Book Review: The Great Transformation

nnThis book review is part of a series that covers the topic of Transformation. Life is about change. Through the process of transformation, you can change yourself into the person you want to be.Christopher Carrick is the Official Guide to Transformation. Christopher Carrick works with people who are undergoing spiritual transformation. Sometimes this shows up as a life crisis, such as the breakup of a relationship, struggles in their work or dealing with the dying process.nnGreat Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions, by Karen Armstrong, is a valuable resource for people interested in Transformation, and it is available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.nn

nBook DescriptionnFrom one of the world's leading writers on religion and the highly acclaimed author of the bestselling A History of God, The Battle for God and The Spiral Staircase, comes a major new work: a chronicle of one of the most important intellectual revolutions in world history and its relevance to our own time.nIn one astonishing, short period - the ninth century BCE - the peoples of four distinct regions of the civilized world created the religious and philosophical traditions that have continued to nourish humanity into the present day: Confucianism and Daoism in China; Hinduism and Buddhism in India; monotheism in Israel; and philosophical rationalism in Greece. Historians call this the Axial Age because of its central importance to humanity's spiritual development. Now, Karen Armstrong traces the rise and development of thisntransformative moment in history, examining the brilliant contributions to these traditions made by such figures as the Buddha, Socrates, Confucius and Ezekiel.nArmstrong makes clear that despite some differences of emphasis, there was remarkable consensus among these religions and philosophies: each insisted on the primacy of compassion over hatred and violence. She illuminates what this "family" resemblance reveals about the religious impulse and quest of humankind. And she goes beyond spiritual archaeology, delving into the ways in which these Axial Age beliefs can present an instructive and thought-provoking challenge to the ways we think about and practice religion today.nA revelation of humankind's early shared imperatives, yearnings and inspired solutions - as salutary as it is fascinating.nExcerpt from The Great Transformation:nIn ourglobal world, we can no longer afford a parochial or exclusive vision. We must learn to live and behave as though people in remote parts of the globe were as important as ourselves. The sages of the Axial Age did not create their compassionate ethic in idyllic circumstances. Each tradition developed in societies like our own that were torn apart by violence and warfare as never before; indeed, the first catalyst of religious change was usually a visceral rejection of the aggression that the sages witnessed all around them. . . .nAll the great traditions that were created at this time are in agreement about the supreme importance of charity and benevolence, and this tells us something important about our humanity.nFrom the Hardcover edition.n

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