Perspective Books

You can NOT be a complete Jew outside Israel "Chutz Laaretz" this book explains why, and is very inspiring as to what Yishuv Haaretz is about.

If you're a Jew and live in Israel, this book makes you feel very good about it. You are doing the best thing for you and for your nation. if you're not yet here this book might put you on the next plain - watch out! Beautiful cover makes it a great gift to give new olim or potential ones.

This book, To Dwell in The Palace, is not for everyone. You have to love Israel to appreciate what Rabbi Leff is saying. It is a compelling selection of essays that make you want to transport to Israel--immediately. Just beam me up Scottie. It underlines the reasons and motives for a Jew to live in the Land. Beautifully written. A must read for anyone who has ever been or never been to Israel.

I can't say enough about the importance of this book. In short, Illich makes the point that there is a way in which the so-called "Third World" countries can avoid industrialization, and move directly into the post-industrialist state that the developed world is headed. There is no doubt in my mind that we will look back on this man's work sometime in the near future and realize how amazingly right he is. It is really a shame that he does not have more of an influence than he does. Some of the points in this book are so right that they seem impossible to refute or even question. I really can't even put into words the influence that the book has had on me. It is something everyone should read, and it's short enough that it can be done in a matter of a few hours. Please feel free to e-mail me and tell me what you thought of it, or of other works by this genius as I am going to work on trying to popularize and spread his ideas.

This only fortifies my opinion that our leftists operate as industrial elitists and only serves big business with their social programs that insure the subordination of an underclass of consumers to keep the capital and mythical progressivism on motion.

"Leftists operate as industrial elitists and only serves big business with their social programs that insure the subordination of an underclass of consumers to keep the capital and mythical progressivism on motion"?? What are you smoking?!! Actually, many Marxists revere both Illich and Fromm. We currently live in a world marred by global finance-capital impoverishing and destroying the well-being of millions for the mega-profits of a few, and industrial realities play a key role in the problem... as well as the solution: its time for workers to harness for themselves what they create and have created for their own benefit locally and internationally. I really don't think a proper reading of "Tools for Conviviality" condradicts this.

just one personal comment: merely reading the definitions of "split life-goals" and "dark night of the soul" by Wilber saved me several months (years?) of struggling - the book provides a novel structure of psychopathology and if you have a structure you have something to hold onto. very therapeutic book for (post)existential-level strugglers!
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i really like the brief and concrete style of the older books by Wilber (Atman Project is my favourite!), although, according to Wilber himself, they contain slightly outdated ideas. don't start with it, but don't forget it!

Where have the thoughts in this book been for so long??? Transformations of Consciousness thinks critically about issue's in psychology and spirituality that are so important and would seem so obvious, I wonder how they've managed to escape us all so completely. Primarily, this text brings attention and profoundly questions the motives of the psychological as well as contemplative schools in such a fundamental way as to expose unaddressed pervasive issues that ignorence of which can constitute avoidable casualties to mental and spiritual health. Emphasis is placed on recognition of developmental/phase specific aspects of what constitute appropriate therapeutic and spiritual practices. Specifically,when is meditation harmful as opposed to benificial. What are any of the obstacles in selectively transplanting eastern contemplative practices into the western cultural context? What can both eastern and western traditions contribute to and learn from each other? Wilber, Engler and Brown both impressed and stimulated me with the extraordinary depth and far reaching implications of their considerations. Now, I know why my experience in an eastern influenced spiritual community was bound to end in disillusionment and what has unconsciously motivated so much of my frustrating seeking! What better gift could you ask for?? If therapy has been repeatedly ineffectual, costly and disappointing, or if despite your interest in spirituality you've felt something was missing that you have had difficulty articulating; This book will articulate it. What a glorious Gift!! This book is my BIBLE now!

