The Perfection of Nothing

The Perfection of Nothing:  Reflections on Spiritual Practice

by Rick Lewis

Hohm Press, Prescott, Arizona © 2000;  224 pp.

This wonderful text unfolds in four distinct parts, and will serve as a profound tool of understanding for the mid-level or advanced student of Gnosis. Lewis speaks in the vernacular of his current-day Pacific Northwest, for example: "Being neurotic is really no problem -- unless, of course, you are a very, or even reasonably, intelligent person, because then you have a means to carry out your very twisted ends. Be neurotic, but be stupid, stumbling, and open about it. Save being intelligent, clever, and sly for when your heart is in the right place."

Lewis sets a good balance between personal confession and impersonal Truth, making the material (at times from the purely Awakened perspective) still easily accessible to a challenged seeker.

The fourth and final section, entitled "The Truth of the Heart," is full-on bhakti, and seems entirely fitting as a crescendo. I "heart"-ily recommend this book.

--  reviewed by Vip Short