Critical Book Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical Book Review - Essay Example This essay presents a critical review of Many Lives, Many Masters in order to investigate the area of reincarnation as explored by Dr. Weiss through his session with his patient Catharine. The covers some of the proofs presented by doctor Weiss in order to confirm his changed beliefs on reincarnation followed by an analysis of both the strengths and weaknesses of the authors argument before making suggestions on future investigations into the area and ending with a brief conclusion. This book by Weiss (1988) shades more light in the area that has garnered widespread discussion thorough his sessions with a 27 year old Catherine during the 1980 as he seeks assist her overcome her deep-seated anxiety, panic attacks and phobias. As a graduate from the Yale University School of Medicine where he also went through his residency in psychiatry in addition to serving as Chairman of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Dr. Weiss is a psychiatrist trained in the scientific met hods of dealing with psychological problems that his patients present during his sessions. Therefore, based on his original training as a psychiatrist doctor Weiss had always followed the conservative paths of his profession and was a skeptic when it came to exploring other methods of psychological healing but that was prior to meeting Catharine who changed his views on reincarnation of the human soul. The sessions between Dr Weiss and Catharine lasts for over 18 months where the doctor applies conventional techniques to cure her problems without success. However, doctor Weiss attempts a series of hypnotic trance states on Catherine; she begins recalling past life memories that could be attributed to be the factors causing her symptoms which effectively lead to her cure within a few months. At the initial stages of the hypnosis, Catharine doubted the ability of the technique to dig out the answers she was searching for given that she did not believe in reincarnation but after a numb er of such sessions, Catharine realized she acted as a medium for secrets of life and death from spirits that had evolved over many lives and could not only talk about Catharine’s past lives but also about her doctor’s life. Dr. Weiss uses his sessions with Catharine to reveal how much he learned about life and the nature of human soul which is able to live after death of the body. Through Catherine's disclosures under hypnosis, the doctor reveals incidents that occurred in some of the 86 lives Catharine had lived on earth as a unique soul that was born across different times and places where she confers with masters that helped her to see the lesson learned from the life just lived. Catharine’s revelations are guided by the masters who according to what Weiss (1988) presents are the sages at the highest plane spiritual evolution and are capable of offering lasting wisdom teachings that extend back into all the history of humanity and traditional cultures. The m asters state the purpose of living, according to Catharine’s revelation as being to learn and grow through seeing the spark of God in others and ourselves as the guiding principle for the survival of the soul and continued cycle