This book was originally published in 1986 and Amazon.co.uk lists a March 31st 2006 reprinting under Transformation of Consciousness. If you want to read more of Ken Wilber's epicyclic models, then this is twenty year old epicycles (see Andresen and Forman: Cognitive Models and Spiritual Maps for a more recent Wilber piece followed by a sympathetic but still exposing critique by Christian de Quincey). Wilber's old friend Michael Bauwens has put up his The Cult of Ken Wilber on the web for those interested in this New Age cult.
This book is worth the money primarily due to Harvard psychologist Professor Daniel Brown's extremely important chapter with its examination of the parallels between the stages of meditation in three authoritative yogic traditions (Yoga Sutras, Vipassana and Mahamudra). Although Brown came to the odd conclusion that all the paths are same but the goals different, others like myself (also Forman in The Problem of Pure Consciousness)disagree as the key stage is Basis Enlightenment (nondual Pure Consciousness) is the stage all 3 describe most similarly. Post-Enlightenment practises differ.
Brown's study discusses the yogic experience of the subtle flow of the Light when mental processes are held in abeyance. The Light is perceived as coming in waves (Hindu) or pulses/moments (Buddhists) which is clearly just a difference in focus. The YS tradition describes the Light as the coordinates of that previous gross mental content or A CONTINUOUSLY VIBRATING ENERGY FIELD IN A STATE OF CONTINUOUS WAVE PROPAGATION.
This information proved critical in my 1994 identification of the physical correlate of the Divine Light/Pure Consciousness or Godhead with the brainwaves from the brainstem Reticular Activating System. These brainwaves continuously underly all other brainwave activity and only cease at death. Numerous other authoritative yogic and mystic facts (the Light at the Centre, the prana/atman identity, Advaita's mutual superimposition of Pure Consciousness and sense percepts, Insight meditation's catching the Light in gaps between percepts, Vajrayana's Clear Light of Death as a continuous series of moments etc.) plus the presence of the Light in NDEs fits this interpretation (see my review of Kapstein's The Presence of Light on Amazon.com) or The Oneness/Otherness Mystery: The Synthesis of Science and Mysticism. Patanjali even begins the Yoga Sutras stating: yogas cittavritti nirodhah (yoga is the cessation of the WAVE-LIKE FLUCTUATIONS of the mindstuff). See also Travis's model of Pure Consciousness as the background state in Dalai Lama and Varela: Sleeping, Dreaming and Dying. The RAS is well known as it arouses the cortex as distinct from specific attention and is a universal human process unaffected by culture and tradition. Cessation of the RAS constitutes brain death.
Sutapas Bhattacharya

This is a book about passion; the transforming effect of passion indulging, passion affirming, and passion compelling, work (called Occupational Intimacy in the book), which draws individuals (and thus the organization collectively) into performance, growth and learning. Throughout the book, the authors are clearly trying to convey the value of passion in the workplace, not only as an individual benefit, but as an organizational performance benefit... "Organizations that tap into their employee's deepest sense of personal purpose and values will harvest a wealth of passion focused on reaching mutual goals." Although, I would not describe this book as an easy read - the writing is dense and the material comprehensive - by reading this book your will gain an appreciation for these benefits and for some of the steps necessary to invoke passion in your work and/or your workplace.

Dennis DeWilde, author of "The Performance Connection"

They say work is the hardest way to earn money. Michael Kroth and Patricia Boverie have zeroed in what we need to easy up the hard. "Transforming Work" for me hit the core of what is needed in all aspects of life --passion. This is not just a business book, I found myself connecting the dots with the rest of my life. While TW is a bit pricy try, living a life with unconnected dots.

Tom Payne
Author
A Company of One: The Power of Independence in the Workplace

This book is one of a series on New Perspectives in Organizational Learning, Performance, and Change. The series is designed to showcase current theory and practice in human resources and organizational development. While there are practitioners on the editorial board, this looks like more of an academic series. I'd describe this publication as one for professionals, but a volume that individuals can benefit from, as well.

The focus of this book is passionate work. This concept will be difficult for many readers, since passion is emotion and emotion and work are usually considered incongruent. The authors point out, early in the book, that "Passion is at the root of creative genius, personal transformation, and notable events. Passion is emotional energy; it stimulates life and energizes individuals to work toward goals. ...New products, new ideas, creative ways to deliver services, inventions, an scientific discoveries are produced because someone or some organization is passionate." OK. Passion seems to be consistent with what we're striving to accomplish in employment organizations today.

How might we approach this? The authors explain that they've done some research that connects learning with passion. Put the concepts together and you get meaningfulness, and there are a lot of people looking for opportunities to feel a greater sense of meaning in what they do. Readers will be guided through an interesting study into passion, what it is, how it fits, and what to do with it. Individuals will gain, but trainers and organizational development professionals will find it most thought-provoking and stimulating.

The book is organized into eight chapters: Introduction to Passion and Work, The Foundations of Passionate Work, Passion Transformation Process and Cycle, Occupational Intimacy, The Discovering Process, The Designing Process, The Developing Process, and Transforming Work---the five keys to achieving trust, commitment, and passion in the workplace. An index will help you find your way back to those things you want to work with again. A number of exercises are included to stimulate your thinking and help you gain some sense of measurement in the emergence of passion in your personal and corporate life.

The book may seem a bit pricey for only a couple hundred pages, but there is a lot packed into those pages. The book is set mostly in 11 point type, so find a nice quiet place with good light to absorb all the authors have to share.

