Reviews: How to Hear the Voice of God

Aimed primarily at the newcomer, we find that "How to Hear the Voice of God" contains advanced information in simple, easy to understand language.

How to Hear the Voice of God could just as easily have been called Mysticism for Dummies, for in this tome, writer Susan Shumsky has fashioned a simple and effective process for the uninitiated to complete the mystic's task of union with God. With step by step precision, she lays out a program by which the reader can quiet the mind and settle the ego enough to hear the quiet voice of divine wisdom that lies within each of us.

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The God that Shumsky hopes to help you to “hear” is not an exclusively Christian male God who is “out there” somewhere, separate from his “followers” and condemning them to an eternity of pain and suffering if they don't follow every letter of his law. Her God can be found in any religion, is both male and female (and neither, I suppose), and never condemns anyone. To her, God has but one rule, and that is to “love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

That being said, this is no typical entry level New Age book for those who wish to believe that no harm can come to you on a spiritual path so long as you surround yourself with white light. Shumsky recognizes that darkness lurks in the otherrealms, just as it does here on the physical plane. She may be Isis, assuring you that it will be easy for you to find the divine that lies within you, but she is also Anubis, deftly guiding you through the dangerous turf you might traverse as you seek to find that divine inner voice.

Being aimed at the uninitiated, the book never uses arcane Magickal words that would only confuse the newcomer, who already has enough on his or her plate. However, serious students of the occult will recognize that Shumsky's knowledge has a firm Kabbalistic base – with a healthy dose of Eastern mysticism thrown in to boot. She may not identify the four worlds as Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, yet they are covered in detail – as are eastern concepts like the chakras and kundalini.

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Susan Shumsky, author of How to Hear the Voice of God.

All of this makes How to Hear the Voice of God stand out from the rest of the books that crowd the New Age shelves at Borders or Barnes and Nobles, most of which are written by people who have little or no knowledge of the mystical terrain. In a genre filled with fakers and snake oil salespeople, it's refreshing to see a writer that knows whereof she speaks.

Indeed, Shumsky should know this territory well, as she spent twenty years of her life working with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the Transcendental Meditation folks. Since breaking with them, it's evident that she's continued her spiritual education, with her readers receiving the benefit.

She is also not afraid to use any tools available to her to help her in her quest to aid people in their attempts to connect with spirit. In this book, she includes a CD of a guided meditation for readers to use in their initial attempts at connecting with their inner divine voice. Later, she explains how to achieve the same results without use of the CD.

How to Hear the Voice of God is wholeheartedly recommended to anyone who is new to meditation. Ms. Shumsky will not steer you in a wrong direction, and she has developed many “skillful means” to make your meditations successful. The book is also recommended to advanced students of the occult, who might learn much from this simple yet thorough approach to a complex subject.

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