Publications Books

Bourgeault does a very good job of introducing the practice of Centering Prayer and placing it within the framework of contemplation. She links experience to insight which reveals the tremendous power of this simple yet profound practice.
Bourgeault expands this practice with additional chapters on the practice of the Welcoming Prayer - a means of extending the practice of Centering Prayer to the rest of the day.
Bourgeault begins at the most basic level of explaining the practice of Centering Prayer and then builds upon the profound insight which this practice offers to the world in the 21st century.
Very interesting and accessible!

This book has opened a whole new chapter in my prayer practice. For anyone who wishes to get out of the false self circuit, here is hope.

For those on a spiritual path,Cynthia Bourgeault has given us a book with not only an excellent background in the nature of Centering Prayer, but a book which will inspire us to seek a deepening of our own journey with God. Centering Prayer has been part of a new spiritual searching in the world, and this book will be an important aid to those who want to know how it can help in their own search for deeper life in God's presence.

Simply put, this is the single most helpful volume I've yet run across for participating in "the fellowship of the Godhead," the God-given gift known variously as contemplative or centering prayer. I revisit it again and again in my personal practice, and would recommend that others do the same. John 17 and 1 John 1 come alive in this "wayless way" that Bourgeault suggests. Check it out!

I enjoyed this book very much. The author, Cynthia Borgeault - an Episcopalian priest, reviews aspects of centering prayer, a Christian contemplative practice evolved from Christian monastic practices of the first few centuries A.D. by Fr. Thomas Keating and his monastic colleagues. Fr. Keating is a leader in this form of spirituality and is the author of many of the books related to the practice. Borgeault studied with Fr. Keating, but her "take" on centering prayer is a bit different than Keating's and it provides useful contrast and food for thought... Give it a try, you might like it.

Wallace does an excellent job of refuting the fallacious views inherent in realist and instrumentalist views of reality. In providing a clear alternative, based on the Madhyamika Buddhist position, he has written a book full of new insights well worth reading. Buy it now and take a significant step in making your life happier!!!

As both a physicist and a buddhist, this was the book I've spent years looking for. I must admit that I was turned off by the scary guy on the cover, and my previous readings of assorted new-age fluff. Make no mistake however, this book is rock solid. Dashing to bits our untenable "assumptions" of exactly what reality is (for the concept of reality itself is an idea), we develop a clearer picture of exactly what it means to be human.
With a pertinent selection of quotes and ideas from the western world, Einstein, Poincare, Heisenberg, etc., we can clearly see how we have shaped our world from our worldview into what it has become. In the present age, we are the willing slaves of technology. Just as our cells don't know what we are doing, people spend their lives working to buy toys like cell phones and televisions, and have no idea how they work. Yet, because it is 'scientific', technological advancements are greatly praised and coveted. Meanwhile, intellectual, spiritual, and philosophical advancement is shunned as meaningless.
This book deftly points out taking such a stance reflects complete ignorance, since scientific investigation of the mind or the physical world provides no further understanding of reality, just a better "understanding" of our own ideas. Are we to say we are more advanced than our ancestors because we can relieve ourselves indoors, whereas our ancestors didn't care? Our social advancement, which can be seen as that most critical for our own species, has been left in the dust, in lieu of technological advancement--that all too often poisons us and our planet. How is this the rational course of action?
Although the first 9/10 of this book are right on track, I felt like the final portion, in its attempt to reach a resolution, a reconsciliation of western philosphy with Buddhist philosophy fell short. This may be the point. Wallace seems to want (or as the reader we want and assume that's where he's going) to pull us all out of the pit of buddhist emptiniess dug in the first 19 or so chapters. But, as Wallace points out, neither worldview is right, just 'more or less useful' in various contexts. There is no escape from our essential nature of emptiness and, like Descartes, by the end of the book the reader is left feeling like he can know nothing apart from his own 'existence'. But after having read the book, the reader of course realizes this is just an illusion, a particular spin on consciousness we decide to choose out of infinite number of possible interpretations, interpretations in turn all shaped by our cultures, mores, and environment, a.k.a 'reality'. Choosing Reality is a great book, and who knows how much you will gain by reading it.

Firstly, I must say that it is very difficult to summarize this book in any way. The complexity (and importance) of the material is such that there is no substitute for a direct, mindful read. However, if you are looking for a very worthwhile attempt at summarization, I suggest you read the review by ABC "bb" (I was persuaded to purchase by this review).

Many reviewers have commented that "Choosing Reality" is an "easy read". While I do agree to an extent, it seems necessary to note that these comments are true only in relation to other books of the same nature. Considering the complexity of the subject matter, yes, this book is an easy read. In comparison to most literature, however, this "easy read" statement is perhaps less plausable. My point is this: do not expect this book to be simple (firstly, because it isn't; secondly, because it shouldn't be). This is of double importance if the reader is of a traditional, Western mindset. The content of "Choosing Reality" (especially the latter chapters) takes time to fully absorb. In fact, this book was, for me, the anti-thesis of a 'quick read'. That said, I must say that I enjoyed every long minute of it.

Wallace does a wonderful job showing the flaws in scientific realism and instrumentalism, chronicaling the histories and the theories of each. He then thoroughly explains the comprimise, the middle way, the Buddhist way: a centrist view of reality. While the presentation of the centrist view was invaluable in its own right, the most enjoyable sections of the book came after this presentation. Wallace undertakes the very difficult task of using language to describe how the centrist view can be applied to our lives. Rather than just offering a theory, he describes how the centrist view deals with the mind, the nature of "physical reality", and the illusory "self". The author earnestly argues that the implications of the centrist view are real; implications that will certainly force you to re-evaluate the world you live in. The beauty of this book is that it caters to any audience. There is enough science to make it rational and reasonable; there is enough Buddhism to make it real and applicable. I consider this book of utmost importance to anyone interested in modern physics, Buddhism, the nature of reality, and/or the self.

Finally, I must note that as much as this book is a religious view of science, it is equally (albeit more subtly) a scientific view of religion. As perhaps Wallace's greatest triumph in this book, modern science and religion are shown to be infinintely complimentary, both ultimately striving to understand the same things: the nature of reality and our role in it. To this end, "Choosing Reality" is a must read.

