explaining that a return to that person's story was coming up.
I found this to be an interesting and thought provoking examination of why many extreme athletes do what they do and what their minds./spirits. I found it a fascinating read.
do when the are doing what they do.
Through a lot of first person stories of odd "spiritual" experiences and a good mix of possible "scientific" explanations, including her own, the author probes what we perceive at times of heightened awareness.
Easy to read in sections as it isn't one long story but interesting chapters that nicely segueway from one ot the next. This is an insightful book for those non-adrenaline-seeking types, and an affirmation of what us junkies already know about pushing the limits.
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