Book Review: Secrets of Shambala

Being a book buff, I tend to turn to the words, wisdom and experiences of other authors for answers to most of my life-questions. At times, this means I read some really crap books. (Unfortunately for me, I have a 'thing' about reading a book till the very last page - crap or not). Every once in awhile though, I pick up a book that really speaks to me. One that makes me think and contemplate my life. One that changes me infinitesimally, but changes me nonetheless.

The Secret of Shambala, was for me, one of these books. I borrowed it off the bookshelf of a friend, and nearly did not want to return it when I was done. The third in a series by James Redfield, it can be read by itself, although it might make more sense if you've read at least his first book, The Celestine Prophecy beforehand.

Part adventure story, and part new-age wisdom, it's not so much the pulse-racing chase through the mountains of Tibet that got to me, but how it helped me to think of myself as part of a larger being, reminding me to direct and use my emotions in only a positive way, and to be aware of my every thought process. I discard many religious views for its hypocrisy and close-mindedness, but this book, that speaks about lifting the energy of an individual in order to lift the energy of society as a whole, I could identify with. At the very least, I applaud anyone who can turn what is essentially a dry, perhaps sensitive subject, into a modern, identifiable, adventure-fiction worth reading.

Then again, I also identify with Rhonda Byrne's famed The Secret, and The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles, recently sent to me by my dear dad. I read these three books one after the other, and the funny coincidence was that while all were written in different tones, and indeed, in an amalgamation of both fiction and non-fiction, they all carried the same abundantly clear message: know exactly what you want, send out sufficient energy, believe and have faith, and you will receive (through an awareness of synchronicity or a series of 'coincidences' that will ultimately lead you to the object of your attraction).

Fair enough, it could all be a complete spoof. But I do believe coincidences don't just happen , and The Secret of Shambala fits into my current frame of thought like a missing piece of the puzzle. This is one I will read again and again. But only when the time is right, of course.