Scan barcode
jasoncomely's review against another edition
4.0
A quasi-religious/philosophical/psychoanalytical look at self-transcendence, enlightenment, grace and agapian love. As deep as these theological concepts can be, Huxley's writing is clear and even practical.
7anooch's review against another edition
4.0
I skipped through a few of the essays, but I did read most of them. It is evident that Huxley has thought long and hard about spirituality, and he reflects on the matter well. There is much to be learned from his writing.
sarahelem's review against another edition
Was really hoping this would be more secular but from the get go it's clearly based in Christianity, referring to multiple Bible passages. This isn' the content I'm looking for.
bookworm42's review against another edition
2.0
Sorry Huxley, philosophy is already not my thing. This is convoluted and hard to follow, very much through the lens of Christianity even when he tries for it not to be. Didnt finish.
hilaritas's review
3.0
I really respect Huxley for his role as popularizer of the "perennial philosophy" of mysticism across many faith traditions, not to mention his many other literary talents. He's a very lucid explicator of the aim of the mystical approach to experience, as he would say, the "unitive knowledge of divine reality". He tries valiantly to describe an experience that he rightly acknowledges is beyond verbal description, and his cautions are well-taken on a number of levels that the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon. That said, I found a whole volume of his mystical writings to be a bit overkill. They get monotonous, and although he's never wrong, the joys in reading how he's right offer diminishing returns here. Probably better titrated in small doses over time.
More...