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New Reviews as of December/January
2004
Previous
Reviews
From
Kathryn Lanier: There are
times when I gaze at a stack of books to review and
wonder how I am going to tie them together into a coherent
theme. The eight new reviews for this column came together
and began to represent one consistent and direct them
- the awakening of consciousness. Peter Russell writes
in From Science to God that consciousness
is the inner world in which we are aware that we are
aware. How this awareness is awakened is not determined
by a religious practice but rather by a consistent spiritual
practice and awareness. The column for this issue is
designed to give you excellent book reviews covering
a broad spectrum of paths to your personal awakening.
Reviews for the titles published in previous issues
are listed by title and author at the end of the column.
The previous reviews are available on the Innerchange
website. Have a wonderful time exploring these wonderful
books and choosing gifts for all on your holiday lists!
"May the light of true
love and true intimacy touch your heart, now and always."
- Kathryn Lanier
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Triumph
Over Grief
by Joyce Smith Williams, 2003
Turn Key Press, Austin, TX
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| Losing your husband
of 44 years to a sudden heart attack is bad. Losing
your daughter to AIDS from a blood transfusion is worse.
Losing two of your young grandsons to the same disease
unimaginable. Having it all appear on the front of the
New York Times in the early 1980s would have
broken many a strong soul. But Joyce Smith Williams
cried, resigned from her career as a professional educator,
and reached out to others. Now, over 20 years later,
she has finally found the strength to share her journey
with us. Uncut, up close, and personal. Williams has
triumphed over grief by faith, by connection, and by
telling her daughter's story as she always promised
she would.
Other Reviews
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From
Science to God: A Physicist's Journey into the Mystery
of Consciousness
by Peter Russell, 2003
New World Library, Novato, CA
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This book is for every
renaissance individual out there! So many of us who
have been involved in making the paradigm shift from
a purely scientific view of the universe to the marriage
of the scientific and spiritual paradigms over the last
30 years have found it difficult to put into words how
and why this journey has been such a logical path for
us. Peter Russell shares with us his own personal journey
while offering the clearest explanation of the mystery
of consciousness available today. This slim volume brilliantly
defines the nature of consciousness and the speed with
which our current paradigm shift is occurring. Russell's
writing is both logical and loving. This is one to read
again and again!
Other Reviews
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The
New Meditation Handbook: Meditations to Make Our
Life Happy and Meaningful
by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, 2003
Tharpa Publications, Glen Spey, NY
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The New Meditation
Handbook is a wonderful revision of a classic first
published in 1990. Based on the Dharma of Kadam Lamrin,
the meditations in this beautiful handbook are predicated
on the belief in reincarnation and karma. The first
part of this handbook explains in detail how and why
to meditate within this tradition. The second part has
21 meditations that are to be practiced in order until
each one is mastered. Lamrin means "the stages
of the path," and each stage is practiced until
mastery is attained before moving on to the next stage.
Attaining true happiness requires that the body, mind,
and spirit be in a perpetual state of inner peace. Kadam
Lamrin will lead you to this state of inner peace.
Other Reviews
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Where
Regret Cannot Find Me: Essays from the Spiritual
Path
by David Ault, 2003
Xlibris Corporation, USA |
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All that and a bag
of chips! This is the title to one of my favorite
essays in David Ault's journal of his odyssey to self-awareness
and the abundance available in all areas of our lives.
In this particular essay, Ault realizes that, not only
is he worrying about paying the bills, but he is physically
acting out the worry in the same way and the same place
that his mother had so many years before - at the dining
room table! Switching from beseeching and begging God
for a solution to a prayer of quiet contemplation, Ault
is suddenly inspired to embrace change and, so, takes
all the bills to a nearby park and begins to write checks
to go with each one - in spite of the balance in his
bank account. Arriving home, the phone rings and he
is asked for an address to send a royalty check for
a movie he was in some years before. The amount was
within twenty dollars of the total amount of the checks
he had just written. All that AND a bag of chips! Ault's
book of essays teaches us and then invites us with a
few questions at the end of each essay to embrace the
change possible in our own lives. He invites us to embrace
our own self-awareness and conscious awakening.