Summary: Wallace makes a valiant attempt to contrast science & Madhyamaka (Buddhist "centrist" philosophy). He fails because of his limitations. He equates physics, science, & scientists (with human flaws), ignores western mysticism, the value of probability/statistics/circumstantial data, & non-behaviorist psychology but has many flaws in his arguments. Still, many of his observations regarding particular scientists & their misunderstanding of analogies vs. reality are correct. Overall, his viewpoint seems (per Jeff Rubin) Orientocentric. More specifically:

This book criticizes science's methods (vs. achievements) via Buddhist Madhyamaka thinking. It also presents meditative techniques & the 3 Immeasurables in the last 2 chapters. However, as a former physicist/systems engineer & a Dzogchen practitioner, I have problems with its': 1) criticisms of science confuse physics & science--even regarding medicine, 2) confuse science & scientists (with human faults/failings)--though many of his criticisms here are valid, 3) the Philosophy of Science (e.g. Sir Karl Popper) ignores Thomas Kuhn's seminal "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" & scientific life cycle of evolving paradigms. General Systems Theory would extend it to religion too: Madhyamaka (p. 148) vs. purportedly more advanced Mahamudra & Dzogchen, 4) it ignores Change Theory whose unfreezing periods explain science at sea amongst conflicting theories (like Soviets in US supermarkets). 5) per the Myers-Briggs, it seems Sensate--the bark vs. the forest (systems approach)--explaining its ambiguity intolerance, criticism of Quantum Mechanics' probability & statistics, & overlooking Set Theory. Its approach is typical Madhyamaka--based on extremes, Exclusive OR, & a binary assumption (black or white rather than shades of gray--let alone multi-colored). About 100 years ago, Mipham noted this flaw in Madhyamaka philosophical arguments.

There's a major flaw of uni-epistemological systems e.g. philosophy (based only on Rationalism=logic) vs. science's bi-epistemological system--adding Empiricism (data) to create a feedback loop/self-regulating system; thus, science doesn't investigate angels dancing on pin-heads. Other errors include: discounting 2nd hand/circumstantial evidence & iterative/interactive processes (see TV show "House's" iterative, circumstantial diagnoses), overgeneralizations, misunderstanding of analogies (words, models, metaphors--with error factors/partial truths) vs. assumptions, violations of Non-Allness...While a mind set effects one's perceptions, it doesn't totally control them (p. 101, Bruner's quote "unspecifiable degree")--a person wearing sunglasses isn't blind--esp. if properly trained, or there'd be no new paradigms or breakthroughs. It's a matter of degree, not an all or nothing per his p. 128 "whole or parts" analysis approach (ignoring synergy, functionality, & dictionaries). Models are inaccurate but most have referents in nature vs. p. 98. Per Knowledge Management, context is necessary for knowledge--IMHO this includes Levels of Abstraction--the cause of most so-called paradoxes.

Psychology herein is "radical behaviorists" overlooking Freud, Jung, Maslow, Psychology & Buddhism books. Prior to or same year (1996) as this book was originally published (but ignored herein):
Daisetz T. Suzuki, Erich Fromm, & Richard De Martino Zen Buddhism & Psychoanalysis Harper 1960
Alan W. Watts--Psychotherapy East & West, Ballantine NY 1961
Tarthang Tulku--Reflections of Mind, Dharma Pubs, Berkeley CA 1975
Nathan Katz--Buddhist and Western Psychology, Boulder, Prajna Press, 1983
Howard Coward--Jung and Eastern Thought, SUNY 1985
J. Marvin Spiegelman & Mokusen Miyuki--Buddhism & Jungian Psychology, Phoenix Falcon Press 1987
Thubten Chodron--Open Heart, Clear Mind, Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1990
John Suler--Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Eastern Thought, 1993
Mark Epstein--Thoughts without a Thinker, NY Basic Books, 1995
Hayao Kawai--Buddhism and the Art of Psychotherapy, Texas A&M University Press College Station 1996
Daniel J. Meckel & Robert L. Moore--Self & Liberation: The Jung--Buddhist Dialogue, Paulist Press
Jeffrey Rubin--Psychotherapy and Buddhism: Toward an Integration, Plenum Press, NY

Additionally, Western mysticism (e.g. the Rosicrucian Order, Theosophists, Sufis, Kabbalists (e.g. Aryeh Kaplan's trilogy on Jewish Meditation)) are ignored, incorrectly implying a lack of Western contemplatives.

For more specific errors, see pp. 73, 90, 157, 158, & 201. For example, he takes figures of speech literally on p. 158. Maybe it's my work in physics & engineering, but would anyone really think that by mixing equal quantities of 40 & 50 degree water you'd get 90 degree water? Be serious. By the way, p. 201 is wrong: some Tibetan Buddhists use intoxicants ceremonially. This book is an early attempt to contrast physics & gradualist Tibetan Buddhism--an ambitious attempt--but flawed & invalid.. Just because you can't use a yardstick to measure molecules doesn't mean there aren't any molecules. Rather, there aren't any molecules because the concept of molecules is an artificial analogy created to improve understanding and, especially, to facilitate communications between/among people. As an engineer, I like black boxes--like Dr. House, they make my day--puzzles can be fun!

This book is fantastic. As an engineer, I understand the concept of a model. A model is only as good as the application it is used for. Unfortunately, I think some scientists and physicists, most teachers and all media have gotten the concept of the model confused with true reality. Just because a system that accurately describes the working of physical reality works well (using concepts such as atoms, molecules, electrons, and nuclei) does not mean that this is what reality actually is. Science and physics is a model of reality, not reality itself!
For those delving deep into meditation, for those looking for those deeply entrenched assumptions of science, mathematics and medicine this book is a must.

Very comforting with knowledge that Christ is the creator of the life that lives within the pregnant woman. Very helpful information to aide the pregnant couple in their journey thru labor & delivery.

