Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129116 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-11
• Format: Abridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 96 pages

Amazon.com
God is not a person or a thing but rather a process, according to world-renowned author and spiritual leader Deepak Chopra. The purpose of this ambitious book is to assure readers that anyone can engage in this process--"it isn't a matter of faith, religious teaching, innate goodness, luck or some other mysterious factor," Chopra explains. "Our brains are hardwired to find God." This hardwiring is deftly explored as Chopra lists the seven ways humans know God and how they correspond to the anatomy of our human brains. He devotes a chapter to each of the seven visions of God: "Protector," "Almighty," "God of Peace," "Redeemer," "Creator," "God of Miracles," and "Pure Being--I am." In every chapter he asks and answers the same questions for the readers: "Who am I?" "How do I fit in?" "How do I find God?" The format works well, helping to tame this broad discussion while also illuminating the different personality types that are attracted to these seven different visions.

Fortunately, Chopra is a gifted narrator, able to make human anatomy and quantum physics understandable while also keeping spiritual and metaphysical discussions grounded. As he drifts through the cloudy realms of ESP, telepathy, clairvoyance, miracles, obedience, loyalty, evil, ego, addictions, and mentors, readers can trust that there is a competent pilot at the helm, deftly guiding this excellent book. Plan to take some time with this one. It is perhaps his best yet and as such deserves a slow and steady commitment. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly
Prolific author Chopra (The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Creating Health, etc.) explores the different ways people apprehend God. Chopra contends that there are seven responses to God and that "the brain cannot register a deity outside the list of seven responses." Chopra's seven include: fight or flight (a God who can save us from danger), reactive (a rule-giving God), restful awareness (a God who brings tranquility out of chaos), intuitive (a good and forgiving God), creative (God as Creator), visionary (God as exalted) and sacred (God as the source of everything). Different personalities envision God differently, says Chopra; a go-getter determined to shape his own destiny will imagine a creative God, whereas someone who feels she is just barely getting through the day will have the stage-one "fight or flight" response, envisioning a God who can rescue her. For Chopra, these seven ascending stages are normative; someone who has reached stage seven is more in tune with God than someone stuck at stage one. (Readers from law-based religions may feel dismayed that Chopra so devalues their "stage two" conception of God.) To help spiritual pilgrims reach the seventh stage, Chopra recommends that they see themselves and others "in the light," forgive themselves when they err and seek out the sacred and the unknown. Like most theories that claim to be all-encompassing, Chopra's scheme is often reductive, but this will nonetheless be a worthwhile addition to the spiritual seeker's library. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Chopra, best-selling author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and the CEO and founder of the Chopra Center for Well-Being in La Jolla, CA, continues his exploration of science and philosophy. According to him, the brain is "hardwired to know God." He reminds the listener that the human nervous system has seven biological responses that correspond to the seven levels of divine experience. The brain has an infinite need to make meaning from what Chopra calls "quantum soup." This work delves into the mysteries of religious awakening and offers an accessible guide for the spiritual seeker. The book, while abridged, is still a long listen at five hours. Larger public libraries will probably need at least one copy due to the author's popularity. Smaller public libraries should purchase as the need arises.APam Kingsbury, Florence, AL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

How To Know God
I really enjoyed reading this book,it gave me a better understanding of god and myself

a well written book
A great book and a must read for those who'd like to be acquainted with the real meaning and a deeper understanding of God. Yet, you would need an open mind before you could start holding and enjoy reading the book. If you're the kind of person who's ready to explore and face another view of reality, then your search for spiritual motivation, development and transformation will come to mind. Take your time and read the book rather slow since you will definitely get to learn, open a new door and gain something out of it.

It's a simple dynamic: garbage in, garbage out.
The simple dynamic outlined here is what you put in is what you get out. If your view of God keeps you in a state of fear then that's your input. Don't expect anything different in the output. If your input is an understanding and free flowing energy where you exchange consciousness with the divine, then your output is of course a very positive and fulfilling result. In a nut shell, Dr. Chopra is teaching what we all know, how you treat others, including God, is directly proportional to how you are treated. I think it so simple though, some people just can't believe it. The God relationship, and this is just my experience, you are dealing with an energy source, not a physical being with big white beard that sits on a throne and sends Mother Nature to punish the wicked. That is a manufactured God in the minds of humanity. It is NOT the source Dr. Chopra is writing about here.