I have no knowledge of the Celestine whatchamacallits at all.
Saying its the 'ultimate aim' seems weird to me... a little friction never hurt anyone. It makes me think of the story of the buddha being kept in the palace as a youth so that he never saw suffering or uglyness...
Re buddhism and reincarnation; I can't decide if its legit or if its there so that the concept of karma makes sense. Without karma carrying across life-times it doesn't hold together because good things happen to "bad" people and vice versey. Though the monks say theres specific meditation you can do to remember past lives, so who knows!
Saying its the 'ultimate aim' seems weird to me... a little friction never hurt anyone. It makes me think of the story of the buddha being kept in the palace as a youth so that he never saw suffering or uglyness...
Re buddhism and reincarnation; I can't decide if its legit or if its there so that the concept of karma makes sense. Without karma carrying across life-times it doesn't hold together because good things happen to "bad" people and vice versey. Though the monks say theres specific meditation you can do to remember past lives, so who knows!