ARA Review by vlvance5 of In It Together
Moderator: Official Reviewer Representatives
-
vlvance5
- In It Together VIP
- Posts: 0
- Joined: 02 Nov 2019, 08:43
- Bookshelf Size: 0
ARA Review by vlvance5 of In It Together
[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, In It Together.]
In It Together is a guide to finding and nourishing the spirit within us, which author A.E. Hughes maintains is key to reaching a state of unity. It is a message about practicing unconditional love and forgiveness, finding freedom, acknowledging truth, and accepting our realities.
This challenging read is full of elegant, flowing passages filled with thought provoking comments about human frailties and the corrections that may be needed. Reading these passages left me feeling challenged and just a bit querrolous. I questioned Huges assertion that the struggles we face are primarily of our own making, and the solution is essentially a spiritual one.
The "beautiful struggle" Hughes describes is a spiritual movement through which individuals see and rid themselves of ego, false perceptions, and false faces to lean toward uncovering and loving their real themselves (and others as themselves). Through this process he called"material unification" individuals who attain freedom learn to experience the entire universe as one shared body. In the free state, with truths unveiled and the real self uncovered, there is no wedge between individuals, and there are no breaks in time. There is unity of time and space and people; individuals can become the authors of their lives and influence what will happen in the future. So, in spirit, the free individual lives in the past, present, and future and in all spaces.
This is heavy reading, but Hughes does not leave the reader struggling to absorb his ideas or his assertion that we all share in the beautiful struggle between conscious thought and action and unconscious desires. He makes it clear that the battle is an internal fight between our consciousness, or spirit, and unconscious forces such as behaviors driven by the ego and body. He defines the freedom achieved through this battle as self-discipline.
Much of the literature I have consumed has presented similar arguments about the power of spirit to move beyond the ego and body and see all as one. The major difference, I think, is that Hughes extends the argument of sameness and oneness to space and time. That idea is profound, a bit hard for me to take in. But in other ways, the reading echoes messages found in the writings of M.L. King Jr. and the Buddhist philosophers. M.L. King addressed the lack of unity and equality during the Civil Rights Movement and approached the issue as a spiritual and political matter. The Buddhists also addressed issues with the human condition and ways to liberate ourselves from the pain that accompanies living.
Hughes moves through a discussion of the various traps we fall into, and offers some sage advice and practices that have also been recommended by a number of experts. Although his tone throughout is light, almost playful, the topics he covers are anything but. He closes his message by offering practical suggestions for freeing the spirit and moving toward unity, contentment, and peace.
This book is worth a close read. It is my perception that the outstanding feature of the work is the author's use of language. The words flow easily, smoothly; the language is elevated and engaging, and the content is frequently instructive. The vocabulary, often deceptively simple, demands that a reader stop, reflect, and connect to truly absorb meaning. It's challenging reading-- ineresting, but not riveting. I recommend it highly. I give it 4 out of 5 stars because the arguments, while refreshing and elegantly presented, are not entirely original. In my studies at a liberal arts college, I frequently came upon similar ideas.
***
View In It Together on Bookshelves
In It Together is a guide to finding and nourishing the spirit within us, which author A.E. Hughes maintains is key to reaching a state of unity. It is a message about practicing unconditional love and forgiveness, finding freedom, acknowledging truth, and accepting our realities.
This challenging read is full of elegant, flowing passages filled with thought provoking comments about human frailties and the corrections that may be needed. Reading these passages left me feeling challenged and just a bit querrolous. I questioned Huges assertion that the struggles we face are primarily of our own making, and the solution is essentially a spiritual one.
The "beautiful struggle" Hughes describes is a spiritual movement through which individuals see and rid themselves of ego, false perceptions, and false faces to lean toward uncovering and loving their real themselves (and others as themselves). Through this process he called"material unification" individuals who attain freedom learn to experience the entire universe as one shared body. In the free state, with truths unveiled and the real self uncovered, there is no wedge between individuals, and there are no breaks in time. There is unity of time and space and people; individuals can become the authors of their lives and influence what will happen in the future. So, in spirit, the free individual lives in the past, present, and future and in all spaces.
This is heavy reading, but Hughes does not leave the reader struggling to absorb his ideas or his assertion that we all share in the beautiful struggle between conscious thought and action and unconscious desires. He makes it clear that the battle is an internal fight between our consciousness, or spirit, and unconscious forces such as behaviors driven by the ego and body. He defines the freedom achieved through this battle as self-discipline.
Much of the literature I have consumed has presented similar arguments about the power of spirit to move beyond the ego and body and see all as one. The major difference, I think, is that Hughes extends the argument of sameness and oneness to space and time. That idea is profound, a bit hard for me to take in. But in other ways, the reading echoes messages found in the writings of M.L. King Jr. and the Buddhist philosophers. M.L. King addressed the lack of unity and equality during the Civil Rights Movement and approached the issue as a spiritual and political matter. The Buddhists also addressed issues with the human condition and ways to liberate ourselves from the pain that accompanies living.
Hughes moves through a discussion of the various traps we fall into, and offers some sage advice and practices that have also been recommended by a number of experts. Although his tone throughout is light, almost playful, the topics he covers are anything but. He closes his message by offering practical suggestions for freeing the spirit and moving toward unity, contentment, and peace.
This book is worth a close read. It is my perception that the outstanding feature of the work is the author's use of language. The words flow easily, smoothly; the language is elevated and engaging, and the content is frequently instructive. The vocabulary, often deceptively simple, demands that a reader stop, reflect, and connect to truly absorb meaning. It's challenging reading-- ineresting, but not riveting. I recommend it highly. I give it 4 out of 5 stars because the arguments, while refreshing and elegantly presented, are not entirely original. In my studies at a liberal arts college, I frequently came upon similar ideas.
***
View In It Together on Bookshelves
