Spiritual Growth

The Astonishing Power of Emotions: Let Your Feelings Be Your Guide

by Esther Hicks

Average Rating:

"I'm not a huge fan of "channeled" information and I'll tell you why; every single one of us is a Divine Channel. Whether we know this or not. Whether we accept this or not. Each one of us has the ability to tap into something greater, something higher, something deeper than we already are. Each one of us has the Power within our hearts, our minds, and our souls to transcend previous limitations and experience an even greater version of "reality". The only reason why most of us don't make that "leap" of faith - and that is exactly what it is, is because we identify more with the "i" of our being more than the "I" that is always and in all ways present and available to us. Call it what you will. Call it God, Spirit, Life...heck, call it Abraham, but people, it's Real and it's as Real as Real can get.

With all that being said, I found myself really resonating with Esther Hicks new book, The Astonishing Power of Feelings. Yes, she does channel a collective entity called "Abraham"...I see you rolling your eyes, but y'know what, it's good stuff. In fact, put the channeling aside and just allow yourself to fully "plunge" into this book.

Anybody who thinks that metaphysics/spirituality is just about "thinking positively" doesn't really know what they're talking about. Positive thinking only goes about as far as the next crisis in your life, which, according to my watch will happen in the next 2-24 hours. No, I'm not being negative...I'm not wishing bad things for you to experience...I just know how human beings operate. If we don't have a crisis in our lives, we'll make one up. Heck, I started early. I made one up as soon as I woke up this morning. But the only reason why it appears that we have more problems than opportunities is only because our focus is not tuned into what Abraham likes to call, "The Infinite Stream of Well-Being".

I like that metaphor. Makes me think of beautiful stream near a meadow. Flowing, flowing, flowing. Allowing nothing to get in its way. Which, is exactly what this stream of well-being does. It is always present. It is always available and yes, even you...yes, you...have tapped into it at one time or another in your life.

Have you ever had a day...or an hour...or even just a moment where it seemed as though everything was in flow? Well, that's because it was. Whether consciously or unconsciously you tapped into your greater "I" Self that I mentioned earlier. You were in alignment with Source Energy and Source Energy couldn't help but bring you wonderful things because that's the way you felt. But, if you were having a day where a black cloud was over your head, if everything you touched turned to poo poo, if no matter what you did or said was absolutely incorrect, then you were out of alignment with the stream of well-being.

Duh.

We can feel good no matter what. Read that again. WE CAN BE HAPPY NO MATTER WHAT. Yeah, your girlfriend may have left you for another woman, your cat may have the clap, and you may feel as though all of life is against you. But you have the power to rise up and transcend the limitations you are at the moment accepting, embracing, and embodying. Trust me, I've been there. I've been at bottom so many times, I thought I had a season pass. I've had life trample over me many times, I've had the wind sucked out of my lungs on numerous occasions, but guess what, I chose to get back up. I don't say these things to tell you how great I am because i am not great...but the "I AM" of me is great just like the "I AM" of you is great.

Read this book...devour this book...become this book...let your feelings be your guide. Yeah, this is a hokey saying that is uttered in every "Feel Good" movie around, but it's the Truth. And don't tell me that this Inner Work is too simple...try it for a month straight without resorting back to old thoughts, old feelings, and old behaviors. Changing our life is simple. It's the keeping it changed where we run into our challenges.

But anyway, people, be happy. Whether you buy this book or not, you always have more reasons to be happy than to be down.

Peace & Blessings,
john"

Publisher: Hay House | More reviews: amazon.com

The Spontaneous Healing of Belief: Shattering the Paradigm of False Limits

by Gregg Braden

Average Rating:

"The first half of this book offers little to distinguish itself from other metaphysical literature on mind-body healing or the power of positive thinking and healthy beliefs. It covers David Bohm's theory that the universe is a holographic computer (although Bohm is only mentioned in one brief paragraph at the very end of the book--p.190), the relationship between the conscious and subconscious minds, and the maleability of reality as described by quantum mechanics. These summaries are tedious and offer few insights that can't be found in dozens of other books.

THE SPONTANEOUS HEALING OF BELIEF does contain a solid chapter on how our minds are unconsciously programmed at an early age and how such negative programming produces the frustration, fear, anger, depression, and pain that can sabatoge our beliefs and the ability to lead healthy lives. Braden's examples are relevant and specific, and this is the strongest part of the book.

