Book Review : Destiny Vs. Choice

Title : Destiny Vs. Choice

Author : Marie D. Jones

Publisher : NewPage Books

ISBN : 978-1-60163-156-5

Right from the day a person develops the faculties to comprehend the meaning of life and the purpose of existence, the struggle between two contradictory claims begin in the mind - fate/destiny and choice/free will. Is everything hard coded in our make up or can we exercise some control over the choices that we believe to make and the paths we select?

In 'Destiny vs Choice', Marie D. Jones highlights the fundamental point that life is nothing but a sequence of decisions/choices and the decisions taken lead the individual to diverse circumstances offering yet another set of choices. The author brings in the spiritual, philosophical and scientific angles to look at the process of confronting decision points after decision points. She lays down very valid points and doubts on the table, for instance, if God has planned everything and if God is the perfect power, how could sin and evil be part of God's plan? If not, then is evil part of free will? Do fate and 'free will' work in mutually exclusive manner or do they have some common ground? What percentage of what we do or what happens come under the destiny part and what portion of it makes it to the 'free will'? The confusion keeps mounting with more and more parameters and factors thrown into the discussion. Do we lead a robot-like life where minute to minute details are set in stone, but then the whole existence seems really pointless. There has to be a kind of balance, a kind of correlation between Destiny and Choice, perhaps we do get to exercise our 'free will' but in the realms of broad rules of universe, which are there to avoid complete anarchy.

The author has taken into consideration different viewpoints and perspectives - from astrology, astronomy, various religions, DNA blueprint, quantum physics to after-death experiences, thereby making it a well researched guide on trying to fathom the meaning of each of these significant aspects in our life and how to use them to make the life more fulfilling and enriching. The impressive part about this book is that even the complex topics are very effectively weaved together in an extremely readable fashion. And also, the narrative is very beautifully peppered with the quotes of some notable personalities. A detailed section is focused on the great equalizer - the death and the after-life experiences, analyzing many issues under the topic.

The Appendix of the book is dedicated to some interesting tales, portraying how 'destiny' and 'free will' make their presence felt and how people find out the true destinations where they truly need to be, whether it is called the pull of destiny or that of Choice, which seems to matter much less at the end.

Book Review : The Trinity

Title : The Trinity

Authors : Marie D. Jones, Larry Flaxman

Publisher : The Career Press

ISBN : 978-1-60163-145-9

The book 'The Trinity' divulges the all pervasiveness of the number 'three', its magic, its power and its influence. The narration begins with first establishing the omnipresence of the trinity in all possible realms of the world - nature, religion, psychology, mythology, culture, quantum physics and much more. The famous ones with which almost all of us are well conversant are - the holy trinity in Christianity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the one in Hindu faith - Brahma (the creator), Vishnu(the protector), Mahesh (the destroyer), the famous abodes of the soul - Heaven, Earth and Hell, three levels of human mind - conscious, unconscious and subconscious, major life cycle stages - birth, life, death and three laws of Newton. It definitely brings home the point that the reach of the concept of Trinity is indeed ubiquitous, not restricted to any particular religion, faith, culture or society. Is this some kind of a secret code in need to be decoded?

The authors Marie D. Jones and Larry Flaxman precisely attempt to bring out the magic behind this number in their book 'The Trinity'. In order to achieve this, they discuss about a long array of things and amongst them the one which has been elaborated in great detail is the structure of brain and the different sections of this organ which makes the human being a highly evolved living organism to have ever walked on the face of the earth. The hindbrain, mid-brain and forebrain are the distinct sections of the brain and are the managing units of very specific skills and emotions. Then there is the mention of intent and reality and the conditions under which the intentions get transformed into reality. What actually is intention? It is defined as 'focused, directed, persistent thought. It is resolve and determination to make specific things happen'.

Further on, the authors take up the concept of prayer and the secret behind the prayers. Marie Jones and Flaxman attempt to explain it scientifically, how the treatment of mind can help transform a prayer into an "affirmative" prayer - the mechanism by which one could actually manifest what one wants in life. They describe this system of scientific prayer using a five step structure - Recognition, Identification, Declaration, Thanksgiving and Release. Chapter 9 focused on this topic was an interesting read. I specifically liked the arguments that have been put across to find the reason for 'Why most people's prayers don’t come to pass?'

'The Trinity' brings out a fresh take on many topics and yet another way of looking at things. Overall a very captivating read, offers some healthy arguments and would surely motivate the readers to ponder upon the issues that have been dealt with in the book.