Unity Books

If you are looking for a book that uses current lingo that is so easy to understand then this is the book for you. Like me you have probably read the prosperity Masters and yes, the lessons are timeless, however to read modern day examples are priceless! I felt as if I knew Ms. Gaines personally. Her stories were hilarious, thought provoking and a blessing to my life. I dare you to try the first law which is tithing and watch something miraculous happen in your life! We all have read or heard about tithing but Ms. Gaines breaks it down like its never been broken down before. I was so moved I tithed to her for writing this classic! Don't pass this book up! Every seeker needs this one in their prosperity library!

I heard it many times before - tithing will demonstrate to the universe that you trust that there will always be more.... yet I never did it. That is until I read this book. What made it easy for me where 2 things, one Edwene didn't tell you where to tithe to, other then wherever you are spiritually fed.... well that makes it easy. The second point was - try it out for 6 months - if it didn't work for you you can stop.... well I was hooked after 2 weeks. Now I receive money and I am excited about sharing it with whoever inspired me ~ fed me spiritual food... my children, my church, Edwene, a speaker, a song writer, etc. This book has touched me deeply.

This is a great book. I listened to it first on CD and loved the author's chatty wisdom. I bought the book so I could refer back to it often. A small book but full of very important spiritual laws.

Listening to this CD, with Edwene's pleasant voice along with hearing her life experiences, is a pleasant alternative to music. I'm listening to it for the third time and considering looking for more CD's from this production company.

I absolutely LOVED this book! I've been reading several books about attracting prosperity, but they were all lacking one thing. That one thing is how God is involved. This book finally connected the two for me. I now see how you can attract prosperity and still honor God. What I appreciated the most what the difference between "go" signs and "stop" signs. Sometimes I get confused on what God is trying to tell me. I recommend this to all those spiritual people that are still trying to find guidance.

Understanding that Nothing is Against Me, All if For Me even "Conflict". The winds of conflict are Beneficial and Life Enhancing,not unwanted or negative experiences. As I apply these steps -
1 Accept and Love,
2 Bless and Be Grateful
3 Right action as Conscious Doing
4 Authentic Being as knowing only Oneness through Heart Wisdom.

I can see the condition of the Storm and apply the Antedote of Wholeness, discovering the missing link - the sense of what is missing for each of us, in any moment of distress.

I now love and use the phrases - "Tell me More" - when someone is critical or defensive and " What is Missing for you " - as Peace from the open heart of Acceptance, as I remain present in the moment, connected to my Spiritual essence and to the Perfection and wholeness of the other - healing and resolution occur as I get out of the way. Gary call this "The Way of God" .
This book and I of the Storm for teens include fresh stories and examples is a Leading Edge Primer on how to Love in a new and holy way, - especially in the places that may seem threatening, scarry or overwhelming. These are transformed through expansion, awakeneing and awareness of our True Worth and Purpose,of our self and all others.
So grateful for Gary's wisdom and commitment to Peacekeeping and to his wife Jane for the companion book for teens, which simplifies this material for all of us, adding to the depth of this message. I recommend the combo or both book for a broader view of the possibilities for Peace in all our affairs.

I bought this book because of the stellar reviews, but it's not really hitting the spot for me. It's too simplistic to say that everything that happens is for my ultimate good, or that I agreed to it before my birth. Sometimes we get caught in other peoples' lessons. As an adult, I can always choose to learn and grow from what happens to me--on that point, I'm in agreement with the author. But I would never lay that perspective on a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, for example. Life IS relational. We don't individually create our own reality--we are co-creators, communal creatures. Some people have suffered horrible injustices because of the choices of others. It may be comforting to think that "God never gives you more than you can handle" but I don't actually think it's true. Some people start off with so many strikes against them. Whatever the big plan is, it's way beyond the ability of our pea brains to understand it.

I loved this book from the opening chapter. It caused me to awaken my thinking and take more responsibility for my thoughts. Out of the box thinking. A very spiritual way to resolve conflicts - change our thoughts.

In my recent awakening from addiction after many years of running in fear, teachings like this give rise to such a healthy mind set for facing and embracing life. What a refreshing thought that interpersonal and self conflict merely express the thoughts I bring into the situation. By reframing what it is I know and believe, not only can conflict enrich my life but it can also help me reach new levels of understanding which keep my life vibrant and new. Great read.

One of the most practical and helpful books on dealing with conflict in relationships. A must read for anyone who is looking to bring harmony to a family, a team, a congregation, or a community. Actually, these principles would work well for a nation and a world as well.

Gary Simmons lays out the issues in relationships fair and square, then shows how a shift in attitude and approach can bring peace and solutions where before there was only chaos and confusion.

There's also a teen-age version of this book for working with young people.

This is so much more than a book; each time I read even a few pages I immediately see my life from a more expanded perspective, and also FEEL more expanded within. H.H. Sai Maa offers profound spiritual truths and also, perhaps more importantly, practical advice for living those truths in your daily life (e.g., in your relationships).

