Book Description
Continuing the tradition established by Fritjof Capra in the Tao of Physics, The Raft mines current writings in neuroscience and string theory, combines this research with the notion that being human means being embodied energy, then tackles the most problematic concept in the Western World: the Ego. The Raft takes on established ideologies within one-God religious traditions, certain New Age beliefs, and current schools of psychotherapy to forge a wholly new union between psychology and spirituality, one which could serve as a foundation for self-realization in the 21st century. Vore’s straight-forward sense of spirituality as being the movement of energy in the present moment is broad enough to bring even to atheists an understanding and practical use of what he calls "metaphysical technology". With its detailed account of the workings of Intentionality and Choice, Vision, Intuition and the Will to Action, as well as its close look at the mechanisms behind love, attraction, sex and relationship, The Raft shows how "the word became flesh". Special attention has been paid mapping out the workings of "Intuition" so that even the most non-intuitive person might begin to observe it's presence. The Raft repeatedly asks the reader to rely on her or his native intelligence and to be willing to respectfully question the authorities and experts in every field of knowledge which impinges an self-understanding: from neuroscience, artificial intelligence, psychology to traditional theologies–even The Raft, itself. Finally, The Raft challenges us to examine the ways in which our programs of recovery and therapies further inscribe difficult behavior. Current approaches leave potential subscribers to those beliefs stuck in hard-bound identities ("alcoholic") or paired roles ("victim"/"perpetrator"),which Vore sees as a dead-ends. Vore offers a way of thinking about the self which moves these discussions into an altogether different context, the path of one’s Vision. One thus truly recovers, escaping even "the cult of victimhood".

Download Description
Challenging New Age vagueness, Christian soul-slicing and the Freudian paradigms of 20th century psychology...with brevity, acutiy and dry humor, Vore has written a language-game of a book which sets the stage for a spiritual and extraordinarily personal post-recovery journey.

About the Author
John Vore has been a writer for fifteen years. His first book, Tell Me What Home Is LIke, is about Vore's struggle to force the University and the Order of Holy Cross to face its negligence in allowing James Tunstead Burtchaell to "counsel" and use students for over fifteen years. It doubles as an examination of identity. Vore won his first award as a high school journalist in Indianapolis, Indiana for his coverage of the Reagan Inauguration in 1981. He received an award for his fiction at Notre Dame in 1986, where he later won a scholarship in 1991 to earn his Masters in Writing. Besides TELL ME WHAT HOME IS LIKE, Vore has written two volumes of poetry and a new book, THE RAFT, a treatise on psychology and spirituality. In it, he lays the groundwork for a new approach to psychology, one suited to the 21st century. He considers his approach "beyond recovery" because it offers a different alternative for those who have been in recovery and want something more or those for whom recovery did not work. He has also started an on-line monthly journal, Lighting Up, which can be found at Firetrap's website. The company began as a cooperative between Vore and Chicago-based columnist, Jon-Henri Damski's in 1996. Damski died in 1997, but his works have returned to the public via Firetrap in 2002.

SYNOPSIS

Continuing the tradition established by Fritjof Capra in the TAO OF PHYSICS, THE E RAFT mines current writings in neuroscience and string theory, combines this research with the notion that being human means being embodied energy, then tackles the most problematic concept in the Western World: the Ego. The Raft takes on established ideologies within one-God religious traditions, certain New Age beliefs, and current schools of psychotherapy to forge a wholly new union between psychology and spirituality, one which could serve as a foundation for self-realization in the 21st century. Vore￯﾿ﾽs straight-forward sense of spirituality as being the movement of energy in the present moment is broad enough to bring even to atheists an understanding and practical use of what he calls ￯﾿ﾽmetaphysical technology￯﾿ﾽ.

With its detailed account of the workings of Intentionality and Choice, Vision, Intuition and the Will to Action, as well as its close look at the mechanisms behind love, attraction, sex and relationship, The Raft shows how "the word became flesh". Special attention has been paid mapping out the workings of "Intuition" so that even the most non-intuitive person might begin to observe it's presence.

The Raft repeatedly asks the reader to rely on her or his native intelligence and to be willing to respectfully question the authorities and experts in every field of knowledge which impinges an self-understanding: from neuroscience, artificial intelligence, psychology to traditional theologies￯﾿ﾽeven The Raft , itself.