Books about Consciousness, Mindfulness & Spirituality
Reviewed by
Jan Fable, MS, LADC
Fairfield Connecticut
203.255.5055
Short-term Counseling for Individuals and Couples;
12 Step Recovery Support and Intervention Services;
and Career Coaching
After the Ecstacy, the Laundry. Kornfield, Jack. Bantam Books, 2000. This is the newest book by this internationally renowned Buddhist teacher and meditation master. It draws on the firsthand experiences of dedicated leaders and practitioners withing the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Sufi traditions and shows us how the modern spiritual journey unfolds as well as how we can prepare our own hearts for awakening.
And a Sword Shall Pierce Your Heart: Moving from Despair to Meaning after the Death of a Child. Mathes,
Charlotte. Published by Chiron Publications 2007. Mathes, a Jungian psychoanalyst, suffered a parent's worst
nightmare--the death of her child. This book describes her struggle to find meaning and wholeness and the journey
which led her to Jungian archetypal psychology and to a desire to help others come to terms with the profound grief
and loss inherent in such an event. She guides the reader through steps and archetypes that mark the process
of mourning and offers practical resources that help parents regain perspective and learn how and where to reach
out for help.
Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World through Mindfulness. Jon Kabat-Zinn. Hyperion,
2005. Jon Kabat-Zinn continually inspires and awakens us with his scientific knowledge, poetic vision and depth
of understanding about meditation. Here he invites us to sanity in a wake-up call we should all heed. The book
provides a wealth of information about the miracles that mindfulness can work in our everyday lives.
Doing Nothing: Coming to the End of the Spiritual Search. Harrison, Steven. Tarcher/Putnam, 1997. Harrison
proposes that the search itself can be a means of avoiding feeling. Of his own search he says, 'I sought out every
mystic, seer, and magician I could find throughout the world.' He had studied the world's philosophies and religions
and had spent long periods in distant lands, searching and contemplating, when he was challenged by a yogi with
the questions, 'Why do you what power?' and 'What are you afraid of?' Exploring that fear became
the beginning and the end of his spiritual journey. The book offers seekers a way to touch the truth through the
simple act of stopping and allowing oneself to feel.
Embracing Uncertainty. Jeffers, Susan. Published by St. Martin's Press, 2003. Written for the most part,
before the attack on the World Trade Center, Jeffers' book offers breakthrough methods, in the form of exercises,
for dealing with life's ambiguity and achieving peace of mind when facing the unknown. This is the perfect book
for this time in the history of world events.
Everyday Zen: Love and Work. Beck, Charlotte Joko with Steve Smith. Published by Harper San Francisco,
1989. An American Zen Master offers a warm, engaging, uniquely American approach to using Zen to deal with the
problems of daily living. Beck's approach to Zen is down to earth and practical. This is probably one of the very
best beginner's books about the practice of Zen Buddhism. It is actually a compilation of transcriptions of Beck's
dharma talks.
Field Notes on the Compassionate Life: A Search for the Soul of Kindness. Mark Ian Barasch. Rodale,
2005. Dr. Andrew Weil says about this book: "Cultivating the virtue of compassion is a requirement for optimum
health, as well as for improving the state of the world." The author teaches us how to do both in this marvelous
book.
The Force of Character and the Lasting Life. Hillman, James. Random House, 1999. The author is a psychologist,
Jungian analyst, scholar, and the author of some twenty books. Here he tells us that "Aging is no accident"
and, contrary to our culture's continual pursuit of eternal youth, her presents aging as 'necessary to the human
condition and intended by the soul.' Hillman posits that the changes of old age, even the debilitating
ones, have purpose and value. He presents the old person once again in the respected position of 'ancestor'
-- a model for the young and the bearer of society's cultural memory and traditions. Hillman looks at oldness
as an archetypal state of being that can add value and luster to things we treasure, places we revere, and to people's
character. The view presented frees and transforms our aging into a life-affirming force of nature.
The Four Agreements. Ruiz, Don Miguel. Ambler-Allen Publishing,
1997. This book is subtitled 'a practical guide to personal freedom,' and so it is. The author writes simply and
beautifully of the four most important agreements we need to have with life: to be impeccable with your word --
speaking always with integrity and saying only what you mean; to take nothing personally -- understanding that
nothing others do is because of you; to make no assumptions -- finding the courage you need to ask questions and
express what you really want; and to always do your best -- understanding that your best may change from situation
to situation and according to whether you're well or ill. To begin to live by even one of these agreements is a
life-changing decision.