The author of this book does a phenomenal job capturing and explaining the essence of Christian childbirth, in a manner useful and relevant to life in today's society. The concept of Christian childbirth infuses the message of Romans 12:2 into a world where childbirth has been culturally twisted from the blessed miracle of life into a medical event tainted by fear and distrust. Parents are called to renew their minds through God's word, restoring faith in the process created by God to bring forth new life. While fostering both medically and scripturally informed decision-making, the book guides the reader through the creation of a new family, from trusting God's will before conception, to prenatal communication and pregnancy stewardship, to the labor process and the physiological effects fear has upon it. It also provides the expectant couple with extensive practical information and scriptural encouragement for labor.
This is a vital guide for bringing spirituality back into birth and reinstating the wonder of its divine design. With a sensitivity rarely seen elsewhere, attention is given to such important topics as a father's valuable presence at the birth, and the profound effects of caregivers' attitudes and postpartum depression upon the well being of a new family. With the helpful addition of resources such as Bible study guides, beautiful birth testimonies, an explanation of salvation, and even her own faith statement, author Kelly Townsend addresses all the essentials!

I have really enjoyed reading and learning so much from this book. After reading it I have so much more confidence in myself in having a natural childbirth. My husband has really enjoyed it too. I hope others feel the same way.

I am Founder of Blessing God's Way - a ministry that focuses on the blessing of children as well as our other God-given cycles... and I have sold Mrs. Townsend's book for the last 4 years when I do confernces and hold birth related meetings. This book was so helpful to me, personally, with my 5th pregnancy and delivery - I am so grateful for her constant advice to take my thoughts captive and focus on God's goodness and the work of Christ for us and our salvation. I used her ideas, her techniques for focusing and found them to be most helpful in keeping my eyes upon Jesus during my pushing stage. I tell women now, "God doesn't leave the building, so to speak, during the last stage of labor" and then I direct them to Christ Centered Childbirth to understand how I can say such a statement!
Women need to be encouraged, supported and exhorted during this time in their lives. This book is a practical tool in doing so. I am grateful for her ablility to put this great knowledge in book form to share with so many other women, helping create a better birthing world for us all.

I definitely appreciate that this book was christ-centered and not "new-ageish" like most of the birthing books I have found. That said, it wasn't as good as I had hoped based on the other 5-star reviews. I had expected more nitty-gritty how-to info for during labor. In actuality, I found that it presented a lot of basic info on childbirth that I already knew and less christ-centered coping techniques. I am a born-again Christian, but I was a little bit weirded out by the part asking you to write down ways that you can assure that you won't be rude or inconsiderate to anyone at the hospital while you're in labor. Rudeness is clearly never something to be carried out by a Christian and should be a non-thought. When you're in transition and getting ready to push the baby out, though, I cannot imaging referring to your list of strategies about how to not be rude and thinking them over, etc. Your focus will be on getting the baby out and not much else!

As many have already said, this book is fantastic. Not only does it cover a WIDE variety of information and topics but it also gets into the why of magick as well as the how. The author rights in both an intelligent yet somewhat casual and even entertaining manner at times and thusly manages to keep your attention throughout the book.
The only real quibbles I had were some of the correspondences in the index, in particular with the elemental rulership of the seven traditional planets. All in all, though, this is a very refreshing, informative, and invaluable tool that will help both the "armchair" and practicing magician, as well as anyone who just wants to read up on the subject and get a good comprehensive overview of Western occultism. I DEFINITELY recommend getting this book in conjunction with Donal Kraig's Modern Magick.

I'm just here to enforce the 5 star ratings that the other reviewers gave. This book along with Dave Griffin's "Ritual Magic Manual" are the few books that actually give us "step by step" instruction in PRACTICAL Golden Dawn Ritual Magick. Dave's book is for those that have time and patience for longer rituals (but it's still great) but this book has simpler, less time consuming rituals (but just as potent). In one email correspondence I had with the author J.M. Greer, he said that this (simplicity) is what he intended, and I'm glad he did because if I'm in a hurry and want to do a working then I can turn to this one and STILL do magick that's in-line with the Golden Dawn current!

This with "Paths of Wisdom" form a 'dynamic duo' in top notch cabalistic magick!!!

I highly recommend this author to seekers of wisdom!

This is a great book, it will become a Golden Dawn classic. Highly recommended reading after Israel Regardie, Pat Zalewski and Chic & Sandra Tabatha Cicero. Much needed for todays student of the GD.

Written by a true practicing magician, Circles of Power is a marvelous modern occult text full of practical advice and formulae based on the Golden Dawn tradition, founded on Cabalistic Magick.

Greer synthesizes the Golden Dawn system concisely and clearly into an outstanding modern Magickal Manual. It compares favorably to, if not better than, Kraig's Modern Magick or Frater U.D.'s High Magick, two excellent similar books.

Like those other books on Ceremonial Magick, Greer covers the basics from theory to practice and offers exercises to learn the systems. Unlike other books, however, he doesn't stop his book and suggest that you commit a month to some exercise before turning a page. Though regular work and experimentation will reward the practitioner, it's refreshing not to be asked by an author to stop reading a book in the middle of it.

Greer's excellent writing offers the reader no-nonsense, straight forward instruction like a well written text book. Never is the reader in doubt as to the writer's genuine knowledge of the material.

Greer's commitment to excellence is shown in his choice to edit out all the Enochian elements from the Golden Dawn Rituals he's presenting. Rather than just parrot what others have said, (including the GD itself), he refrains because he feels his understanding and experience of that part off the work is inadequate. The removal of these elements, by the way, detracts nothing from the rituals and work he presents. He substitutes Cabalistic elements skillfully and effectively in their stead. (I personally like the Enochian system and hope Greer eventaully delves into it and shares his insights.)

The weakest part of the book is Llewellyn's publishing. Give them points for including an index, but, considering how excellent this book is, Llewellyn's decision to use pulp acid paper is tantamount to a crime. No one who reads this book, no practicing magician at any rate, would ever consider it disposable, but it will yellow and crumble over time. This is a sad state when one considers the publisher's short print runs and thinks how sought after this book will be in the second hand market when it falls out of print.

My advice; if you're new the art, or old to the art, or interested in the least, you should buy this book. It's excellent. Like Greer's other book in this series, Paths of Wisdom, Circles of Power is destined to be a classic. Buy it now while you can still afford it.

