Ptolemy Tompkins
Auteur van This Tree Grows Out of Hell: Mesoamerica and the Search for the Magical Body
Over de Auteur
Ptolemy Tompkins is the author of four previous books, including Paradise Fever: Growing Up in the Shadow of the New Age. His writing has appeared on Beliefnet.com and in Harper's, the New York Times, Time, Angels on Earth magazine, and several editions of The Best Spiritual Writing.
Werken van Ptolemy Tompkins
Proof of Angels: The Definitive Book on the Reality of Angels and the Surprising Role They Play in Each of Our Lives (2016) 48 exemplaren
The Divine Life of Animals: One Man's Quest to Discover Whether the Souls of Animals Live On (2010) 36 exemplaren
The Modern Book of the Dead: A Revolutionary Perspective on Death, the Soul, and What Really Happens in the Life to… (2012) 13 exemplaren
Im Weisheitsbasar 1 exemplaar
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Algemene kennis
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- male
- Nationaliteit
- USA
- Geboorteplaats
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Woonplaatsen
- New York, New York, USA
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- Sarah Lawrence College
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writer - Relaties
- Tompkins, Peter (father)
- Organisaties
- Guideposts
- Korte biografie
- Ptolemy Tompkins is the author of Paradise Fever (a memoir focusing on the years in the mid-seventies when his father, Secret Life of Plants author Peter Tompkins, became obsessed with finding the lost continent of Atlantis in the waters off Florida), The Beaten Path (an examination of the good and not-so-good things that happen when one takes the teachings of popular modern wisdom authors like Alan Watts and Carlos Castaneda too seriously) and This Tree Grows Out of Hell (a spiritual history of the Maya and Aztec cultures focusing on their disturbing preoccupation with bloodshed). For just under ten years he was an in-house editor at Guideposts and Angels On Earth magazines. His work there led him to writing The Divine Life of Animals and The Modern Book of the Dead, a duo of books arguing for the continuing validity of the human belief in postmortem survival. The Modern Book of the Dead in turn led him to Dr. Eben Alexander, with whom he worked very closely -- if largely invisibly -- to produce Dr. Alexander's bestselling Proof of Heaven.
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Ptolemy Tompkins’s The Divine Life of Animals will captivate readers even if they don’t hold many of his beliefs. The author was on a quest to show that animals have souls and they like human beings will also be in heaven. What motivated Tompkins was his experience with pets. Penny a stray dog that he encountered as a child, Angus a dwarf rabbit that was referred to as a little man, the life of a manatee named Moose, and a friendly black bear named Little Bit.
At first the writer had problems finding literature to support his thesis. He therefore decided to examine the writings of primitive societies in order to understand the spirituality of the lives of ancient peoples and animals. So Tompkins looked at animism in cultures of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. He referred to the Egyptians at the time of the Pharos, the Greek and Roman’s beliefs, their understanding of humanity and animal behavior. His quest led him to examine the spirituality of the East and its belief in reincarnation, and the icons in the God-head represented by animals. These phenomena Tompkins compared with the teachings of Christianity by its Founding Fathers, and that of contemporary society.
The writer stated that it was only since the 1990’s that this topic began to gain public’s attention in the literature. As a writer at Guideposts – Christian magazine, he was able to do articles on animals having souls. Tompkins throughout his discussion stressed that all creatures are born with specific covers, they should be considered separate nations, and not because they don’t communicate like humans don’t mean that they don’t have languages of their own. While at Guideposts the author was surprised by the outpouring of letters he received from pet lovers and veterinarians, who subscribed to the premise that animals have souls, and that they would see their loved ones when the die in heaven.… (meer)
At first the writer had problems finding literature to support his thesis. He therefore decided to examine the writings of primitive societies in order to understand the spirituality of the lives of ancient peoples and animals. So Tompkins looked at animism in cultures of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. He referred to the Egyptians at the time of the Pharos, the Greek and Roman’s beliefs, their understanding of humanity and animal behavior. His quest led him to examine the spirituality of the East and its belief in reincarnation, and the icons in the God-head represented by animals. These phenomena Tompkins compared with the teachings of Christianity by its Founding Fathers, and that of contemporary society.
