Spiritual Initiation and the Breakthrough of Consciousness: The Bond of Power

by Joseph Chilton Pearce

Explains the phenomenon of shaktipat, the spiritual transmission of power from a teacher to a devotee

• Shows how technology has eroded personal power and how insight and awareness can play a higher role in our lives

• Reveals how insight is the vehicle for profound self-transformation

Shakti is the creative force, the bonding power, that holds the universe together. Shaktipat is the moment when enlightenment is conferred upon a student instantaneously by his master’s touch. The guru conferring shaktipat creates a bond of power in those who have accepted him or her as their teacher. In Spiritual Initiation and the Breakthrough of Consciousness Joseph Chilton Pearce describes his experience of shaktipat from his teacher Swami Muktananda. From this awakening Pearce experiences a dramatic shift of mind and comes to the realization that perception is reality and that insight is our only vehicle for profound self-transformation.

Oneness with God is the birthright of every individual, though we are culturally vaccinated to resist experiencing this higher consciousness. Our search for objective truth has lead us not to wholeness, but instead to the belief that we have no bond to each other, to God, or to an inanimate, physical world. Our technology reduces our ability to experience revelation and leads us instead toward the chatter of confused thinking. The challenge faced by modern humanity, which is the challenge Muktananda gave to his students, is to passionately gather up the scattered fragments of our lives and channel them into the creative realm, where with insight or revelation we will be able to become more than ourselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Metaphysics, Spirituality

179 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 1981

About the author

For nearly half a century Joseph C. Pearce, who prefers to be known simply as Joe, has been probing the mysteries of the human mind. One of his overriding passions remains the study of what he calls the "unfolding" of intelligence in children. He is a self-avowed iconoclast, unafraid to speak out against the myriad ways in which contemporary American culture fails to nurture the intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs and yearnings of our young people. Part scholar, part scientist, part mystic, part itinerant teacher, Joe keeps in close touch with the most brilliant men and women in each field of inure relevant to his guest. He creates a unique synthesis of their work and translates the results into a common language-such a valuable contribution in these days of increasing scientific specialization.

Reviews

[Mag]

I read it as a part of learning about yogic view of consciousness. Too bad I learned halfway through the book how discredited Baba Muktananda- Pearce's guru- was. It was interesting anyway, with Bohm's theory of enfolding/unfolding holonomic/holographic universe, and the discussion of shakti and shaktipat.
In the end, I haven't finished it, so I am not going to rate it.

[James Abro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about shaktipat diksha and it's role in human evolution.

[Ryan Kovacsik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I consider myself a spiritual person with an open mind, and I generally like writing of this nature, just as I do other philosophy and spiritual books and texts. I have always been a seeker, looking for deeper truths, and anything that might help me understand what is possible for humans in terms of psychological and spiritual growth. What are we capable of and where are we going? Are we evolving, and to what end? What can we do to facilitate positive growth in ourselves?

I like this book, as I like most of JCP's writing. If you're into consciousness expansion, spirituality, yoga, meditation, philosophy, etc., you might like this book.

But, if anyone reads this review, I think it's important to point out that there is often more to a story than what's presented. In this case, the guru that JCP meets, studies under, and talks about throughout this book, is actually quite a controversial figure. He's now dead, and has a woman successor (who I believe was the guru mentioned in the memoir Eat, Pray, Love - she actually goes and stays at this guru's ashram in India in part two of the book) who is also controversial, at least for those who know, have had experiences with these people, or who have come upon the information.

After reading this book I was quite interested to learn more about the Siddha Yoga path and these gurus. What I ended up finding out is that it can be a very cult like sect still operating today. The guru in this book, Muktananda, apparently did all kinds of inappropriate and even cruel things to many people, especially women who came and stayed at his ashrams. He took advantage of them, and he totally abused his power in, especially in American, increasingly so as time went on.

The interesting thing is that this darker side would never be revealed to famous people, or Americans of a higher class, or writers, such as JCP or Elizabeth Gilbert. These people would only be presented with the best of the spiritual practice and wisdom that could be offered. There are a great number of people who get drawn into this particular spiritual path (I was almost one of them) to such a degree, that they believe whatever the guru does or says, must be truth, must be right. This is part of the nature of cults. Unfortunately, many of these people could, and did, get taken advantage of for sex, or money, or any kind of personal gain or pleasure. The confusing part is that many didn't, or don't, which makes it a difficult thing for them to believe, and makes it that much harder for the victims to come forward or be believed. It's creepy terrain.

Anyway, I learned a lot from reading this book and then learning the other side of the coin through my own research afterwards, especially into the nature of cults. I just think people need to be careful about these kinds of things, so, even though I did enjoy this book and do feel there were a number of truths and spiritual insights offered (because JCP was able to have this kind of experience, and probably more so because the guru knew he was researching and writing a book about his experiences with this guru and particular spiritual practice), it's still important to keep that grain of salt on hand.

The whole guru thing can be pretty tricky business. On the one hand, a good spiritual teacher can be the best thing to ever happen to you, on the other, they can be someone who either is not close to enlightenment or is not pure of heart from the start, but wishes to believe they are, or, they are corrupted by the power of position they find themselves in due to legitimate spiritual status, which can cause them to change and do things not in keeping with the true tenets of their spiritual lineage. Either way, it can lead to unfortunate experiences for some people.

Bottom line, books like this can actually be quite exciting and inspiring, and possibly spur your desire to seek out a guru so as to have these kinds of experiences for yourself, but you should beware of spiritual materialism and be careful out there. Make sure you have a good connection with yourself, love yourself, and if your intentions are good, you can trust yourself. If you're interested in joining a particular spiritual lineage, group or practice, take your time and make sure it's right for you, and do a good amount of research as well - especially if you're getting involved with a "guru."

[Dave Dunniway · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but the writing style really bogged down the premise... heavy intellectual prose. I enjoy my spiritual wisdom down to earth and simple, not pontificated all elder university professor like. But the themes introduced in the book were interesting... mainly that true creative inspiration and genius is an evolutionary energy charge directed by the core intelligence of the universe (or what some might call God, though the intelligence doesn't have a projected personality that is a common ideal in more mainstream religions).

It also gets into the guru principle and how they can direct this energy at will and use it as a tool for triggering intense spiritual growth in individuals who would benefit from it and perhaps haven't developed their meditative practice yet.

I found the most interesting part was the author's description of the mental systems that we create to block and obscure this natural flow of creative energy... blocks that are cultural and generational in how they are learned and passed down.

The author leaves all meditative instruction and observation in the hands of the guru, but that's not really what the book is about. He doesn't advertise his guru and spiritual path he sits on... instead it's used as an illustrative example of the the basic structural, scientific foundation of spiritual empowerment.

Overall the book is heavy on symbolic observational themes instead of practical wisdom... suited for a more cynical, doubting crowd than the already practicing student. But the book does offer a pretty good map of the territory and process, which is always welcome.

[Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is in some way a followup to Pearce's "Crack in the Cosmic Egg," both looking at consciousness and its ability to create the world we experience. There is a chapter on creativity, which I thought especially valuable. It's a book I will have to read again.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some beneficial things in this book (especially some of the stories of individual spiritual experiences as they related to kundalini), but I struggled with some of the author's intellectualizations.