Probably Greer's best work to date. I have to say I'm a fan of Greer's even though I have disliked a couple of his other works but this book should be read and studied by those who're interested in working ritual magic. I say should be because every ceremonial magical text is generally suggested to be obtained and read by the novice if you take a look at the average website on this topic. Sadly though many of those sites don't mention this book and I'm not sure why.

The book is from a straightforward Golden Dawn approach to the Western Mystery Tradition & ritual magic. Oh I hear the groans now but let me say that the rites are pared down to their core and stripped of all that ballyhoo traditionally associated with the G.: D.: material! That alone is worth the time to read thru this manual. Also like Kraig's

"Modern Magick", "Circles of Power" is intended to be a manual used by the solitary practitioner though it can be adapted easily enough for group workings.

Is there anything in here that's not covered elsewhere? Not really and yet he does touch on some interesting aspects regarding the Telesmatic Imagery techniques usually only mentioned in other works. Also he does a nice job of explaining the rituals and why they're used instead of just saying "practice this three times a day for the next two years" and leave it at that.

One of the best things about this book is the simple language the author uses to express his views and understanding of the subject which in most cases one has to really struggle at first to get the gist of. Not so here. For instance, on page 109 under the heading of "Contemplation" Greer writes: "The central factor in contemplation, and the only aspect of it that can be called a 'technique' at all, is bare intention." Nicely said. Now if you read Israel Regardie's book on the Golden Dawn, it's not written as simply as that. Why? The style evoked by Regardie - and sadly other ceremonial magical authors - is one of the snooty scholar. "Either keep up with me or give it up" tends to be their way of weeding out those who aren't worthy of the "many petaled lotus". For a novice student, Greer's simple language is a God-send. Had I had this book back in 1988 when I started my inquiries into Ritual Magic and G.: D.: material, I think I'd have made a lot more progress.

One thing I wasn't happy about is the lack of detailed analysis of the Sephiroth's correspondences. For instance there's no mention of the scents listed for each sephira. So if you had only this book at your disposal, you wouldn't know that tobacco is the traditional scent used for the sephira of Geburah. I have to wonder if the author's intention was to use this book in conjunction with say Regardie's "Golden Dawn" manual.

Another oddity offered in the book is the line drawing of the magical sword. On page 206 a trident is shown but it is referred to as a sword. Why I haven't a clue. Perhaps the company made an error in line drawings, I don't know. The trident is normally used in ritual magic and is rarely mentioned outside of the Solomonic grimoires so its inclusion here leaves a mystery to be answered by the author.

In the chapter about Evocation under the heading of "Dealing With Spirits", the author provides some excellent advice on dealing with the Spirits. Pages 243-247 should be read several times before the novice runs off casting his circle of power to summon the Spirits of Riches and Wealth. Mind you Greer does not give you duck billed platitudes on ethics unlike some of the other authors on this subject, rather he gives you some good, solid, clear ideas to think about regarding dealing with the Spirits themselves.

Finally I give him five stars on this effort. This is a subject that is very difficult to digest into one simplified work as this but Greer has made some strides doing so. I highly recommend this book to all who're interested in the subjects of Ritual Magic, Evocation or the Golden Dawn.

The other reviewers have already done a terrific job describing the content. I'll just add that while a profesional/accademic mathematician might find this book a bit informal, as an amateur I really appreciate its appeal to intuition and the author's tendency to review the meaning of terminology for a few of it's subsequent uses immediately following it's introduction. Not a difficult read, but a working knowledge of calculus for one variable is prerequisite. Seems to be out of print as of this date -- I've had good luck with used book purchases through Amazon marketplace from dealers with positive ratings better than 95%.

Check this sentence from the preface:

"The Cauchy Integral Theorem is thereby an easy consequence of Green's Theorem and the Cauchy-Riemann equations. Goursat's remarkable deepening of the Integral Theorem is discussed, but is not proved."

Such an upfront motivation of physicality in Complex Variables or Analysis is more than a rare find, it can only be justly defined as heavensent. A gift from the gods! This miraculous text absolutely deserves its many 5 star reviews. (other readers should still figure out the previous text that has an even clearer presenation of the physical foundations than Flanigan [to think i gave it 3 stars!])

Perhaps the most Physically Intuitive text on Complex Variables Ever (here's the first full paragraph): "We examine the the geography of the xy-plane. Some of this will be familiar from basic calculus (for example, distance between points), some may be new to you (for example, the important notion of 'domain'). We must also consider curves in the plane."

The two basic facts about analytic functions are these: they satisfy the Cauchy-Riemann equations and they are conformal. These are two lanes of a two way street between complex function theory and potential theory. The Cauchy-Riemann equations imply that the real and imaginary part of the function are conjugate harmonic functions. Harmonic functions are functions that satisfy the Laplace equation, and they thus describe steady-state heat flows and such. So facts about heat flows translate into facts about analytic functions. For instance, if no heat is generated inside a circle then the temperature at some interior point will be some sort of smeared out average of the temperatures along the circumference, so the maximum temperature in the disc must be somewhere on the boundary. This carries over to analytic functions: the maximum of the modulus of an analytic function on a disc must be attained on the boundary, and, if the function is never zero we can invert it and find that the minimum of the modulus must be attained on the boundary. And from here we obtain a quick and easy proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra: if a polynomial is never zero the minimum of its modulus on a disc must be attained on the boundary, but as the disc is taken larger and larger, the modulus on the boundary of course goes to infinity. QED. Thus we have a sort of physical proof of a very formal mathematical theorem. And there's plenty more where that came from. Integrating along a closed loop sort of corresponds to integrating the heat flux across the boundary, and poles correspond to heat sources, so if there are no poles inside the loop the influx and the outflux will be equal and the integral will be zero, and in general the net flux will be determined by the strength of the sources (i.e. residues of the poles). All this because the Cauchy-Riemann equations turned analytic functions into physics. But we promised a two way street, although admittedly there is less traffic in the opposite direction (flows around obstacles could have evened the score but are omitted). The key here is that harmonic functions are conformally invariant, and analytic functions are conformal, so an analytic function applied to a harmonic function produces a new harmonic function. An indication of the usefulness of this fact is this: the Dirichlet problem for the disc is easily solved by the Poisson formula but remains hard for a general domain, but because any domain can be mapped to a circle by an analytic function we can, in principle, solve the general problem by simply mapping the circle solution to our new domain. In conclusion, we very much applaud the idea of a harmonic function approach to analytic functions, but we also feel that this book is a bit stiff and does not sufficiently exploit the power of the intuitive and geometric ideas involved; we strongly recommend Needham's wonderful book for these aspects.

