Meditation Books

Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (1/08)

"Let's play Follow the Leader!" Perhaps you remember playing this game when you were younger. Didn't we all want to be the leader? In fact, were you disappointed when you weren't chosen to be the leader? We can't all be leaders all of the time. Imagine if we all wanted to be leaders in the workplace. You can't all be leaders as there has to be some followers. Perhaps you have been placed in a position of being a leader and aren't quite sure what qualities a leader should possess. What should a leader do in order to have his followers walk alongside him to success?

Are all leaders always successful? No, they aren't. It is a smart leader who realizes his mistakes, makes changes and leads others in the right direction. "The Way of Leading People" seeks to convey the Tao Te Ching method of leadership. It is over 2500 years old but remains effective to this day. Not only can these principles be utilized in business, but also in relationships and life.

"The Way of Leading People" is a soft-cover manual. This is not a textbook by any means. It is written in very easy-to-understand language and is sure to help any of its readers. There are 81 sections in content. Each section is written in poems with the ideas of Tao Te Ching clearly presented. Each section has black and white pictures of large skyscrapers and other abstract art to add to the ideas. It is sure to make you think and evaluate just what a successful leader is. This is an excellent book for anyone who is currently a leader, hopes to be a leader or is a follower who wants to help his leader become more effective. "The Way of Leading People" would make an excellent addition to the reference section of libraries of businesses and families alike.

This book is an inspiration to people from all over the world who want to listen to the wisdom of the past to be relevent in the world of today. The book is easy to understand and comprehend.

From the captivating photography to the thought-provoking tie-ins with the Ancient Eastern dsciplines of Tao Te Ching, this is a book anyone involved in a leadership role or educator should treasure. The wisdom of 2500 years is perhaps more valuable today than ever. I commend the collaborative effort of The Warnekas to bring an extraordinary perspective to the Fundamentals of Leadership

Patrick & Timothy have created an easy to understand and utilize philosophy that we all can utilize in our business world. The Tao Te Ching is the basis of my Feng Shui world and I am happy to be able to see it in their writings-the yin and yang effect. "A wise leader leads without appearing to lead". My life is gentle and easy and my most challenging part of my world is truly leading by example. If you are a leader in business, this book needs to be front and center on your desk. It will remind you of those few words written that can make the difference in your employees lives forever.

Based in part on the writings of the Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu who wrote his commentaries some 2500 years ago, "The Way Of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills With The Tao Te Ching" is the collaborative work of leadership experts and martial arts practitioners Patrick Warneka and Timothy H. Warneka. In presenting a series of key quotations from the Tao Te Ching (each of which are numbered and illustrated by an accompanying full page black-and-white photograph, Patrick and Timothy have enabled the non-specialist general reader unfamiliar with the writings of Lao Tsu (which are second only to the Bible in being translated around the world) to benefit from a thoughtful and thought-provoking, inspired and inspirational series of cogent principles and observations relevant to becoming an effective and wise leader whether it be in business, in government, in the community, in the family, or in life itself. With its thoroughly 'reader friendly' format, "The Way Of Leading People" is an ideal addition to community library philosophy, business, and self-help reference collections and especially recommended for anyone seeking to understand the nature and requirements of personal leadership in the world of today.

I first discovered this book about 8 years ago. At that time, I purchased several copies and quickly gave them to my closest dog-lover friends. Since then, I have given this book to three friends upon the loss of their dog. I am so impressed with this book because of the content and the format. It not only sheds new light on the faithfulness and simple inner beauty of dogs, but causes one to contemplate one's own inner self. It provides both humor and comfort. It is such a poignant book that it will touch anyone who values their dog, whether the reader is a Christian (as is the author) or not. Two of the people I gave this book to were not Christians and absolutely loved reading and receiving it. It is easy to read, and will be read repeatedly over time by any owner.What My Dog Has Taught Me About Life: Meditations for Dog Lovers

I began reading this before bed one night and couldn't stop...this book is riveting! Dog and animal lovers NEED this book. The incredibly heartwarming and powerful short stories read like devotionals. If you have ever given your heart to a dog, you really must buy a copy of this book and have a box of tissues ready when you begin reading. You will most certainly learn or recall life lessons too valuable to forget.

I just finished reading this book and discovered an abundance of chuckles and many insights about my own life.