The middle of the book is muddled, however, and veers radically off course. According to the author, the prerequisite for healing our beliefs is that light and darkness, good and evil must not be judged but rather accepted as equal and necessary forces by the subconscious mind (pp. 116-124). A battle is allegedly raging within our bodily cells because we were taught as young children that evil and darkness are bad. This conclusion, Braden tells us, was the result of recurring dreams through which he learned to embrace darkness and light as equals. (Okay, Luke, the dark side isn't so bad after all.) Following the description of these dreams, we learn in a poorly explained section that the author, as a result of his dream revelations, lost all friendships, both positive and negative, as he experienced a rather zen-like "nothingness." There is no real clarification as to what he means by this other than that a kind of metaphysical "glue" had "dissolved" in his life (p. 126), a glue formed by mistakenly judging relationships in terms of light and darkness (whatever that might mean) and by evaluating people in terms of their "honesty, integrity, and trust" (p. 125). He concludes that when our own relationships, difficult or not, begin to fade, then the "glue" has been healed. But wait--does the glue "dissolve" or become "healed"? Braden's terminology and prose are hopelessly vague. Is seeking honesty, integrity, and trust in people wrong? And why would we want to risk losing perfectly normal, healthy relationships?

This would be all well and good if the reader can accept a few tenets of Taoism--the "yin and yang"--but the entire principle of polar opposites and its Taoist origins is never explained even though Braden's entire argument rests on this single concept. It is a glaring omission of staggering proportions. The paradigm shift the book seeks to precipitate, therefore, is simply not possible in the Western tradition, a posture that is naive and limiting since it excludes so many other spiritual approaches to the laws of attraction and manifestation. Although Braden takes no doctrinal position, his beliefs are implicit, as when he says that the battle between good and evil, a battle that must NOT be won by either side, is "at least 2000 years old." This is a clear reference to the Common Era (A.D.) since good and evil are spoken of as irreconcilable opposites by the Christian gospels. The truth is that the metaphysics of belief and manifestation can be found in numerous traditions, both east and west, nor is it necessarily confined to any organized tradition at all.

Mr. Braden's fuzzy dream epiphany that yokes together good and evil ignores the considerable metaphysical, philosophical, and religious literature that draws heavily upon Western tradition, calling for a repudiation of evil, darkness, and negativity before one may manifest a desired reality. The most notable example is Dr. Joseph Murphy's landmark THE POWER OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND, as well as studies and books by Dr. Larry Dossey, Dr. Melvin Morse, Dr. Bernie Segal, and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, all of whom maintain a belief in the power of positive thinking within Jewish, Christian, and non-denominational traditions in order to manifest miracles and strengthen belief.

Braden uses the brief discussion of opposites to bolster the premise that the universe is a computer simulation. Computers use a binary language: 1 and 0, yes and no, on and off. Ay, there's the rub! The only necessary discussion of an "opposite" in this context is the on-off nature of the atom, which can exist as a wave or a particle (determined by the observer according to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle), and yet this is oddly given short shrift in the book. Wave-particle duality (or any part of quantum mechanics) does not dictate that we accept good and evil as a single unified force to choose between what Braden terms "love chemistry" or "fear chemistry." Most metaphysical writers, in fact, believe that it is precisely our decision to choose light over darkness (that which is positive and loving) that allows us to embrace a new paradigm capable of breaking toxic habits and relationships--the old programming.

The book's final chapters seek to implement the actual healing of beliefs with mental "software patches" consisting of 1) the use of irrefutable logic to convince the mind of its false programming, and 2) miracles themsleves. If the first method was an easy fix, we could dispense with psychotherapy or books like this one and simply give ourselves a good talking to, for as the author himself reiterates numerous times, old internal tapes are extremely hard to destroy. Method one is therefore anything but "spontaneous." The second method is a classic Catch-22. To experience a miracle, one must actually first experience a miracle in order to get beyond classic scientific thinking. (Huh?) The ways to "heal belief" according to Braden, therefore, are as follows: 1) embrace good and evil as one force; 2) use logic; or 3) experience a miracle. It's worth noting that in the entire book, only four examples are used to demonstrate Braden's thesis. As for Braden's "31 Belief Codes," they are merely paragraph summaries scattered throughout the book. They are "factoids" that can be found in almost any book on mind-body healing or metaphysics and do not represent any kind of organized "system" of healing.