Just like finding two solutions for the same problem gives additional insight, Flannigan was able to give me an additional insight to the whole subject of complex analysis with his approach that is drasticly different from any other book on the subject I know.

Used this book during Mathematics Ph.D. studies to prepare for a preliminary exam in complex analysis. The unorthodox approach helped me get another angle of the subject. In particular I would note the introduction of harmonic functions before analytic functions and using "real analysis" techniques to prove "complex analysis" theorems like the maximum principal and the Liouville theorem for harmonic functions. Before the number "i" is even introduced, you already know these theorems for analytic functions once you define them as a pair of harmonic ones.

The student friendly tone of the author was a blessed interchange from the standard graduate books like Ahlfors, and for a fraction of the cost, it makes a wonderful buy for a self study book for the complex Ph.D. exam.

I would not assign it as the course book for undergraduate students taking a first course in complex analysis (which is what it is intedned for) though. It would be frustrating for a student to ponder through Green's theorem and real analysis material, which is by no means introductory, for 100 pages or so, when what he or she needs and/or wants to be doing is to deal with the algebra and geometry of complex numbers.

Overall, an awsome book if you already tasted the subject and want to get a better feel for it. If it's your first time, stick with the traditional books.

Flanigan's book starts at the beginning, and it covers some central aspects of complex function theory, elementary geometry, harmonic and analytic functions.

The central topics are (in this order) calculus and geometry of the plane, harmonic functions, complex numbers, integrals, power series and analytic functions, and the standard Cauchy-and residue theorems, ending with a brief chapter on conformal mappings.

The book was published first in 1972, but reprinted since by Dover. It is suitable as a text or as a supplement in a standard course in complex function theory, late undergraduate level, or beginning graduate. While it contains the standard elements in such a course, we note that a systematic treatment of power series comes relatively late, in Chapter 5, beginning on page 194. Some readers might want to begin with that. Flanigan concludes with the Riemann mapping theorem.

Of other Dover titles on the same subject we recommend the books by Volkovyskii et al, Schwerdtfeger, and Silverman. Review by Palle Jorgensen, August 5, 2006.

Bought to give to a friend. I lost a child and was looking for a book to help her. It was full of helfpul ways to deal with grief.

The author has the ability to perfectly verbalize the feelings which, up to now, were just that, feelings. Its been 30 years since our son's death and we still cried from time to time but didn't know why. Now we rejoice in our tears.

Elaine Stillwell, mother of two young adults killed in a car accident 15 years, ago has spent many years since as the Bereavement Coordinator of the Diocese of Rockville Center, N.Y. In Death of a Child she offers support and advice to parents dealing with the whole spectrum of loss: children who die suddenly, after extended illness, before or soon after birth, and even death that involves war on terrorism. Topics include anger with God, communicating with a spouse, voicing emotions, and coping with holidays and anniversaries. Stillwell does a good job addressing specific issues for each of these losses.

This book is filled with insight,practical advice, and inspiration. I think it will help me be a better friend to my friends who have just suffered this terrible loss.

This is an amazing book that says everything I am currently feeling after the death of my 16 month old son in April 2004. She has a wonderful ability to cut to the heart of the matter- the insensitive comments from others, the unbearable-ness of your loss. Yet she offers hope for the future. She knows the second most horrible thing would be to have others forget your child, and offers ways to lovingly keep their song alive. My favorite part was the simple prayer she offers, those who have read the book know which one. The one that starts, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do, etc. Thank you Elaine for those five minutes of healing laughter. If you have to read this book, I am sorry for you, and I hope it helps you as much as it did me.

Apologetics Concerning the Nature of Religion

Apologetics or is it antiapologetics, I have read Hodges arguments about cause and effect, primary and secondary causes in his work on systematic theology which was written a hundred years after this work. RC Sproulamong others discuss similar issues today with a contrary conclusion. David Hume's dialogue about the existence of God and the attributes of God does form some of the frame work for further philosophic and theological discussion. Some seems quite aimless like his discussion whether God is wholly other. Some theologians may make this statement and argument, but this certainly is not fundamentalist or scriptural perspective of God. What I found most interesting in this work is his discussion of causality. Mr. Hume's focus was on Natural theology or the idea that God could be perceived or not perceived through nature. But also included was knowing God through rationalization. To this he compared three notions:

{1} That there is a self existent Being who always existed, never created, and is the ultimate Cause of the whole universe. Something that never was caused, but is the cause of all else.

{2}That there is no ultimate cause. History is an infinite amount of causes and effects that has no starts or ends. Matter in some form has always existed and matter has always been in motion. Universe or galaxy may have a point of beginning, but not what it is composed of.

{3}At a point in time there was no matter, then at another point of time there was matter. The matter move in motion to develop things as we know it.

David Hume does not discuss the concept that simply nothing really exists. I would guess in an earlier work he had dismissed it in some form. It is my conclusion Mr. Hume found point one as absurd as point 2 or 3.

The other major focus of discussion in this work how an all knowing creator, who has all power, and has the capacity to perceive every thing that is going on can create a world that has the highest being of creation suffer pain and evil among each other. The argument is made in this work that the universe does not function in a rational manner, therefore such all knowing, all powerful and all powerful God does not seem to exist. Some reviewers consider it a complete debunk of intelligent design and it certainly a source of comfort for those who do desire.

