We were pleasantly surprised to find Alice Coltrane's writings about her spiritual awakening quite intriguing and tolerable. Unlike the Afrocentric homespun occultism and questionable word play of Sun Ra's screeds, Alice Coltrane's approach here is rather different. She outlines in a surprisingly few number of pages how she was spiritually awakened and experienced a number of revelatory and mystical experiences. As one might expect from someone interested in Hinduism, there are references to past lives, astral projections, use of religious vocabulary derived from Hindu religion and even some attempts at universalizing it via references to Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad. Overall, Coltrane's experiences and the way she writes about it seems like she was a true believer. It makes one wonder if John Coltrane had lived longer, would he have possibly ended up starting an ashram in California? Would he have left music largely behind to focus on religious and spiritual enlightenment? Either way, many album names and song titles in Alice Coltrane's discography make more sense.
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