Book Reviews
by Sarah Flynn
For this edition I have decided to do short reviews on three different books that have inspired me recently.
I read this book after watching the film The Shift. In honour of Dr Dyer's death, Hay House made the film freely available for all to watch for a week. Watching it had a profound effect on me and I felt a sense of peace after watching it which I had not felt for a long time. This prompted me to buy the book and I have not been disappointed. Dr Dyer begins the book with a quote from Laurens van der Post, part of which says "Once what you are doing has for you meaning, it is irrelevant whether you are happy or unhappy. You are content - you are not alone in your Spirit - you belong."
The Shift, both the book and film, invites us to to explore what has meaning for us, what would be, for us, a life filled with purpose. In discussing how we do this, it is clear that there is no one result from this process, that for each person, the search for meaning is completely individual and unique.
The film, which can also be viewed on Youtube, is beautiful and touching and contains many sections in which Wayne Dyer talks about his views of life.
The book goes into much more detail about the hows and whys of finding meaning. and what is made abundantly clear is that without Spirit in our lives, there can be no meaning. We must move from a small personal ambition to one that truly means something to us, that moves us in our souls, in order to feel fully alive and at one with the world around us.
Of course, this process is not easy. Dr Dyer talks about there often needing to be a fall before we can rise up to new heights. He says "It may be necessary to get down and dirty in the dark night of the soul in order to free ourselves from the grip of a well-establiished ego. "Hidden in all misfortune is good fortune" is a Tao concept that seems to support the value of those times in life when we've experienced a fall. Without that particular misfortune, good fortune is unavailable."
There is so much in this book that I could fill pages writing about it. On the other hand I recommend that you read it and save my fingers!!
Publisher Hay House, Publication Date 2/11/10, ISBN 978-1-4019-2709-7