One of Gary Zukav's many gifts as a speaker and bestselling writer is his ability to present complicated metaphysical and spiritual themes in a way that is simultaneously down-to-earth and spine-tingling. How does he do it? Through story--the oldest and most powerful form of teaching the mind and touching the heart. As a frequent guest on Oprah, Zukav has also discovered that the American public is starved for grounded information on ethereal topics such as intuition, soulful relationships, and nonhuman teachers.

Gary Zukav's No. 1 national bestseller, The Seat of the Soul, has been a life-changing experience for millions of Americans. Now, in one of the most important and useful books you will ever read, Soul Stories, Gary Zukav shows how this new understanding of power -- authentic power -- transforms lives in countless ways.

Here, too, is the story of Zukav's own personal evolution. He writes openly and intimately about periods of his life when he felt jealousy, competitiveness, fear, anger, and all the other emotions we encounter, and about how his understanding of these emotions changed with his awakening consciousness and recognition of a Universe that is alive and compassionate.

Soul Stories is filled with marvelous true stories that show how such concepts as intuition, harmony, sharing, and forgiveness actually express themselves in people's lives. Best of all, the stories lead to practical advice on how you can discover your own Soul Stories and the truths they reveal about the deepest sources of your being.

Designed with 52 brief sections, or "chapterettes," the book can be read at a single sitting or savored one chapterette a week for an entire year.

The book, Soul Stories, can also be found on audiocassette and CD, voiced by the author himself.

Book Description

from the Jacket

Writing with profound psychological and spiritual insight, prize-winning author Gary Zukav has had a major impact on the consciousness of our entire generation. His number-one national bestseller, The Seat of the Soul, has been a life-changing experience for millions of Americans. In The Seat of the Soul he explains how the expansion of human perception beyond the five senses leads to a new understanding of power -- the alignment of the personality with the soul -- which in turn leads to an awareness of our extraordinary creative abilities and the responsibility we have for how we use them. Now, in one of the most important and useful books you will ever read, Soul Stories, Gary Zukav shows how this new understanding of power -- authentic power -- transforms lives in countless ways.

Here, too, is the story of Zukav's own personal evolution. He writes openly and intimately about periods of his life when he felt jealousy, competitiveness, fear, anger, and all the other emotions we encounter, and about how his understanding of these emotions changed with his awakening consciousness and recognition of a Universe that is alive and compassionate.

Soul Stories is filled with marvelous true stories that show how such concepts as intuition, harmony, sharing, and forgiveness actually express themselves in people's lives. Best of all, the stories lead to practical advice on how you can discover your own Soul Stories and the truths they reveal about the deepest sources of your being.

Designed with fifty-two brief sections, or "chapterettes," the book can be read at a single sitting or savored one chapterette a week for an entire year.

Wonderfully readable, Soul Stories is a wise and inspirational book.

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Synopsis

Soul Stories is filled with marvelous, true stories that show how intuition, harmony, sharing, and forgiveness actually express themselves in people's lives. Best of all, the stories lead to practical advice on how you can discover your own Soul Stories and the truths they reveal about the deepest sources of your being.

Introduction

This is a book of true stories.  Sometimes I have used the real names of the people in them, and sometimes I have used other names.  Sometimes I have told the story exactly the way it happened, and sometimes I have combined stories into one.  Sometimes, the stories are not about things that actually happened, but those stories are true, too.

The Lakota people, who are Native Americans, have a story about the white buffalo calf woman. she is the one who gave them their sacred pipe. A reporter asked a Lakota elder [Black Elk?] one day if he thought that the story of the white buffalo calf woman was true.  The elder said, " I don't know whether it actually happened that way or not, but you can see for yourself that it's true.

You can see for yourself that all of the stories in this book are true, too.  You have to look inside yourself to do that.  Every Soul Story, whether you find it in this book or somewhere else, requires that you look inside yourself to see if it is true.  You may find that something that is true for someone else is not true for you.  You might also find that something that is true for you is not true for someone else.  That is the way that it is with Soul Stories.

For example, some people say that the universe is dead (they call it "inert"), and that everything that happens is accidental (they day "random"). Other people, like me, say that the Universe is alive, wise and compassionate.  Looking at it as alive another.  Which story is true for you?

You have to decide.  Each of the Soul Stories in this book gives you an opportunity to decide whether it is true for you or not.  The Lakota elder said that you can see for yourself when a story is true, but before you can do that, you have to know about it.  Eventually, you might find that what you feel about a Soul Story is more important to you than what you think about it.

You can read all the Soul Stories in a few days, or you can choose one here and there when you feel like it.  Since there are fifty-two of them, you can also read one each week to give yourself time to consider each one.  That way you'll be thinking about Soul Stories for an entire year.  Even if you read them all the first day, you can still read them again, one each week, to give yourself a little more time with each story.