Other Reviews
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Twin
Flames: A True Story of Soul Reunion
by Antera, 2003
Twinsong Press, Mt. Shasta, CA
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How many of us believe
that if we find our soulmate we will live happily ever
after? What about your twin flame? Will you then experience
a clear path to happiness and service to mankind? Antera
has written the story of her union with her twin flame
Omaran in this wonderful autobiographical story that
reads as easily as a novel. Already married for the
second time with two teenage sons, Antera met Omaran
at a meditation workshop and their connection was simply
more than either could resist. Although they know that
they are twin flames as their relationship evolves and
they become free to begin their life of service, tensions
and emotional pain begin to mount. Antera and Omaran's
story is not over, but what they continue to learn is
that holding on to love and approaching each other with
love is what we truly need to learn in any relationship.
That offering their experiences to others to help others
heal is what makes a twin flame relationship so important.
In the final analysis, being willing to take on the
darkness and transform it into light is the true work
of all lightworkers, especially the twin flames who
incarnate together and find each other.
Other Reviews
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The
Findhorn Book of Practical Spirituality
Kathy Gottberg, 2003
Findhorn Press, Scotland, United Kingdom |
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Kathy Gottberg has written
a lovely slim volume about applying our spirituality
to every facet of our lives in simple, practical ways.
Gottberg does not tell us that it will be easy, only
that it does not have to be complicated! She has included
many wonderful anecdotes and stories in this book to
enhance understanding of the concepts she introduces.
One of my favorite stories is the one about her husband
making a conscious decision to do what he loves rather
than what she felt he should be doing. As her fear about
paying the bills gained momentum, Thom sat her down
and tells her that his doing what he loves is not the
real issue at hand. The real issue at hand is why she
thinks that she has to work at a job she hates
just to pay the bills! Abundance in any area of our
lives has nothing to do with obligation but with an
abiding joy and connection to a Universe that only knows
how to answer "yes" to our greatest desires.
Other Reviews
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Angels
and Alchemy: A Novel Based on Spiritual Truths
Donna Wolfe Gatti, 2003
Angel Academy Press, Baltimore, Maryland |
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A glance at Donna Gatti's
resume reassures her readers that she has had lifelong
active mystical experiences and truly knows her stuff.
But what you cannot see from her resume is what a brilliant
storyteller she is! Angels and Alchemy, Gatti's
first novel, is a riveting story of a woman so deeply
enmeshed with a mistaken perspective regarding love
that she completely looses herself in the process. Following
her intuition, our heroine continues to maintain a relationship
with the one person who can guide her through her rediscovery
of her authentic self and the true nature of love. Gatti's
story is well written with a seamless plot and beautifully
developed characters whose reality leaps off the page!
Other Reviews
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The
Miracle Tree: Demystifying the Qabalah
R.J. Stewart, 2003
The Career Press, Inc., Franklin Lakes, New Jersey |
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R.J. Stewart has been
a student of the Qabalah for more than thirty years
and takes a true leap of faith in offering to us the
mysteries of the Qabalah. Stewart takes the complexities
of the Qabalah, breaks them down into mall steps and
writes about them in such a way that even the novice
among us can absorb their meaning. For hundreds of years
the Qabalah has been cloaked in secrecy out of fear.
Stewart steps away from that fear and demonstrates that
the miracle of the Tree of Life is that we are
the Tree of Life. More than a book of mere explanation,
The Miracle Tree is filled with exercises
that lead us to our own experience of the Tree of Life
within us. For those who have given up on understanding
the Qabalah in the past, this book is a must have.
Other Reviews
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About
the Reviewer:
Kathryn Lanier lives in Colorado with her eight
year old twins. She is a freelance writer/editor/reviewer
educated at UNC-CH and the College of Charleston. Kathryn
is published internationally, designed and is teaching
In-Vision! Seminar for personal empowerment,
and writes and edits for international clients. Please
address inquiries regarding writing, editing, and seminar
services to TheWritingArts@aol.com.
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