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Sep 13, 2015 Book Review…, Features / Columnists
Author: Hazel Sinanan
Trinidadian mystic redefines the New Age Movement
By Dr Glenville Ashby
The New Age Movement has been around for a while. I can recall the Age of Aquarius; the wisdom from Atlantis and Lemuria; colour and crystal therapy, and the overall singular approach to spirituality, divorced from the strictures of organized religion.
Then came channeling and spirit guides – a new form of spiritualism popularized by Jane Roberts and JZ Knight who channeled the imperious Seth, and the obnoxious Ramtha respectively.
And the books followed – A Course in Miracles, and later, The Secret, a well marketed scheme that reintroduced visualization to the front burner.
Hazel Sinanan will balk at being compared to Roberts and the far more controversial Knight character. You see, Sinanan is not a spiritist in the classical sense of the term. She does not surrender her vocal cords to discarnates or entities. Sinanan is a mystic, an intuitive, bringing similar messages of our ‘god hood’, through prayer and meditation. ’The God Within: An inner pilgrimage to the Soul of Wisdom,’ is an exhaustive treatise that captivates the imagination, and raises key questions on life’s purpose. It is logotherapy rekindled, a profoundly spiritual version of Victor Frankl’s existentialism. But Sinanan transcends the intellect, piercing the veil of the mind into an area far more sublime and ethereal.
But her message is not new. It is repackaged, but, oh, so neatly. It is lucid, void of clutter and cryptic overtones. Gone are the eschatological enigmas. Missing from her writings are the mental gymnastics and the nebulous, confounding teachings that have plagued channeling and the New Age movement. There are no parallel universe to bend the mind; no multiple realities; no complex musings on physics – just fundamental teachings aimed at helping us understand who we are and our place in this seemingly vast cosmos.
The strength of Sinanan is her authenticity. There are no grandiose claims of ordainment and exceptionalism. Her profession as a distinguished barrister gave way to her spiritual calling. Here, we don’t sense the insidious hand of material gain. Her arguments are measured, cogent, defensible, logical. She is not playing a good game as so many in this field, a field sometimes shrouded by smoke and mirrors. Sinanan is real and we feel her empathy, her passion. And while she may not passionately assail religious orthodoxy for misinterpreting, if not doctoring scriptures, she gets her message across. “Throughout the ages men of authority distilled doctrines from what was taught, and converted then into teachings to be religiously followed by those who became followers. The various religions have become manifestations of beliefs and doctrines crystallized in records, which do not bear the original thoughts or natural words, but condensed and re-interpreted versions…..They are sectarian in nature and appeal to the minds of men through the use of symbols, ceremony and established creeds.”
Of true religion, she opines, “If man is to find God through “a religion” and God is pure spirit, then surely the way to God is through the knowledge and experience of spirit….A new religion has been dawning for some time now and many have found their religion in spirit. In so doing they have discovered God within themselves…Man will be motivated by love instead of by guilt and fear, to uphold the values of God…. True religion therefore, cannot be taught but must be discovered through the mortal experience, combined with the motivation to seek truth.”
Her work can fall under the category of mystical or esoteric Christianity; not in the vein of the muddled symbology of Helena Blavatsky, but in line with St. Ignatius of Loyola and the earlier Essenes. Sinanan will find detractors from conservative movements, be it Christian or non- Christian. Evangelicals will denounce her failure to cite Jesus as the sole redeemer; and Roman Catholics, unfamiliar with her angelic intermediaries, will not endorse her teachings. But, in truth, her message does not deviate from the Christian lore, or, for that matter, the esoteric linings found in every mainstream religion. The core of Sinanan’s teachings is embedded in the biblical pronouncements in Psalm 82:6 and John 10:34, that,”we are gods.” This, according to mystics, including Sinanan, signifies our connection to a Universal Mind, or God, that gives us access to unfathomable wisdom and potential.
It is in keeping with the metaphysical concept of Cosmic Consciousness, Christ Consciousness, and the Universal Mind. It is Vedic and Buddhist. It is also part of the growing field of quantum physics that states that we are all connected – part of a gestalt that cannot be altered.
Sinanan goes further, though. She fully explains key spiritual and existential concepts. We are essentially spiritual beings experiencing an earthly existence. We must now learn to shed our limitations and experience the magnitude of spirit or our core being.
Of compassion, she writes, “Compassion is a natural virtue of love. (It) must be an elevated energy which raises your vibration, and vibration of the person to whom it is offered. It must not depress the vibration of the person to whom it is offered. Plights and experiences are often created by the very ones to whom you offer compassion, as a device for learning. When you love with compassion you become an example to others…. Even those you perceive in darkness deserve your compassion. Is your brother not a part of you?”
Her intuitive messages from her Higher Self or her Angelic guides are revelatory and provocative, especially as they relate to prayer and supplication.
One telepathically relayed counsel is worth mentioning.
Sinanan recalls, “ I remember Christ Michael saying: “Let your prayer be for everything and everyone except yourself for in this manner only, can that which you desire and seek come to you. When you have learnt the secret of the ancients so shall you have learnt the secret of life, for you cannot expect to receive that which you already have.”
Later, she ponders, “How many through prayer simply list to God all their desires, even imposing a time frame? In so doing we are asking or telling to God to serve us but are we giving any thought as to what we will re-give?”
To better understand Sinanan’s message, the reader is asked to fathom the properties of our nature. If we integrate the vibration and the ebb and flow of nature into our lives, we would have solved the problems that beset us. Sinanan writes, “I have been taught by the Father that the Law of Balance is the foundation of the universe and it is the basis of giving and regiving…. All creation starts from the point of balance…In human relations, if there is to be balanced unity one must give in service to another, followed by equal re-giving by the other….If man were to observe nature he would realize that nature never takes but gives only. There is harmony in nature until it becomes disturbed by unbalanced actions.”
The God Within is judiciously written; no outlandish and fantastical claims. It engenders hope and optimism. As a boon to readers, Sinanan includes a series of guided meditations and self-hypnosis exercises…. No better way to determine the veracity of the author’s experiences.
But, maybe, somewhere, a cautionary word on the subtle, underlying challenges of an awakened consciousness should have been injected, for good measure. Unfortunately, it is never discussed.
As complex machines, sometimes driven to evil, for reasons known and unknown, Sinanan may have sanitized our inherent corruptibility. That said, The God Within is a must read for New-Agers, and just about anyone willing to experience life’s mysteries.
Feedback: [email protected] or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby
The God Within Us: An Inner Pilgrimage to the Soul of Wisdom by Hazel Sinanan 2015
Publisher: Balboa Press
ISBN: 978-1-4525-8078-4
Available: Amazon.com
Ratings: Recommended
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