new age

Chopra tells us "there is a fundamental mystery to the soul, that its integrity is not violated by merging with another person. The blending of two spirits brings more to the union than each person started with." (pg 158) This idea is thousands of years old, predictable, and still very popular. But if spirit is already whole, perfect, and needing nothing, how could it be made more perfect by merging with another? Chopra further asserts that "when they are fully committed in love, the husband sees God in the wife and the wife sees God in the husband." (Pg 160) Yet for many people romantic relationships distract from and substitute for God. This fundamental problem is not addressed.

Even more importantly, Chopra does not directly explain how to deal with the presence of hate in the mind. As we all know from our own first-hand experience, there is nothing quite like a close personal relationship to bring out disillusionment and hatefulness. From a spiritual perspective, the path to love must be strategically and relentlessly concerned with the undoing of hate in the mind that we all hold for self and others. It is only by transcending or transmuting hate that we are able to know self as a loving being and to extend unshakeable love for others.

The bottom line: Chopra presents a complicated and confusing message about love which makes it difficult to get reading traction. The Spiritual Reviewer gives it an overall score of 3.4 on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high).

Being unfamiliar with the writings of Deepak Chopra when I first got this book, I didn't think, judging by the size of it, that it would take me that long to read, or that I would have any trouble understanding some of the concepts that were presented to me. Boy, was I wrong. This book is so full of knowledge that you will have to read it a couple of times to get the full understanding of what the author is saying. Not that this is by any means a bad thing. I have been reading the Conversations with God series on and off for about five years now, and every time I read it I learn something new. It is quite similiar with this book. Like anything, though, you have to approach it with an open mind, otherwise the overall message of the book will be lost. Still, it provides many unique insights into what love actually is, how to attain bliss within a relationship, and several meditations that will help you achieve what the author is talking about at the present time. For instance, when talking about how the ego influences needs within a relationship, a meditation will be presented to you whose purpose is to try to chip away at the ego.

Again, this book is full of information, and will probably keep you busy for a while. Learning these concepts takes a while, but once you get them, you will most likely see a change in your life, relationships, and viewpoint of what love actually is. I know I did.

A wonderfully healing book combining Western psychological insight and Eastern spiritual wisdom to unlock and unblock the heart and overcome the mental and emotional obstacles to manifesting soulful, spiritually loving relationships and sustained passionate romance that can last a lifetime.

Good exercises and step-by-step guidance to discovering and unblocking your true feelings and looking within your own heart and soul to find your "Path to Love".

~Harusami