Reading even a few pages a day and applying even a fraction of what you read to your life can completely transform your concept of yourself, your relationships and how you live your life from moment-to-moment.

No need to search any further for the "perfect" book on your spiritual path. This is it...Cover to cover is filled with every teaching one needs to remember,and the Grace to be the Love we all long to know.

These teachings are simple to understand and easy to read, yet the messages are so profound that I've had to take the book page by page- and sometimes paragraph by paragraph- to let the message sink in. This is not a book you'll want to rush through.

Sai Maa's website - HumanityInUnity.org - has lots of great wisdoms as well.

Written in the simplest yet most profound language, Petals of Grace provides universal teachings for everyone on their path to enlightenment. It is filled with such beauty, understanding, love and blessings that you never want to put the book down. It is one of the most precious books in my library.

Mary McKeon
Colorado Springs, CO

My experience with this book: it is humming, literally vibrating with energy and life. When I read it, I feel the experience of grace itself--not just words on a page, but the joy and the beauty of life comes through.

I hightly recommend this book for anyone who is living in the spiritual path and ready for the fast-track to transformation.

As a nurse working with cancer patients, their families & loved ones I often find myself at a place of wanting to say more to comfort or offer solace. Sometimes the emotions filling & spilling do not allow verbal sharing. This beautiful book fills that space. Sometimes weeks later I will get a note thanking me for the giving of this book...how much Maggie's words have meant to them...how connected to another human they felt while reading it...how sometimes they read it aloud to the dog or cat just to hear their own voice speaking such loving , tender words...my heart fills.

I received this book as a review copy from a small publisher, and was wary. Many of the review copies I've received have been books that were not what I'd normally chose to read (and in those cases, the books rarely get finished or reviewed.)

This book was a welcome exception. Often I've wished I could pass onto my children some of the insights I've had after years of living and experiencing life. Or be able to comfort a friend in troubled times with sage thoughts. This book offers me that opportunity, in a modest-sized, but nicely packaged offering.

Maggie Steincrohn Davis has woven her own reflections with those of well known and not so well known wisemen and women, and presents us with food for thought appropriate for many times -- joyfilled or troubled -- in our lives.

She says in the beginning, "I confess, I could have condensed this book into one sentence - 'See deeply the beauty and interconnectedness of all life; then think, speak and act from what you see.'"

I'm glad she didn't confine herself to a few words - this book makes a lovely bedside book to read in those moments when you feel blue. It makes a wonderful gift for a friend in a time of need. It is uplifting, yet simple; inspirational yet earthy. It gets added to my list of books to give as gifts.

A personal, practical & tender book about honoring the heart - a deep-seeing that goes beyond courtesy, kindness & empathy to the living compassion. Especially fitting for health practitioners, teachers, parents & volunteers.

Maggie's philosophy is to see the beauty & interconnectedness of all life. Her goal is to strive, to think, to speak & to act from what we see. She has been listening to her own heart & the concerns of others for years.

There are books that you read & there are books you live by. Caring in Remembered Ways is just such a book, the kind you can read from cover to cover or leave on your nightstand for those final, meditative thoughts before sleep. The throne room is also a good place for such pondering in a moment of privacy & relaxation.

A simply beautiful inspirational book of verses, thoughts, stories & philosophies.

CARING IN REMEMBERED WAYS is the kind of book I reach for when I crave nourishing insights during trying times in my life. Maggie Steincrohn Davis' book about loving and caring for ourselves and others is true food for the soul, written like poetry. Thirty-one graceful entries gently serve up tasty morsels of ancient wisdom (such as how to see from the heart, or face times when loved ones are dying) alongside a garnish of amusing and heart-warming personal anecdotes.

I love the way Maggie understands all the subtle nuances of care-giving, and the ways love can reach through any situation, when we imagine it can. She writes, "Only by reaching 'beyond-the-beyond' of people -- behind their eyes, back of their pain, beneath their blaming and irritation and fussing -- do we make a path to the best in them. Treating someone with compassion who does not treat us well in return might be our fullest offering of love, as well as our own greatest relief during the daily rounds of vigilance and giving."

In this book, every sentence feels like a prayer and a meditation on love and compassion. As I read each comforting entry, I find myself feeling like I'm back in the warm, sunny days of my childhood -- snugly wrapped by my mother in a fluffy towel after a warm bath. CARING IN REMEMBERED WAYS can help brighten and warm even the darkest, coldest days in one's life. It's the ideal pick-me-up for anyone who grows weary of caring for and nurturing others, and even oneself.

Maggie has written a beautiful book about taking care of our fellow man. Her words flow like a calming river, bathing our souls in caring consciousness. This book will teach you deeply and remind you we are all human. Maggie helps us hear the thoughts of the ill and dying. She takes us by the hand and leads us into their world. How do you handle a parents death, a friends illness, the loss of a pet? What do you say to a friend experiencing a loss? How do you feel about your own aging? These are issues we will all have to face in our life.

