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On Genius: An Evolutionary Force Inherent in Every Being
I started to write this book when I was about sixty years old but did not become really inspired to publish it until recently. It is about my work and association with many well-known and other more-hidden geniuses. My admiration for them knew no bounds. I wanted to extol them for their courage, integrity, heart and purity of vision in hopes that we may all do likewise to the end that they will be long remembered. They deserve our notice, especially for their vision. As Abraham Lincoln said, addressing us all, “Without vision, the people shall perish.”
204 pages, Paperback
First published August 11, 2006
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March 16, 2021
Sannella ends this book on a touching note, explaining that the reason for its writing was to explain to his ex-wife and children the reason for all of his almost "drunken" wanderings into the world of spirituality. What they might have interpreted as purposeless negligence -- he frequently took trips out of the country to meet various healers and explore aboriginal cultures -- was really Sannella digging further into a realm of consciousness he could not ignore once he had tasted it one evening while studying physiology as a medical student at Yale. This book was his effort to prove the time away from his family was worthwhile and responsible for making him the person they loved.
On this quest to explain himself, Sannella goes through the geniuses he has come across, one by one, to re-pay the debt he feels he owes to the people who have inspired him. The people he speaks of are not in conversation with each other at all, which is understandable given that they each represent distinct relationships. However, this organization does make the book seem disjointed and more of a collection than a book. Each homage fills a few pages before Sannella transitions to the next. Sannella prints long and at times almost unintelligible letters from his intellectual inspirations within the "chapters," often to explain the nature of the universe according to these geniuses' worldviews. Sannella mentions the book Stalking the Wild Pendulum numerous times, which might be a better way to understand one of the very complex theories about the origins of the universe than the frantic letter by its author Itzhak Bentov that Sannella pastes into the book.
On Genius seems less a book that was intended to be published and more a series of thank you notes strung together with a final apology to his family. Curiously, Sanella's book The Kundalini Experience, which he wrote before this book, was not initially published publicly (only privately). On Genius, however, is the book that did not need to be published publicly (although I suppose it is better to have a book out there with its flaws rather than not out there at all). Debatable.
On Genius is also littered -- like really, really littered -- with typos, missing words, and incorrect punctuation. It is as if the book completely bypassed the editing process. Maybe it did. Again, this book does not seem like it was really meant to be published.
This book is short, so when I was 2/3 of the way through I thought I would just finish it for the little dopamine high of finishing a book. There is too much good stuff out there to read though, and I think that finishing this book was ultimately not worth the time cost. I advise you pass.
On this quest to explain himself, Sannella goes through the geniuses he has come across, one by one, to re-pay the debt he feels he owes to the people who have inspired him. The people he speaks of are not in conversation with each other at all, which is understandable given that they each represent distinct relationships. However, this organization does make the book seem disjointed and more of a collection than a book. Each homage fills a few pages before Sannella transitions to the next. Sannella prints long and at times almost unintelligible letters from his intellectual inspirations within the "chapters," often to explain the nature of the universe according to these geniuses' worldviews. Sannella mentions the book Stalking the Wild Pendulum numerous times, which might be a better way to understand one of the very complex theories about the origins of the universe than the frantic letter by its author Itzhak Bentov that Sannella pastes into the book.
On Genius seems less a book that was intended to be published and more a series of thank you notes strung together with a final apology to his family. Curiously, Sanella's book The Kundalini Experience, which he wrote before this book, was not initially published publicly (only privately). On Genius, however, is the book that did not need to be published publicly (although I suppose it is better to have a book out there with its flaws rather than not out there at all). Debatable.
On Genius is also littered -- like really, really littered -- with typos, missing words, and incorrect punctuation. It is as if the book completely bypassed the editing process. Maybe it did. Again, this book does not seem like it was really meant to be published.
This book is short, so when I was 2/3 of the way through I thought I would just finish it for the little dopamine high of finishing a book. There is too much good stuff out there to read though, and I think that finishing this book was ultimately not worth the time cost. I advise you pass.
Displaying 1 of 1 review