Book reviews
Thumbnail image for Heretics, The Creation of Christianity, from the Gnostics to the Modern Church

Heretics, The Creation of Christianity, from the Gnostics to the Modern Church

February 7, 2011

Jonathan Wright tells a story that is well known in academia: that heretics are the counter point to true faith: that true faith needs heretics to define itself. That said: he tells the story brilliantly for a more general audience, with details that most readers will be unfamiliar with. From Arius to Martin Luther and John [...]

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Thumbnail image for Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki, 40th anniversary edition

Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki, 40th anniversary edition

February 3, 2011

Golly, how do to review such a classic… The book is like a koan itself. It’s a beginner’s guide to meditation as well as a whole new approach TO meditation. Well, it was 40 years ago. Now it is, as I said, a classic. It was the first successful way to turn Western Buddhism into [...]

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Thumbnail image for Vision Trips and Crowded Rooms, David Kessler

Vision Trips and Crowded Rooms, David Kessler

January 7, 2011

How do the dying prepare for death? In many cases they have visions of their loved ones, particularly loved ones who have already passed away. This book, ‘Vision Trips and Crowded Rooms: who and what you see when you die’ describes those deathbed visions, in the words of care takers, clergy and others who have [...]

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Thumbnail image for Beyond Happiness: The Zen Way to True Contentment, Ezra Bayda

Beyond Happiness: The Zen Way to True Contentment, Ezra Bayda

December 8, 2010

Happiness, that illusive quality, has become the subject of lots of books lately. I’ve been given several by hopeful publishers lately… hopeful that I’d review them. Well, this one is worth the review for sure. I could start at the beginning, but I think this quote from p. 100, halfway through, is perhaps a more [...]

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Thumbnail image for Rebel Buddha: on the road to freedom

Rebel Buddha: on the road to freedom

November 23, 2010

This was a tough book to review. As I read it, I was constantly puzzled at who the intended audience was, and what the aim was. I conclude it’s an overview of the Buddhist path. As it’s based on lectures Dzogchen Ponlop gave to his students, it is – unlike what one might think at [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Undying Lamp of Zen: the Testament of Zen Master Torei

The Undying Lamp of Zen: the Testament of Zen Master Torei

November 11, 2010

There is zen and there is Zen. There is Zen Buddhism, and then there is Zen Buddhism. That may sound like a Zen koan, but the point is that Zen comes in many flavors an shapes. There’s the Zen of Zen gardens, the Zen of direct enlightenment without reference to tradition, and there’s the Zen [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Secret Doctrine Commentaries: the Unpublished 1889 Instructions

The Secret Doctrine Commentaries: the Unpublished 1889 Instructions

November 10, 2010

Some books are eagerly awaited by only a select group. This book is one of them. That doesn’t diminish their worth to their audience though: in this case theosophists who study The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky seriously. Blavatsky had her own Secret Doctrine study-group in London in 1889. They discussed her Magnum Opus pretty [...]

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Thumbnail image for The best spiritual books for 2010

The best spiritual books for 2010

September 14, 2010

This is a list of the books that people who visit my various spiritual sites love and have been buying most in 2010. As you can see, Buddhism is popular beyond anything else, though Khalil Gibran and the Tao Te Ching also made the list. I will update this list a few times till the [...]

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Thumbnail image for Search for the Soul in Everyday Living, The Mother

Search for the Soul in Everyday Living, The Mother

August 30, 2010

Inspiring and thought provoking view on the spiritual path. A bit dated in places, but not less fascinating for it. There are real gems here though – things you’ll find rarely anywhere else. Though in places this book is evidently rooted in a time before psychology had taken a serious hold on our culture, it [...]

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Thumbnail image for Essential Sufism, edited by James Fadiman and Robert Frager

Essential Sufism, edited by James Fadiman and Robert Frager

August 24, 2010

Though in a sense I grew up to appreciate Sufism, as it was my grandfather’s specialty, this book was my first real introduction to it’s poetry, wisdom and mysticism. The essence of any spiritual path is not in it’s history, it’s controversies or it’s mundane facts. The essence is the wisdom people have lived and [...]

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