Book Review 3: Awaken the Power Within You

Midwest Book Review

Wisconsin Bookwatch, Volume 13, Number 6,

June 2018

         http://www.midwestbookreview.com/wbw/jun_18.htm#Self-Help

The Self-Help Shelf

Awaken the Power Within
Albert Amao Soria
Tarcher/Perigee
c/o Penguin Group, USA
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-3657
www.tarcherbooks.com
9780143132592, $16.00, PB, 288pp, www.amazon.com

In "Awaken the Power Within: In Defense of Self-Help", sociologist Albert Amao analyzes the accuracy of self-help and positive-thinking claims in this groundbreaking exploration of what works, what doesn't, and why, substantially based upon his own life experience. Born in a poor Latin-American country into a very impoverished family with both parents practically illiterate, he was the oldest of five children and began working at six years of age, shining shoes and selling newspapers to help his family. Unable to finish high school, he nevertheless was able to acquire a diploma by going to night school, which then allowed him to be admitted at the San Marcos University in Lima to obtain a Ph.D. in sociology. All these things were possible in his view because when he was teenager he had access to New Thought" or positive-thinking philosophy. Contrary to the critics who blithely dismiss self-help methods, or the New Age gurus who sell it them as miracles, in the pages of "Awaken the Power Within, Amao writes with sobriety, scholarship, and draws on his personal experience to deftly explore the conditions under which self-help is authentic -- and successful. Accessibly written and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "Awaken the Power Within" is an inspired and inspiring read from beginning to end. While unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Awaken the Power Within" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Tantor Audio, 9781977356659, $24.99, CD).

About the Author:

Albert Amao Soria is a sociologist, social theorist and cultural critic. An independent researcher – a life-long student of metaphysics and philosophy; with over 30 years’ experience in comparative religion, psychology, and mysticism with emphasis on Western spiritual traditions. Mr. Amao is the author of several books including, Awaken the Power Within (Perigee/Tarcher,  2018); Healing without Medicine (Quest Books, 2014); and The Dawning of the Golden Age of Aquarius (AuthorHouse, 2012). He is available for lectures upon request. Mr. Amao can be contacted by email at Stgermain777@gmail.com. For further information, visit the websites: http://www.amazon.com/author/amao and www.albertamao.com

Book Review 2: Awaken the Power Within You

Spirit of Change Magazine - Holistic New England

Fall/Winter 2018 Book Reviews

BY GAIL LORD

http://www.spiritofchange.org/Fall-2018/Fall-Winter-2018-Book-Reviews/

 Albert Amao Soria: TarcherPerigee, New York, NY 2018

Self-help is an eleven-billion dollar industry. What a task it is to sift through the plethora of books and programs in trying discern what’s helpful. Sociologist Albert Amao Soria is sympathetic to the needs of the dedicated self-help seeker as he himself is one. In Awaken the Power Within, he brings his experience as a student of the mystical, metaphysical and occult to evaluate both esoteric and conventional self-help. Authentic self-help is actually just listening to the guidance of the inner voice of the higher self. Some of the most helpful and effective self-help practices come from traditional esoteric thought. Many of these old teachings are repackaged and commercialized to gain profit; still other programs make false and overreaching claims, and Soria’s names them. He tells of his disillusionment following the hype of the video “The Secret,” which he watched in someone’s home, paying seven dollars admission, along with twenty others eager to learn the newly discovered secret occult knowledge that even Oprah promoted with fanfare. But there was nothing new; the secret was simply The Law of Attraction, a concept that’s been part of the American New Thought philosophy for over a century, and one that was widely disseminated by Esther and Jerry Hicks through the nonphysical being Abraham. Further, “The Secret’s” Law of Attraction manifests nothing unless it’s combined with the Law of Deliberate Creation and the Law of Allowing.

Amao’s is also critical of the work of Eckhart Tolle, having attended a weekend workshop knowing nothing about Tolle beforehand and finding the workshop both simplistic and boring. In addition, Tolle’s talks and writings completely dismiss the power of the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind can be our greatest healer, both physically and mentally, yet it also allows pseudo-gurus to convince people they lack the power to change unless they purchase solutions in the form of books and seminars. The subconscious mind uses deductive reasoning, so what we say we want needs to be in congruence with our actions and beliefs. If a person wants health but doesn’t eat healthy food or exercise or breathe properly, that person is instilling negative suggestions into the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind takes its conclusion from whatever premise we give it. This is how placebos work, through the powerful subconscious. When people believe medicine will heal them, even if they receive a placebo, it’s the belief in the healing that cures them. Almost all people credit something or someone else when they are healed. Robert Park, a university physics professor points out, “We recover from most of the injuries and illnesses that afflict us without either prayers or medicine. Like all animals, we have built-in repair mechanisms… Modern medicine can often intervene to assist nature in the healing process. But if the patient then recovers, how do we know the medicine was responsible?” Medicine, placebo, prayers, miraculous or spontaneous recovery? As Dr. Bernie Siegel says, “All healing is self-induced.”

 About the Author:

Albert Amao Soria is a sociologist, social theorist and cultural critic. An independent researcher – a life-long student of metaphysics and philosophy; with over 30 years’ experience in comparative religion, psychology, and mysticism with emphasis on Western spiritual traditions. Mr. Amao is the author of several books including, Awaken the Power Within (Perigee/Tarcher,  2018); Healing without Medicine (Quest Books, 2014); and The Dawning of the Golden Age of Aquarius (AuthorHouse, 2012). He is available for lectures upon request. Mr. Amao can be contacted by email at Stgermain777@gmail.com. For further information, visit the websites: http://www.amazon.com/author/amao and www.albertamao.com

Book Review 1: Awaken the Power Within

THE EDGE magazine, Holistic Living - Book Review

http://www.edgemagazine.net/2018/07/new-books-summer-2018/

 

Awaken the Power Within: In Defense of Self-Help, by Albert Amao Soria, Ph.D. (Tarcher Perigee), 288 pages

— The $12 billion self-help industry is under constant attack for pedaling false miracles to duped believers. But sociologist Albert Amao Soria demonstrates that Americans eagerly support self-help books, seminars, and programs because, under the right conditions, these things work. Soria analyzes the accuracy of self-help and positive-thinking claims in this groundbreaking–and wholly unexpected–exploration of what works, what doesn’t, and why. “Regarding my personal experience,” Amao writes, “I can testify that positive thinking and positive action have worked wonderfully for me. Born in a poor Latin-American country into a very impoverished family with both parents practically illiterate, I was the oldest of five children. I started working when I was six years old, shining shoes and selling newspapers to help my family. Nobody then would have believed that I would be able to finish high school. Nevertheless, I was able to do it going to night school, which allowed me to be admitted at the San Marcos University in Lima to get my Ph.D. in sociology. All these things were possible because, when I was teenager, I had access to New Thought, or positive-thinking philosophy.”

Albert Amao Soria is a sociologist, social theorist and cultural critic. An independent researcher – a life-long student of metaphysics and philosophy; with over 30 years’ experience in comparative religion, psychology, and mysticism with emphasis on Western spiritual traditions. Mr. Amao is the author of several books including, Awaken the Power Within (Perigee/Tarcher,  2018); Healing without Medicine (Quest Books, 2014); and The Dawning of the Golden Age of Aquarius (AuthorHouse, 2012). He is available for lectures upon request. Mr. Amao can be contacted by email at Stgermain777@gmail.com. For further information, visit the websites: http://www.amazon.com/author/amao and www.albertamao.com