Feedback Welcome on Spiritual Book Project

[Ninae]

Finally got around to start serious work on this project I've been messing around with for some time now. It's something that requires a certain heightened state of mind to produce what is my intent and also craves a lot of insight. But I do feel now it has potential to turn into something good if I'm able to fully dedicate myself, and so I want to try it out for the next 3 months to see how it goes

So I just thought I'd put some of my ideas out there just to see what the general impression is and if I can get any constructive feedback I can use to improve my work. There is always more to learn from how others respond to a work like this, so I welcome any ideas. I know not everyone shares my beliefs on these things, but that's not really what it's about, I'm not looking to get into a theological debate this time. I just think it could be interesting to exchange our own thoughts on these topics, and the way we see them, as we all will have an individual take on it and that's what I'm interested in.

So, anyway, I'd just like you to be honest about what you think of the idea, general outline of the book, and the themes I've chosen. Again, I'm not looking to start an argument about the merit of my project or the value of the contents, etc. It's only meant only as an avenue for inspiration and construcive feedback, for anyone who can be bothered. But there should also be something to learn for most with an interest in these subjects, and creativity really thrives on the exchange of ideas (so be easy on me, just for once).


Table of Contents

1. Rising in Consciousness
2. Our Steps on the Way Up
3. The Many Paths to Upliftment
4. The Ascencion Process
3. Enlightenment




Outline of Chapters



Rising in Consciousness

The Human Consciousness
What a Consciousness Level Is
Why Rise?
The Degrees of Levels of Consciousness
The 7 Basic Levels of Consciousness
Hitting a New Level
The New Experiences Now Available to You


Our Steps on the Way Up

True Healing
The Purification of your Being
Clearing Negative Thoughtforms
Releasing Negative Emotions
Physical Purification and Enlightenment
Perfecting Your Actions
Healing your Interactions with Others
Comprehending Light and Dark and How they work in our Consciousness
Masculine and Feminine Energies and Consciousness
Living Side by Side with the Invisible World and Your Helpers in the Higher Realms


The Many Paths to Upliftment

The Path of Love
The Path of Wisdom
The Path of Beauty and Harmony
The Path of Power
The Path of Intelligence
The Path of Purity
The Wordly Path
The Path of Service
The Path of Devotion
The Path of Self-Sacrifice
The Feminine Path
The Masculine Path
The Path of Nature


The Ascencion Process

Moving Up
The Process of Reaching a Higher Level
What a New Level Feels Like
Reaching Constantly Higher Levels
Attaining Your Highest Level
Finally, Illumination


Enlightenment

Living as Enlightened
Attaining God Connection - The Mystic Initiation
Oneness Consciousness
Becoming a Good Manifestor - Living in Abundance
Perfect Fulfillment
"To Become Again like Little Children", Looking at a Beautiful World
The Divine Life



Just a general outline, but should give you a good idea, and I hope it was able to produce some feelings of upliftment. As inspiration, upliftment, and happiness is what I would like it to convey more than anything else. Especially since there's so little truly uplifting material around these days.

But I have always felt like my true calling lay in wiriting, and it was just a matter of waiting until the right time came along, or reaching a point of maturity. Now I feel about ready to start making use of my literary talents, which I guess I'd have to say was my greatest inherent talents from birth, and like I'm finally starting to have have the maturity and skills it takes for it to be realised. I'd like to take a more intellectual take on it, but still with enough room to be romantic and poetic, or speak to people's feelings and move their hearts (the power of both the maculine and feminine working as one).

You could almost say my ambition is to create my own version of "The Wellspring of Good") by Peter Deunov). That's a tall order, but it can't hurt to aim for the best, and even 1/5 as good as would be a masterpiece in the genre. Summing up the best of the best of what I've read from the wonderful teachers who've inspired me would be the ultimate aim. Although I will be writing more from the perspective of the seeker, along with everyone else, rather than a master or someone of absolute authority. I feel this is more appropriate, as I'm still a seeker, a seeker who desires to share what they've found.

 

[socko]

I don't know enough about you to say much of anything very constructive, but you seem to have literary skills and enjoy learning about New Age, Occult, and Self Help subjects. You might want to combine those talents and interests and write it in the form of fiction kind of like James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy . I only know of it because i used to play golf at his country club, and he is famous, but the story is told in the first person as a spiritual quest. The main guy meets some kind of sage i the mountains of Peru. The whole story is built around the main character learning the 9 steps of enlightenment in the system he is writing about. During is journey the character learns what enlightment is, learns the different levels of consciousness, and the steps to get there. You could illustrate the paths to ascension in your plot. Along the way, the character would encounter the spiritual and psychologicqal ideas of Deunov, practice ascension techniques, and live happily ever after.