A few minutes ago, I finished Mr. Stanley's book. I had wondered if there were others who learned from those special dogs who are insightful, attentive, intelligent and totally devoted. Obviously, Gary Stanley is one of those, and he communicates so well the blessings of sharing life with another of God's creatures.

My mother is a friend of the author, and for a while in 1999, she took care of "Griffin", one of the dogs described in this book. She talked often about his remarkable face and demeanor, and raved about Mr. Stanley's stories. Twice now I have been amazed at how right she is-- Griffin is an amazing dog-- he can look at you in a way that almost goes through you. And then to see that translated into these short stories is just amazing. "The Dog Who Walk Himself" has much to teach us, even though he probably doesn't know he's doing it. As this book shows us, God has many ways of teaching us His lessons. I think even my cat-loving self can agree with that!

I love Geneen Roth. She has so much insight and her own self-reflection contributes to the quality of her work. This is excellent.

This is an excellent audio series! Gives a new outlook on eating. It is worth every dollar!

This CD set offers listeners the opportunity to explore how they feel about their weight, about the role of food in their lives, and about love and what it really means. Each session leads listeners through an examination of a new way of breaking free from emotional eating...and it's not about dieting. While this is a radical idea, it touches something true inside, and Roth offers Eating Guidelines to help us navigate our way through the forest of our own experience of life and to hear our own voices.

How we eat is how we live, and how we feel about pleasure, deprivation, hope, despair, fear, happiness, and the whole range of feelings and experiences defines our lives. She postulates that the old, hurtful, voice can be replaced by our own spirit, and that we can learn to transcend what we believed as children and to find real peace as adults. We can be ourselves and welcome the possibilities of the future. We can learn to love and care for ourselves.

Listen to Roth, here; she makes incredible sense. She knows how it feels to be caught up in feelings about weight and personal value, and you will likely recognize yourself in her descriptions...and find your way home to yourself using her tools. Work with the meditations and exercises provided, and follow your heart to living a truly radiant life!

I really like a lot of what Ms. Roth has to say, but was extremely disappointed because in purchasing this audio-book, I was hoping that I was acquiring a resource that I could turn to for comfort, as I do with some of my other Sounds True audio-books. That will not be the case with this one, unfortunately, because I find Ms. Roth's voice inflections to be exceedingly annoying at times. When she speaks normally, I have no problem, but I actually take my ear-buds out when she uses her dramatic or sarcastic voice (which is a lot). Bummer.

I just bought a couple of her books. Hopefully her writing style isn't annoying.

THIS AUDIO SERIES ADDRESSES EVERY ASPECT OF FOOD. DEALING PRIMARILY WITH

HOW AND WHY WE TURN TO FOOD FOR THE WRONG REASONS; ALL THE EMOTIONAL

CONPONETS SURROUNDING FOOD,PLUS GIVES YOU SOLID CONCRETE TOOLS TO

BEGIN THE JOURNEY OF HEALTH AND TRANSFORMATION.

Nancy Stafford has written a very inspirational and theologocally correct devotional book that has enlightened my life anew. It is like she knew all about me and was writing about my own spiritual adventure in life. The book is accuratly titled, the "wonder of God's love". Thank you Nancy.

I loved Nancy Stafford's first book "Beauty By the Book" and enjoyed her second even more. "The Wonder of His Love" is so many things: a devotional, a study of scripture, a prayer book, an individual's journey, a lesson in love, all in one compact little book. Ms. Stafford paints such vivid pictures of who our Lord is - and the way she weaves scripture and personal anecdotes, it allows the reader to feel such a connection to Him and a deeper understanding of His immeasurable love. Coupled with "Beauty by the Book," Stafford has written two of my favorite inspirational books.