With the possible exception of his incalculably influential A Treatise of Human Nature, this, I think, is Hume's finest work. The Dialogues is a paradigm of sustained philosophical argumentation on a single subject, and I can't think of a more inspiring work of philosophy. Another reason to read this book is that Hume is one of the few philosophical figures whose work is worth reading as literature. His prose is, of course, lovely and clear as can be; and the Dialogues is packed with the sort of evocative passages that readers of Hume except to find in his work. Furthermore, he's clearly mastered the dialogue format as a way of writing philosophy. He never turns his interlocutors into ciphers spouting the details of their respective positions. Each character has a forceful and distinct personality, and each of them comes to the debate with a well-defined position and adequate means of defending it. In short, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Most of the Dialogues is devoted to discussion of a posteriori arguments for the existence of God. The main argument considered here is the classical argument from design, which Hume seems to understand as an analogical argument of the following sort: the complexity and order of the universe show that it is similar to artifacts created by human intelligences; similar causes have similar effects; therefore, the universe must have been created by a being with something like a human intelligence; therefore, the universe must have been created by God.

Hume's objections to this argument are legion, and many of the individual objections are both ingenious and forceful. He provides reasons for thinking that the universe isn't all that similar to artifacts created by human beings. He argues, for instance, that at least in some respects, the universe resembles animal or vegetable life more than it resembles artifacts created by human beings. Hume also provides for thinking that, even if we think the universe is similar to a human artifact, we ought to think the universe was created by a being quite unlike God. The relevant empirical evidence, he argues, provides us with no good reason to think that the universe wasn't created by multiple beings (large human artifacts are usually created by multiple beings), or that the being(s) who created it are still alive (human creators die), or that the being(s) who created it were infinite (it's not clear that creating the finite universe would have required infinite power), or that the being(s) who created it were morally perfect (the universe, with all its misery and despair, certainly isn't what one would expect from a perfect being). Furthermore, he proposes certain alternative naturalistic explanations of the existence and nature of the universe; and he claims that it's unclear why an appeal to divine creation is to be preferred to these speculative naturalistic stories of the universe's creation.

As I hope this all-too-brief synopsis suggests, Hume's cumulative case against the argument from design is quite impressive. It is, of course, possible to avoid some of these criticisms in various ways, and his speculative naturalistic explanations leave quite a bit to be desired. But the total case is a philosophical demolition par excellence. Indeed, I'm pretty sure that Hume has shown that the argument from design is more or less worthless as support for anything resembling traditional theism. So, if you're enamored of that argument, I suggest you pick up book and wrestle with the criticisms found here.

Now, this isn't all Hume discusses in the Dialogues. There's a section discussing a priori arguments for the existence of God; it focuses on arguments against a version of the cosmological (i.e. first cause) argument. And Hume's arguments concerning the cosmological argument also rule out any sort of ontological argument, as he claims that no sense can be made of the idea of a necessarily existing being. The book also includes a few some brief discussion of particular issues concerning religion.

Where, in the end, does Hume come down on the issue of theism? It's hard to tell, as it's not clear that any of the particular characters speaks for him. Philo, the character who often appears to be speaking for him, never denies the existence of a deity; he simply denies the ability of human reason to discover anything substantial about what such a being is like. That Hume agrees with this is, I think, the most we can glean from this text about Hume's own religious views. It seems clear that he has no sympathy for organized religion, or for any religious views that purport to describe the nature of God, His intentions, or how and why He created the universe as He did. And the only positive religious claim that is given respectful treatment here is the bare claim that we have reason to think that the cause of the universe as a whole is somewhat similar to a human intelligence.

But does acceptance of this minimal thesis amount to his being a theist? Again, it's very hard to tell. First, of course, one might wonder whether this fairly vague positive view is enough to amount to some form of theism. But let's put that issue to one side. Even if it is enough to support some form of theism, it's often difficult to tell whether Hume means to be advocating such a position here. The problem is that it often seems Hume's explicit advocation of this position amounts to little more than a description of what he thinks is an inevitable human tendency to think this way. Given how our minds actually work, he seems to think, we're bound to think something like this about the origin of the universe. Yet it's somewhat unclear that he thinks forming beliefs in this way is reliable. It may simply be that we have a brute instinct to think in a way that insures we'll see the world as resulting from some human-like intelligence, and it's at least not clear that that isn't a debunking account of the plausibility of theism. (For more support that this is a debunking explanation, see his The Natural History of Religion, where the explanations of various religious beliefs certainly seem to be one's that suggest those beliefs simply aren't plausible.)

David Hume made a reputation by writing on reason and its limits. The main thrust of the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is to question whether theological arguments for God that assign Him positive attributes (omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, etc.) go beyond reason's limits in assigning these attributes. We watch Cleanthes (believer in theological arguments), Demea (believer more on faith) and Philo (disbeliever in theology's efficacy) hash out whether reason and experience alone give us reason to say anything whatever about God.

Hume explores all of the major arguments for God's existence. First, the a posteriori argument is explored; the argument that just as seeing a house gives us reason to assume an architect and builder, seeing the world should give us reason to infer a designer. Hume (through the skeptical voice of Philo) sees much wrong with this argument. Why? Because the reason we infer a builder for a house is because experience has shown us that houses have builders, thus when we see a house, we assume that, like other houses we've seen, this one too has a builder. But experience does not tell us that where there is a world, there is a designer. The leap is extra-experiential. Further, even if we DID infer a designer, why infer just one? Houses have construction crews of multiple people; if we analogize between the house and the world, then why not infer that the world, too, might have infinite creators? (And why infer that the world's creator is omnipotent, if all that is needed to create something is to be more powerful than the thing created - no more, no less?)

Next, we go through the a priori argument - the argument from first cause. Hume (Philo) is quick to point out the obvious flaw with this. If everything needs a cause, then what caused God? If God is said to be eternally existing, then why couldn't the natural world - rather than God - be thought eternal instead? And further, why is a infinite chain of causes and effects so unimaginable, anyhow? (Isn't it just as sensical as an eternal God itself not caused?)

Lastly, Philo brings up the argument from evil. In a nutshell, Philo suggests that while theology sees all the perfections of the world, proclaiming them clear evidence of remarkable design, theologians dismiss or downplay the imperfections. If God is said to all-good Himself, then why did he create humans with such flaws? (one assumes that an all-powerful, all-good God could have avoided those errors).