While the book makes some valid scientific points, its central thesis hinges on a biased and egocentric view of reality resulting from Braden's dreams. His conclusions about healing are likely to turn off readers who cannot accept evil and darkness as necessary creative forces in their lives. Perhaps he merely means, as Jung stated, that we must accept our limitations and darker sides--our humanity--but this bit of solid psychology does not tally with what Braden is suggesting. Nowhere in the book does Braden tell us how our "relationship with polarity" (p. 128) heals our beliefs. Chapter five promises to apply this all-important concept, but polarity is never mentioned again as Braden resumes his discussion of life as computer simulation.

Competent editing of this book might have gone a long way in clarifying some of the author's more esoteric, ill-defined points. The rambling chapter on polarities and Braden's dreams seems detached from the rest of the book, which desperately needs what is known in publishing as "developmental editing." There is no flow or continuity to the chapters in what is a wandering, now-familiar discussion of manifestation and the laws of attraction and belief.

Gregg Braden has been called "a modern-day prophet," a scientist who is bridging the gap between science and spirituality. Braden, however, is a former computer programmer, not a scientist, and the methodology, research, and conclusions in his books have been sharply criticized for years by legitimate scientists as well as reviewers in the mainstream press. "

Publisher: Hay House | More reviews: amazon.com

The Seeker's Guide (previously published as The New American Spirituality)

by Elizabeth Lesser

Average Rating:

"I have been to many "new age" workshops and have read tons of the books available on self-help and spirtuality. Some of it was great, but often I felt as if something was missing. I wondered what relevance the spirtual journey had to my psycholigical growth and I worried that my concerns with psychology were too self-absorbing. Lesser captures the essence of this tension in her book. She looks at how the spiritual and psychological path can intersect in a way that anyone can understand - and she does it so well that I found myself actually saying "ah ha!" as I read along. She also speaks in a frank, candid way about the "new age" movement, and that is really refreshing. It sounds like she has met absolutely everybody in the field and talks about them all as human beings instead of big stars. What a relief!I also really liked her own story, because it made me see how much we are all seekers on a path. The way she talks about her ups and downs makes the rest of what she says seem even more real. You can tell that she has a great feeling for anyone who is out there trying to figure things out in their own way. It was encouraging. She wrote one part about a poem she and her husband return to whenever they have to make a dificult decision because it has a message that they learn from again and again. I was really struck by the simplicity of doing that and I thought, "wow, I could do that!" There were a bunch of those stories -she talked about things she did to keep herself on track that were simple, but took some thought, and reading them inspired me.I guess that is really the bottom line. If anyone is on a path or thinking about learning more about different ways of exploring spirituality and self growth, this book is a real inspiration. It is also packed with a lot of information, as she quotes so many other teachers and writes about a lot of different traditions. I was impressed by how much she packed into it.She also writes about the Omega, which I had never heard of. It sounds like a fasinating place so I was glad to find out about it. Bottom line is, I recommend it - especially if you are one of those people who is yearning for some kind of spiritual connection or a more peaceful place inside yourself and you just don't know where to get started. It was really good. I noticed I was the only one in the review area - anybody else out there read it?"

Publisher: Villard | More reviews: amazon.com

The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning

by Ernest Kurtz

Average Rating:

"This book is to spirituality as riding a rollercoaster is to physics. It is not a read; it is an experience. Kurtz and Ketcham have managed to tell their own story in such a way that the reader is invited to share in that experience. Finding this spirituality of imperfection in Alcoholics Anonymous and the twelve-step program, K&K have scoured spiritual writings throughout history to find the words to describe their experience. Boldface quotes and stories color almost every page.K&K find the essence of the spiritual in human imperfections and failure, in the inevitability of pain. Spirituality is not the evasion of consequences or errors, but rather learning how to live with them. They call trying to be perfect the most tragic human mistake. They are clear, spirituality is found in asking the right questions, not in finding the right answers.Perhaps every reader of this book will not be able to hear it's music. Perhaps only those who have been wounded by life, need it. Perhaps only those who have drunk deeply of failure will find nourishment here. All I know is that I did, and to Kurtz and Ketcham I will always be grateful."

