Spirituality or religion or both?

Is it possible for a book to be spiritual without being religious? Is a belief in God or religion a requirement for a sense of spirituality? When one is overwhelmed by the smile of a granddaughter, a sunset or a poem is that not a form of spirituality? Many who have read In The Shadow of Babylon refer to it as a spiritual book, yet when I wrote it I purposefully avoided any reference to religion or a supreme being because I wanted to demonstrate that there are powerful secular beliefs that are spiritual as well as philosophical. 

Here's one of the recent reviews...


The story line took a few surprising twists and turns however, the author's dialogue contained some very thought-provoking philosophical phrases, particularly from the context of an ancient civilization. I enjoyed the book and intend to bookmark a few of the sections where the philosophical morphed into the spiritual. 


or this from another reviewer...


Powerful. A real adventure for body mind and soul. Could not put it down. Highly recommend for all ages. Ayuba the Shepherd of Hamood will inspire, motivate and encourage you to live in the moment, think positively and expect the best...


Read more at: http://www.amazon.com/In-Shadow-Babylon-John-Schwartz/dp/146110713X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331510594&sr=1-1

Coming Together

Would you like to have the author of your next book club selection attend your club meeting? What a great way to learn about the motivation behind the story and to actually discuss it with the author. More importantly ... what a great way to excite your members!

Yesterday I appeared in front of the members of the NOT FINISHED YET book club in Birmingham Alabama while sitting in my office in California!

Gotta love the SKYPE technology.

SKYPE is a free service that allows users to communicate with peers by voice and video over the Internet. Video calls to other users within the Skype service are free of charge. All you need is a computer with a camera and a high-speed Internet connection. You can download SKYPE for Windows or Mac here:

www.skype.com

In the meeting yesterday the Club connected with me by SKYPE using a notebook computer and we had a spirited and interesting dialogue about In The Shadow of Babylon. It's what both readers and authors dream about ... we both need and love to hear the other's opinion.

SKYPE is easy to use. I'm not a technology geek nor was the lady at the Club who set up the call. We were both delighted with how easy it was to activate and manage the video call.

Make In The Shadow of Babylon your book club's next selection and I would be delighted to attend your club's meeting via SKYPE. If you would like me to contact you, please leave your contact info in the comment section below or e-mail me at: babbleon.john@yahoo.com

Here's a review posted on Amazon by one of the lovely Bama ladies after our meeting ... 'A captivating and romantic historical novel unlike anything I have ever read. I wonder if Indiana Jones could be incorporated into the movie! It is an awesome novel and I highly recommend it for independent reading and for book club use.'

Where do emotions come from?

Do you ever wonder where emotions come from?

Why some days are dark and dull while others are bright and shiny?

What causes anger? Fear? Joy? Hate?

The book In The Shadow of Babylon addresses this issue through a conversation between Ayuba and his grandmother, Marun. Ayuba is confused by the emotions he is dealing with in his new life. Marun explains that emotions are preceded by thoughts. She stresses that a person is in charge of their thoughts and, therefore, they can control their emotions.

In The Shadow of Babylon is a rare book filled with adventure, excitement and, most importantly, life lessons that readers find compelling and motivational. More than 20,000 people have downloaded the book in the last 3 months ... needless to say thinking about so many readers sharing my book brings a feeling of joy and happiness to me. Here's how Marun explains the relationship between thoughts and emotions,

The voice within

Is the midwife

Of your feelings

Words of hate, feelings of anger

Words of love, feelings of joy

Courage or Cowardice?

News Flash ... Babylon rockets to #41 on Kindle overall Bestseller list!!!! #1 in Action Adventure and #3 in Contemporary fiction.Thank you!

At some point we all wonder if, when faced with a dangerous situation, we will be courageous. When Ayuba, the principal character in the book In The Shadow of Babylon, is preparing for his first battle he confesses to his father that he is worried he may lack courage. His father, a renown warrior, explains that the difference between being a courageous person and a coward is in how he thinks of himself. Those who picture themselves giving into fear will react that way when faced with a dangerous challenge, whereas those who picture themselves as rising to the occasion will be victorious. Here's how his father explains it:

"Fear is the unseen partner that rides with us all. The difference between those with courage and cowards,” he said, looking deep into my eyes, “is simply a feat of imagination. When faced with a charging lion or a screaming warrior with a spear, we all feel fear. It’s what gives us strength to overcome the threat. So at the moment of…” he hesitated, “…finality, the coward and the hero feel the same fear.”

