The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight Paperback – November 1, 2001

This book I feel like is very underrated, it’s a great read and informative to those that juice to receive! I read this book for the first time about 15 years ago and reading it now again definitely resonates much more with me and I can say that all books of this awesome journey “James Redfield” is taking us are just very special!

Those who enjoy Redfield always have mixed feelings. The mixture comes from fairly low quality writing with a deep message-- an odd combination indeed. Redfield might argue that this paradox is a link in the "coincidence" chain, attracting some, bypassing others. If you watched the Celestine movie (worth watching), you saw the same thing-- some pretty bad acting coupled with some good messages, particularly about relationships, controlling behaviors, etc. If you prefer hard to soft, a more edged, and much better shot movie on the topic is Besson's (Fifth Element) and Stratham's REVOLVER --a violent and deep exploration of the negative consequences of ego, not for all, but for students of the science of mind-- a real treat, especially if you're a TRANSPORTER fan and don't mind a little jog into the mind and the "game behind the game" ala 13th floor, matrix, etc.The present volume leaves the iffy and distracting new age detritus of reincarnation and "signs of the end" of the 10th, and gets us back into the enjoyable and important topics of love and harmony with ourself and others. To translate what a Christian or Baha'i perspective might identify with: his idea of coincidences harmonizes with the idea of "confirmations of the Holy Spirit"; his idea of the "unseen energy" is congruent with the perennial idea of grace; his idea of "prayer" coinicides with- well, prayer!If you got to this book from a link on request prayers dot com, the idea of an expanding network of prayer for the whole planet seen there has more than a fictional edge-- namely, the older Christian idea of a "prayer list." Anyone who has had serious problems, with health, relationships, finances, and who has tried the prayer list concept, knows that the energy he's talking about is far more than just fiction or new age claptrap. Hopefully deeply religious people, whether Islamic, Christian, Bahai, Hindu, Buddhist or Jewish, will take the time to read this-- the principles are truly grounded in many older mystic traditions from every Prophet.In the end, regardless of how altruistic we are, we judge books like this by relating them to our personal experiences and lives. On that front, it stands the test of time and is as valuable in 2009/2010 as it was a few years ago! Well worth reading-- and not just for the entertainment, diversion or fun-- will truly inspire and may even solve difficult personal dilemmas, situations or problems. If it helps you in a personal way, the grace is there, "by any other name..."

I have read and listened to all four of the books over and over again. My one critique is that the audio quality of The Secret of Shambhala is not as clear and crisp as the other three, which is a disappointment since this audio book was read by LeVar Burton. He’s amazing! I hope someday this audio book can be cleaned up. Otherwise, I love the Celestine Insight books! It spoke of the times back when they came out; it timelessly speaks to our time now! That is why I’m re-reading and re-listening to all of them again and again. Thank you James Redfield! I wish there were more books continuing the spiritual adventure of the insights with our protagonist (us) and Wilson James.

I ordered the kindle version of this book after reading the first 2 books in the series, The Celestine Prophecy and the Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision.I have only read the first chapter of this book, but the first 2 books were so captivating that I read through them each in one sitting.The author takes you on a journey of spiritual awakening right along with the characters in the book. The well thought out theories of spirituality and energy, life and divinity, are spot on and come across as non-offensive to any type of religious beliefs.I enjoyed reading these books so much and the thoughtfulness and energy boost it gave feel felt amazingly comforting. I highly recommend this series of books, especially if you are searching for some insight into why we are here and where we will be going. The magic, the inter human connections, and a strong intuition are all ideas that make this book so compelling.When I finish this third book, The Eleventh Insight: The Secret of Shambhala, I will return to update my review, but I know I will love it as much as I did the first two.