The writer stated that it was only since the 1990’s that this topic began to gain public’s attention in the literature. As a writer at Guideposts – Christian magazine, he was able to do articles on animals having souls. Tompkins throughout his discussion stressed that all creatures are born with specific covers, they should be considered separate nations, and not because they don’t communicate like humans don’t mean that they don’t have languages of their own. While at Guideposts the author was surprised by the outpouring of letters he received from pet lovers and veterinarians, who subscribed to the premise that animals have souls, and that they would see their loved ones when the die in heaven.… (meer)
The author relies on opinion and a single incident to focus on the premise that our real world, may not be the reality we see. The notion that angels exist -- in some form or another -- and regularly take part in our lives falls to the individual perceptive enough to understand. Reliance on faith is key. Believing in the theory that angels are amongst us takes a keen eye and observance and openness to the small unexplained incidents that may be left to coincidence or circumstance. All things happen for a reason. Though we may not be able to understand the reasoning of all things we experience, we can take comfort in trusting -- believing with faith -- that things happen for reasons we don't yet understand. I'm sure many of us have had life events that beg the question; "why was I so lucky" or "why did this happen to me"? You can be open to the goodness of things no matter the ugliness of things, by keeping an open mind and faith in purpose.… (meer)
"Wherever you are going, they are going too." -James Herriot
This book is part philosophy, part religion, part biology. Tompkins attempts to answer the question that any animal lover has asked themselves at one time or another: Do animals have souls?
He looks at this question through the lens of Greek philosophers, Judaism, modern Christianity and The Buddha, among others. He also explores humanity's relationship with animals from prehistoric times up to the present. The result is a fascinating look at man's obligation to all living creatures of this earth.
A quote from the final chapter:
"What are we called upon to do when we see a suffering animal that we can't help, or when we watch a beloved pet come to the end of its life before our eyes? Paradoxical as it may seem, what we are called on to do is simply to believe. Believe the voice within us that assures us that no matter what certain scientists or clergy people or whoever else might have to say to the contrary, the soul of that departing animal is real: every bit as real as our own soul, and different only in its specific character and capacity--the varied charms and faults and glories and limitations that go to making it specifically and unrepeatably itself and not another. The tug in our hearts when we feel compassion for an animal is actually the whole invisible hierarchical world pulling at us--pulling and urging us to remember that it is out there, whether we can see it or not, and that it holds a place within it for every living creature."… (meer)
This book is part philosophy, part religion, part biology. Tompkins attempts to answer the question that any animal lover has asked themselves at one time or another: Do animals have souls?
He looks at this question through the lens of Greek philosophers, Judaism, modern Christianity and The Buddha, among others. He also explores humanity's relationship with animals from prehistoric times up to the present. The result is a fascinating look at man's obligation to all living creatures of this earth.
A quote from the final chapter:
"What are we called upon to do when we see a suffering animal that we can't help, or when we watch a beloved pet come to the end of its life before our eyes? Paradoxical as it may seem, what we are called on to do is simply to believe. Believe the voice within us that assures us that no matter what certain scientists or clergy people or whoever else might have to say to the contrary, the soul of that departing animal is real: every bit as real as our own soul, and different only in its specific character and capacity--the varied charms and faults and glories and limitations that go to making it specifically and unrepeatably itself and not another. The tug in our hearts when we feel compassion for an animal is actually the whole invisible hierarchical world pulling at us--pulling and urging us to remember that it is out there, whether we can see it or not, and that it holds a place within it for every living creature."… (meer)
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Well written and thought out. The last few chapters really picked up and brought the honest evaluation of who we are and who we are not, yet. I found myself in agreement that life is a journey. I have never been satisfied with religious dogma. The thought that we are simply meatbots is insane. Books such as this open your mind to hope and possibility that is both honest and plausible.