Field Notes on the Compassionate Life: A Search for the Soul of Kindness. Barasch, Marc Ian. Published
by Rodale, 2005. The author takes us on a journey of the heart, asking how compassion can transform our lives and
the world at large. He describes how compassion unfolds in ordinary lives, transforming them, and makes a powerful
case for a world of kindness, generosity, and love. He shows us why it is so important to be able to put oneself
in the other side's shoes and teaches us how.
A Gradual Awakening. Levine,Stephen B. (Preface by Ram Dass). Published in paperback by Doubleday &
Company, Inc., 1989. Levine is a poet, psychologist and meditation teacher. He writes simply and gently about his
own personal experiences with vipassana meditation and the insights to which it has led him. If you are interested
in deep personal growth, this is a good book for you.
Healing into Life and Death. Levine, Stephen. Published by Anchor Books/Doubleday in a paperback reissue edition, 1989. The author has worked with the terminally ill for more than twenty years. When he was director of the Hanuman Foundation's Dying Project, in California he discovered an interesting phenomenon. Levine saw that as people were preparing to die, many of them were being healed and that many of them were often in better health afterward than they had been before the illness. As he studied the phenomenon, he concluded that the healing was because of a new balance of mind and heart. Levine provides vivid case histories of patients who learned to let go, to become open to life, and stop struggling against illness, pain and death. He discusses the value of meditation and includes many mediations for readers to use to practice in order to begin healing "into life and death."
The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom.
Nouwen, Henri J. M. Published by Doubleday, Image
Books, 1996. Henri Nouwen, who died the year this book was published, continues to be one of the world's great
spiritual writers. This was his "secret journal," written during a time of excruciating anguish and deep
despair. He had lost his self-esteem, his energy to live and work, his sense of being loved and even hi hope in
God. At first he thought it was too raw and too private to share, but friends prevailed, convincing him that other
lost souls needed to know and take hope from the fact that even he could become lost. His book gives us his own
personal map back to himself and to God. It is a life-affirming book of courage and commitment and hope.
Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest. Baldwin, Christina. Published by Bantam New Age Books, 1990. I go back over and over again to this wonderful book which will help you discover the bond between spiritual experience and everyday life. The author uses a facing-page format to illuminate her text with quotations, exercises, questions and techniques that will nurture the writer and seeker within you. She shows you how to make writing a too for self-growth and heightened awareness. Even if you never write a word, you'll find it a pleasure to read.
Living In Process: Basic Truths for Living the Path of the Soul. Shaef, Ann Wilson.
Ballantine Books, 1998. In writing of the soul's challange to find a way of being
in the world, the author teaches that process is living life from the inside rather than trying to control it from
the outside. She defines process as a way of doing, not what is done. It is a tone of voice, not what is said.
She leads the reader to a shift in perception of reality -- to seeing the interconnectedness of all things in the
nonlinear motion of the universe. Since giving up her work as a traditional psychotherapist, Shaef has been growing
into this way of seeing a larger spirituality, of reveling in our life as mystery and honoring its challenges,
truths and joys. Shaef's ideas aren't always easy to understand, but the book is worth the effort.
The Mandala of Being: Discovering the Power of Awareness. Richard Moss MD. Published by New World Library,
2007. This is an important and powerful book. Dr. Moss offers the reader a practice of conscious awareness that
is very effective and can easily be incorporated into daily life. He skillfully describes how most of us humans
have come to be guarded, fearful and critical beings who are trying to live an idealized version of ourselves.
I personally had a number of "ah-hah!" moments during the reading of the book. If you wish to better
understand awareness as the path toward becoming an authentic self, and are struggling with living in the now,
this book will be an excellent aid.
Nothing Special: Living Zen. Beck, Charlotte Joko with Steve Smith. Published by Harper San Francisco,
1993. This time the author shows us how to awaken to daily life and find riches in our feelings, relationships
and work. She writes about how to go about living a life free from illusion, projection, and desire. Her teaching
is rooted in ancient practices and written for those who seek a more fulfilling life path of harmony and joy.
A Path with Heart: A Guide through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life. Kornfield, Jack. Published
in paperback by Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1993. Jack Kornfield is a Western-born Buddhist master
who here makes known his personal, practical wisdom, garnered through 25 years of practicing and teaching the path
of awakening. He guides self-searchers to a simplicity of perception that brings alive spiritual practice, peace,
and truth in their daily lives.