Her words inspire us to move beyond courtesy and kindness and realize empathy. She evokes this feeling through a montage of anecdotes, meditations, stories from her own life, collected quotes, eternal wisdom and rivers of thoughts which run deeply over the rocky river beds of life.

The philosophy is to see the beauty and interconnectedness of all life. The goal is to strive to think, speak and act from what we see. Maggie has been listening to her own heart and the concerns of others for years. She has absorbed this knowledge and wants to pass it on to us in a way that affirms the best a human can be. She reminds us: "...any life we care for well can remind us of all we are capable of giving."

I highly recommend this "drink for the soul" to nurses, doctors, hospice volunteers, families caring for their loved ones, and everyone who feels disconnected and wants to start learning how to care for others. How beautiful the world would be if we could all know what Maggie knows in her heart. How caring of her to share her knowledge with us.

By reading this book you will realize how the smallest deed can have a positive effect in your own neighborhood. If you nourish yourself with the attitude of compassion, at the same time you will leave attitudes of worry, self-doubt, blame, fear, resentment and pettiness to die without your care. Maggie started Neighborcare to provide hands-on-care, plant care, pet care, help with errands, meal preparation, housekeeping, help with outside chores and help with transportation to medical appointments.

Her vision for the future is to encourage others to serve the ill, dying, injured and heartsick. She applauds volunteer efforts and I believe she is going to succeed in bringing awareness to caring with this thoughtful book from her heart.

The lessons presented in "Caring in Remembered Ways" are your guides to compassion. Along the journey of collected thoughts you may not see the words through you own tears. This is when you will most clearly see the needs of your own soul and the needs of fellow souls traveling with you in life. If you plant the thoughts from this inspiring book in your soul, caring will grow.

~The Rebecca Review

An absolutely essential book to have in the bookshelf that will be used throughout life's entirety. The illustrations are magical and the affirmations are inspiring and uplifting. What a wonderful book to affirm a young child to believe in themselves and love themselves just the way they are. Magnificent!

If you have a child, or children or live or work with people with learning disabilities then you have to buy this book. Reading this book with your children or with people with learning disabilities will be inspirational, it is filled with amazingly beautiful pictures alongside simple and creative text.

These pictures and affirmations will undoubtedly help children and anyone who needs their soul uplifted and their self esteem raising. Reading these affirmations daily will help anyone to believe in themselves and thereby help them reach their full potential, to dream their dreams, reach for the stars and one day catch one.

It is an essential purchase - for children, people with learning disabilites, everyone. We all need to believe in ourselves and to believe that one day our dreams will come home.

This book is a nice introduction to spirituality for young children. I think it is good for children to begin to appreciate not only their unique selves but also the universe around them and their connection to it. The words are simple enough to read it to babies, but the message profound enough for older readers to enjoy.

I bought this book for my granddaughters. What a delight!

This book is lovely and healing. The artwork is beautiful. Colored pencil drawings. The affirmations are simple, and the drawings are lovely to look at. I really am blessed to have this book.

If your are looking for a simple tool to help navigate you through life's windstorms, this is it. With this book, Sharon has for ever transformed my view of prayer and how it can work in my live.

Sharon's many powerful prayers and affirmations are a great resource to managing every day challanges. I refer to this book frequently and use the affirmations and prayers almost daily.

Adventures In Prayer has had an amazing effect on my life. Ms. Connors stories touched my heart and the practical exercises were simple and compelling enough to try. After implementing many of the tools in the book, transforming experiences began to happen. My faith has increased tremendously. New exciting experiences are occurring. I have bought this book for a friend and am planning to buy more. I highly recommend this book!

I loved this book because it opened a door to being fully present with God and to hearing God's voice in my life. The author explains some of her own spiritual journey and personal challenges in language that makes sense for today's fast-paced world. Imbedded in the text are several wonderful prayers which I have copied down and positioned near my desk at work and in other key locations. Having read the book to its end, I am sure that I will refer to Adventures in Prayer many times in the future.

Adventures in Prayer has been a helpful tool for me as I consciously change my prayer life from a inconsistent lazy one to a rewarding and powerful prayer life. Sharon Connors writes well and speaks to anyone and everyone interested in prayer. Because her writing style is so natural and she gives such practical advice, this book can reach people on all levels in thier prayer journey. I love her practices, affimations and prayers in each chapter. I am now on my third reading of this book. It is so rich with information that I continue to consult several chapters. Because of this book, I am beginning a prayer circle at my church!

An Awesome book....positive and uplifting....filled with true life stories that illustrate the power of prayer at work in every day situations. This book has been so important in my life....finding the connection to love,faith and peace of mind thru prayer...a must read for people of all denominations...
Each chapter has beautifully written prayers and affirmations to use and also encouraged me to be creative and find my own voice in prayer. So many kernals of wisdom woven thru this book...and Sharon Conners style of writing makes the book so enjoyable to read.....give yourself a Blessing and read this life transforming book today....

"Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas" by A.H. Almas is a transformative book.

The Enneagram reflects nine personality types that form spiritual realities for you to experience through your interactions in day to day life. Keys are given to unlock 'fixations' in your life in order for you to move on and experience personal life transformation. Great insights expounded about enlightenment.

Powerful for freeing you from limitations.

Even better when read together with "Nexus" a New Age novel that is a true psychological and spiritual adventure.

Nexus: A Neo Novel

Reading "Facets of Unity" was a transformational experience for me. I experienced my foundamental connection to all that is as I read it. Love and light became more real than the bed I was sitting on. My ego seemed transparent. I highlighted several key parts, and I regularly go back and read those when I need to reground myself and get perspective beyond my story.

This exploration is a most valuable contribution to the understanding of Gurdjieff's Holy Ideas. I found it to be very seminal and I am sure that for some time to come it will be an often referred source.

This is truthfully the best book ever. If you know anything about the enneagram, this book will let you know what the enneagram is made for. Alright, it's fun to think about all the frilly little quirks inherent in the enneagram that the "other" books like to get stuck on, but this book is actually the real thing. The JUICE. The whole point lies between these covers. If you are looking at this review, you need to buy this book. Get it used if you are low on money, just get it and read it.

Touching, warm, gentle and precise. Almaas explains how we get fixated on certain enneatypes, and also points the way out of fixations. Reaching far deeper than the 'standard' personality approaches to the enneagram, this book really opens the gates to those who are seriously pursuing the Work of self-liberation.

Anyone reading the Unity Trilogy SC for the very first time will be amazed at just how incredibly fantastic it all is. But for those who are more familiar with her writings there should be no real surprise. Anything by Jacqueline Lichtenberg is always ranked among the very best in fantasy and science fiction.

Jacqueline has been a professional author and member of the Science Fiction Writers of America for many years. Her vivid imagination has taken readers to places well beyond wherever most other sci fi can only pretend to. Her Sime~Gen works are just such wonderous reading.

There are always curious twists and turns along the plotlines, as well as a wide array of interesting characters. Even for those who are not fanatical sci fi enthusiasts, the Unity Trilogy will still hold interest. Jacqueline always includes a wide scenereo of sub-plots, highly believable relationships, and endless difficulties to overcome.

The reader finishes the book always wanting more, but nevertheless having enjoyed it thoroughly. And, perhaps best of all, actually having learned much. But don't just stop with this work, by all means go on to any and all other Lichtenberg books. There's many more surprises in store. And the educational adventure, combined with the entertainment value, never fails.

You definitely won't be disappointed.

{:-) Jeff Redmond
redmondjeff@hotmail.com
www.erdabooks.net

When you open the cover, you first "see" (visualize) two army professionals nervously awaiting a meeting with some type of spy. As yet, there is little hint that you have entered a world where emotions become real flaring beacons, where actually destroying the people you love the best is a literal possibility, and where philosophical questions take on a new depth of tangibility and beauty. The characterization brought me to these books the first time, and kept me reading as I struggled through the trick of reasoning within an alien world (a mental challenge that is incredibly attractive to science fiction readers). House of Zeor (the first book in the trilogy) has a point of view character who is also unfamiliar with the key concepts, so it makes a good starting place, and I caught on just by reading. There is a world of incredible beauty and fascination between these covers. They remain some of my favorite books (over five years after my first introduction to House of Zeor), and I am very pleased that they are finally republished. Keep on reading even through the alien words like "zlin" and "field gradient" --trust me, it's worth it. You meet people like Klyd Farris, who has a "brittle strength" and more courage than I can fathom; Risa Tigue, who says the funniest things; Muryin and Virena, two girls who come from almost opposite interpretations--and you unveil philosophical questions that seem so simple at first glance, but continue to develop and deepen, and finally remain unresolved--but tantalizing and invigorating. I would highly recommend this trilogy--probably because I still read it!

I just finished House of Zeor from Sime~Gen and loved it! I look forward to finishing the other two stories. I have actually spent my entire night reading - it's now 5:36am and I have had no sleep. Shame on Jacqueline Lichtenberg for writing such a captivating story! What a brilliant feat to create the Sime~Gen world. It is hard to believe this is her first novel published in 1974. It is not dated at all. I look forward to loosing more sleep.

The Unity Trilogy is a book that landed in my lap -- nearly literally! I swear, I showed up one night for the writers' group I'm in and my friend Alan was there with a white box. "Hey, remember how I mentioned we could maybe use you as a proofreader?" he asked, before handing over the box. Inside were three manuscripts, since it was a trilogy being republished as an omnibus by Meisha Merlin. A couple of weeks later, I went to start proofing and boom, I was totally hooked by the first page!

