Inprint - New Books of interest by Jeanne Spiro

Power of Freedom and Grace: Living from the Source of Lasting Happiness by Deepak Chopra. (Amber-Allen Publishing, $14.00, Paperback.)

In Power, Freedom, And Grace, now out in paperback, Deepak Chopra considers the mystery of our existence and its significance in our eternal quest for happiness.

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where do I go when I die? Chopra draws on the ancient philosophy of Vedanta and the findings of modern science to help us understand and experience our true nature, which is a field of pure consciousness. When we understand our true nature, we begin to live from the source of lasting happiness, which is not mere happiness for this or that reason, but true inner joy.

When we know who we really are, we no longer interfere with the innate intelligence of the cosmos. Instead we allow the universe to flow through us with effortless ease, and our lives are infused with power, freedom, and grace.

Understanding A Course In Miracles: The History, Message, and Legacy of a Spiritual Path for Today by D. Patrick Miller. (Celestial Arts, $15.95, Paperback.)

“This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.” In 1965, Columbia professor Helen Schucman received this instruction from a mysterious inner voice and began the process of transcribing what would become a 1,200 page spiritual teaching called A Course in Miracles. Influencing millions of people worldwide, the Course—whose core message is forgiveness helps people release fear and find greater love in their lives—remains mysterious to many: Is it Christian based? Is it grounded in New Age thought? Is it a cult?

In Understanding A Course in Miracles, spiritual seeker and journalist D. Patrick Miller examines the Course’s origins, history, and philosophy, including the controversies and questions that surround this contemporary spiritual phenomenon. Illuminating the Course’s role in a global cultural shift from organized religious affiliation to a more personal spirituality, Miller offers viewpoints from teachers, scholars, students, and critics of this provocative and challenging text. Understanding A Course in Miracles is an indispensable companion book to a powerful yet often misunderstood spiritual path.

More Notes from the Universe: Life, Dreams, and Happiness by Mike Dooley. (Atria Books, $17.95, Hardcover.)

There is more to living in the jungles of time and space than meets the eye. Just behind the curtain, in the unseen, there is a love and an essence that yearns for us to have all that we want. There, the Universe conspires on our behalf, aligning players and circumstances in unimaginable ways, drawing to each of us that which we most focus upon and move with. Any wish can be granted and every challenge can be surmounted when we remember how life really works and who we really are.

What if the Universe were to send us frequent reminders of this power we have over our lives? More Notes from the Universe, second book in the Notes from the Universe trilogy, overflows with these valuable reminders. Whether opened at random or read from front to back, the powerful affirmations penned by author Mike Dooley will have you once again thinking positively, feeling confident, and walking the path to personal fulfillment.

Dooley serves up reminders to help keep us feeling grounded, excited, and at times, laughing all the way to enlightenment. “To have the life you desire, all you have to do is ask,” says Dooley, “The secret of manifesting change is not focusing on the how but instead the end result of what you are after—the kind of life that you want. Then, once you are truly focused, the Universe will move everything on your behalf.” There’s no predicament that can’t be turned into an advantage ... no burden that cannot give you wings.

Miraculous Health: How to Heal Your Body by Unleashing the Hidden Power of Your Mind by Dr. Rick Levy with Lou Aronica. (Atria Books, $24.00, Hardcover.)

The power to live a pain-free life of health and well-being is stored deep in the limitless human mind. Miraculous Health is a blueprint for accessing this power. Dr. Rick Levy systematically guides us through a specific program to heal physical illness or injury. His sequence of proven, prescriptive mind-body healing techniques leads to immediate results and miraculous changes in long-term vitality.

Dr. Levy’s methods are easy to learn and can be customized for individual needs. The exercises in this book come with cogent explanations of why they work, complete with their scientific underpinnings, and are illuminated by healing stories and personal anecdotes. To maximize the power of the work in this book, Levy provides twelve potent mind-body tools in the form of free audio downloads that can be accessed via the internet. This program requires no more specialized training than a commitment to better health. Miraculous Health unleashes the power within to heal in dramatic and enduring ways. It is the culmination of forty years of clinical practice and research; a four step process that anyone can learn and master in as little as three weeks.

The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky: The Creator of El Topo by Alejandro Jodorowsky. (Park Street Press, $18.95, Paperback.)

In 1970, John Lennon introduced Alejandro Jodorowsky to the world and the movie, that he wrote, starred in, and directed, El Topo. The movie and its author became counterculture icons. But that was only the beginning of the story and the controversy of El Topo, and the journey of this brilliant creator.