Someone once told me that a book reads well that reads you. In the book's Introduction, Nancy Stafford writes:
"I need to grasp the wonder of God's love because my own love is found wanting. I do not love as God loves. I fall so short. Too often my heart is slammed shut, crusty tight. Even when I feel love there, I don't always express it, don't follow through with actions that embody true love - forgiveness, long-suffering, sacrifice - the very acts of love that God has demonstrated for millennia". Nancy may have been writing her own thoughts, but for a moment, I thought she was reading my mind. Throughout the book, Nancy continues to write many thoughtful pages to which I directly relate.
At the end of each chapter (31 chapters) Nancy has included a heartfelt prayer, including the following:
"Lord, I don't want to speak empty words when I say to others, "God loves you". I want them to see Your love in action through me. Forgive me for being self-centered. Move me out of my comfort zone. Help me to be more generous and thoughtful and sacrificial in ways that will be most meaningful to others, in ways that will reflect Your incredible love for them. Help me to love as You love. Amen". For me, the intrinsic value of Nancy Stafford's heartfelt words in each prayer is a thousand times greater than book's cost.
When describing the blessings of God's love, Nancy writes: "This is a love streaming from heaven that confounds our every attempt to grasp it". I am thankful that God blessed Nancy with the wisdom to grasp His Love. And I am thankful that Nancy shared her blessings by writing this book. It has helped me to better understand God's multifaceted Love. If you have the desire to increase your ability to recognize God's love and increase your own capacity to love, then reading "The Wonder of His Love" is a great personal investment. I know that the time I have spent reading and re-reading this book will be paying valuable spiritual dividends to me for many decades.

I cannot recommend this book more highly. One week into reading this book, I was so moved that I began to give it away to others -- and the list of intended recipients is growing. I am extremely selective when it comes to devotionals. As the mother of four young children and my running own business, my time is very precious. Something that I commit to reading on a regular basis must have immense value. Add to this that I also have a Master of Divinity degree, spent a number of years in pastoral ministry, and have reflected deeply on Scripture and spiritual matters. I can't help but to read these types of books critically; my intellect demands theological soundness and Scriptural integrity, while my heart yearns for transparency, authenticity and evidence of the author's intimacy with the Lord. From the moment I opened "The Wonder of His Love" these criteria have been met. I am truly impressed. When I first sat down with this little book and a cup of coffee, I thought, wow, it's so short, I'll finish it in no time. After two chapters, I realized that this is not a book to read from cover to cover in one or even a few sittings. So much depth is packed into each short section that this book must be savored one precious, rich chapter at a time -- and I am always eager to come back for more. Yet, even though it has depth, this book is easy to read. The author manages to convey profound truths with simplicity, elegance and beauty. It is rare to find a book that says this much so powerfully, while saying it succinctly and without drowning out the "still, small voice." This is truly a work of verbal art. The author gently leads the reader on an inspired journey that delivers on the what the title promises. I can speak from personal experience: My heart is being penetrated anew and my soul is being fed with the wonderful revelation of God's lavish and amazing love. Very few books have touched me both this quickly and this deeply. For all these reasons, I truly believe that this little book has the makings of a classic. Read it with anticipation!

In The Wonder of His Love: A Journey into the Heart of God, Nancy Stafford demonstrates her Love for the Lord and her gift for writing in such a way that brings God's word to life. This book is quite extraordinary because it represnts a highly personal journey yet one which helped me learn more about my own walk with God. Each chapter begins with a scripture and deals with a different aspect of love (initiating love, resurrecting love, etc.) For me The Wonder of His Love has been like a spiritual booster shot; it has helped me come to grips with some spiritual struggles that I have been experiencing for some time. I am extremely grateful to Nancy for this book, and I have recommended it to others who I feel have to read it. I cannot recommend the book highly enough.

This is a very inspiring book. It's small....but great things always come in small packages.

Great book for anyone, expecially if you are in a 12 step program. I give this book away for "anniversaries."

I spend the last minutes of my day in meditation. This book is a nice addition to my routine.

This book was purchased for a gift to a recovering alcoholic. He does a lot of reading and meditation and was extremely pleased with the book. I feel this was a gift, well-chosen. Short reads and thoughts for meditation.

This book was given to me by one of the most wonderful human beings I have ever treated for addiction. I can still remember the trust and faith he had in me as a therapist and his openess to the 12 step program. He insisted that I take this book and use it to help others in recovery. What a gift recovery is and this book truly will help you on your journey. Prayer and meditation is a necessity if you are to maintain sobriety and develop a new way of living. However, remember it is spirituality we are after and we define that. Its not defined by any particular religion. They are both useful, but completely different. This book will help you on your spiritaul path to recovery. Highly recommended. And much thanks to my incredible client that gave me this book.

If you have been reading into Kabbalah and enjoy meditating this is an excellent way to focus your meditation. It's small and travels well. It provides brief and direct statements.