Publisher: Bantam | More reviews: amazon.com

Matrix Energetics: The Science and Art of Transformation

by Richard Bartlett

Average Rating:

"I would not be writing this review, but I decided to after reading the previous post that this book is "Total Bunk." Being a doctor and also interested in quantum physics, I was intrigued with the idea of combining the two. I read the book with a somewhat skeptical mindset, but tried to keep open-minded enough to see if there was "something" I could get from it. I agree with some other posters that the book is somewhat of a hodgepodge and not really good at explaining the techniques. For writing, I would give it only three stars. I also thought some of the claims made either by the author or by some of the seminar attendees (as outlined in the book) were a bit pie-in-the-sky. I went to the website and noticed an upcoming seminar close to me and decided to see for myself what it was about.

Well, Dr. Bartlett got on stage and brought up people from the audience. One after another, people were falling over backwards after he touched them. It looked similar to the b.s. you see the supposed televangelical "healers" do. One man stood in an uncomfortable extreme extension posture on stage for about twenty minutes while Dr. Bartlett continued teaching and working on other people on stage. I thought I was probably witnessing some kind of hypnotic suggestions.

The next day of the seminar, Dr. Bartlett began teaching us how to do what he does. The woman sitting next to me was another doctor who had stopped her medical practice many years prior due to multiple cervical (neck) and lumbar (low back) spinal fusions from previous injuries. She had almost no strength in her right arm due to nerve damage from the neck surgery and constant pain and spasms in her left arm and shoulder from compensating for the weakness on the right. We looked at each other, both skeptical that anything like Dr. Bartlett was saying could be true, let alone us be able to do it after a brief intro.

On my first "application" of the first technique on her, there was some reduction in the spasms in the left arm with a total reduction of the pain. I decided to move on to the left arm to something I could measure more "objectively." I first tested her forearm flexor muscles and found almost no strength, then applied Dr. Bartlett's technique and retested. To our astonishment, she instantly regained about 50% of her strength. I applied the technique on that same side once again and retested. She had a full level 5 (normal) strength rating. I then moved on to the time travel technique. The doctor fell back into her seat when I got to the age that her neck injury occurred. I then two-pointed, with focused intent, to her neck, and "got out of the way." She instantly looked several years younger (we later joked about using this for anti-aging) and I told her to move her neck. Her ranges of motion were almost normal. Still being somewhat skeptical that I could have had anything to do with something like this, I spoke to her the next day to ask her if her improvements lasted, which they had. She had spend a part of the night reassessing her beliefs and I could see she was experiencing a total life change. Dr. Bartlett ended up bringing her up onto the stage on the last day of the seminar and worked on the rest of the range of motion in her neck and then her lumbar spine, having no idea that her entire lumbar spine had been fused. She bent down and touched the floor with her fingers. The stressed, skeptical face I saw in her on day one turned into one of extreme joy with a very wide smile and she was blinking back tears.

The other people I worked on were not as dramatic and I didn't have as dramatic effects occur on myself (but didn't have anything in particular that needed "healing"), but after I used the "time travel" technique on another person, I was able to give her a rundown of her life experiences from age to age that she said was "very accurate." As I did the technique on her, I "felt" things at certain ages and wasn't certain what I was feeling. AFter it was over, I gave her a quick overview of her life, not knowing what I was going to say until a split second before I actually said it. In other words, I ended up giving her a psychic reading of her past, but had no idea what her past was until I began to verbalize it!

Once I got home from the seminar, I applied the techniques to my partner (another doctor), who has a long history of injuries, including one that lead to back surgery, and terrible, contorted posture. To our surprise, he leaned forward and his very contracted calves began to elongate, then he went into a strange dance standing in place that we could see was correcting his lower legs and pelvic region. The injuries that lead to the calf contractures occurred when he was a teenager. It was the first time in decades that he felt them lengthen and relax. The next day, the focus was on another aspect of his posture. He went into another standing dance that was different than the day before and was more flowing--kind of like tai chi. It was apparent that he was moving in directions he was not able to voluntarily do on his own. This lasted about 25 minutes until he was becoming fatigued and decided to stop it, but during that time, the dance changed and I could see the focus on another aspect of his faulty postural patterns as though his nervous system was being retrained. By the way, he did not attend the seminar because he was totally skeptical and was surprised when his body began to spontaneously move when I first touched him. We have more work to do, but he reports that he is able to walk more comfortably and his chronic postural pain has reduced.