So what is Sime~Gen about?

Let see... Set some centuries in the future, Sime~Gen has the human race divided (through either evolution or genetic manipulation, nobody knows) into two groups: Simes and Gens. Both groups basically look the same, but there is one big difference which dominates all goings-on between them: Simes have tentacles on their arms and need selyn to survive, while Gens don't have tentacles and produce selyn. Selyn isn't any type of bodily fluid but an invisible life force almost like chi, which builds up naturally in Gens but whose absence in Simes will kill them if they go more than a month.

Ever since the mutation divided the species, Simes and Gens have understandably been at war. In Sime-controlled territories, Gens are raised in pens like animals and bought and sold like they're food - stripped of their selyn and tossed away. In Gen-dominated territories, by contrast, there is a saying that "The only good Sime is a dead Sime." And what makes it scary is that Gens can have Sime children and vice versa - nobody knows until they hit puberty. If Gens have Sime children, they kill them, and when Simes have them, they can of course kill them or sell them to Gen dealers.

This is the basic set up of the trilogy and the plot, as it develop, involves efforts on part of Simes and Gens to overcome all the prejudice and enmity and achieve unity. After all, if Simes kill all the Gens, they'll die, and it's already a given than Gens can't kill all the Simes.

None of this is explained in boring history lessons, but laid out in the stories of individuals. In House of Zeor the story centers of a Gen named Hugh Valleroy, who goes on a dangerous, secret assignment into Sime territory in order to rescue an important Gen official who also happens to be his girlfriend. (Yes, this sounds cheesy and it sort of is.) Hugh doesn't infiltrate Sime territory on his own, however, but instead is paired up with Klyd Farris, head of the titular House of Zeor. Even though Hugh has actually grown up as a Sime sympathizer (who expected he'd "changeover" at puberty), he's never been to Sime territory and arrives completely unprepared for what he finds.

House of Zeor is a "householding" which, running again most prevailing laws and attitudes, is a community where Simes and Gens live in harmony. Harmony is achieved by a special kind of Sime called a Channel. Unlike regular Simes, Channels don't need to kill Gens to get the selyn they need. Channels have two "selyn transport systems" and can collect selyn from dozens of Gens, just like milking cows almost, and then go to Simes, who then take the selyn - instead of killing Gens. Channels also have selyn needs of their own, of course, and for that reason, and because they're just so important to householdings, each Channel has a Companion. Companions, Hugh learns, are Gens who produce an extraordinarily large quantity of selyn and are able to give their selyn freely to serve the appetite of the Channel. Little does Hugh know that he's natural Companion material - for Klyd, the head channel of House of Zeor!

There's an awful lot of plot over the course of these three books. House of Zeor is a dive into the world of Simes and Gens and follows the story of Hugh and Klyd, while the middle book, Ambrov Keon, takes place in another part of the world. It centers on another householding, Keon, starting with the arrival of Risa Tigue, a "junct" (killing) Sime who stumbles upon a householding and learns she is a Channel. Risa has a lot to learn and although she fights it, she ends up being a big part of bringing her corner of the world towards unity. The final book, Zelerod's Doom, brings Hugh and Klyd together with the cast of of Ambrov Keon for a battle that eventually achieves the beginning of what gets to be called Unity - the day Simes and Gens begin to forge a truce. This story gets deeper into some of the relationships, in particular Hugh and Klyd's, and reveals a race struggling to figure out what they are about and how they can survive.

One thing I'll say about these books is that although I did enjoy them quite a lot, the writing style, plotting and other bits of it can get to sounding cheesy. It certainly isn't the sort of rich descriptive narrative I'm used to reading (Storm Constantine, Ursula Le Guin). Instead, it's more the kind of writing you'd find in a Star Trek book, which makes a lot of sense since the authors are huge Star Trek fans and have, in fact, written Star Trek novels. This doesn't stop the books from being enjoyable, but I think it is something that needs to be noted, in case a reader is expecting great literature.

Since reading Sime~Gen I have found myself wanting to read more and luckily, there is more to read, not only more books, which Meisha Merlin will be publishing over the next few years, but whole novels already online and a huge load of fan fiction, which the authors are OK with and even host on their own web site. I am so glad Alan handed me that white box!

Background. Humanity evolved into two species following the cataclysm. On the surface the only obvious physical difference is the arms of the Sime. However, in reality, the Simes were much bigger, faster, and deadlier than the Gens. The Sime need selyn to survive while the Gens contain that energy source within their bodies. Over time the Sime began drugging and herding the Gen into pens so that they could suck dry selyn from its source leaving the Gen dead.

