Balancing Acts: Obligation, Liberation, and Contemporary Christian Conflicts Book

I consider myself a spiritual person with an open mind, and I generally like writing of this nature, just as I do other philosophy and spiritual books and texts. I have always been a seeker, looking for deeper truths, and anything that might help me understand what is possible for humans in terms of psychological and spiritual growth. What are we capable of and where are we going? Are we evolving, and to what end? What can we do to facilitate positive growth in ourselves?

I like this book, as I like most of JCP's writing. If you're into consciousness expansion, spirituality, yoga, meditation, philosophy, etc., you might like this book.

But, if anyone reads this review, I think it's important to point out that there is often more to a story than what's presented. In this case, the guru that JCP meets, studies under, and talks about throughout this book, is actually quite a controversial figure. He's now dead, and has a woman successor (who I believe was the guru mentioned in the memoir Eat, Pray, Love - she actually goes and stays at this guru's ashram in India in part two of the book) who is also controversial, at least for those who know, have had experiences with these people, or who have come upon the information.

After reading this book I was quite interested to learn more about the Siddha Yoga path and these gurus. What I ended up finding out is that it can be a very cult like sect still operating today. The guru in this book, Muktananda, apparently did all kinds of inappropriate and even cruel things to many people, especially women who came and stayed at his ashrams. He took advantage of them, and he totally abused his power in, especially in American, increasingly so as time went on.

The interesting thing is that this darker side would never be revealed to famous people, or Americans of a higher class, or writers, such as JCP or Elizabeth Gilbert. These people would only be presented with the best of the spiritual practice and wisdom that could be offered. There are a great number of people who get drawn into this particular spiritual path (I was almost one of them) to such a degree, that they believe whatever the guru does or says, must be truth, must be right. This is part of the nature of cults. Unfortunately, many of these people could, and did, get taken advantage of for sex, or money, or any kind of personal gain or pleasure. The confusing part is that many didn't, or don't, which makes it a difficult thing for them to believe, and makes it that much harder for the victims to come forward or be believed. It's creepy terrain.

Anyway, I learned a lot from reading this book and then learning the other side of the coin through my own research afterwards, especially into the nature of cults. I just think people need to be careful about these kinds of things, so, even though I did enjoy this book and do feel there were a number of truths and spiritual insights offered (because JCP was able to have this kind of experience, and probably more so because the guru knew he was researching and writing a book about his experiences with this guru and particular spiritual practice), it's still important to keep that grain of salt on hand.

The whole guru thing can be pretty tricky business. On the one hand, a good spiritual teacher can be the best thing to ever happen to you, on the other, they can be someone who either is not close to enlightenment or is not pure of heart from the start, but wishes to believe they are, or, they are corrupted by the power of position they find themselves in due to legitimate spiritual status, which can cause them to change and do things not in keeping with the true tenets of their spiritual lineage. Either way, it can lead to unfortunate experiences for some people.

Bottom line, books like this can actually be quite exciting and inspiring, and possibly spur your desire to seek out a guru so as to have these kinds of experiences for yourself, but you should beware of spiritual materialism and be careful out there. Make sure you have a good connection with yourself, love yourself, and if your intentions are good, you can trust yourself. If you're interested in joining a particular spiritual lineage, group or practice, take your time and make sure it's right for you, and do a good amount of research as well - especially if you're getting involved with a "guru."