 

[-=SS=-]

I guess it depends what you want out of this project. If it is "dry" and more of a manual/guide to this subject area then your audience will likely be limited. There's loads of books in this format already, despite differing content. Also, if your aim is to lift people up.. the nature of the book is only going to reach those who are already resonating with where you're coming from.

Like Socko said, if you write it in a different format you might reach more people, unless this is like the Bible 2.0 haha. To be honest I think there's enough books in the "dry" format and they can be a right chore to read. Something in a story format would sell better. Also being able to hide things between the lines and make the esoteric stuff more subtle makes the whole thing more intriguing for the reader, as opposed to just saying "YOU ARE GOD!".

 

[Ninae]

Thanks, I don't even remember making that post as I was awake for over 40 hours so I slept so long my memory has been wiped.

Anyway, I pretty much know what I'm going to do, I've been planning it for a while and the lay-out or organisation is the main part. Now I should be able to fill it in pretty fast (when I do automatic writing). I just wondered how it would look to other people as that can be a bit different.

I mostly just want to write something about the development of consciousness because even if there is an endless amount written on the subject already there are suprisingly few who seem to have much understanding of it. They might be familiar with the general theme, but when it comes down to it they have little actual experience or even belief. So I've wanted to write something similar to the things that have helped or inspired me (it doesn't necessarily need to be dry, and it's not boring if you're genuinly interested in it).

 

[Ninae]

I don't know enough about you to say much of anything very constructive, but you seem to have literary skills and enjoy learning about New Age, Occult, and Self Help subjects. You might want to combine those talents and interests and write it in the form of fiction kind of like James Redfield's Celestine Prophecy . I only know of it because i used to play golf at his country club, and he is famous, but the story is told in the first person as a spiritual quest. The main guy meets some kind of sage i the mountains of Peru. The whole story is built around the main character learning the 9 steps of enlightenment in the system he is writing about. During is journey the character learns what enlightment is, learns the different levels of consciousness, and the steps to get there. You could illustrate the paths to ascension in your plot. Along the way, the character would encounter the spiritual and psychologicqal ideas of Deunov, practice ascension techniques, and live happily ever after.

That's one way of doing it, but I'm not a fiction writer and that would take me ages to learn, so I'm not going to convey my ideas in a novel-format. You can't just decide to become a novelist. But you can also use fictional elements in prose, and I like more creative forms of prose, not dry, academic writing.

I know it will just seem like more of the same for most, but it's directed more at those who are spiritually ambitious. I never get enough of that kind of thing, even if I've been studying all my life, because there's so much to learn and you forget and need reminding. It depends what kind of person is reading, if they're not particularly interested they will just think "Been there, done that". But that's not how I perceive these type of spiritual texts myself. Something like that can have a real identify of its own, especially when it's written by a strong personality, and I appreciate all the different ways pretty much the same idea can be conveyed.

I guess it's a bit like how most would say Christian books are all the same, or Buddhist books are all the same, but to someone who collects those books and are genuinly interested in the subject it won't be that way. But I'm just looking to get some of my ideas and experiences out there and not expecting to be successful, paricularly as the best in this genre tend to be little known. The truth doesn't tend to get very far in this world, although everyone assumes that it does, or that if something was really true it would have gotten far.

 

[alasdairm]

ninae, i suspect that you'll see my handle and just discount or ignore this feedback. i know that's an annoying assumption but my opinion is that you're not very good at receiving feedback that doesn't support your opinion or agree with you, even when you've explicitly request feedback. try to take these comments at face value?

i'd encourage you to inject a little humility into your work. some of your comments in this thread e.g.

"...there are suprisingly few who seem to have much understanding of it. They might be familiar with the general theme, but when it comes down to it they have little actual experience or even belief."
"The truth doesn't tend to get very far..."

read as pretty arrogant and, ironically, just reinforce the "been there. done that." feeling of which you accuse others and, i imagine, wish to seek to avoid.

i think that humility is a trait which is essential to anybody considering subjects like spirituality, enlightenment, consciousness and such. i think it's an admirable trait and one which, in an author or material such as this, would, for me, make it rather more readable.

also, make sure you proof your work and spell-check it. better yet, have it edited as a third-party will see errors that you won't, given how close to the material you are.

alasdair

 

[socko]

^I wanted to mention that cult-like quasi-mystical organizations that follow a system of initiations and ranking -- the lack of humility is one thing they drill into their members. "Contgratulations for becoming a member of the Fraternal Order of Rosea Crucis/Golden Dawn/Masons... You have passed all the tests blah blah blah and have shown great spiritual progress. You are now one of the Illuminati. You are among the worlds elite and most spiritually advanced souls. You are an old soul whose consciousness is beyond the 33rd Plane of Cosmic Consciousness etc etc." It's a way cults maintain a grip on their members, and for some, can become internalized and difficult to see in oneself. to question it would mean you're like everyone else. it shows in the writings of members of such organizations and their "self-help" books are full of it.
Kind of like "Congratulations! By buying an Apple computer you are among the elite among computer users."