Still, the main thrust of this book is that Philo, far from challenging whether God exists, challenges theologies capacity to assign ANY characteristics to God by reason and experience alone. Hume does a good job not only in outlaying arguments as to why reason is not capable of knowing a thing about God, but also in making believable dialogues (compared to Plato, whose characters are all made to be one-dimensional foils for "Socrates.") As in so many other areas, Hume was a pioneer in the realm of the philosophy of God. This book furnishes strong proof of that!

David Hume, a philosopher of the period often classified as British Empiricism, is the intellectual associate of philosophers John Locke and George Berkeley. Born in Edinburgh in 1711, he attended the University of Edinburgh but did not graduate. He went to France during his 20s, and spent time there working on what would become his most famous work, 'An Enquiry into Human Understanding', first published under the title 'Treatise of Human Nature'. However, Hume was a prolific writer, and dealt with many areas of philosophy, including politics and ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. He wrote in the area of history as well, and had a politic career as British ambassador to France and a post as a minister in the government for a few years. His final work, 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion', was published posthumously in 1779, although work had begun on it as early as the 1750s.

Hume was very concerned about rationality. Hume was never publicly and explicitly an atheist, but his rational mind, concerned about sensory and intelligible evidence, led him to question and doubt most major systems of religion, including the more general philosophical sense of religion and proofs of the existence of God. The primary arguments in his 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion' deal with the Argument from Design, and the Cosmological Argument. There is an assumed distinction here between natural religion and revealed religion, an especially important distinction in the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment philosophical structure.

- Natural Religion and Revealed Religion -
Natural religion is the idea that we come to know and understand God (and, consequently, what God wants or expects of us, if anything) simply from nature and our sensory perceptions, as well as our interpretations (emotion and rational) of this kind of understanding. From very early in his writing career, Hume attacked the idea of natural religion and most of its conclusions, drawing a sharp line between what we can actually know and what ends up being fanciful extrapolations based on other-than-rational ideas and evidence. Revealed religion is primary what most religions base themselves upon - the burning bush to Moses, the resurrection and post-resurrection appearances to the Apostles, the Buddha's enlightenment under the tree - these are examples of revelation. While Hume does take on the idea of revealed religion in his other works, this particular text does not concern itself with that topic, and stays in the domain of addressing natural religion.

- The Argument from Design -
Arguments from Design have always had a strong appeal to believers within religious frameworks; they have often been used as tools of evangelism, as attempts to show that beyond the revealed doctrines, the very nature of things points to a creator. In very short order, the Argument from Design in Hume's newly-industrial time might have read like this:

- Machines are designed by beings with intelligence.
- The world and the universe it is in resembles a machine.
- Therefore, the world must have been created by means of intelligent design.

This is an argument by analogy, and is convincing to some, but often more convincing to those already inclined to believe in the existence of God.

- The Cosmological Argument -
The Cosmological Argument is at once both more subtle and more simple. The most simple way of stating it would be that God is the 'first cause' of everything. If everything has to have a cause (even the whole universe), then that first cause must be God. In the twentieth century era of thinking of a universe that began with a Big Bang, it seemed to some that the Cosmological Argument was confirmed.

Hume would have been familiar with Leibniz's more subtle form of the Cosmological Argument, which argues for a world of infinite contingent causes. However, there has to be something outside of this system of infinite causes that produced the series - thus, even in a universe with no set beginning or ending, there would still need to be an overarching cause.

- Hume's Arguments -
Hume argues on many levels. His first criticism of the Argument from Design is that this analogy (as are most arguments from analogy) is faulty and not exact; we have no idea if the universe is like a machine. Even if it was, machines are often designed and built by several designers - why argue for one God rather than several? How do we know that matter and the universe don't have their own, internal self-organising principles?

With regard to the Cosmological Argument, the argument is a little more strained. Hume argues that, in any series of causality, once one knows about each cause, it makes no sense to inquire beyond the sequence of causes to some other effect. This is a very Empirical argument, to be sure, and while perhaps not entirely satisfying, it still has merit in philosophy to this day.

- Hume's Structure -
This is a dialogue, set up in the classical way of people talking with each other about the subjects. Hume draws primarily from Cicero, whose work 'On the Nature of the Gods' uses characters of the same names. However, whereas Cicero was concerned about the nature of the Gods (their attributes, powers, etc.) and not their existence, it is the very existence of God that occupies Hume's thoughts.

Hume, despite many years of work on this text, probably never quite thought it was finished. He left the work to Adam Smith (the noted economist, and friend of Hume in Edinburgh), who also thought the arguments against the existence of God were too strong, and likely too damaging to Hume's overall reputation. The tug-of-war over the publication makes for interesting reading in and of itself.

These are important arguments, worthy of discussion and dialogue in philosophy classes, theology classes, and among others who ponder the existence of God.

This short and artfully written book was published after Hume's death. Hume did not wish to experience the controversy engendered by the arguments advanced in the book. It is likely as well that Hume was concerned also with offending some of the moderate Presbyterian clergy who were his personal friends and had been his partisans in other controversies. This book is primarily an attack on the idea that the exercise of reason and logic provides support for religion, and particularly that application of reason leads to strong evidence for the existence of a beneficient God. This line of thought had become particularly popular among liberal theologians in the first half of the 18th century and was a widely held notion among Enlightenment intellectuals across Europe and North America. This idea is still widely held today and can be seen in the writings of the so-called 'intelligent design' advocates of creationism. Hume's criticisms, then, are not only of historic interest but continue to have relevance to our contemporary lives.

