The Seat of the Soul

by Gary Zukav

Book Overview

Argues that humans are evolving from a species that seeks power based on the perception of the senses to one seeking power based on spiritual values.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684865181
• ISBN13: 9780684865188
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

The Truth About Creating The World Around You

Zukav's work has captured the essence of how we actually create our own reality. I've always known this to be the truth, but never have I heard it articulated so well. I've read books of this nature most of my life and have never before found one which explains so perfectly how we accomplish this amazing feat. Many authors have repeated the catch phrase "what we believe is what we achieve," but they never say what it is that makes us believe. Being a magician for twenty plus years, I've learned what makes people believe. THE SEAT OF THE SOUL explains this from another perspective. Understanding how we put ourselves into difficult situations is the first step into creating a reality that allows us to become who we really wish and surround ourselves with the world we wish to exist within. I highly recommend this book.

A wonderful guide...

After seeing this author on Oprah, I bought this book and read it cover-to-cover. Then I loaned it to my sister, bought it for my friends, and suggested it to other book patrons when in the bookstore. (My sister didn't return the book, so I'm buying another for myself!)I found the book to bring perspective to the world we live in and our relationship to others, to self, the natural world, and our idea of a divine being.Reading without the closed mind my Catholic upbringing created, I found the book enlightening, insightful, and a resource I'll refer to again and again.

Don't misunderstand the point

What Zukav is talking about is spiritual evolution, not biological evolution. You cannot apply science to spirituality (unless you are a researcher at MIT). Certainly the word "evolution" has evolved beyond Darwin's interpretation. Surely no scientist believes that the "rules" of evolution are engraved in stone.John M (12-20-99) complains that Christians are always trying to exert their influence, but science does this as well. Don't get me wrong. I advocate science, but science is insignificant in the face of "the mystery." For example, science would like us to believe that it can explain everything about the world, never mind that funny event called the Big Bang where the world appeared out of nothing!Likewise, science would like us to believe that our consciousness is a product of biological evolution. But suppose that biological evolution is not a product of random events. Suppose what we call "evolution" is being driver by something (call it The Tao, God, "awareness," an organizing principal, whatever) that pushes for higher levels of complexity and thus higher levels of consciousness. In this sense, a monkey is more evolved than a horse and people are more evolved than algae (paraphrasing Piske, 12-5-99).Of course, I'm using consciousness in people are conscious"). But suppose that every seed is a potential stream of God-consciousness pushing for higher awareness. A beautiful orchid is God being conscious-- as a beautiful orchid--nothing more. That is good enough. As for us, somewhere along the way, we started thinking that our ego and not out spirit was the primary essence of our life.What Zukav is talking about is reclaiming our spiritual nature. The ego has done its job. It has helped us dominate our environment. But it should no longer be the central theme of our existence. Zukav's theme of authentic power and multisensory humans is the best I have heard to explain what the next stage in our evolution should be. Zukav's evolution is different from scientific evolution. It won't take millions of years of physical changes. We already have what we need. This is easy to understand once you get past thinking that we are here to "eat" the world. We only need to realize that we are evolving spiritual beings. This has nothing to do with religion and religious organizations. It works at the individual level when you realize that you are part of the "awareness" of the universe and fully participating in its creation now. The findings of the new physics tend to lead us to that. The world is indeed mysterious and fascinating.