"House of Zeor". Gen intelligence operative Hugh Valleroy is considerably distraught over his beloved Aisha being apparently abducted by the Sime. He plans to risk his life to bring her home, but to do so he must meet with Klyd, a Sime. Klyd is a new type of Sime. He serves as a channel between the species, killing no one but providing nutrients for his race. Both are little regarded amongst their respective people. Hugh is considered a Sime lover because he speaks the language, which he learned from his Sime expatriate mother. Klyd and his House of Zeor are considered lunatics because the Gens are a source of food and death is a by-product of that feeding frenzy. Neither trusts the other. Yet if they fail to cooperate, they not only will falter on their quest to save Aisha, but they will also destroy any hope of peaceful coexistence as dreamed of by both men.

"Ambrov Keon". Simes Morgan Tigue and his daughter Risa were sailing home on the Mizipi River when the storm suddenly hit killing the father. Risa barely survives, but to do so drains much of her internal supply of life energy selyn. She must find herself a Gen so that she can replenish her source of life-energy. Risa meets Gen Sergi ambrov Keon, who has the uncanny ability to provide selyn yet control the Sime so as to give enough for the feeder to live yet not die in the process. Sergi offers shelter and selyn to Risa. Having just failed to keep alive a channel, he hopes she is the one that along with him will prove they can live in harmony. Sergi believes she has that ability, but can he persuade her to stop the killing.

"Zelerod's Doom". The end times have arrived for both species of the human race. To survive the life giving Gens and the feeder Simes must find a way to cooperate with channels being the obvious avenue. Failure to do so means the end of the Gens, which mathematically implies the termination of the Simes. Most Gens never heard of channels while most Simes think these renegades are depraved lunatics. Humanity is on the brink of extinction unless the two species stop the animosity and prejudice to reunite the human race into one people. Together in harmony all live, but divided in discord all die.

The Sime-Gen novels are some of the best post apocalypse books written and to see this reprinting in one volume will bring plenty of pleasure to genre fans. The tales focus on the Gen-Sime relationship, but the key to these three books is that the two species seem real regardless of whether Jacqueline Lichtenberg or Jean Lorrah or both wrote the tale. Readers will be caught up in the action, but will appreciate the depth to the prime cast members such as Hugh and Risa. Whether the player is a Sime or a Gen they seem genuine and stay true to their people. Fans of vampire tales in a different setting than Transylvania or London will clearly want to read the great Unity Trilogy novels rolled together in one superb collection.

Harriet Klausner

A very good reference guide for any new/existing cme/cue deployment. Specifically the sample config guides were very useful. Overall this book is well written.

Cisco IP Communications Express: CallManager Express with Cisco Unity Express (ISBN 1-58705-180-X) is an all-in-one resource for configuring, managing, and troubleshooting the Cisco CallManager Express (CME) solution. It is almost 900 pages and is well organized into five parts: overview, feature operation and applications, administration and management, maintenance and troubleshooting, and appendices. If you are involved in configuring or maintaining the Cisco CallManger Express, this book will provide you with all the information you need to get your work done.

Cisco CME is an integrated solution offered by Cisco for meeting the IP telephony needs of small businesses or branch offices. The CME solution, which consists of the call processing feature and the voice mail feature, runs on the Cisco routers ranging from the 1700 series to the 3700 series and beyond. Whereas the CallManager suite offers centralized approach to building out an enterprise wide VoIP network, the CME is meant to serve the needs of smaller businesses or to integrate seamlessly into the larger, enterprise solution.

The book is well written and starts out with a high level architecture of the deployment scenarios for CME. The second part gets into the features and applications side of the solution. This part is where the crux of the book lies. It presents a detailed coverage of the commands used to configure the CallManager solution under various scenarios such as implementing different call features, integrating VoIP with PSTN, and deploying CME as part of a larger CallManager solution. This part presents a thorough coverage of Unity Express (UE), the voicemail module of the CME. The third part relates to the management of CME. Particularly useful in this part is a real-life configuration example as it illustrates and brings together a lot of the material covered in the earlier part of the book. Part four gets into the essential topic of troubleshooting the CME solution. It provides useful tips and solutions for common problems found in deploying the call processing and voice mail aspects of CME. This is definitely a very useful section of the book. The last part, the appendices, has reference materials and scripts used in the book to make daily tasks easier etc.

One of the strong points of the book is a multitude of sample configurations. The authors provide sample configurations throughout the book to help illustrate the concepts being presented. This sample configuration goes a long way if the reader has the task of actually configuring CME. The other strong point of the book is the depth of coverage given to each topic that is discussed. With the exception of a handful of topics (one in particular which I'll mention), the book never glosses over any topic; rather it covers it in detail, ensuring that most aspects of the topic are addressed. The exception to this was the coverage of the D/A module(s) used for attaching analog devices to CME, such as a fax machine. Given that analog fax machines still constitute a critical part of any business, I would expect this topic to be covered in detail. However, I found that no configuration examples were provided on how to configure this in the CME suite.