Dr. Bartlett himself does not claim to "know" exactly what he's doing. In fact, his emphasis is on shutting down the logical left side of the brain in favor of the subconscious and creative right side. It's basically having a focused intent for the person you're "working" on, then throwing it out to "the universe", "God", "higher power", "higher self", your "guides", "angels", "collective unconscious", or whatever you're comfortable calling it, to do the work from there. I certainly cannot claim, with all my training, to know exactly what I "did", except to use my consciousness to collapse the probability wave in spacetime to set "something" into motion.

And so, this bunk-seeker will be signing up for the next level seminar and will probably end up getting certified under Dr. Bartlett. This appears to hold much more promise than the $80,000 in student loans that I took out to pay for my medical training many years ago. This, I do believe now, is the medicine of the future or at the very least--a new branch. Dr. Bartlett is on to "something" and it's apparent that this is only just the beginning. "

Publisher: Atria Books/Beyond Words | More reviews: amazon.com

Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting: The Astonishing Power of Feelings

by Lynn Grabhorn

Average Rating:

"0 stars really. I will try to be as gentle with this review as I can, because it is clear that the writer is enthusiastic about sharing this new buzz and feeeeeeeling that she has discovered. Therefore I applaud her for that.
However, this is one of the most annoying and poorly written books that I have wasted money on. The more I tried to read, the more annoyed I became, "closing my valves" I guess, because the writing is roundabout, repetitive and never really gets to the point. The cute little headings did not help at all. I was totally fooled by the numerous positive reviews of the book, and so went out and bought it. Some of her ideas could be useful, but by the time I serched to find one idea embedded within pages of unnecessary rambling, It was difficult to link that idea to the next, because I had just about forgotten what it was. This just annoyed me - I guess you could say it created a negative "feeeeeling," closing my valve and killing my buzz. I would feel better if I could offer the book to a friend or acquaintance who could make good use of it, but I am afraid that I would only be annoying and frustrating another person, so I wont.
My suggestion is that if you really want clear and helpful information on how to work with the law of attraction, go to the Abraham/Hicks material.
At the same time, I believe Lynn Grabhorn is on to something - she is just not able to express it clearly and interestingly at this time. Wish her better luck next time."

Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing | More reviews: amazon.com

Living a Life of Inner Peace

by Eckhart Tolle

Average Rating:

" Please pardon the pun on Eckhart Tolle's initials. I couldn't resist the fact that he has the initials E.T. I think this is an appropriate coincidence considering his approach to "living in the now" is an "alien" concept to most people :)

I originally found out about Eckhart Tolle because of a quote in Rolf Gate's wonderful Book "Meditations From The Mat". I was intrigued and started searching for more about him. Fortunately my library has quite a bit of E.T.'s books and audio so I was able to sample his work. I was blown away!

While I had been introduced to the idea of mindfulness by such wonderful teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabot-Zinn and others, Eckhart Tolle has a way of teaching that I can connect with in a more meaningful way. He is non-sectarian and non-dogmatic. He steps on no one's "spiritual toes" and is embracing and respectful of all paths. I feel he can help us see the essence behind all religious teachings, away from the egocentric "us against them" mentality so prevalent by so many so called "religious" folks. His teaching is also not colored by religious rituals or cultural trappings.

This CD set "Living A Life Of Inner Peace" is one that I would highly recommend to those familiar with and those new to Eckhart Tolle's teaching. His wisdom as well as his sense of humor and joy come across in a way that would be impossible to get from his written works (which of course are still indespensible). In fact, I find I enjoy his written works even more because I feel I have a better sense of the character of the author. This can give one a more subtle sense that enhances the meaning of the written words since a speaker's inflections can convey so much that cannot be written in ink.

For someone who is looking for wonderful, life changing teachings from a wonderful spiritual teacher I can't think of someone I would recommend higher than Eckhart Tolle, and this set is a great place to start as well as continue with.