Jodorowsky’s spiritual quest began with the Japanese master Ejo Takata, the man who introduced him to the practice of meditation, Zen Buddhism, and the wisdom of the koans. Yet in this autobiographical account of his spiritual journey, Jodorowsky reveals that it was a small group of wisewomen, far removed from the world of Buddhism, who initiated him and taught him how to put the wisdom he had learned from his master into practice.

At the direction of Takata, Jodorowsky became a student of the surrealist painter Leonora Carrington, thus beginning a journey in which vital spiritual lessons were transmitted to him by various women who were masters of their particular crafts. These women included Doña Magdalena, who taught him initiatic or spiritual massage; the powerful Mexican actress known as La Tigresa; and Reyna D’Assia, daughter of the famed spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff. Other important wisewomen on Jodorowsky’s spiritual path include Maria Sabina, the priestess of the sacred mushrooms; the healer Pachita; the Chilean singer Violeta Parra. The teachings of these women enabled him to discard the emotional armor that was hindering his advancement on the path of spiritual awareness and enlightenment.

Transcendent Dreaming: Stepping into Our Human Potential by Christina Donnell, Ph.D., foreword by Larry Dossey, M.D. (Winds of Change Books, $12.95, Paperback.)

In Transcendent Dreaming, Dr. Christina Donnell chronicles a series of dreams that, much to her surprise, revealed the presence within her of certain transcendent capacities. The more they surfaced, the clearer it became that in her dreams she was gradually approaching a state of oneness with all of creation—an awareness she proposes lies dormant in humankind, ready to be awakened.

Transcendent Dreaming provides both a riveting account of these discoveries and a viable means for realizing them. Through example, it invites us to access our infinite nature by delving deeply into our own dream experiences. It then helps bridge the chasm between identifying with one’s individual self and with the underlying intelligence pervading the universe. In offering this blueprint for a transcendent humanity, it gives us back our heritage and guides us toward a future of inner peace, joy, and wonderment independent of external circumstances.

Life Without a Centre: Awakening From the Dream of Separation by Jeff Foster. Non-Duality Press, $13.95, Paperback.)

     Right in the midst of life, freedom and enlightenment are always present, always available. Are "you" ready for this message?
     As adults, we seem to spend a lot of our precious time attempting to escape from the play of life and all the suffering that being a person in the world inevitably entails. Drink, drugs, sex, money and meditation are common methods of escape.
     In this book, another possibility is suggested: that there is only ever the present appearance of life, with no individual at its core who could ever escape even if they wanted to. Indeed, all attempts to escape merely serve to reinforce suffering and separation. The entire spiritual search is nothing more than a game we play with ourselves, the cosmic entertainment ...
     In a contemporary, refreshing and lucid style, and using various literary techniques, this book cuts through much of the confusion and frustration surrounding the search for spiritual enlightenment, and points back time and time again to the utterly obvious: This moment, and everything that arises in it, is already the liberation that is sought. Life, as it is, is already what we've been searching for our entire lives.

Jeff Foster will be holding meetings in Chicago from July 10^th-13^th. For information visit www.chicagosatsang.com/jf.php or contact Tom Fleming at 312-203-4327 or tomfleming3@comcast.net

Awakening the Energy Body: From Shamanism to Bioenergetics by Kenneth Smith. (Inner Traditions, $15.00, Paperback.)

Each of us inhabits an energy body whose interactions are the principal determinant of all we see, feel, think, or otherwise perceive. Even as modern science is establishing the uncertainty of physical matter, it is asserting the reality of our existence as interconnecting quantum energy fields. For over 5,000 years, shamans of the Toltec tradition have studied and worked with the energy body, leaning to recognize and understand its structure and perceptual capacities as well as mapping it as an objective, measurable part of our anatomy. In Awakening the Energy Body, Kenneth Smith’s thorough grounding in the Toltec tradition allows him to bring forth an instructive overview for non-Toltec adherents of the latent possibilities available to the energy body and how to bring awareness and objective form to it.

Using evidence from the emerging scientific discipline of bioenergetics, which studies the flow and exchange of energy, Smith shows that conscious awareness not only creates our reality but enhances the functionality of the human energy body, allowing it to navigate the myriad realities of our world. He offers a specific set of strategies to manage the energy body in ways that are beneficial to both material existence and spiritual development. He also discusses the ethical considerations of developing consciousness and how one can quicken personal evolution in order to live a full and complete life, while revealing where the worlds of ancient tradition and modern science meet.