Review : A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

The book is 316 pages, & has 10 chapters with 2-11 parts in each. This book is better than the first in that it gives more details on Buddhist beliefs.

However, the authors vanity & EGO are sometimes shocking. He jumps to conclusions from experiences that don't appear "egoless." He has made the pursuit of being "awakened or enlightened" into a western style competitive race. Chapter 5 was drivel pyschbabble & even had histoical mistakes. Ex: The pre-Christian cultures he mentioned on page 156 revered females? If that was true, why did they sell their own women into slavery?

Also, the ideas the author presents are not original & his tone is a bit patronizing & contradictory. When he states that you should not dwell on the future, but stay in the present. But, a moment later he states that you must focus on a vision or goal that you are striving to reach. One could simply read the works of the authors he listed on page 131. Life is far more complex & transitory than he seems to indicate.

"Dukkha, or suffering is part of life." Mindful practice is all we can truly focus on. It is not an escape from the stresses we all have in our daily lives. On page 273, he states "the decision arrives ready made. It comes through awareness, not through thinking." I can't speak for others, but one often will have to think to be fully aware. I found pages 234-7 to be the wisest examples in the book. Then again, I learned these things from episodes of the 1970's show "Kung Fu." Lastly, I recommend folks read Daniel Goleman's "EQ," for both ego & emotional information. While "mindfullness" is well covered in the Dalai Lama's "The Art Of Happiness."