The Dialogues are constructed as a 3 cornered argument between three friends. Demea, a man upholding revealed religion against the idea that reason provides support for the existence of God. Cleanthes, an advocate of natural religion. Philo, a skeptical reasoner who attacks the positions held by Demea and Cleanthes. For those who like Hume's sprightly 18th century style, this is a fun book to read. Hume artfully divides some of his strongest arguments between Cleanthes and Philo, and gives the Dialogues the real sense of a dispute among 3 intelligent friends. Philo is generally taken to represent Hume's positions but Cleanthes articulates some strong arguments and provides some of the best criticisms of Demea's fideism. Much of the book is devoted to attacking the argument from design, which Cleanthes attempts to defend against assaults from Philo and Demea. In many ways, the argument from design is the major idea of those supporting the natural religion approach to existence of God. Hume's critique is thorough and powerful. It even includes an anticipation of Darwin's idea's of selection, though the basis for Hume's critique is primarily epistemological. In the later parts of the book, Hume attacks also the comsological argument for the existence of God, though this discussion is relatively brief and a bit confusing. Hume's analysis is consistent broadly with much of his philosophical work. In many ways, his great theme was the limitations of reason, and this book is an example of his preoccupation with the relatively limited role of reason in establishing certain facts about the universe. He finishes with short criticisms of the idea that religion is needed for a stable and well ordered society and defends the usefullness of skeptical reasoning.

It is important to view the Dialogues as part of a critique of religion that Hume sustained in several works. His Natural History of Religion, the On Miracles section of the Enquiry Concerning Human Understacing, and other essays comprise a broad criticism of religion. Other pillars of religion, such as the existence of miracles and revelation, are criticized in his other work. While Hume denied being an atheist and was apparently disturbed by the dogmatic atheism of French philosophes he met in Paris, he was certainly not religous in any conventional sense.

This is a short and very readable book but the power of its arguments are totally out of proportion to its length.

This book was faced paced and difficult, in fact impossible, to put down! Just when you think you have the story all figured out....you realize you don't. You're not sure who the good guys and the bad guys are. Like one reviewer said you really don't know the WHOLE story until the end. I had a lot of admiration for Giselle. She was a very strong and smart woman. I also fell in love with Raz. He was a man of many secrets but he did have a true love for Giselle.

This story had it all...military intrigue, action, suspense and romance. I highly recommend this book. It's one that you can easily read again and again and see things you missed the first time.

I hope we see more books in the future by L.K. Malone.

This book, the first by author L.K. Malone, shows that the author did his homework. It was very well researched, so that everything seemed possible. I have read this book several times, and each time have picked up something new that I missed the other times around. If you are looking for an exciting, intelligent read about a very relavant topic, buy it today! Dont bother to check it out of the library, because you will want to read it again and again.

This is a great story, with plenty of plot twists that keep you guessing until the end. I enjoyed it very much, and will be keeping this one for my bookshelf collection. I only wish I could find more books by this author --- L. K. Malone is a very talented writer. Let's hope we see more in the future!

This was a terrific book! If you like Dee Henderson's books, you'll love this first book by LK Malone. I finished it, and then read it again! (I've only done that about 2 times before!) This is one of those books that won't make it to ebay, it's staying in my library! Get your own copy, you won't regret it!

Giselle, the daughter of a high-ranking navy captain, has lived on secure military bases around the world, isolated and protected. Until Raz comes into her life, and touches her heart in a way no one else has. After Raz saves her life from terrorists, Giselle realizes she's fallen in love. Unfortunately, Raz has a dark secret that he can't share. When Giselle stumbles across it, she will do anything to escape, except she isn't quite sure who or what she's running from, as anyone and everyone seem to have a hidden agenda. Giselle travels around the world and back to Italy in his romantic supense novel. A GREAT read for male or female. Made me wish I could have a man like this!

"As a clinical psychologist who treats people who emotionally overeat, always tell my patients if you are going to eat to cope eat only the best and really enjoy your food - make an occassion of it and relish every bite! Inside Peggy's cookbook are truly the best versions of our all time favorites. They really are comfort food."

Sheila H. Forman, JD, PHD author Do You Use Food to Cope: A Comprehensive 15-Week Program for Overcoming Emotional Overeating and Self-Fullness: The Art of Loving and Caring for Your Self

"Down Home Delicious" was the most fun cookbook I have ever seen besides having easy, delicious recipes. I have never cooked and am now back with my boyfriend of 30 years ago and recently engaged. I decided to try and be a little more domestic and actually have dinner on the table when he came home. I saw this book in the bookstore and it looked cute so I took it home and tried it out. Wow! The results were amazing in every way. I'm not a chili person, but it was cold and he loves chili so I tried the Cowboy Chili recipe. We both loved it and I even had seconds and continue to make it. The recipe was quite humorous and Steven loved reading it. I highly recommend this book.

I love this cookbook! It is red hot and sizzling! Not only are the recipes delicious, they are just downright fun! Peggy has an original and creative format that presents the recipes not only for the palate, but for the heart and soul also. More! More!

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

I've known Peggy Sholly for several years now, and she's a woman who has figured out a few things about making folks happy. We humans celebrate with food and nobody celebrates food better than Peggy. Her new cookbook is full of wonderful down home delicious recipes that celebrate her Italian American heritage, her Cajun roots, her Gulf Coast residence, and her affinity for the wild Rio Grande border country. The delightful illustrations demonstrate that Peggy does, indeed, know that the way to every man's heart starts at the dinner table.
Mike Boren
Raconteur, Connoisseur, and Famous Eater
Big Bend National Park, Texas

This is simply the most beautiful book available about the mahayana teachings on love, compassion and transforming adversity. I highly recommend it.

This is an amazing book! I bought it for my mom and she can not stop listening to it! We all love it!

This is a wonderful book by Geshe Kelsang explaining how to transfer everyday experiences into the Buddhist path. If you're looking for a practical guide to develop compassion this is the book for you. Thank you for reading my review, and I wish you much luck.

The Eight Steps to Happiness is a MUST READ for everyone, no matter what you spiritual or religious path. It will bring you fantastic insight as to the keys to end personal suffering - through loving compassion, "exchanging self with others" and so many enlightening principles that are profoundly written, and entirely transformative when put into actual life practice.
This is one of the books that I refer back to again and again, and one that is a definite to keep and share with others for life.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you truly want to rise above personal suffering on any level. A great heartfelt Thank You to Geshe Kelsang Gyatso for the writing of this profound book.

I am a long term lojong practitioner, and usually recommend Pema Chodron for beginners, and steer beginners away from the older texts. This book is one I will recommedn for both. Excellent explanations, uplifting and enlightening, very clear and concise. Even if you are not Buddhist, i recommend this book -- sweet!