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Rating: 
Summary: Understanding from within and without
Review: As a practitioner of energy work I was familiar with most of the concepts presented with so much clarity by Diane Goldner, yet it was new and very hopeful to read how much validating research already has been done in the scientific community. I hope this book will bring the two worlds even closer.
Rating:
Summary: A controversial subject in today's society.
Review: At first glance, this book promised to be one of the best looks at the field of Energy Healing to date. Heck, when I read the PR on the flap, I decided to purchase it on "spec." even at the hardcover prices. I have a practice in Energy Healing, and am always looking out for a book about the field I can recommend. So, I took the book away on a working vacation, looking forward to an enjoyable experience. As I began to read the book, I was dismayed - no stunned beyond belief might be more accurate. "Infinite Grace," to any who know the players involved is a travesty... Goldner misreports on and misrepresents all sorts of things, and insults some of the finest people and institutions in the field. Not only is this book extremely flawed by factual inaccuracies, but startlingly so by Goldner's own personal process. To anyone who is familiar with the healers and schools involved, as the book unfolds it becomes clear that the author is a dyed-in-the-wool devotee of healer Rosalyn Bruyere. This in and of itself is no big surprise, as Bruyere most definitely inculcates this mind set in her students, deftly instilling in them the belief that she is better than the rest (I have personally witnessed this). However, the book stumbles and ultimately loses its footing when it tries to minimize the work of other powerful healers and important teachers. A number of times I sat there aghast, wondering what would motivate someone to so carefully weave this kind of stuff into the fabric of a book. This book left me puzzled, and was a great disappointment; I have studied with all of the major teachers in this book, and personally know, have met or spoken with many of the healers who are quoted, mentioned or described therein. Many of Goldner's characterizations just are not accurate, sometimes glaringly so, such that the book left a bad taste in my mouth. I often found myself wondering why she felt such a strong need to repeatedly rave on and on about Rosalyn Bruyere, even to the point of hyperbole, all the while trying so artfully to make the reader feel that Shulman, Brennan and others just don't stand up to Bruyere in comparison. So, after reading this book, my advice is... "borrow it, don't buy it" (sorry Amazon!).
Rating:
Summary: A supreme guide to the world of spiritual healing
Review: Diane Goldner has completed an exhaustive amount of research in compiling the information for Infinite Grace. Never has the world of spiritual healing been documented so thoroughly and clearly. Ms. Goldner has also presented the material with a personal point of view, reflecting her own emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual healing experiences. All that and a great read, too. Buy it.
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Summary: An excellent overview of the science of healing
Review: Diane Goldner has done a wonderful job of exploring the world of healing. Through her exploration of healers and their work and of scientific researchers and their work, she has accomplished the very difficult task of making sense of the intersection of these two worlds and explaining their relationship in an interesting and accessable way. This book is for the open-minded reader. Some belief systems will be in for a good stretch, and yet the evidence presented in this book is undeniable. Diane presents her findings with scientific clarity and journalistic objectivity as well as with the compassion and care of a true seeker.
