- Man as Stranger,
Life as Exile
- The Outgoing
Path and the Returning Path
- The Homeward
Journey
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Readers' Comments
on The Unfolding Self
"Genuine breadth of vision in this revelatory book restores magic and depth to a subject too often reduced to banality and unreality by self-improvement gurus." --Publishers Weekly
"Metzner's breadth of knowledge and rare gift for insight make this book an extraordinary contribution to our understanding of our inner realities." --Frances Vaughan
"For years I've
followed a principle: Read anything Ralph Metzner writes. The Unfolding
Self confirms that I'm still correct." -- Larry Dossey, M.D., author
of Healing Words
"Revelatory...lucid...thorough...scholarly...harvests
the riches from a
lifetime of intrepid and discerning spiritual research." -- Publishers
Weekly
"The reader of The Unfolding Self can benefit from wise guidance
concerning the realms of non-ordinary consciousness based on Ralph
Metzner's vast learning, purity of purpose, and more than thirty years
of
testing the many varieties of transformative experience."
-- Robert McDermott, Ph.D. Editor of The Essential Aurobindo and
The Essential Steiner
The Unfolding Self describes the universal metaphors for transformation
that one can encounter in a spiritual journey. This is an excellent
book for any individual to see and understand which metaphors of transformation
appear in their personal, professional, and inner lives.
--Angeles Arrien, author of The Four-Fold Way and Signs of Life
This book is
a valuable guide to the farthest reaches of consciousness.
--Larry Dossey, author of Prayer is Good Medicine and Healing Words:
The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine
In The Unfolding
Self, Ralph Metzner offers evolutionary metaphors for the transformations
that occur as the mind sinks into the heart. A book well worth reading
on the journey toward oneself.
--Stephen Levine, author of A Year to Live
This book is
a treasure house of ancient and modern wisdom offering a wealth of
stories and metaphors that nourish the soul. It is essential reading
for anyone exploring spiritual growth and transformation.
--Frances Vaughan, author of Shadows of the Sacred
Read this book
if you want to wake up to your full ecstatic potential. It presents
profound insights and new pathways that will empower you to live your
life ecstatically.
--Margo Anand, author of The Art of Sexual Ecstasy and The Art of
Sexual Magic
To hold images
of transformation in one's mind is transformational in itself. Therefore,
this book is magic and its author, with his depth of knowledge and
wisdom, a high Magician! If studied and allowed to impress the mind,
Metzner's work will quicken you into an acceleration of your unfolding.
This book should be required reading for all seekers of Truth.
--Jacquelyn Small, author of Awakening in Time and Rising to the Call
The Unfolding
Self offers a wonderful account of the timeless metaphors that guide
and describe profound inner transformation.
--Roger Walsh, author of The Spirit of Shamanism and coeditor of Paths
Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision
Praise for the
Previous Edition (Opening to Inner Light)
I read this book
with real enthusiasm and appreciation.
--Joseph Campbell
Ralph Metzner,
long a distinguished leader in the study of the transformation of
consciousness, provides a brilliant cross-cultural exploration of
the powers of metaphor for characterizing and stimulating psycho-spiritual
transformative experiences.
--Michael Harner, author of The Way of the Shaman
Metzner has done
a masterful job of unveiling an endless variety of symbols pointing
toward humankind as universal desire for wisdom. With metaphor and
image, he makes the transformation process come alive.
--June Singer, author of Boundaries of the Soul
A well-written,
beautifully organized, and pioneering description of the primordial
images that mediate spiritual transformation. Metzner as analysis
of religious archetypes ranks with the best works of comparative symbolism
in our time.
--Michael Murphy, author of The Future of the Body
Ralph Metzner
explores the varieties of religious experience through psychodynamic
investigation of imagery. I found his book intriguing, informative,
and at times illuminating.
--Elaine Pagels, author of Gnostic Gospels