I think that this book was well written and shows the difficulties that the men and women in Law enforcement face each day. They are very fortunate to have Ms. Samuels as their physchologist. She is a very caring and hands on therapist. I am niether a phychologist nor am I in Law enfrocement but know Ms. Samuels well. In reading her cases one wonders how she can go home at night and lead as norrmal a life as she does. Every law enforcement agency should read this book as should the students at the Police Academy.

Incredibly informative and accurate, wonderful book. Every officer should read this, no matter how long they've been on the job.

John Violanti and Stephanie Samuels bring it all together in "Under the Blue Shadow," a book that explores the psychological dangers of a police career with compelling case studies. No punches are spared as they look at the root causes of police suicide, the frequency of posttraumatic stress and the roadblocks too many officers still face in finding adequate treatment from their departments. Unlike the officer in a shooting, in which departments will fly in the world's greatest surgeons, they point out, the traumatized officer is frequently offered the least treatment at the least cost--and a hasty return to the patrol unit whenever possible.

In addition to exploring complex trauma (trauma occurring from multiple events over many years in a career) and suicidal ideation, the authors examine the phenomenon of "suicide by cop" and, conversely, "suicide by suspect." Samuels raises pertinent questions about the widespread policy of taking away the weapons of all officers suffering from stress related injuries. Because this "degunning" is not done by licensed professionals and may actually do more harm than good, she suggests the procedure be done for officers taken off duty for heart ailments and broken ankles as well (the responsible alternative, of course, being that such actions should be determined by a professional, not an untrained police administrator).

Excellent recommendations are made for the treatment of traumatized officers, to which police organizations should pay heed: individual debriefings by licensed professionals, assignment of liaisons for injured officers, therapy on company time, and enhanced training.

"Under the Blue Shadow" is an important book. Violanti continues his reputation as America's foremost authority on police psychology, and Stephanie Samuels shows herself to be a voice of great value as well.

I found this book fascinating in what Tom Marshall viewed as the most important function of leaders; service to those they lead. I am in the military and, for me, this book hit home in how he reminds leaders that humility and desire to serve others are vital to success. In being a servant to others, we must place their needs first and think of their welfare before our own. Also included are great discussions concerning pride, self healing and ministry. Yes, a Christian book, but the philosophy is beautiful and can be applied by anyone who feels a desire to be a responsible servant/leader to others.

This book gives a clear and easy to understand view, as to what christian leadership really is. Its systematic and practical. I found it the best book for this topic so far.

This book is one of the best titles I have read that applies specifically to Christian leaders. There are many works available that address leadership in general, but ones that give a uniquely Christian perspective are harder to find. Marshall has an excellent work here, and I recommend it highly to all Christian leaders. I especially recommend it to young pastors who are preparing for a life of service as a pastor.

Everything rises and falls on good Christian leadership. In twenty years of pastoral ministry, I have seen many of Marshall's principles verified through my own mistakes and shortcomings. This book will be a great help in avoiding many of the pitfalls that plague Christian leaders.

If you are a student or a teacher of the arts, this book is a must. It is divided into sections and you can practice and teach yourself each lesson. Very easy to follow and understand.

North Light, the publishers of the Watercolor Basics series has hit paydirt once again with Phil Metzgers' Perspective Secrets. In direct simple and engaging language Metzger takes you through the many types of perspective without terrifying you with wordy rules and procedures. It is all covered in this handy and educational volume. You move through beautiful examples of putting space and the illusion of air in your paintings to the subtle issues of close-up perspective such as with bricks. There is also some information on perspective dealing with stairs and inclines all supported by Mr. Metzger's handsome paintings. As with other volumes in this series the subject matter is gone into both more deeply and with more approachable and beautiful artwork. This is a must have for any budding painter.

I don't work in watercolors, I quilt, and I've found this book invaluable as a guide to understanding perspective.

Although I am very much an casual student of Japanese, I was attracted by the contents of this publication as I flicked through it at the bookshop. It is a translation of an old (1973) work by Takao Suzuki, a Japanese linguistics academic. Surprisingly the book is written in a quite light style, with some humor even if a little dated. On the surface I found the book quite exciting because it helps explain how words which appear to have similar meanings from a 'dictionary' viewpoint, can have very different social meanings and cultural usage. Examples are the verbs "cut" and "wear", which appear relatively simple to English speakers, yet have a range of different verbs and very different contexts in their Japanese usage. The section on the cultural context of the words "lips", "nose" and "chin", for example, start to bring a feeling for the complexity of meaning, and perhaps the inadequacy of many dictionary definitions which up to now I had taken at face value.

Moving through to the last chapter "Words for Self and Others" I found myself totally captivated by Suzuki's clear exposition of the misclassification of these parts of Japanese speech according to a misunderstanding of their relationship to English personal pronouns. It sounds heavy, but it is not, on the contrary it is a clear insight into the social context of words and language. I will never see those words in the same light again, and my Japanese will be certainly better for it.