Also I would highly recommend "Practicing The Power Of Now". It is a wonderful distillation of his longer work "The Power Of Now". It can serve as either an introduction to "The Power Of Now" or as a way to help implement the teachings found in that book. Of course the original "The Power Of Now" as well as his follow up book "Stillness Speaks" are highly recommended as well.

Namaste "

Publisher: New World Library | More reviews: amazon.com

The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing

by Esther Hicks

Average Rating:

"I gotta say, I like their stuff. It's entertaining, and at the very least the message is positive.

This Abraham character, that Esther "channels," sounds more like Zsa Zsa Gabor than what I'd expect a highly evolved transdemensional being to sound like, but hey, it makes the message more fun. I won't get hung up on my feelings about channeling; because a wise man once taught me that it's not so much the messenger, but the message that counts.

The message that I got from Esther's entity is basically this: Going about trying to change your world by running amok fixing everything outside of you is bass ackwards. Instead, fix your inner world with feelings like joy and that's what you'll create.

I think Jesus said it this way in Mark 11:22-24. "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

Hey, if the Red Sox could use the power of belief to win the World Series after 80 years of disappointment, then this stuff must work.

You may also want to check out "The DaVinci Method" for the secrets to overcoming your inner barriers to positive creating.

Believe!"

Publisher: Hay House | More reviews: amazon.com

Soul Communication: Opening Your Spiritual Channels for Success and Fulfillment (Soul Power)

by Zhi Gang Sha

Average Rating:

"Dr. Sha's Soul Communication book describes how you can use soul communication to communicate with other souls, including the souls of animals, plants, inanimate objects, and those in the Soul World. Dr. Sha teaches that everything has a soul including all animate and inanimate things. Using soul communication you can receive wisdom and healing from any soul in the universe. You can use soul communication for healing, teaching, service, and advancing your spiritual journey. The major spiritual channels for doing soul communication are Soul Language, Direct Soul Communication, Third Eye, and Direct Knowing. There are many practices and blessings included for opening these channels.

Dr. Sha's Soul Communication book is no ordinary book. Dr. Sha is a very high spiritual master. Spiritual masters have the ability to transmit spiritual power. As I mentioned, Master Sha teaches that everything has a soul, including the Soul Communication book. In addition to the power of the soul of the Soul Communication book, Dr. Sha has transmitted or "downloaded" additional souls and blessings to every Soul Communication book. So while you are reading the book you are receiving the blessings. Also, you can invoke these special souls downloaded to the book to help you open your spiritual channels and to help you heal and transform. To invoke these souls, you would say, "Dear soul, mind, and body of the Divine treasures downloaded to this book. I love and respect you. Please give me a blessing to fully open my spiritual channels (or whatever your request is). Do a great job. Thank you." Then chant using the mantra described for the Message Center on page 30 of the book, or chant using Soul Language (page 32). You can also hold the book against your Message Center with the front cover facing you (or the front cover facing away from you if you want to send a blessing to someone else). Chant for several minutes or longer. Then close by saying "thank you, thank you, thank you." If you are interested in using the power of more of Master Sha's downloads, visit his web page to find the Divine downloads that Master Sha has given to all humanity or to all souls. Go to drsha dot com, then click on the Universal Service menu, then select "Divine Gifts." See the information on "Universal Downloads." One of these gifts that will help you to open your spiritual channels is the Divine Soul Transplant of Divine Level 1 Message Center. (NOTE: I have not heard Dr. Sha say what blessings he has downloaded to the paperback version of the book. However, the paperback version is new in that you can have several Divine souls downloaded to you, the reader, from the Divine just by reading specific pages in the book. The Divine souls that you receive carry divine frequency with divine love, light, forgiveness, compassion, and light. This is explained on page xv in the front of the book. To receive the first Divine download in the book, read pages 19-20.)

