A profound investigation into the shifting nature of identity and reality - Looks at the ways thought is embodied and how it takes on a life of its own - Shows how Superman, an archetype of popular culture, is a perfect example of the nonlocality of quantum physics Writer Alvin Schwartz received a great deal of attention from fans when he began talking publicly about his seventeen-year stint writing Superman and Batman comics. One of the individuals who contacted him was no ordinary fan, but a seven-foot Buddhist monk named Thongden, a tulpa or individual who was thought into being by a Tibetan mystic. Thongden put Alvin Schwartz on the path without form, an amazing journey he took in the company of Hawaiian kahunas, quantum physicists, and superheroes. Superman, as it turns out, is also a tulpa, a being created by thought that takes on a life of its own and, in Mr. Schwartz's words, is an archetype expressing the sense of nonlocality that is always present in the back of our minds--that capacity to be everywhere instantly. Superman is one of the specific forms that embodies our reality when we're at our highest point, when we're truly impermeable, indestructible, totally concentrated, and living entirely in the now, a condition each of us actually attains from time to time. Alvin Schwartz's story is a personal journey through a lifelong remembrance of synchrony, inspiration, accident, and magic. As it unfolds it puts into vivid clarity the saving grace that inhabits every moment of our lives. The author travels as a stranger in a strange land, whose greatest oddity is that this land is our own.
I read about 75-100 books a year, and first read this one about ten years ago. If making a list of my top five favorite books this one would be on it. Schwartz talks about Tibetan mysticism, the nature of reality (and many related subjects), and comic books in a fun and interesting narrative. Great book!
Everything a story should be
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
A simply beautifully told spiritual adventure.
A fantastic fantasy -- or is it??
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
Over the years I stumbled across the fact that Alvin Schwartz wrote Superman during the strip's best time. But upon reading An Unlikely Prophet I was mystified by his translation of the Superman myth to a (almost?) real life situation. Schwartz is a master at dangling the real and the imaginary before us. Did all this really happen or is it a fiendishly clever work of fiction? Where did the lines cross? If, indeed, they crossed at all. Unlikely Prophet is the quintessential 'can't-put-down' book. It is a highly entertaining and, if you choose to believe the Tibetan mysticism, a very educational read. It will improve your geography, sociology, psychology and vocabulary. And it should raise Alvin Schwartz higher in the ranks of superior writers.
Impressive and Strange
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
The book starts out grounded in reality, and then slowly becomes less grounded until it starts to fly. An enjoyable story and a fascinating belief structure fill the pages. Try it.
This author prisms unique universal insight.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
As the world becomes a global village, it is a pleasure to read materials such as this one that touch upon eastern, western and multi-dimensional thought.
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