Rating:
Summary: A great read on Energy Healing
Review: I met Diane Goldner briefly when she was researching this book. We were both attending an Energy Healing workshop for the Jaffe School of Energy Mastery. So when I saw a friend carrying the book, I had to get it. What I got was more than I expected. I am very impressed with Infinite Grace. I rarely read non-fiction books cover-to-cover but I have found this book fascinating. The combination of case studies, research, personal experiences and discussions with healers is completely engaging. I have met most of the healers she mentions and have had some similar impressions. Diane's writing style is very clear and easy to read. I was disappointed that she didn't include several other energy schools in her book (like the Jaffe School which is twice the size of S.O.S) or include a discussion of Reiki (probably the most popular and widespread form of energy healing these days). Still, this book serves an important role in leading the world towards a broader understanding of alternative healing. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A great read on Energy Healing
Review: I met Diane Goldner briefly when she was researching this book. We were both attending an Energy Healing workshop for the Jaffe School of Energy Mastery. So when I saw a friend carrying the book, I had to get it. What I got was more than I expected. I am very impressed with Infinite Grace. I rarely read non-fiction books cover-to-cover but I have found this book fascinating. The combination of case studies, research, personal experiences and discussions with healers is completely engaging. I have met most of the healers she mentions and have had some similar impressions. Diane's writing style is very clear and easy to read. I was disappointed that she didn't include several other energy schools in her book (like the Jaffe School which is twice the size of S.O.S) or include a discussion of Reiki (probably the most popular and widespread form of energy healing these days). Still, this book serves an important role in leading the world towards a broader understanding of alternative healing. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: It lives up to its name
Review: Infinite Grace is an inspiring look into the healing and psychic worlds. Goldner's blending of research that's been done in various fields with her first hand experience with pioneers in the world of healing makes for excellent reading. The book challenges the reader to question the true nature of this amazing Universe we live in. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A "MUST READ" FOR CONTEMPORARY HEALERS
Review: Infinite Grace is just the most remarkable book! Diane Goldner not only investigates "where the worlds of science and spiritual healing meet," but also demonstrates convincingly that what unifies them is "intention, love, and consciousness" (page 280). The book is divided into five numbered parts, each of which contains three chapters sharing a common theme. Two of these five parts deserve special mention. "Part Three" consists of in-depth, not-uncritical discussions of the lives and works of three contemporary spiritual healers and the institutions that each founded: Rosalyn Bruyere and the Healing Light Center Church, Barbara Brennan and the Barbara Brennan School of Healing, as well as Jason Shulman and the Society of Souls. (Amy Skezas and the RoseLight work are appraised in a separate chapter in "Part Five.") "Part Four" considers three of our most-pressing contemporary maladies: heart disease, cancer, and AIDS. Two things distinguish these three chapters from the usual discussions of same. First, they integrate empirical data with interview excerpts from both clinicians and clients. And second, they explore the spiritual, mental, and emotional antecedents of physical disease. With regard to the latter point, the author writes that "Ultimately, healers find that the root causes of illness are not in a chakra or an organ, but in relationships that create loneliness, beliefs of unworthiness, and a lack of love for one's self or others. Narcissism, abandonment, rage, jealousy - these are the precipitating factors of disease. . . . Beyond all such human issues lies our deep sense of separation from God, Source, the 'All That Is'" (page 66). In my view, these three chapters are the most practical and useful for the typical reader; so, too, they are the "proof of the pudding" vis-a-vis the efficacy of spiritual healing. Ms. Goldner - a professional journalist and Barnard College graduate - spent over four years researching and composing this book. It was time well spent because the result is a landmark work that is thoroughly researched, reads easily, and deftly captures the evanescent essence of spiritual healing or energy work. In accessible, almost lyrical prose - influenced, no doubt, by her own direct experiences with subtle energies - she writes that "Now I see how my thoughts, feelings, and intentions affect myself, other people, and my environment. Your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and intentions also affect everything and everyone around you, including you and the cells of your body. We are helping to create the world in each moment. We have a choice: to be in fear, anger, or numbness. Or in love" (page 295). Elsewhere, Ms. Goldner maintains that the key is "holding the intention for the highest good. This is the real lesson of spiritual healing" (page 306). "It is not the techniques per se. It is the healer and the clarity of intention" (page 179). "The highest healing comes from holding the highest and purest intention towards all being and all events at all times" (page 304). The principal point - in both disease and healing - concerns our intentionality. Citing results generated at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory, Ms. Goldner demonstrates that our intentions transcend time and space - and that every intention counts. The bottom line is that all of us help to bring into being not only states of disease, but also states of healing, wellness, and communion with God. Unfortunately, most of our intentions - to include our beliefs and desires, wishes and willings - emerge almost unconsciously. The not-so-subtle message is to become more intentional about our intentions: just like in fairy tales, whatever you wish for will come true - sooner or later! In a review about an unrelated book, Fran Shaw proposes that we can "distinguish between writing which informs us about spiritual matters and writing which affects the spirit" ("Parabola," Summer 1999, page 98). Infinite Grace integrates both of these genres: it informs us about and affects our spirits. Very highly recommended; a "MUST READ" for contemporary healers!