Prayers for a Thousand Years. Roberts, Elizabeth & Elias Amidon. Harper SanFrancisco, 1999. These editors, who also did Life Prayers
and Earth Prayers,
have colledted hundreds of wishes, blessings, stories, and challenges from a diverse and international group of
contributors. The collection is organized around universal themes and mostly written expressly for this wonderfully
inspirational volume.
The Presence Process: A Healing Journey into Present Moment Awareness. Michael Brown.
Published by Namaste Publishing Inc., 2005. South African-born, Michael Brown, shows
the reader how to step beyond personal physicl, mental and emotional afflictions and addictions and leads you into
Present Moment Awareness - where we may find liberation, healing and wisdom.
Sacred Practices for Conscious Living. Napier, Nancy. Published by W. W. Norton, 1997. Nancy Napier
describes a world-view focused on combining spiritual and material realities. She addresses the importance of and
teaches how to experience a sense of meaning in life, be aware of the sacred nature of all life, to understand
that everything that exists is part of the full expression of life, to be aware in the present moment, and to accept
suffering as an inescapable part of the challenge of everyday life. There is much that is both comforting and gentling
in this book.
Second Innocence: Rediscovering Joy and Wonder. Izzo, John, PhD. Published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers,
2004. This is a book about continually rediscovering the wonder and joy of being human; about seeing the world
with the perspective of goodness and making a choice to age without becomeing cynical or jaded. It addresses the
issue of how to maintain one's innocence and joy without denying the hard truths about life. The author tackles
the four key areas of daily life, work, love, and faith.
Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. Starhawk. Published by Harper-San Francisco,
1979 and 1989. This amazing and beautiful book presents a broad philosophy of harmony with nature and human accord.
It is an overview of the growth, suppression and modern-day emergence of Goddess worship. Starhawk is a peace activist
and leader in the feminist spirituality and ecofeminist movements in the US and Europe. She teaches at several
San Francisco Bay area colleges and travels widely, lecturing and giving workshops about the Old Religion of the
Goddess. If you are a woman, you owe it to yourself to understand what it once was like for women to be valued
just for being women. Read this as history or read it as a landmark on your search for a woman-centered spirituality.
The Way of Harmony: A Simple Approach to Spiritual, Emotional, Physical, and Material
Prosperity. Jim Dreaver. Published by Avon Books. 1999. The author teaches that
you can have it all by shifting the way you see yourself and your life. Forget the idea that to be rich in spirit
you have to give up worldly pleasures, desires, and goals. The book presents a practical path, including simple,
powerful techniques, to self-realization that embraces all the abundance life has to offer.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Published
in paperback by Hyperion, 1994. Kabat-Zinn is founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts
Medical Center. He urges readers to practice "mindfulness," which is a more than 2000-year-old Buddhist
method of living fully in the present by observing ourselves, our feeling, others and our surroundings without
making judgments. The author presents meditation as a natural activity that can be practiced anytime and anywhere,
without props or trappings. He explains how to live in the moment by exploring techniques such as "non-doing,"
trust and concentration. He also shows readers meditation postures and ways to meditate. Examples of Kabat-Zinn's
applications of mindfulness in everyday life, include "Cleaning the Stove While Listening to Bobby McFerrin,"
"Cat Food Lessons" and a look at parenting as a form of meditation with children as "live-in Zen
masters."
A Year To Live: How to Live This Year As If It Were Your Last. Levine, Stephen. Published by Bell tower,
1997. Stephen Levine has worked with the dying for more than twenty years. Here, he teaches us to live each moment,
each hour, each day, mindfully - as if it were all we had left. In living this way for a year himself, Levine discovered
that his view of the world changed radically, as did his priorities. Here is an exercise that leads us to deal
with the unfinished business and enter into a new, more alive relationship with our lives. He gives us a year-long
program of practical strategies and guided meditations to help us do the work that most of us would put off until
we find ourselves ill and dying, or perhaps, until it is just too late to do it at all. Even if you only do part
of a year, or some of the exercises and meditations - you will move into a different relationship with yourself.
Jan's training and experience expanded.
Jan Fable
203.255-5055
Fairfield, Connecticut
If you want to contact me, you can email me at JFable at forhealing.org
(There's no link to avoid spam)
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