The Secret of Instant Healing - Book Report/Review Example

?Introduction The book The Secret of Instant Healing by Dr. Frank Kinslow (2008) is a book which is based upon a concept of pure awareness. Allegedly, pure awareness is the space between active thoughts. That said, the book also states that harmonious thoughts are supposed to come from pure awareness, as are harmonious feelings. The exercises in the book are designed to help one tap into pure awareness. That said, the concept is not very well-explained or well-understood, so the book falls flat. The individual, techniques, however, are useful in reducing negative thoughts and stress, so the book may have some helpful value. Discussion I chose this book because I have been searching for a book that might help me manage stress and depression, which are conditions for which I have suffered, on and off, for the past few years. The major theme of the book is that pure awareness may be the key to stress reduction and healing. Kinslow initially used an example to illustrate what he means by this – he states that a coiled rope may resemble a snake, and, if the person is not aware that this coiled rope is not a snake, that the person may become paralyzed by fear. Pure awareness needs to be the genesis of thoughts, because, if a thought has to work its way to one’s consciousness, then that thought will probably be disharmonious and negative. The thoughts which are closest to pure awareness also have the most positive energy and order. Kinslow also gives a step-by-step analysis on how to achieve pure awareness, and how to guide thoughts from an area of pure awareness. The first step in experiencing this pure awareness is an exercise where thoughts are stopped. In this exercise, the person is to sit and think and just chase the thoughts where they lead. Then, the person is to ask him or herself where the next thought may come from, and this will necessarily stop the flowing thoughts. The gap between the thoughts are pure awareness, according to Kinslow. A new question, similar to the question about where the thoughts come from, may be asked every fifteen seconds. This gives the person a chance to observe the brief interval between thoughts, and this observation brings down stress levels, increases energy levels and allows the individual to have an easier relationship with others. The next step is to choose a positive word and focus on it. Such words are silence, stillness, calmness, peace, joy, bliss or ecstasy. As the person focuses on that one word, the word will eventually start to move, or get brighter or bigger or louder. The word may also disappear, and, in this space, pure awareness is there. The word may also turn into another word. This technique allegedly bathes one’s “psyche in the healing waters of awareness” (p. 35). These are exercises to get one ready for the main event, which is called Quantum Entrainment (QE). The main ingredient of QE is pure awareness. The successful completion of QE is not only supposed to result in pure awareness, but also eufeelings. Eufeelings is a word that the author uses for feelings which are unconditional, and these are feelings which are manifested from pure awareness. The beginning exercise of QE is becoming aware of every part of one’s body by concentrating on that body part. For instance, one must become aware of one’s big toe, so this big toe is what is focused upon for a time. Then one moves to the balls of the feet, the elbows, etc. Then, one is supposed to direct one’s awareness to the environment, starting from awareness of one’s room, then becoming aware of the next room, then the whole building, then the area around the building, then the city, then the state, then the country, then the world, then the universe. Then, the awareness is supposed to be capped with the awareness of the eufeeling, and the QE is complete. The books’ weakness is pretty obvious. First of all, there isn’t really a good sense of exactly what “pure awareness” is. The initial example of the rope that resembles a snake is not a good one and does not explain exactly what the concept is. Then, the book goes on to say that thoughts need to come out of pure awareness. If thoughts do not come from pure awareness, then thoughts are disharmonious. This was also confusing. The author seems to indicate that pure awareness is the space between conscious thoughts, as is indicated in the exercise regarding the stopping of thoughts. He indicates that, when one consciously allows thoughts to flow, then deliberately stops the thoughts, that this space constitutes pure awareness. However, it is unclear how a thought is supposed to come from pure awareness, when supposedly pure awareness is the space between conscious thoughts. Also, his explanation of eufeelings seemed vague and non-descript. The eufeelings allegedly also come from pure awareness, and they do not have a reason for being. For instance, one may be angry because a friend said something mean. One may be worried because of X, Y or Z. However, the eufeelings are just supposed to come from a space where they exist no matter what the conditions. They are primal. Still, the description of the eufeelings also did not really give a good explanation on how to tap into these, except to say that they, like everything else, comes from pure awareness. Probably the single biggest criticism of this book is that the entire book is based upon a concept that is not really well-explained, that of pure awareness. The eufeelings are supposed to come from this, as are thoughts. But what, exactly, is pure awareness? The author does not explain it well enough to relate all the other concepts to it. And, since this is the case, the rest of the book rests on a shaky premise. The author needed to explain the concept in more depth, using better illustrations and using language which is more accessible to everybody, even people who are not familiar with meditation. Another criticism is that his QE seems to be just standard meditative practices. Becoming aware of one’s body parts is a part of every meditative practice that is well-known. Becoming aware of one’s environment is the same. These practices are the basis of the author’s supposedly revolutionary way of healing, the QE. As it is, it does not seem that this particular method of meditating adds anything special or different to the practice. Some of the strength of the book is that the author does attempt to guide the reader, step by step, through the exercises which are supposed to lead to a higher awareness, or pure awareness, as it were. Even if the pure awareness was not really well explained, the exercises were helpful in reducing stress. Particularly the exercise regarding stopping thoughts – it was helpful in stopping negative thoughts, and becoming aware of the stillness which comes when a negative thought is stopped. I would not recommend this book for the reasons above. The concept is too nebulous and ill-explained. I found myself frustrated because I couldn’t really understand the concept of pure awareness, no matter how many different ways the author attempted to explain it. I would imagine that it would be the same for others. Perhaps that is the reason why this book never became a huge seller, because, if it really contained new information and secrets for dealing with stress, it would have been much better received. This book might help others, however, because some of the exercises did help with stress. That said, the QE method is so similar to other meditative techniques, that any book about meditation could help just as much, if not more. In other words, this book would not necessarily help somebody any more than another book on meditation. The book also did not really appeal to me for these reasons. When one is frustrated for the inability to grasp the central concept, then the entire book is unappealing. Conclusion The book The Secret of Instant Healing purports to give new information to readers, and a new way of reducing stress. That said, its language is too vague and nebulous, and the central concept is not very well explained. Because of this, the entire book falls flat in its advice. Nevertheless, the exercises are helpful in reducing stress, even if pure awareness is never really achieved, so the book is not entirely useless. Source Used Kinslow, F. (2008) The Secret of Instant Healing. New York: Hays House. Read More