I love Soul Stories.  For me, every story that makes me appreciate myself and you, and that makes me happy that we are together, even when things get very difficult, is a Soul Story.  Every story that makes me appreciate the Earth, and look at it as a great Friend, is a Soul Story, too.

I am happy to share these Soul Stories with you.

Love, 

Gary

Chapter 1

Multisensory Perception

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It was a gray winter afternoon. The black, sleek car was traveling fifty miles an hour when it hit the ice. Like a graceful dancer, it began a slow, horizontal pirouette as it slid toward a steep embankment and then disappeared over it. Inside, a young woman screamed as the car rolled again and again like a ball careening downward and spinning at the same time. That woman was my sister.

One hundred miles away, an older woman with gray hair suddenly rose out of her chair.

"Something has happened to Gail!" she gasped.

The telephone rang forty minutes later.

"Your daughter has been in an accident. She is not hurt badly, but her car was destroyed."

How could this have happened? The woman who rose in alarm, my mother, could not see her daughter struggling for her life as the car crashed again and again against the frozen ground and, at last, into a barren tree. She could not smell the crushed bushes beneath the battered car, or the gasoline from the ruptured tank. She could not hear the bending of metal and the shattering of glass, feel the impact of the car as it tumbled, or taste the blood in her daughter's mouth.

She did not have to. She used multisensory perception. Multisensory perception is a direct link with information that the five senses cannot provide. It eliminates the distance between the one who knows and what she knows. It eliminates the time between them. My mother did not need to wait for the police to tell her that her daughter's life had been in danger. She knew it as clearly as if she had watched, heard, smelled, felt, and tasted the experience herself. She engaged another way of knowing.

The businessman was late for his plane. He waited impatiently for his ticket, and then drove quickly into the huge airport garage. The first level was full. So was the second. Up and up he spiraled, one narrow ramp after the other, becoming more worried each moment. Level three was full, and so was level four. As he approached the ramp to the last level, desperate now, he suddenly stopped. A large sedan came speeding around the curve, going the wrong way. Neither would have seen the other before the crash.

How did he know that car was coming? He could not see it, hear it, or smell it. His ability to taste and touch could not help him. This is also an example of multisensory perception. Multi means more than one. Taste, touch, smell, hearing, and sight are different ways of sensing, but they are all part of a single system. That system is designed to detect one thing -- the world that appears to be outside of you. If you only have five senses to navigate, you are limited to this system.

When the brochure first came in the mail, the woman did not give it much attention. It was about a conference that was too far away, too expensive, and not about the things that were most interesting to her. The next day, she felt an impulse to read it again, and the next day, too. She could not put it out of her mind, nor the curious feeling that she should attend. Without knowing why, she registered and booked a flight. The first day there she met a man who was struggling with cancer. She had a passionate interest in the healing process. With her assistance, his cancer disappeared, and they coauthored a book on healing.

Where did her impulse come from? She had two systems to provide her with information. The first -- her five senses -- didn't give her information about what might happen at the conference. Another system did. That second system is multisensory perception.

My friend Jeffrey had come to a dead end. He wanted to study "deviant personalities" from a positive point of view -- what makes some people more fulfilled and happy than others. His graduate program in criminology only studied them from a negative point of view -- what makes some people more violent than others. One night he dreamed that he visited the house of two friends (whom he actually knew). They were not home, so he let himself in. On a table in the living room he found a magazine called Eye. It told him exactly what he needed to know.

The next morning, he hurried to tell his friends about this dream. They weren't home. He knew where they kept the key, so he let himself in, although he had never done that before. On a table in the living room he found a magazine called Focus, which included a schedule of programs on a national public television station. As he looked through it, he suddenly realized that he could study positive "deviant personalities" by interviewing them on television! He did just that. He called his program "Thinking Allowed."

Jeffrey's dream told him how to find what he needed. So did the woman's impulse to go to the conference. The businessman's hunch told him what he needed to avoid. These are examples of multisensory perception. Jeffrey, the woman, and the businessman listened to their multisensory perception. That is why Jeffrey has his television program, the woman is the coauthor of a book, and the businessman stayed out of the hospital.

Having multisensory perception and using it to help you are different things. This is important to realize because we are all becoming multisensory. If you understand that, you will be looking for ways to use this ability. Actually, this ability is not new. What is new is that everyone is now getting it.

In the past, we called this ability by another name.

 

 

Short Excerpts from Soul Stories

Multisensory Perception

Excerpt from Soul Stories:

When the brochure first came in the mail, the woman did not give it much attention. It was about a conference that was too far away, too expensive, and not about the things that were most interesting to her. The next day, she felt an impulse to read it again, and the next day, too. She could not put it out of her mind, nor the curious feeling that she should attend. Without knowing why, she registered and booked a flight. The first day there she met a man who was struggling with cancer. She had a passionate interest in the healing process. With her assistance, his cancer disappeared, and they coauthored a book on healing.

