This book later got republished as THE GABRIEL PAPERS. The later version has a few extra stories and some revisions, but the books are essentially the same. The book has some subtleties about the Sufi path and the 4th way embedded within it. The story is designed to create an "emotional shock" to take information that has been learned intellectually within the 4th way as a system (like the writings of Ouspensky, THE FOURTH WAY and IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS) and help one to feel its truth on another level. There is also some flavor of the kind of interactions that happen between teacher and student within this kind of work. The main drawback of the book is that it should not be the first book about the 4th way that a person should read. It needs a person to already be intellectually familiar with the ideas so that the information can then be felt emotionally. I think that someone who read this book as the first 4th way book would miss a lot of what is behind the story. E J Gold is one of the more interesting teachers within the 4th way tradition. I feel that he really understands what he teaches and that a person could grow a lot from working with the ideas. I still give this book five stars, even though it is less polished than the later GABRIEL PAPERS and even though it is not a good first book on the subject.
ThriftBooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. We personally assess every book's quality and offer rare, out-of-print treasures. We deliver the joy of reading in recyclable packaging with free standard shipping on US orders over $15. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.