This is a very interesting book. I fully recommend it to anyone looking for spiritual answers. You may not agree with everything -- and that's OK. But take whatever you get from this book and simply make it yours. You don't have to become a follower of Kabbalah to put some of the ideas into practice. Try it. You may like it.

Also recommended: "What Did Jesus Really Say, How Christianity Went Astray: [What To Say To A Born Again Christian Fundamentalist, But Never Had The Information]" by Peter Cayce

This book is very inspirational and the pages are attractively designed. I appreciate the simplicity and the novelty of the technology given for improving the quality of my life. I use it every day in conjunction with 'The 72 Names of God Meditation Deck72 Names of God: Meditation Deck. The card that I choose from the Deck and the corresponding reading from the text indicate the life lesson I need to learn.Additionally I select the Name that I wish to work with. This is the next step in my spiritual development.

Great book. I wish it had the alliterative Hebrew pronunciations for those of us who wish to be able to say these beautiful words as well as meditate on them.

This is one of the tools Kabbalah offers us, each of the 72 names is for a specific purpose. You meditate on the name or names (one at a time) that you feel you need, in the way the book explains. The names cannot be pronounced, as they are not words, but combinations of letters, so they really don't have a meaning, but each combination of letters has a diferent energy that helps us in the way that is described in each of the meditations!!! If you want to say any specific name you say the letters, for example Mem Hey Shin, which is the name for healing. The meditations are beautiful, very wise words by Yehuda Berg, that touch your heart and your soul!!!
You can also scan the chart with the 72 names of God, in the way that is described in the book, once or twice a day.

This daily meditation book is full of healing gems. Anyone doing inner child work, or interested in inner child work ought to be able to benefit from the ideas here. Brilliant and beautiful... this little book is a work of art.

Excellent book with daily affirmations to start off each day. Difficult to obtain in Australia so ordering through Amazon made it a lot easier.

this is a kind of book that everybody who needs a help to start the day with good feelings and strong faith, I enjoy to read it every day.

I believe this little daily meditation book was designed to be read by the calendar date indicated on each page. If you are looking for some sense of direction this book is an absolute MUST. Even if you read it by just letting the book open to any page, you will find that there's something going on in your life TODAY that the daily reading will address. These are ideas on which to focus as you go through your day with simple ways to shift your perception of the events in your life. This is a way to sense and enjoy freedom each and every day. Remember that though you may have forgotten times in your life, the child that lives within you has memory of everything and you now have the opportunity to re-train your child into a serene, responsible, joy-filled adult. Take 5 minutes to give you a wonderful gift first thing every morning when you awaken.

I read this book in 1991 and many times since.It is a precious book that I hate to lend to anyone else for fear I might not get it back but really really want other people to get to know it.These Afirmations are done with a calendar date on each page and that is how I used them the first time through now I use the index in the back of the book to choose the topic I need a particular day. The little stories let me feel safe and right and ok with where I am.They teach me different ways of looking at myself so I can put down the baseball bat that I use to beat myself with. They help me make sense of my thinking which without this book seemed to be the thoughts of a crazy woman. Long after the hoopla of the Inner Child revolution stuff has past this book stands out as one of if not the most meaningful book I have read. I thank you from the bottom of my heart Rokelle Lerner.

I imagine this book bouncing around the traditional publishing circles for years, no doubt garnering interest, though invariably meeting with rejection. That is the only way I can fathom a work of this caliber coming to market through a POD publisher. For this is a unusual book that defies simple description and categorization. Nonetheless, Apology is an extraordinary achievement, as both literary art and philosophical meditation. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the authentic mystical experience.

Apology requires multiple readings to be fully appreciated. This is not to say that the writing itself is difficult to manage. Its beautiful composition serves a touching personal story that is by turns sad, funny, terrifying and ecstatic. The writing is elegant in an almost symphonic sense, the thematic elements layering and intertwining as the story methodically builds toward its magnificent climax. But the true complexity of the arrangement is only more deeply illuminated by subsequent readings.

The cultural landmarks, sacred and secular, noted along the story's journey are familiar to most of us. But here we find them transfigured by the blazing light of ... well, of something ultimately inexplicable. Apology is the uncompromised record of one person's life-altering encounter with Transcendence, offered up in all its gritty psychological detail.