Where did her impulse come from? She had two systems to provide her with information. The first ? her five senses ? didn't give her information about what might happen at the conference. Another system did. That second system is multisensory perception.

Intuition, Using Intuition

There is no single way to experience intuition. It is different for everyone...Some people have hunches. Some get ideas. Some people hear music, and others see pictures. Some people get sensations, like the feeling of a crisp winter day. Others hear words. Some have conversations, as I did with Grandmother Libby.

Nonphysical Teachers and Nonphysical Reality

Nonphysical Teachers do not tell you what to do. They help you see your opinions. They help you think through your choices. They help you understand what you are feeling and why. They help you to the fullest use of your life. You are still the boss. You still decide what is best for you, and what is not. You may talk a decision over with friends, but when it comes time to make it, it's up to you...

Your Soul

Your mother ship is always attempting to communicate with you. It does not communicate with satellites or computers. It uses your intuition. This is the same system that you use to communicate with Nonphysical Friends and Teachers. Your intuition is like a radio that can receive signals from different stations. Some are Nonphysical Teachers. Others are fellow souls. Another is your own soul.

The Earth School and Reincarnation

The Earth school is a 3-D, full-color, big-screen, multimedia, interactive movie. Getting carried away is easy because it is intimate, exciting, and always changing. If you study this movie ? the Earth school ? like a student of cinema studies movies, you see that nothing in it is accidental. Everything happens for a reason, just as it does in a theater. This movie is your life. The more you use your intuition, the more you see how it is constructed and what it is telling you.

A Higher Form of Reasoning and Justice

Every time you make a decision, something happens. When you make a different decision, something different happens. What happens depends on what you decide. Wherever you look, all that your five senses can see is the movie. You can't see outside the theater, but you can decide what the movie is about. You do that with each of your decisions. This is a very important thing to know because your life is the movie.

Every decision you make causes something to happen. Sometimes it happens right away. Sometimes it takes a while. Either way, you choose. Once you understand this, you can make your movie the way you want it to be.

Emotional Awareness

Becoming aware of your emotions means more than feeling frightened of some things, and feeling angry at others. It means becoming aware of everything that you are feeling. Until you do, there will always be parts of yourself you don't know about. Some of them are angry. If you don't know about them, you will get angry sometimes, whether you want to or not. Some parts of you are frightened. If you don't know about those parts, you will get frightened sometimes, whether you want to or not.

Responsible Choice and Intention

Each choice creates a future. It brings into being one of many possible futures. That is the future you will live in. Even a choice that seems unimportant, like going to a grocery store or not, creates one future and prevents you from experiencing others. You choose your future moment by moment, decision by decision. You do this whether you are aware of it or not.

An intention is not a wish. A wish does not cause anything to happen. An intention does. An intention pushes against the way things are in your life. Those things push back exactly the same way. (Remember, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.) Your intentions create everything you experience.

Harmony, Cooperation, Sharing and Reverence for Life

Doing what other people expect you to do never creates harmony. To create harmony, you have to come closer to people. Doing what you think will please them moves you farther away. Harmony comes from sharing who you are, letting others share who they are, and learning to do that together.

People cooperate because they want to be together, not because they share goals. From the point of view of your soul, cooperation is play.

Your soul always sees friends. That is because it sees beneath the surface. When you see a friend wearing a beautiful dress, do you think she is beautiful because of her dress? When you see her in a dress that you don't like, isn't she still your beautiful friend? When you see with reverence, you see everyone as a beautiful friend.

Authentic Power and Creating Authentic Power

Creating authentic power is a process. Each time you choose harmony, cooperation, sharing, or reverence for Life, you challenge parts of yourself that want other things. They are the parts of you that are angry, sad, jealous, and frightened. The more you challenge them, the less power they have over you, and the more power you have over them. Eventually, their power over you disappears.

That is how authentic power is created ? intention by intention, choice by choice. You can not wish it, pray it, or meditate it into being any more than you can wish, pray, or meditate yourself into being a great baseball player. If you want to bake bread, you have to know how to do it. Then you have to do it.

Forgiveness and Humbleness

Forgiveness and harmony go together. When you forgive someone, nothing stands between you and that person. Even if the person you forgive does not like you, you have laid your suitcases down. You travel lightly.

Cooperation and humbleness always go together. Humbleness is seeing that everyone's path is as difficult as yours and as important. It is not pretending that you are meek or inferior. It is making the music together that cannot be made alone, and that cannot be made without the music that only you, alone, can make.

© Gary Zukav  April 25, 2000