In summary, this book is a great all-in-one reference for configuring and managing CME. I would highly recommend it to any professional tasked with working on Cisco's CallManager Express.

overall this book is very good. I like the examples it presents to make thing clear, and also the broadness of topics it covers.
Since Cisco IP Telephony evolves so quickly, I wish Cisco will release newer editions with updated technologies. in particular I was hoping this book should contribute some to SIP and its deployment in UCME environment.

I've used this book as a main reference for my first complete implementation of CCME and CUE. I said "main" reference instead of "only" reference, because there are few small gaps to be filled by Cisco on-line documentation, but the deficiencies are too small to justify anything less than 5 stars. Additionally, there is a lot of general (IP and traditional) telephony information so even a relative beginner, after reading this book, will be able to intelligently interview future users (Chapter 5 is simply brilliant!), design quite complex system with many fancy call features, and even create scripts for quite sophisticated Auto-Attendant options. Certain concepts are not explained in complete detail (for example dial peers or voice ports), but deeply enough for the needs of CCME.

A must have book


This book is a great tool for full and complete understanding of Cisco's IP Communication Express. The structure is geared to first provide a foundation with an overview, then moves into design and implementation the book is organized into different parts that provide great coverage of all aspects.

Part I starts with introducing IP Communication. The coverage begins by taking you on a journey into what Cisco IPC is, the benefits of IPC, and the architecture of IPC networks. The one thing you notice is that the authors took great care in organizing the chapters. Each chapter is well written and easy to follow along. This makes the book a great choice as either a first learning book or as a refresher book for experienced professionals looking to augment their knowledge. One of the first chapters shows you the features and functions of the various gateways, WAN interfaces and IP phones available for use in an IPC network. This allows you to pick the best equipment for your particular solution. I believe this is great because it allows you learn some features of the product in order to decide if you would like to research it further; this helps streamline the process of design and political issues. Another section of the Part 1 goes over the architecture of IPC. You will learn the ins and outs of what happens at a low level. You will learn a-lot of core information; get an introduction to equipment and technologies that can be utilized.


Part II of this book is where the fun begins. Chapter 4 goes over the IP phones in more detail. You are taught about features and how to configure the individual phones. The chapter is short and to the point. Chapter 5 is an incredible book where the engineers' ears will perk up. Call Manager Call processing features are presented in this chapter. The topics here include hunt groups, call parking, shared lines, intercom, paging and much more. I really like the configurations and examples in this book. With this chapter you will be able to quickly implement the CM features.
The next chapter deals with Connectivity to the PSTN. The focuses in this chapter are signaling and how to handle the inputted digits. One of the only faults I think with this book is that chapters 5 and 6 should be swapped.

Part III and IV cover Administration, Management, Maintenance and Troubleshooting
Now is really where the techies cheer up. Here is all the goodies on how to setup CME, UE, and what to do if problems arise. The gold mine is located in these 2 parts.
These chapters provide the reader with detail and examples to help reinforce all that is being explained.

I don't want to spoil this book or be long winded so I will say the remaining pages of this book are well worth the read. It covers everything you need in order to obtain a solid understanding of Cisco's IPC. There is no area that isn't covered with attention to detail. The authors provide quality information that is very useful in all areas of understanding and implementation of Cisco IP Express. The reader will come away with exceptional and relevant knowledge to do anything needed with IPC. I got this book to help augment my 4+ years with Cisco Voice products, I feel that it did help cement my knowledge and also taught me quite a few new things.


Brion S. Washington

Under his pen name AH Almaas Hameed Ali has written some fifteen books by now. All of these are original and thorough explorations of the many facets of becoming more aware of who we essentially are. The Inner Journey home is the book that puts all his other contributions together. After reading this book, the overall framework of the journey to enlightenment has become much clearer to me, and I have all the other books where more detail is needed.
As Almaas is one of the few teachers who couples the insights of modern psychology with the wisdom of the ancient traditions there really is a lot of ground to be covered. Almaas does that in this book with amazing precision, with lucidity, and with deep internalized understanding. It's not easy describing that which is beyond concepts, but Almaas does an excellent job.
Because of its depth and width it is not an easy introduction to the spiritual path. It is a work book, that you put away over and over again to contemplate on how what is written resonates with your own experience.
I recommend this book to all those (and only those) who are seriously committed to self development on the spiritual path.

I have met about a dozen people from the Ridhwan group, and worked somewhat with four of their teachers, and attended an "on-ramp" experiential study group. The teacher is known by his students, and they are simply the most mature, developed, clean, clear, and simply HUMAN human beings I have ever known in the 30+ years I have been seeking out transcendental experience/knowlege.

After reading a number of his books, seeing him speak in person a number of times, and assessing his students, I an confident that he is indeed the Teacher of the Age, and very possibly the Renewer of Islam for this century. I do not say this lightly.

Remember that even the greatest masters who have ever lived, the prophets and their inheritors, were only able to liberate a few dozen at most from their followers. Shayhk Hamid is a man like you and I, but he has already freed more souls than most of these masters.

