Self-Development and the Way to Power: The Spiritual Illumination

by L.W. Rogers

Self-Development and the Way to Power - The Spiritual Illumination by L. W. Rogers. Complete New Edition. It is the natural right of every human being to be happy--to escape all the miseries of life. Happiness is the normal condition, as natural as the landscapes and the seasons. It is unnatural to suffer and it is only because of our ignorance that we do suffer. Happiness is the product of wisdom. To attain perfect wisdom, to comprehend fully the purpose of life, to realize completely the relationship of human beings to each other, is to put an end to all suffering, to escape every ill and evil that afflicts us. Perfect wisdom is unshadowed joy. Why do we suffer in life? Because in the scheme of nature we are being forced forward in evolution and we lack the spiritual illumination that alone can light the way and enable us to move safely among the obstacles that lie before us. Usually we do not even see or suspect the presence of trouble until it suddenly leaps upon us like a concealed tiger. One day our family circle is complete and happy. A week later death has come and gone and joy is replaced with agony. Today we have a friend. Tomorrow he will be an enemy and we do not know why. A little while ago we had wealth and all material luxuries. There was a sudden change and now we have only poverty and misery and yet we seek in vain for a reason why this should be. There was a time when we had health and strength; but they have both departed and no trace of a reason appears. Aside from these greater tragedies of life innumerable things of lesser consequence continually bring to us little miseries and minor heartaches. We most earnestly desire to avoid them but we never see them until they strike us, until in the darkness of our ignorance we blunder upon them. The thing we lack is the spiritual illumination that will enable us to look far and wide, finding the hidden causes of human suffering and revealing the method by which they may be avoided; and if we can but reach illumination the evolutionary journey can be made both comfortably and swiftly. It is as though we must pass through a long, dark room filled with furniture promiscuously scattered about. In the darkness our progress would be slow and painful and our bruises many. But if we could press a button that would turn on the electric light we could then make the same journey quickly and with perfect safety and comfort.

Genres: Nonfiction, Personal Development, Self Help, Psychology

26 pages, Paperback

First published December 17, 2008

About the author

Louis William Rogers was an American lecturer and editor who served from 1920 to 1931 as General Secretary and President of the American Theosophical Society in the Theosophical Society based in Adyar. He was a man of great energy and vision, who organized dozens of lodges in the United States.

Reviews

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some interesting ideas. Though the one that I disagree with is about evolution - that everything in the body is there for a reason and if it's not used over a period of time, then is will atrophy. Why is the appendix still there??
To quote Sheldon, everyone's favourite character from the Big Bang theory - If evolution were true, where are our wheels??

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick and Great Read

The content of this book will mostly benefit the reader who is seeking to understand the nature of his spirit and how to use it to gain success. The last ten pages were the only content which was useful to me, since the others are all just opinion and personal beliefs about the author's spiritual laws.

[Ok Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was difficult to comprehend and it didn't captivate me at all. This book had a lot of potential, but it constantly used so much advanced vocabularies where it becomes monotonous and it begins to lose its flow - perhaps it's just me but that's my experience with this book.

Would I read another book from this author? I mean, I'm not sure, but at the moment I wouldn't due to this atrocity.

[Talonleron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

Nothing more than knowledgeable reading about developing self awareness as well as many other things you must read in this book I’m going to read it again just to read again

[Rhonda Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected it to be, but Illuminating none the less. I thought it would be geared more towards psychology than the occult, but I still enjoyed it. Short read, probably could have read beginning to end in a few hours, but I took my time with it.

[Vansh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 4.4- by the first few paragraphs I knew in ±10 pages that this was going to be a 4/5 minimum. By the end, I knew I almost wanted to give it a 5/5. This man, if thought upon well manages to summarise all the lessons I've learned from reading Goggins, Peterson, Some Nietzsche, and Freedom model. His advice is profound, and the only thing I can say rationalising me not to give it a pure 5/5 is that it's too esoteric. A beautiful work unmeant to be read to converse with.

[Miranda Prather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short, very basic, but still it's good for two key moments in a person's life when they are trying to work toward really any goal 1) when starting out 2) when in moments of doubt. Some of the language might put certain people off the work, but really it could be about any way to heighten the spiritual side of life.

[Jason Cummins · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly powerful book. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to develop self mastery or self improvement.

[jimely flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

General

Discussion is mostly general. Mostly a synopsis of other works.it is however a good read for beginners who wants to know the basic