“Why then do the two react so differently?”

“Because the coward has experienced that fear many times…and in his imagined fear he has seen his death.” Father’s smile was gone now. A look of sadness crossed his wide brow.

“And the hero?”

“He too responds as he has imagined that moment—with valor and certitude. He has lived the victory many times in the dreams of his heart and with each dreaming, he has been victorious.”

Ayuba's father teaches him a small poem that will help him train himself to be brave:

Sleep, and in the veil of night

Dream of valor in the light

When comes the awakening dawn

It is your dreams you act upon

Memorial Day in Babylon

 It is fitting that one of the homilies in the book In The Shadow of Babylon addresses, from an ancient perspective, what we call Memorial Day. After a brief but violent battle at the Gleb Spring, Ayuba - the young boy whose life is the core of the book - has just witnessed the sacrifices necessary for good to defeat evil. As he leaves the remote blood soaked oasis where many died he considers what he has learned: 

Exhausted, our small caravan plodded away from the sadness of the Gleb. Watching Father’s broad back as he dozed on the lead camel, I realized that if not for people like him, who were willing to risk their lives to ensure peace, the world I had so recently discovered outside the Beyond would not exist. I wondered how many men perished unheralded in the empty places of the earth defending the rights of people they’d never met. How many stone graves roasted in the desert sand, unremembered and unhonored?As the sky began to lighten, I vowed from that moment on to begin each day singing a song of tribute in my heart to the lonely graves of fallen heroes.

The freedoms we cherish do not come from politicians but from those who made the ultimate sacrifice ... that's what memorial days should be about.

Present Moment Living

This is the third in a series of brief posts discussing the philosophical lessons that make up the core of In The Shadow of Babylon. The risk associated with discussing these issues is that if you haven't read the book you may get the impression that it is some sort of inspirational metaphysical treatise rather than an entertaining story. The most powerful way to establish ideas and embed them in a culture is to create a myth around the belief or idea.

Children live in the moment

Works of fiction take two forms—general entertainment stories and literary fiction. To me, the difference is in the philosophical core of the story which makes the book entertaining and valuable. I wrote Babylon as a mythical story demonstrating how the understanding and application of certain principles can lead to a more fulfilling, productive and happy life. In the last two posts I discussed the importance of controlling and targeting your dreams (thoughts) and how critical it is to acquire knowledge—neither of which will be very effective unless one learns one of life's most difficult abilities... LIVING IN THE PRESENT MOMENT!

In the book, the main character, Ayuba, has been confused and frustrated by his sudden involvement in the "modern" world. While wondering what is causing the confusion in his life he witnesses a minor adventure in a wheat field when a snake attacks a mouse. This simple, everyday drama opens his eyes to the fact that he has been focusing on the future over which he has little control, instead of living in the present. He concludes "The snake was living in the present with no thought of tomorrow while the mouse was distracted by the future—only to die in the present." Later, when Ayuba is retelling the event, he concludes, “I learned from that experience that living in a modern world like Hamood, there are many distractions that tug at the mind, dragging it into the maw of worry and fear, devouring the only thing that exists… the present. And if one lives in the uncertainty of the future, life can indeed be consumed by the snake called time.”

How much of our lives is spent worrying or thinking about the future, letting the only thing that really exists... the present... slip by?

Garbage in garbage ....

When reading the reviews on Amazon I'm struck by the frequent comments about  life-lessons in Babylon. In the last post I discussed the power of dreams and how we become what we think about. In the poem The Song of Ayuba, the philosophical core of the book, Ayuba quotes his adopted grandmother as she teaches him about the importance of learning...

The mind is the desert
Dreaming of rain
The desert drinks
But is never full


She stresses that even though the mind has limitless capacity we must be careful about it's content. It is knowledge that sets humans apart from other beasts. Although we have many instincts in common with animals possibly the most critical difference is our ability to acquire knowledge. Those who maximize this powerful facility will soar above those who don't. Those who fill their minds with junk will live a wasted life ...garbage in garbage out.