PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Born in Vienna, Austria shortly before World War II, Wolfgang Klebel became a Catholic priest, studying at the best Catholic universities in Rome and Austria. Eventually, however, he left the priesthood, moved to California, United States, and became a psychologist treating mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including in a women's prison run by the State of California. He became a Bah�'i in his early sixties. Drawing on his background in theology, philosophy and psychology, Dr Klebel has presented papers at the 'Irf�n Colloquia and the American Association for Bah�'� Studies.
This remarkable and well-written book recalls how Dr Klebel became a Catholic priest, then left the priesthood and became a Bah�'�. He demonstrates how living from the heart has helped him find fulfilment in the Bah�'� Faith that he calls the religion of heart and unity. He describes how the nervous system of the heart has been called 'the little brain of the heart' and that it is undivided. In contrast, the nervous system of the 'cranial brain' is divided into a left and right hemisphere. He writes that the underlying unity of a person encompasses both the heart and the brain, the heart representing the unity and the brain representing the diversity in everyone. The heart expresses itself through our feelings, often today referred to as 'emotional intelligence'. We know about the heart's decisions and conclusions only when they become conscious in the brain. . . He persuasively concludes that we must look at the heart with new eyes, seeing it as much more than a blood pump. In so doing, we may understand ourselves in finding a better way to human happiness. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has this goal. Judge Dorothy W. Nelson
