Interplay: An Artist's Approach to Spirituality - Hardcover

Living in a country where the majority of people are Buddhists, I am familiar with the idea that people can discover great truths about themselves, the universe and the interactions between the two from searching the inner being. It is not a method that is instinctively appealing to me but so many people derive benefit from meditation that it can hardly be dismissed. So, when I began reading this memoir of spiritual development by artist and software engineer Makram Abu-Shankara, I was quite prepared to follow him on a journey of piercing the veil, undergoing astral projection, achieving spiritual insights granted to few and so forth rather more than I might have been in the past. I am glad to have been given the chance to do so - I believe I should mention that I was sent an advance pre-publication copy of the book. The story begins when the protagonist is in college and continues for about two decades until the present. During that time, the author graduates, moves to San Francisco to work as part of the internet bubble and then moves into independent consulting. We learn very little about his life away from the spiritual journey than this: a few friends and family members drift in and out of the narrative and some consumption of contemporary or historical media products is discussed: Fight Club, the novels of Carlos Castenada and the video art of Bill Viola, for example. However, these principally appear as the means by which a new stage of the spiritual journey is initiated or facilitated. This supplements the author's own artistic endeavors, in music, fiction, art and video, which we can see more of at his website (http//shiftingshadows.net) as well as the illustrations included in the book - it is published by Infinity Publishing and so, I assume, the author has a large degree of control over the layout of the text and the number and size of illustrations to be included. I listened to the music sequence described as 'Ariadne's Triangle' and rather enjoyed it, although as the author observes the sound quality is not very high. Nevertheless, it has a rhythmic form of repetitive minimalism that I quite like (as in Philip Glass or The Fall). Zizek says somewhere that repetition is the birth of reflexivity - I did it, I did it, I did it - the moment when people recognize themselves as the subject as well as the object of history and, hence, the birth of modernism. The journey itself can be divided, a little crudely, into three principal stages, although it is possible to distinguish many more. The first part concerns the author's awakening to the supernatural world, through achieving revelations about the nature of God and the ability to project his spirit into the astral realm. The dangers of wholeheartedly plunging in to this spiritual realm are noted but the author believes himself to be strong enough to cope with it. There is a sense of Jung in this section, on the one hand, and H.P. Lovecraftian hubris on the other hand. It is hardly giving away a surprise, therefore, when the author goes through something of a breakdown as the next stage. After a period of increasingly intense forms of engagement with the world, he becomes incapable of maintaining any state other than ecstasy or despair and things rather unravel. At one point, he describes moving around the city between different coffee shops (there are hints that he may be overdoing the caffeine altogether) and at each one he reads a different book. This enables him to divide the city into different areas according to dimensions of meaning hidden from other people. He reaches around two hundred different and unique parts of the city. This section rather reminds me of the Paul Auster of the New York Trilogy. The third section, which is the longest, represents the author's different means of seeking to resolve the crisis by building different forms of spiritual understanding in what he calls 'assemblages' - theoretical constructs that act as anchors to sanity in an otherwise dangerous and insane universe (which brings us back to Lovecraft). He likens this process to the Hegelian dialectic and also muses upon quantum level issues. The writing is mostly clear enough and helped by the use of the illustrations, although there is occasionally a lack of precision in the word choice that suggests he might have been better off spending fewer nights engaged in intense hallucinations and spiritual journeys and more time engaged with non-occult philosophy. Concepts come and go - chakras, Plato, the way of the Buddha - but could be developed more and placed in something of a context. However, as a story of spiritual transition and transcendence, this is a book that will be of great interest to many people. Open-minded readers will find a great deal to ponder.

The main purpose of a book like this is to be a catalyst for self-examination and evaluation, and in the process, hopefully, inspire one to take or continue taking positive steps toward one's own continued evolution. Makram's book definitely achieved this goal. The catalysts which he described and were instrumental in his own spiritual process were ones that I would have never expected. Makram also reinforced my belief that the spiritual journey is a very unique and personal one. Well written and very enjoyable to read. My advice would be to read this book with a very open mind, enjoy the autobiography well shared, and come away with a reinforced desire to embark or continue your own grandest journey.