Rating:
Summary: A "MUST READ" FOR CONTEMPORARY HEALERS
Review: Infinite Grace is just the most remarkable book! Diane Goldner not only investigates "where the worlds of science and spiritual healing meet," but also demonstrates convincingly that what unifies them is "intention, love, and consciousness" (page 280). The book is divided into five numbered parts, each of which contains three chapters sharing a common theme. Two of these five parts deserve special mention. "Part Three" consists of in-depth, not-uncritical discussions of the lives and works of three contemporary spiritual healers and the institutions that each founded: Rosalyn Bruyere and the Healing Light Center Church, Barbara Brennan and the Barbara Brennan School of Healing, as well as Jason Shulman and the Society of Souls. (Amy Skezas and the RoseLight work are appraised in a separate chapter in "Part Five.") "Part Four" considers three of our most-pressing contemporary maladies: heart disease, cancer, and AIDS. Two things distinguish these three chapters from the usual discussions of same. First, they integrate empirical data with interview excerpts from both clinicians and clients. And second, they explore the spiritual, mental, and emotional antecedents of physical disease. With regard to the latter point, the author writes that "Ultimately, healers find that the root causes of illness are not in a chakra or an organ, but in relationships that create loneliness, beliefs of unworthiness, and a lack of love for one's self or others. Narcissism, abandonment, rage, jealousy - these are the precipitating factors of disease. . . . Beyond all such human issues lies our deep sense of separation from God, Source, the 'All That Is'" (page 66). In my view, these three chapters are the most practical and useful for the typical reader; so, too, they are the "proof of the pudding" vis-a-vis the efficacy of spiritual healing. Ms. Goldner - a professional journalist and Barnard College graduate - spent over four years researching and composing this book. It was time well spent because the result is a landmark work that is thoroughly researched, reads easily, and deftly captures the evanescent essence of spiritual healing or energy work. In accessible, almost lyrical prose - influenced, no doubt, by her own direct experiences with subtle energies - she writes that "Now I see how my thoughts, feelings, and intentions affect myself, other people, and my environment. Your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and intentions also affect everything and everyone around you, including you and the cells of your body. We are helping to create the world in each moment. We have a choice: to be in fear, anger, or numbness. Or in love" (page 295). Elsewhere, Ms. Goldner maintains that the key is "holding the intention for the highest good. This is the real lesson of spiritual healing" (page 306). "It is not the techniques per se. It is the healer and the clarity of intention" (page 179). "The highest healing comes from holding the highest and purest intention towards all being and all events at all times" (page 304). The principal point - in both disease and healing - concerns our intentionality. Citing results generated at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory, Ms. Goldner demonstrates that our intentions transcend time and space - and that every intention counts. The bottom line is that all of us help to bring into being not only states of disease, but also states of healing, wellness, and communion with God. Unfortunately, most of our intentions - to include our beliefs and desires, wishes and willings - emerge almost unconsciously. The not-so-subtle message is to become more intentional about our intentions: just like in fairy tales, whatever you wish for will come true - sooner or later! In a review about an unrelated book, Fran Shaw proposes that we can "distinguish between writing which informs us about spiritual matters and writing which affects the spirit" ("Parabola," Summer 1999, page 98). Infinite Grace integrates both of these genres: it informs us about and affects our spirits. Very highly recommended; a "MUST READ" for contemporary healers!
Rating:
Summary: A unique contribution to the sprititual healing literature.
Review: Journalist Diane Goldner has woven the scientific evidence from numerous studies and her own experiences of 4 years of investigating spiritual healing into a compelling narrative. The greatest strength of this book is also its greatest weakness: Goldner's personal impressions of leading figures in the spiritual healing movement. They provide the reader with interesting insights into the more mundane aspects of the 'franchise', such as the petty, almost sectarian in-fighting between different schools of healing - in which the author takes sides. Goldner makes every attempt to not appear too partisan, but the reader is left with a clear impression that Rosalyn Bruyere is the best there is. Oddly enough, the most popular system of spiritual healing - Reiki - is not only not covered, but not even mentioned. Since Goldner makes it clear in her foreword to the reader that she was not aiming for completeness, these flaws are forgivable. All in all a very informative work that is refreshingly different from similar titles.
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