James Van Praagh

This is another book in a series of reads designed to force me out of my reading comfort zone. I don't normally have much interest in mediums; I believe in a spirit world but I don't think you should be messing with it, on the principle that you never know what's behind the door. So you wouldn't normally catch me picking up a book by a TV medium! I got this one from the library's list of recommendations, so I guess it's flagged as a bestseller.

Maybe it's my unfamiliarity with the genre show more that's making it hard for me to know what I think of this book. The premise is that we can learn to live better lives from what "the spirits" tell us. Basically your dead mom, dad, uncle Joe, best friend Sally or whoever are still hanging around, just dying (the pun is totally intentional) to tell JVP or any other passing medium that "life" is pretty darn good on the other side and that you can make your life so much better by letting go of your negative emotions. I wish I could have taken a photo of the great look on my husband's face when I suggested that his deceased parents could be standing beside him. I also have a really hard time trying to imagine my late in-laws gabbing on about love and forgiveness. Not that they were bad people; just that New Age vocab wasn't their natural medium of communication. It's funny how all the spirits in the book talk like James Van Praagh.

Apart from a scattering of anecdotes of communication with the spirit world, mostly in the context of TV shows or other such venues, this is mostly a book of good advice. And a lot of it really is good advice: let go of your guilt and fear, forgive people who've hurt you, seek forgiveness from those you've hurt, love people, don't focus on material things and so on. On the less productive side IMHO, there's a big dose of "make it happen" advice along the lines that if you think positive thoughts about your future, you will become nicer, richer, and probably more beautiful. The book, as you might expect, preaches love and tolerance towards all people except, of course, religious people, who are closed-minded gay-haters according to JVP; on this point his own love and tolerance seems to take a nosedive.

The whole thing is embedded in a pink fluffy cloud of platitudes taken from various religions, other New Age gurus, things JVP's friends have said, you name it. The Higher Self is frequently mentioned. My favorite quote is probably "the Virgin Mary and other entities". Karma, reincarnation, NDEs, and all the usual suspects get paraded around in the interests of a deeper, more transcendent, understanding of ourselves.

Personally I'm against this "pick and mix" attitude towards finding a guiding rule for your life. My advice is, study the religion that underlies your own traditions first, so that you understand it thoroughly; don't just rely on what people tell you. Get an understanding of the basic tenets of the other major religions or denominations, and see where they conflict with each other (and they do; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all logically incompatible despite what the "all paths lead to God" people say.) Then make a decision in favor of one religion or tradition, or if you don't believe any of it declare yourself an atheist. Then keep enquiring, and if you eventually find you're wrong, start the process again. Getting a bit of your beliefs from your Auntie May, a bit from the TV and a bit from the National Enquirer is never going to get you anywhere.

My conclusion: some of you are going to love this book because you're into this sort of thing. The rest of you probably won't read it anyway. These books will always find an audience; this sort of thing has been selling well since the 19th century. Lap it up if you like.

Well, I guess I've branded myself as closed-minded by now, but it's OK as I forgive myself. And as JVP says, "Self-forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. You know you have been healed when you feel one with yourself." So I'll slap on that spiritual Band-Aid and get on with my day. Peace. show less

This is the first book I've read by this author.

I would regard this as an excellent introduction to the subject of life after death.

Van Praagh, who is an extremely gifted medium, is an intelligent and cultured man and an eloquent writer. It was a pleasure to read a book couched in such graceful language (for a change, I am tempted to say).

In the preliminary chapters van Praagh goes into detail about such matters as the universal mind, the aura, including its colours, the etheric,astral and show more mental bodies and the processes involved in the various types of death.

Later in the book we are presented with various moving stories taken from his innumerable client consultations, the basic themes addressed being expectations, guilt, fear, forgiveness and love. This section of the book in particular is thoroughly readable.

In the final section the author gives us various useful exercises for grounding, protection and "bringing out your light", He concludes by providing us with spiritual guidelines by which to successfully bring uo our children in these challenging times.

The book is filled with insightful quotations taken from the works of famous writers together with valuable spiritual precepts, such as: "Remember God always says yes; we say no."

I would particularly recommend this book to those new to the subject. show less

James van Pragh has the ability to contact the dead; the messages he transmits from to those left behind seem to be exceedingly accurate. On reading the book we understand that he is highly spiritually developed, and we feel his love.

James relates many absorbing case histories and tales throughout the book, which makes it very readable.

He recounts an experience he had at the age of eight – an experience of God’s love. He was lying in bed when a cold gust of wind blew across his face. He show more looked up and saw a glowing hand of light above him. He called this his guardian angel and it has guided him throughout his life. It is this loving presence that has enabled him to communicate with the spirit world and bring messages of “comfort and spiritual insight” to people.

The first part of the book explains how we can love ourselves and share our love with others. The second deals with how to use the power of love when making our everyday choices. The third shows how we can “cultivate an atmosphere of love, light, and joy”.

Each chapter ends with a meditation. In order to access the voice of our soul, we need to turn down the noise of everyday life, and we can do this by meditating or taking a quiet, mindful walk.

The voice of Spirit is the voice of love, Every obstacle is another learning experience. “The more you trust the voice of Spirit, the more easily you can flow through life.” When you follow the voice within, you will feel a sense of inner peace.

“Forgiveness is the cornerstone of love – it is a gift you give yourself.” “It is in your forgiving that healing takes place.”

James tells us about some of his friends and clients, about their problems and potential solutions.

He tells us that the more we practice loving ourselves, the more we will become love magnets.

He quotes Gary Zukav as saying: “There is nothing that cannot be healed with love. There is nothing but love.”

James’ own father didn’t really believe in the afterlife but when he passed over, James felt his presence almost immediately. He came to James frequently and described how beautiful things were in heaven compared to on Earth. James states that he has a file full of information that his father gave him from the other side, which amuses him because his father was such a sceptic before his passing.

This is a well-written, uplifting book which I highly recommend. show less

Van Praagh would have done himself a favor had he followed the wise marketing mantra: "under-promise and over-deliver." A passage in one of his opening salvos suggests that this book will forever change the way readers view their lives. That's a tall task -- even with readers who are eager to embrace his assertions. I've always been at least tenuously interested in spiritualism. My late mom was a spiritualist. Over the decades, many of her predictions and apparent other-worldly encounters show more were chillingly authentic. I thoroughly enjoyed much of this book, but it felt a bit redundant three-quarters of the way through -- almost as if the author was trying to hit a targeted page length. Still, "Ghosts Among Us" reinforced my view that we're not alone. Van Praagh's tips for using our dreams to foster spiritual connections have spawned some intriguing nocturnal encounters! show less