Tag Archives: Maximus Freeman

Consciousness Archaeology

Book Review of Consciousness Archaeology, by Maximus Freeman

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I won a copy of Consciousness Archaeology, by Maximus Freeman, through Goodreads.

Description from Goodreads:
Consciousness Archaeology vividly chronicles Freeman’s relentless, twenty-year exploration of the ebbs and flows of life from the dark night of the Soul to the radiant light of Presence. His use of intimate, personal stories provides a raw, unfiltered view of human nature in its most vulnerable state. Freeman shares his unique perspective on many ancient truths and introduces several insightful theories of his own while injecting just a hint of humor. Most importantly though, he provides simple, practical exercises which allow the reader to experience profound, life-long benefits. Are you ready to dig deep?

Review:
Sooooooo……..NO.

Self-help books are a difficult group to review, as what works for one person might not for another and visa-versa. This book is no different in that regard. But I’m willing to nix it for a few important (to me) reasons.

First, how exactly can a man write a book that is supposed to be about acceptance and letting go of the self, but includes so very many references to Me, Myself and I? This is not actually about about how you or I can excavate our consciousness. It is instead a memoir of how Maximus Freeman explored and discovered his. Not the same thing!

He speaks about how in the past he was a self-centered, control-freak. But all we have is his own word that this has changed. And frankly, finding a man (a white man, at that) willing to tell you all about how he has the answers you don’t isn’t rare or eye opening. Nor does it convince me that he’s suddenly the easy going, modest guy he espouses.

Second, he identifies the root of all insecurities by page 4 (which is really page two, as the first is a title page and the second a centered quote). Then he finds the reason we all ‘act the way we act’ and how to move away from it by page six, before jumping into his spiel. Excuse me, but those are huge topics that deserve a lot more attention than 4 pages. What’s more, as a reader I expect more than just being told. I want some supporting information.

Third, he includes references to the spirit, light and dark, karma, etc. But all of these are separated from their original context. I’ve said this in the past, in similar author centered self-help books, but you can’t just appropriate ideas piecemeal and then present them as original, with no understanding or reference to their culture of origin.

Lastly, There is almost no new information or recommendations here. Freeman is basically just taking other authors’ practices and recommending them (because they work for him). There is no expiration of why they work or even, importantly, how to make them work. My advice? Look at the bibliography, go find the source material and read it. You don’t need to get it filtered through some man who thinks the pinnacle of vulnerability is admitting he was bullied in middle-school for being short.

I have no doubt Freeman believes himself evolved and intends this book to truly help people. But to me, it reads like one man’s ego trip. Even watch a JP Sears video? Yeah, this is they type he’s making fun of.

The Oddly Satisfying Exercise in Futility Challenge

Renamed: The Oddly Satisfying Exercise in Futility Challenge

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Every now and again, out of boredom or necessity or pure whimsy, I set myself odd little reading challenges. That’s part of the joy of having a book blog; I can do that. And I’ve done it again.

I have a book-hoarding problem. I just do. Usually, I can limit it to ebooks so that it’s not too disruptive. But at the moment, my physical bookshelves are stacked two deep and literally overflowing. My office is becoming a bit of a death trap. So, I have to read some of them.

The problem is that my Kindle is so easy to schlep around. Plus, I’ve promised myself that once a book is read, I won’t keep it unless it is signed or an absolute favorite. So, though I always want to read, I sometimes don’t want to do the thing that means I have to give the book away afterward. I know, it’s weird. But I keep bringing books into the house, so now I have to set some free.

I mean, that was part of the point of building a Little Free Library in my front yard. Well, that and it’s just cool. I have no excuse not to fill it with finished books.

This brings me to my challenge. I went through and pulled out all the itty-bitty books. I don’t usually pick up novellas, but I have several. And I know reading them won’t clear as much space as reading some bigger books. But I figure each of them should only take a couple of hours to read, so it’s a good way to do a bit of a clear-out without committing weeks to the task. (Nope, I’m not rationalizing this at all.)

There are 18 little books there. Most, though not all, I won, and it’s a pretty diverse pile. There’s some Bizzaro in there, as well as some inspirational stuff, a memoir, some non-fiction, humor, short story collections, horror, poetry, lit fic, political satire, and even a freakin’ play. I figure I can finish one a day for the next few weeks, along with my normal reading, and feel like I’ve accomplished something significant. (Hush, that’s what I’m going with.)

In case you can’t read all the titles, the stack includes:

Anyhow, between these, the book bundle I’m currently reading (Carole Cumming’s Wolf’s-Own), the bundle I’m listening to (Sarah Noffke’s Vagabond Circus), and the Netgalley books I’ve committed to for the next couple of months, not to mention I need to read review request book, I ought to be kept busy in the near future.

I think I’ll start with B. R. Sanders’s book because I’ve loved everything I’ve read by them so far. But beyond that, I’m open to suggestions on what I should move up or down the pile.

Not pictured, but added to the challenge after the fact (because I keep getting more books):

Edit May 5, 2018: I set this challenge, and then it quickly fell off my radar. If anything, the stack has grown, as I’ve added to it. (See the 8 unpictured books.) So, I’m starting again, recommitting to finishing it. Below is the new stack (what’s left of the first and what I’ve added to it since, but not read before the second picture). The vertical ones, I’ve pulled out because it turns out that they’re all poetry.

I won’t re-list anything above, and the few that I read before taking this second picture will have to do without visual evidence of their existence. But here are the additions.

Edit July 22, 2019: Don’t laugh, but in a marked departure from what I’d intended to do (and, in fact, have been doing), I’m updating this again. Several books I’ve bought or won, read, and reviewed recently (such as Take a Chance on Me, Kill Me Now,  The 5th Gender, Silver Moon, Persepolis, Spring, The Nose from Jupiter, The Long Walk to Water, and Diamond Fire) would have fit this challenge, and I could have added them. But after the third edit, I told myself I wasn’t allowed to add to the stack anymore, or it really would never ever get done. However, I ordered new bookshelves, which will be delivered today. 

This means that I’ll finally have more room for my books. The shelves, most of which are double-lined, will finally be reduced to a single row. I’ll actually be able to see what I own. So, in preparation for the larger task of reorganizing my books (I have wanted to do this for SO LONG), I’ve started pulling and categorizing books. And in and amongst all of this, I decided I might as well grab all the new smallish books out and add them to the existing small-book stack (which may become a small-book shelf. (I mean, giving this challenge up might be easier, but I’m a stubborn cow when I want to be.)

So, here’s the new list of small books. The left-hand pile is the carryover, the middle is poetry, and the right-hand stack is what I just added.

As mentioned above, I won’t re-list anything that already is, and I can’t guarantee that once I really get into the meat of moving books, I won’t add more. But as of right now, this is it. 

Several of these are actually sequels in series. So, I imagine I’ll have to find and read the first books before I get to them. But, as has been the case for about two years now, these are the lists of books I intend to read. If you remember, I initially set them aside because I thought I could get them read quickly. That had turned out to be a joke. But I’m committed now. Wish me luck