Review by soumswriter -- A Thousand Seeds of Joy
Posted: 07 Mar 2019, 10:25
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Thousand Seeds of Joy" by Ananda Karunesh.]
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
A Thousands Seeds of Joy is a spiritual book by Ananda Karunesh. The author claims that he received spiritual guidance from two Indian Goddesses, Saraswati and Lakshmi and reported their teachings in this book for the benefit of mankind. This book is the first book in the ascended Goddesses series.
The book is in an interview format. Ananda Karunesh asks questions and receives answers from the Goddesses. The book starts with a discussion about how universes are created, followed by forgotten details regarding Eve, Mary and Indian mythological characters and Goddesses, such as Draupadi and Sita. The book also discusses Buddhism and the different stages of enlightenment that happens by the alignment of seven chakras in the human body.
The transition of humanity from matriarchal to patriarchal system started 6500 years ago and accelerated in the past 2000 years, where the masculine energy became egotistical and disregarded the feminine energy. As per the author and the Goddesses, the time is ripe for humanity to transition from a patriarchal era to a matriarchal era, which will heal the wounded feminine and masculine energies in mankind. Patriarchy creates division in the wounded feminine and wounded masculine. Matriarchy unifies the empowered feminine and masculine and results in greater harmony and love in the world.
Being an Indian and a feminist, I enjoyed reading the first few chapters of the book, where a strong case was presented for the transition from patriarchal to matriarchal society. Not only this, it was interesting to note that a few important female characters in Indian mythology such as Draupadi and Sita were painted in the wrong light. Over time, the epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana were modified to suit the patriarchal needs of that era. As per Goddess Lakshmi, Sri Rama who is Sita’s husband never doubted her chastity and Sita did not step into fire to prove that she was pure. In the later chapters, a lot of focus was on how to become enlightened and the role of ego in enlightenment, which was spiritually heavy for me. Merging Hinduism and Buddhism topics also made this book engaging.
On the other hand, I found many concepts such as primordial joy, chakras, emptiness and soul cycle to be repetitive, which slowed down my pace. The other recurring concept in this book is regarding the trajectory of the soul. The soul undergoes several incarnations to become enlightened. The author also refuted well-known character descriptions of Sita and Draupadi but did not provide additional proof, so we are left to trust the version of the Goddesses. It is also expected that the reader is familiar with the Indian epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, the origins of Buddhism, and Indian gods such as Vishnu, Krishna, Saraswati and Lakshmi. If the reader does not have the above mentioned background, it will be difficult to follow the importance of the discussions.
I give this book 3 out of 4 rating because of lack of evidence that does not support a few claims made by author with reference to important Gods in Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. Given that this book is almost 400 pages, it is recommended only for hard-core spiritual bibliophiles. This book is not for orthodox religious people and those who do not believe in reincarnations.
******
A Thousand Seeds of Joy
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like soumswriter's review? Post a comment saying so!
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
A Thousands Seeds of Joy is a spiritual book by Ananda Karunesh. The author claims that he received spiritual guidance from two Indian Goddesses, Saraswati and Lakshmi and reported their teachings in this book for the benefit of mankind. This book is the first book in the ascended Goddesses series.
The book is in an interview format. Ananda Karunesh asks questions and receives answers from the Goddesses. The book starts with a discussion about how universes are created, followed by forgotten details regarding Eve, Mary and Indian mythological characters and Goddesses, such as Draupadi and Sita. The book also discusses Buddhism and the different stages of enlightenment that happens by the alignment of seven chakras in the human body.
The transition of humanity from matriarchal to patriarchal system started 6500 years ago and accelerated in the past 2000 years, where the masculine energy became egotistical and disregarded the feminine energy. As per the author and the Goddesses, the time is ripe for humanity to transition from a patriarchal era to a matriarchal era, which will heal the wounded feminine and masculine energies in mankind. Patriarchy creates division in the wounded feminine and wounded masculine. Matriarchy unifies the empowered feminine and masculine and results in greater harmony and love in the world.
Being an Indian and a feminist, I enjoyed reading the first few chapters of the book, where a strong case was presented for the transition from patriarchal to matriarchal society. Not only this, it was interesting to note that a few important female characters in Indian mythology such as Draupadi and Sita were painted in the wrong light. Over time, the epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana were modified to suit the patriarchal needs of that era. As per Goddess Lakshmi, Sri Rama who is Sita’s husband never doubted her chastity and Sita did not step into fire to prove that she was pure. In the later chapters, a lot of focus was on how to become enlightened and the role of ego in enlightenment, which was spiritually heavy for me. Merging Hinduism and Buddhism topics also made this book engaging.
On the other hand, I found many concepts such as primordial joy, chakras, emptiness and soul cycle to be repetitive, which slowed down my pace. The other recurring concept in this book is regarding the trajectory of the soul. The soul undergoes several incarnations to become enlightened. The author also refuted well-known character descriptions of Sita and Draupadi but did not provide additional proof, so we are left to trust the version of the Goddesses. It is also expected that the reader is familiar with the Indian epics such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, the origins of Buddhism, and Indian gods such as Vishnu, Krishna, Saraswati and Lakshmi. If the reader does not have the above mentioned background, it will be difficult to follow the importance of the discussions.
I give this book 3 out of 4 rating because of lack of evidence that does not support a few claims made by author with reference to important Gods in Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. Given that this book is almost 400 pages, it is recommended only for hard-core spiritual bibliophiles. This book is not for orthodox religious people and those who do not believe in reincarnations.
******
A Thousand Seeds of Joy
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like soumswriter's review? Post a comment saying so!