Book Reviews

The Book of Royal Art, by: Bo Yin Ra – Book Review

Bô Yin Râ is the spiritual name of Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken, who lived from 1876 to 1943 and published about forty books answering many questions of human existence. Contacted by a group of publishers wishing to publicize the author’s messaging, I had the privilege of reviewing The Royal Art Book, a bilingual translated version (German – English) of the original German in a final form of contemporary English. For those who are bilingual, the German/English book is superb, and for those who only understand English, the version of the book without German is a better choice. Each hardback edition is represented in its hardback binding and its smooth opaque off-white acid-free paper, a sign of the quality of this work.

Since there is no criticism that a humble reader can make of the author’s content, I can only provide my deep appreciation for the philosophy and insight so eloquently described. The pages of poems and teachings in “Royal Art” encompass metaphors titled The Harvest, Know Thyself, The Danger of Vanity, The King’s Question, And Unit, to name a few. As their titles suggest, laconically reduced logical truisms are articulated sequentially with directness and pontification demonstrating Bô Yin Râ’s intimate understanding of his reading audience. Newcomers to his teachings should slow down, in the era before the instantaneous communication of cell phones, computers and the Internet, and rejoice in the peaceful freedom of intellectual visionary consciousness, the masterful teachings of Bô Yin Ra .

In his quest to understand the root meaning of life’s existence, the innate light that is within each of us must be seen without distraction, profess his teachings. To paraphrase, you have to follow your path of spiritual direction and discover for yourself the meaning of your existence, because those who tell you the meanings are ordinary people who have found it within themselves through struggle, sacrifice and the pain sometimes. “The man who wants to learn to hear God must first learn to hear himself,” writes the author. “Only to those who have learned to get along can apply the teaching that we are putting into words here,” he concluded.

There is tranquility in the writing of Bô Yin Râ who nourishes his readers in a uterine serenity. Although familiar with his teachings some 35 years ago in graduate school, I found this tour of his philosophy to be perfectly suited to my more mature 6th decade of my life. The time spent with this impeccably bound edition was cherished by me and I read the work twice, picking up many more on the next reading. As Bô Yin Râ’s teachings have created a culture of followers wishing to dwell in the author’s house of spiritual understanding, I indeed look forward to revisiting his work in all categories of philosophy and self-actualization. light in my own vision. The recently translated versions in English published by Posthumous projects Amsterdam would be advised as a collection to own.

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