Having recently experienced the death of my father, I found this book to me most enlightening. Its gives me hope, and helped me accept my despair. Mr. Arias simply stated is a genus.

At first I found the title Apology: A New Age Meditation a bit off-putting. But the title brought back memories of college philosophy courses, and so I did some investigating.

The Greek word apologia means "speech before". In Plato's terms, "Apology" was an account of Socrates' defense before his fellow Athenians, and an examination of the value of philosophical examination.

In the same way, Robert Arias' Apology is an account of his own examination of the meaning of life and consciousness, and the first steps in the search for "truth".

Written in the first person, and chronicling Arias' passage through psychedelic drugs, comparative religious thought, and meditation, the book is a series of richly interwoven narratives. Conversations held in the past weave threads similar to those held in the present, and at each moment the fullness of truth is but a hair's-breadth away.

I was particularly impressed with the detail and clarity with which Arias' psychedelic trips are described. Few people would attempt such a description. Fewer would do it well. Arias' trips leave the experienced reader with a "morning-after", kinesthetic remembrance, and the inexperienced reader with a small taste of the pleasure and danger of psychotropic investigation.

The novel moves like a Socratic cyclone, tearing down dogma and doctrine, leaving nothing but emptiness and uncertainty in its wake. And yet, in that emptiness and uncertainty lives a hope and possibility that can not be expressed in words.

...brings him to a place where the treasures are in the Here and the Now. "Every story must have a beginning." Rob asserts in both the beginning and the end of this novel. As if he is still being renewed, still being born. And the reader is exposed to his many, many revelations on the way to that final page.

His soul aches for answers to the question of why...? When he brother dies, why? When his mother does not understand or relate to him anymore, why? When his pal Jake or his girlfriend must move on, why? Why does living have to be so confusing, and so painful? And if God is such a good God, why has he allowed so much suffering in my life and others? And so he gleans from the masters of eastern and western religions, numbs and sucuumbs to maddness, wild pharmaceticals and hallucinogens and to Moebius strip like electron micrographs. To attempt to get the answers, to help himself deal with the pain. He has heady discussions like of the way of Jesus, original sin and the how to of Meditation. It all makes for a compelling read. The casual reader, however, may find his consumption of cigarettes all through out his various travels and reinventions quite paradoxical, but, like he puts it, tabacco is good for brooding intellectual types.

My opinion? It is a well-written How-To disguised as a bio. But the reader does not really have to do what he has done to come to the same answers. Rob serves as, like, the ultimate test subject in a self imposed set of clinical/spiritual trials. As a scientist--he is a neurophysiologist--he just may have come upon just what us neo-millenium searchers may require. A proxy for the spiritual realms. Not too unlike...?

This book is great, it has been extremely hard for me to boil down my thoughts about this book and about where it took me in religious thought, down familiar roads, but further down those roads than I have been before. It compares with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?

The author's description of the use of psychedelic drugs as a lens resonates with my own experiences. The drug elements of the book are interesting and important because of the paranoia that they precipitated and the centrality of the ensuing madness to the story. But the drug element is ultimately incidental to the major themes of the book. What struck me repeatedly while reading was that I learned so much from the book's perspective of the big issues? reality, family, friends, religion, love.

I've tried to come up with some brief blurbs about the book that would draw in other readers. Such as: Few books have been written with the power to enrich one's thoughts about religion, love, relationships, and the nature of reality. This is one of them.? Or: this extraordinary author is able to drop all walls of privacy and allow perfect strangers into his soul's view of the BIG questions: How do we help family and friends? What is real.? Are the central truths of all religions the same? His depth of feeling and vision will help many to arrive at new insights.But I fall far short of doing this book the justice it deserves.

If you like feeling that you've grown from reading a book, Apology by Rob Arias is a good choice.

This set of 6 cassette tapes simulates being at her Gompa in Nova Scotia with your eyes closed. She is a Western Tibetan Buddhist nun who studied with Trungpa Rinpoche. She's published several lovely books (e.g. "Places that Scare You" and "Start Where You Are") as well as videos (e.g. "Good Medicine") and tape sets (e.g. "Noble Heart"). This particular item addresses her two main topics of the Lojong mind training and the practice of Tonglen (sending & receiving). The many techniques, meditations, explanations, etc. are VERY useful in daily life even if you don't do regular, daily, spiritual practices. Some Lojong items are: "Make friends with yourself," finding the soft spot within (sometimes hard to do!), resistence to capacitence, "how to do your best when you feel your worst," and "when you ask a question wholeheartedly, you begin to get the answer everywhere." Tonglen means taking in (mentally) other person's suffering and sending them your own happiness instead. Not easy at first, but she provides ways to ease into it and, best of all, a terrific "on-the-spot" method which is FAR easier to employ. This is simply a super set of tapes by a fantastic teacher.

