BOOK
REVIEW
For people drawn to a spiritual path, the profusion
of books, seminars, teachers, and groups purporting
to offer guidance can be overwhelming if not
downright frightening. Devrah Laval’s recent book, The Magic Doorway into
The Divine, rises above the rest because of its simplicity,
its honesty, and, most important of all, because of its
capacity to empower seekers to trust their own relationship
with The Divine. In effect, The Magic Doorway into The
Divine invites readers to experience their own mystical
natures initially without intermediaries. It does this
by explaining the spiritual in everyday terms and by
personal example, and by offering meditations to help
them claim for themselves the lessons contained in each
chapter. Then, when one is ready to surrender to the
heart’s longings to merge with the Infinite, and
for the vast majority this can only be accomplished through
the grace of a living Master, they are then ready to
claim their true nature and ride it to final blessed
union.
Although she has studied extensively with several prominent
spiritual teachers, Devrah’s wisdom is not bound
by any tradition. Universal in its approach and accessible
to all faiths, The Magic Doorway into The Divine is firmly
rooted in worldly concerns –
financial worries, health issues, marital discord…
Moving from the deceptively simple premise that such
familiar challenges, and the often troubling mental states
to which they give rise, can either close or open the
door to The Divine, depending on how we perceive them,
Devrah provides clear direction to guide the seeker toward
the Light.
Not that The Magic Doorway into The Divine denies
the darkness, a common failing of many books offering
spiritual direction. Indeed, one of its greatest
strengths is the support and wisdom it offers to
the reader travelling through what the great Catholic
mystic, St. John of the Cross, terms “The Dark
Night of the Soul.” Sharing her own experience
through this arduous phase of the journey, Devrah
assures us that such a passage is a universal one.
Without minimizing the difficulties, she provides
compassionate encouragement to those who are lost
in what can seem like an endless emptiness: “The
Dark Night of the Soul can give rise to boredom,
emotional fatigue, illness, depression, fear, and
a sense of being dead to life… But the time
of The Dark Night of the Soul can be the biggest
doorway of all.”
This time of intense purification of those habits
and attitudes that prevent us from realizing our
Divine nature ultimately leads us to what Devrah
refers to in the final section of her book as “Return
to the Garden.” It is here that we come to
realize that everyone and everything arises from
the same Source, and that nothing is separate from
God. Graced with this unshakable certainty, we can
end our inner and outer wars and return to our true
birthright: “Love of the purest kind.”
The Magic Doorway into The Divine belongs in the
library of every serious spiritual seeker.
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