Readers unfamilir with his work may want to try his earlier book "Essence" as an introduction. If you have a serious interest in liberation, you cannot overlook these materials, in my opinion.

I have read most of Almaas' work and this is by far his masterpeice of spiritual discourse--providing an unfolding of understanding and transmission through the written word.

Gaining a deep understanding of the "soul" is a subtle process requiring both knowledge and practice, in addition to "time and circumstance," through which one absorbs the teaching and the experience(s) toward which those teachings are directed. Many writers have impressive insight into such knowledge (e.g., Wilber), and some have participated in aspects of the practice (e.g., Grof), but no contemporary writer has been able to fuse knowledge, practice, and interior experience into a corpus of work having such a unique clarity, depth, and eloquence appropriate to the contemporary Western audience as has Hameed Ali (literary name, A. H. Almaas). The reason for this is that no contemporary writer (with the exception of Idries Shah) has authoritatively addressed the nature and function of the subtle centers of the "lataif" or essential qualities (different from the "chakras"), and only Hameed's practice directly addresses the "activation of the lataif," which are the substance and expression of the mysterious "pearl" of the Soul. This knowledge and practice goes far beyond the rational and intellectual (e.g., 'philosophical') perspectives which can 'point to' these truths and cross-correlate them across world traditions but do not facilitate one's experiencing or 'tasting' them.

Discussion of such experience(s) requires a degree of "circular philosophizing" that is designed to show the reader how this knowledge resonates with what is in their cultural experience, such as orthodox psychology, German Existentialism, Sufism, Eastern religions, etc. (his Diamond Mind series), or how the practice resonates within the egos, minds, and souls of those who are attempting to "taste" their essential nature (his Diamond Heart series), and offers suggestions for how to pursue that practice (his Diamond Body series). Yes, one does indeed need a "frame of reference -- which is provided by Ali's other books," as is true with any authentic operative philosophy (Gnosis) designed to assist sentient beings (ordinary people) to begin to engage the full depth and essential nature of the Soul and situate that process within a larger Essential Reality that is indeed tangible and accessible to the soul. Hameed's work is not just another intellectual "philosophy" (and certainly doesn't deserve to be referred to as "semantic mush"), rather it is the current flowering of previously secluded Naqshbandi Sufi knowledge and practice related to the "activation of the lataif," arising out of 21st century Western soil carefully prepared by the decades of work by Idries Shah and others; this combined with the mature expression of the enneagram school of psychology and psycho-dynamic practice expressed in the lineage of Oscar Ichazo -- Claudio Naranjo -- Hameed Ali, another occasion where 1000 year-old esoteric Eastern knowledge and practice has emerged within the contemporary Western stream of cultural confluence.

I can concur (word-for-word, including the "30+ years") from personal experience with the previous reviewer¡¦s observation that participants with whom I have partaken of Hameed's Ridhwan school are "simply the most mature, developed, clean, clear, and simply HUMAN human beings I have ever known in the 30+ years I have been seeking out transcendental experience/ knowledge." For the most part they are serious and dedicated individuals who have been disillusioned, misled, or even "burned" by other paths or approaches and find the Diamond Work provides the substantive teaching and practice they have been seeking and previously not finding. Or they are simply people who have little experience of such "paths or approaches" but have been drawn, in one way or another, to this work, which they find necessary and appropriate for their personal development.

I have great respect for the work of Ken Wilber (have most of his books and have read half of them), and for the work of Stan Grof (have most of his works and have read or re-read most of them), and I would include the lesser known but equally sweeping, prodigious, and perhaps more comprehensive corpus of some 20 works by John G. Bennett, particularly his monumental 4-volume "integral" synthesis, _The Dynamic Universe_, but Hameed's work is of a different order, being the expression of a comprehensive philosophy, psychology, and teaching, honed over years of instrumental practice. In conclusion, I own more than 2000 volumes of "books," mostly on historical, cultural, scientific, philosophical, transpersonal, and transcendental topics, and, to put it simply, Hameed's books are on the "top shelf." I would encourage those seriously interested in self-knowledge and individual development to take the time to immerse themselves in Hameed's work and absorb its Essence.

A.H. Almaas (Hameed Ali) has been one of my "teachers" for the past several years as I negotiated my way through his Diamond Approach works. His clear vision and faithful rendition of Sufi teachings in the context of Western depth psychology, are major intellectual and spiritual achievements.
I have found, from my own experience (anecdotal, of course) that his explanations of human psychological and spiritual development are accurate and relevant.
Inner Journey Home is written for those who have a good grounding in Almaas's prior work. Reading it should not be attempted without reading his works Essence and the Elixir of Enlightenment, Spacecruiser Inquiry, and the Diamond Heart series. I would also recommend Davis's The Diamond Approach as a good overview.
I plan to reread Inner Journey Home, because I am certain that I only grasped a portion of the wisdom it contains in my first reading. Even so, I recommend the work as a good resource for those contemplating the nature of the soul.