Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/635319
art & soul BOOKS By David Arran Anderson M ostly in an appeal for humanity to wake-up, the last ava- tar walks the world as the Christ of the Aquarian Age. In a series of conversations, informal satsang-like sermons and call-in radio talk shows, an unassuming and truly gentle man guides confused and inquiring aspirants of every stripe. Three hundred and fi fty pages of this has the potential to be excessive—but not so! In a forgiving and often humorous way, David Arran Anderson slashes to the bone the underlying traps people fall prey to, in denying their own fundamental divinity— the real message here. It's a repair manual for the soul. The Q and A approach opens to all manner of distress and malady—from retold Christian stories and teachings to con- temporary political, fi nancial and environmental fears; from personal relationships and health to a fi nely conceived dis- course on the nature of time, God, death and dying, free will and the human purpose. "Walking the talk" from the outset, our hero and savior ar- rives as a "drop-in" via a Greyhound bus—without diplomas, work history, social security number, cash, possessions or even a name. Effortlessly open to the divine fl ow, he lives his teachings, instantly fi nding housing, work, friends, peace and love—as we all can, when open and unburdened by culturally imposed fears and constraints. The fi rst coming of Christ was of an in- dividual man, histo- ry and doctrine tell us; the second, we learn, arrives as mass consciousness of the Christ within. Although very Christian, some- how, the book retells Testaments New and Old, while fi rmly and gently exposing the politically motivated and fear-based misdirection of traditional church teachings. Time is short—an earnest message, yet delivered without pressure. Personal enlightenment here offered can only blos- som with the dissolution of stress and fear. It's a diffi cult mes- sage to convey, thus necessitating its repetition, but it's a large- ly enjoyable and revealing experience. "You're talking with God," our hero says, "and so am I." (Transformational Books) —Mac Graham The Last Avatar october/november 2015 33 By Mari Perron, First Receiver M ore than 30 years ago, A Course in Miracles (ACIM)— "a complete self-study spiritual thought system," according to the ACIM.org website—was written down by Helen Schucman from what she described as an "inner dictation." Although Christian in language, its message is more of a New Age spirituality, and for many it was spiritually revolutionary. There are an estimated two million copies of the text in circulation worldwide. More recently, author Mari Perron, a devout Catholic, claimed to have received the same voice identifying itself as that of Jesus, also by inner dictation. A Course of Love, the resulting 700-page combined volume, expands on Schucman's work. A Course of Love has a suffi ciently clear introduction that one need not be previously familiar with ACIM. It builds on the same thought system in a language that is both accessible and eloquent, and some ACIM students have praised it as "a revelation." There are now nearly 50 ACOL study groups listed on acourseofl ove.com. A Course of Love speaks directly, personally and powerfully, gently guiding the reader to "wholeheartedness," an integration of mind and heart to "end the tyranny of the ego- driven mind." It teaches the "art of thought," the "act of prayer" and "the nature of unity and its recognition." It concludes with "The Forty Days and Forty Nights," a mountaintop dialogue with the reader that was, for this reviewer, a profoundly moving experience. (Take Heart Publications) —Glenn Hoveman A Course of Love Combined Volume: The Course, The Treatises, The Dialogues february/march 2016 33