 

[Ninae]

ninae, i suspect that you'll see my handle and just discount or ignore this feedback.

Are you trying to tell me our romance is over?

No, I don't have anything against you. I just expect negative feedback from you as a rule, as it's the only time you seem to bother to comment, and it's not always that objective. We just see things differently, it's not the end of the world.

I get all what you're trying to say. But when I said that I sincerely meant there are few with much understanding in this field as it also takes a lot of time and research, and that I would like to do something to help out with that from what I've learnt from others, and not as an insult. People really tend to take what you say in the worst way, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

But when it comes to arrogance the atheist standpoint produces some of the worst when it comes to intellectual arrogance, much of it straight up reads "I'm a man of science and clearly more intelligent", so it goes both ways. I think people are used to those with theist views feeling like they need to apologise for themselves, or not being able to defend their point of view, and I'm not like that.

Never mind, it was just something I thought to bring up when I was over-tired, and doesn't need to become another thread about me and my mental health, like Foreigner would say.

 

[alasdairm]

...I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

...there are suprisingly few who seem to have much understanding of it. They might be familiar with the general theme, but when it comes down to it they have little actual experience or even belief.

doesn't seem like it.

...negative feedback...

one person's negative feedback is another's constructive criticism...

if you only want feedback which agrees with your position, and you do not like your thinking and your comments to be challenged, you should preface requests with "please don't respond if you don't agree with me" or such.

good luck with your project.

alasdair

 

[Ninae]

^I wanted to mention that cult-like quasi-mystical organizations that follow a system of initiations and ranking -- the lack of humility is one thing they drill into their members. "Contgratulations for becoming a member of the Fraternal Order of Rosea Crucis/Golden Dawn/Masons... You have passed all the tests blah blah blah and have shown great spiritual progress. You are now one of the Illuminati. You are among the worlds elite and most spiritually advanced souls. You are an old soul whose consciousness is beyond the 33rd Plane of Cosmic Consciousness etc etc."

I agree. I was only a postulant in the order and quit after they'd been telling me magic is nothing more than superstition, while at the same time teaching me to get used to setting up regular rituals.

Humility is important, but confidence and self-belief is just as important, and something the world tries hard to drill out of you. So it can be just as much of an acheivement to retain your sense of self-worth through it all. You need to have faith in God in yourself or as a vessel for him to act through. I notice people tend to envy real self-belief and often try to twist it into something negative like arrogance, even when there's no need for it.

What you most need to work on also depends on what comes most naturally to you and is not really for others to say (especially who know so little of you). Maybe I don't come accross as especially arrogant in day-to-day life so people don't give me any grief for it, and it confuses me when someone does.

 

[Ninae]

doesn't seem like it.
one person's negative feedback is another's constructive criticism...

if you only want feedback which agrees with your position, and you do not like your thinking and your comments to be challenged, you should preface requests with "please don't respond if you don't agree with me" or such.

I was thinking more along the lines of feedback from those who are more on the same page as me and can see the value in something like that and not a way to set up another great debate between spiritualists/anti-spiritualists, but I guess that was a bit presumptious.

I know everyone has the right to post what they want, but sometimes you can think of a spiritual forum as a place for people whith spiritual beliefs to come together to share their thoughts, and this is very different than having a debate about whether there is such a thing. Or a thread with people sharing thoughts and experiences of God is very different to a thread debating God's existence, and I was only thinking that would be nice once in a while on what's also supposed to be a spiritual board.

Of course sceptics have just as much of a right to express their beliefs as anyone else, but that's not really my point. I don't go into atheism threads to challenge people's beliefs as I find the constant arguing boring and not something that allows for the sharing of spiritual insights and experiences. That's all I've been trying to get accross, but I guess not everyone cares to see it from that point of view. Like I've said before, it's mostly a male board so maybe competition and debates are just seen as more important than the sharing of ideas and inspiration (which is a shame as I'm sure it's something most would really want).

 

[sekio]

I was thinking more along the lines of feedback from those who are more on the same page as me and can see the value in something like that

That's not really feedback as much as it is self-validation.

set up another great debate between spiritualists/anti-spiritualists

It's not even a debate about that, it's commentary on the narrative tone you're developing. Sharing ideas only goes so far when you have a tone of superiority, and the sword cuts both spiritualists and scientists alike...

 

[Mysterie]

self-belief is kind of the opposite of what spirituality is about. to me at least.

i think you probably could write a book because you have no trouble writing endless long posts

but i don't really see what the point is, you seem to have some insight and have read lots of spiritual books that you resonate with

but i don't really see a lot of experiential wisdom coming from your words most of the time.

its not really meant to be a personal attack, just my opinion