I would also comment about the Third Eye practices beginning on page 58 of the hardback version. Be sure to read footnote 14 on page 104 before starting. (In the paperback version, the Third Eye practices begin on page 52. The footnote appears to have been omitted, but it stated, "... If you have headaches, hypertension, glaucoma, a brain tumor, brain cancer, Alzheimer's, or are recovering from a stroke, do not practice any Third Eye exercises, because these illnesses involve energy blockages in the brain.") Page 59 of the hardback version (and page 54 of the paperback version) describes using a "lotus flower" hand position. The hands should be positioned in front of the Message Center (heart chakra) with the fingers pointing up (see the picture on page 80 of Dr. Sha's Power Healing: Four Keys to Energizing Your Body, Mind and Spirit book). If you have any of the health conditions listed in footnote 14, you can still develop your third eye, but you must do it differently. You can use the creative visualization meditations starting on page 125 of the Power Healing book to open your third eye. These meditations include Raging Sea, 5 Colored Horses, Ginseng Tree, Finding a Pearl, and Flashing Images. One of Dr Sha's students with a very powerful third eye developed his third eye by doing the Ginseng Tree meditation every night. On drsha dot com you can also find tapes or DVD's with these meditations to help you open your third eye faster.) There are more instructions for developing the Third Eye in Dr. Sha's Soul Mind Body Medicine: A Complete Soul Healing System for Optimum Health and Vitality Book on pages 318+.

There are some great insights in Soul Communication, such as how to deal with blockages in your life (paperback page 204), or how to help New Orleans in a different way (paperback page 208). I hope this book assists you on your spiritual journey. "

Publisher: Atria | More reviews: amazon.com

Don't Bite the Hook: Finding Freedom from Anger, Resentment, and Other Destructive Emotions

by Pema Chodron

Average Rating:

"This is a seemingly extemporaneous western commentary (in front of an audience) on the 1st 51 verses of Shantideva's 8th c. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyavatara (Shambhala Dragon Editions). It complements Pema's recent book No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva & (probably, since I haven't heard it yet) her Bodhisattva Mind: Teachings to Cultivate Courage and Awareness in the Midst of Suffering 7 CD set which covers 106 verses of the text. So this is a shorter version. The 1st CD is 54:11 in 13 tracks with an avg. of 4:10 & max. of 8:24; the 2nd CD is 77:31 in 20 tracks with an avg. of 3:53 & max. of 11:04; the 3rd CD is 51:15 in 16 tracks with an avg. of 3:12 & max. of 15:52. Overall avg. is 3:53 per track. Total exceeds 3 hours, 9 minutes. The very last track is Q&A of 3 questions--practice vs. repression, medications, & crying. Robert Walker reads each verse before Pema comments on it. She believes Shantideva wrote it in response to his own anger. As usual, she compassionately teaches compassion, using humor, graphic examples (e.g. the Gregory Peck classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" & personal experiences (e.g. visiting prisons). Interestingly, she succeeds in relating lojong mind training to Bodhisattva compassion training. While much of the teaching is not new (see her other fine works) it bears repeating. It's easy to learn the theory but not to actually practice it--repetition & reinforcement can help, but mindfulness & alertness are essential.

More specifically, Pema extensively addresses "the austerity of patience" as armor against Karma, noting that humor aids patience. This helps to defuse the us/them binary mentality at the root of suffering = seeing people as "other." Rather, one can use life's difficulties to awaken your kinship with others--developing empathy. This ties in with Pema's tonglen practice--sending & receiving practice, esp. tonglen-on-the-spot (mentioned briefly here). Indeed, our anger can be our teacher (a la Vajrayana's propensity to turn poison into elixir). We can practice using small annoyances (Bourgeois suffering)--being patient rather than aggravating them by complaining--thus avoiding self-inflicted pain & negative habit-building. Rather than following addictive urges, "we are always working with our potential to be bothered" by reframing our attitude to discomfort & "finding out what intolerable feels like w/o reacting to it." As she points out, by practicing mind training, we have tools that others don't, so have patience, compassion, & tolerance for them as well as for yourself. Thus, we can develop Herbert Guenther's water logic vs. rock logic--flowing/open vs. rigid/fixed--fluidity vs. structure, resting in ambiguity. Thus, we ease our attachment (shenpa), the Hook in the title, the charge behind our likes & dislikes--even our commitment to the environment can be an obstacle (turning elixir into poison). We tend to identify with our own thoughts [my bumper sticker says: "You don't have to believe everything you think"]. Rather, per Mahamudra/Dzogchen teachings, "taming the mind is returning to the natural state of openness" & joyously appreciating the "magical apparition" (display). This is a lovely, user-friendly CD set."

Publisher: Shambhala Audio | More reviews: amazon.com