At a much more profound level Suzuki expounds his core belief that words create things, in contrast to our "natural" acceptance of the idea that objects exist independently of language. If this is too deep then fortunately it does not impose on the value of the book at the more pedestrian level at which I thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you are a curious student of Japanese, then you will enjoy this book. I intend to read it again, and expect to enjoy it at least as much as the first time.

This is a wonderful book. Suzuki teaches us how to see our own language and culture "from the outside" (from the perspective of a non-Indo-European mentality); because of this I have assigned Suzuki's book as a required text in several college courses on language and culture. I particularly recommend the sections on "translatability" (especially chapters 1 and 2) and the chapter on "Words for Self and Others" (chapter 6). The latter reports a splendid bit of linguistic research and analysis that any reader can understand and appreciate: in it Suzuki undertakes to explain how and why "I" and "You" relate to one another differently in Japanese- and English-speaking cultures.

Wors In Context will give you an angle by which you may evaluate your deeply held cultural concepts, especially those that you may not consciously consider as cultural (and therefore, fluid) concepts.

For example, the author considers the concept of mercy killing of animals. The average American mind would consider it a cruelty not to "alleviate misery" and through this lens, any alternate behavior becomes a violation of Natural Law. The Japanese concept as put forth in this book considers "mercy killing" a human-centered concept that, as such, is the antithesis of holding the animal's corporeality in high regard. Nature should decide the fate of an animal, instead.

So, we have here two differing ideas of right-to-life concepts that people hold with the highest integrity. what to do??

Another example extends the differing concepts on animals by examining our relationships with pets. Whereas the American must have complete obedience of the animal to his every whim, the Japanese concept of a pet recognizes this treatment as a larger distortion of nature and gives more leeway for a dog to be a dog.

(New York city in this light is an eye-opening case indeed as the New Yorker's near pet-worship is held in its highest dysfunctional relief when a man kneels to pick up after his dog, while the dog stares on and seemingly recongnizes and enjoys this debasing servitude. "Kind master, you missed a bit.")

Despite that last poke, don't take the book as a polemic. It's not. It's just a solid exposition with ample reflection that, at a minimum, gets you far away from any of the common and misguided blanket statements on Japanese culture. However, in a wider view, the book gives many opportunities for you to evaluate your own culture.

It is difficult to understand your own culture by holding it up to its own standards.

Use this book to take a look inside yourself and learn something about Japan along the way.

My little boy really loved this book, and a friend of his who also has ADHD read it and loved it! Both said they couldn't believe that there other kids out there that felt just like they did.

Wonderfully written! My 8 yr old daughter and 5 yr old son (both struggle with ADHD)were able to relate to the character in different ways. The animation was great and my daughter stated she finally felt good to know she was not alone! This book helped to stir further discussion about ADHD and now my children have a better understanding about the disorder.

This was my textbook for an upper level undergraduate psychology class. It is intended for use in a survey course in abnormal psychology. It begins with a case history which is referred to as the book progresses. An overview of the four main psychological paradigms comes next. The subsequent chapters examine topics in abnormal psychology under these paradigms. There is also a chapter on psychological assessment, testing, and classification. The subjects that the book covers range across anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, personality disorders, dissociative disorders, sexual dysfunctions, etc. The DSM-IV classification criteria are given for the discussed disorders. For the most part, each chapter uses case studies to exemplify its points. I found this to help ground what I was reading in real life scenarios. Aside from this, there are several side notes and highlights in the text which round out the picture. It is not difficult to read through, and I did not feel that anything was left out. An undergraduate introductory psychology class is a help and should be a prerequisite for reading the book, but one can manage without it. There are also several color photos and charts interspersed throughout the book. This keeps the reader from becoming too bogged down in black and white text. Also, each chapter is divided and subdivided neatly into headings which make for an easier read if one must take a break and provide for easier reference. While the book will not allow the reader the ability to immediately practice psychology, I found it to serve quite well as an undergraduate textbook.

Abnormal Psychology: A Discovery Approach is a complete, comprehensive, integrated introduction that includes case studies and primary documents illustrating suicidal ideation, anxiety disorder, anorexia/eating disorders, stress, violence, substance abuse, dissociative disorders, mood disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, intellectual and cognitive disorders, childhood and adolescent disorders, and sexual disorders. Abnormal Psychology covers the history of this aspect medical history, ethics, and legal issues, the integration of gender, culture and ethnicity, the DSM-IV, research methods, treatments, and more. Abnormal Psychology is a highly recommended introductory text for students of psychology.