Years ago I first bought these tapes. Since then I have recommended them to many from beginning seeker to long time student. Pema Chodron teaches mind training in a warm and humorous way to help us learn to become compassionate toward ourselves and others.

I sent these tapes to my brother. They were intercepted by my mother who had had a difficult life. She listened to them night and day until the day she died. She constantly told me on the phone how wonderful they were and how often she listened to them. They enabled her to die a peaceful death. I don't think that there can be a more powerful recommendation than that.

What more can I say? I stumbled unto Ms. Pema several years ago. I was searching for something that spoke deeply to me about how to frame my life/my struggles/my lingering past. I have done many years of traditional therapy/women's groups/etc....and I have had many wonderful teachers over my 54 years....each bringing something fresh and scary and real to the picture...but Pema and her body of tapes/CD's/books, has become the frosting on the cake for me. Somehow falling to sleep at night listening to her sweet and oh-so-knowledgeable voice...well, it seems like the cares of the world fall into place. Don't get me wrong, once you listen to this humorous little Buddhist nun you will be in for one helluva lot of work. She gets under your skin in a good way....and you find yourself opening up to your life as it is...and working with WHATEVER is on your plate. All I can say is, it works. A day at a time....listen to her when you are on the computer/or washing the dishes...or my favorite, trying to fall asleep (made difficult by hormones for some of us..). If there is a light in this world to help illuminate us along the way without dogma or perfectionism, Pema is that light. "Awakening Compassion" is my fav of her CD sets....."Getting Unstuck" is excellent as well....but hey, they are ALL worth listening to....and listening to...and listening to.....for I am quick to forget her words of wisdom, so I have to keep it going. Hope you enjoy her as much as I do. If you have the chance to see her in person as I have been lucky enough to, GO FOR IT. She doesn't tour much anymore as she has just turned 70, but if the opportunity presents itself...take it!

Life-changing. Highly recommended.

I was at the Dharmadhatu Center in Los Angeles in 1980. I had listened to some Tibetan nun lecturing. That was fine. I was talking to the guy at the desk. Asking him if I could only pay half on some seminar. It was a hassle. Suddenly, I turned around. There was the Tibetan nun standing in the doorway. She was looking at me with such intense love that I felt embarrassed. Just open love beaming at me. I don't know if the reader has ever felt that. Someone not loving YOU in a grasping way. But just total love. From the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. I suddenly turned away. It was a weird experience. Anyway, that was Pema Chodren. I have bought these tapes. You will do something called "Tonglen". You will also do Shamatha Meditation. And have 59 Lojungs (items to practice). I would like to simplify this if I may. You will learn a simple breathing technique (Buy "Start Where You Are" by Pema Chodren where she will tell you how to do this very simple technique of just following your outbreath). Then Tonglen. Another very simple meditation technique which you can also use during difficult times during the day. And then the slogans. I would like to share with you my experience with one of the slogans. "Drive All Blames into One". In this slogan, your focus is not on the person who is irritaing you, or the situation, but the focus is switched to paying attention to your anger. No matter what the situation. You are taking responsiblity for your emotions. Pema explains how this will enable you to be even more assertive! Because the anger is gone. You will eventually find yourself responding accurately to the person or situation. No back-talking in one of the slogans. No putting others down. It's a whole journey. I have only one question. Where will Bill Butler go?

Thanks to Amazon, this book was on my desk in no time. Amazon, you've done it again...

Loved this book. I have read it again and again.Many wonderful comments are posted here about this book.I loved when Anayat Khan describes connection between physical existance and cosmic existance. Knowing other spiritual figures like Mohammed(s) and Jesus, Abrahim in a different way. Their existance was not merely a physical existance on earth but Cosmic existance. Loved this concept of interconnectedness of humans with universe,space and higher realism.

I don't know what else to add to what has already been said, but one thing which I must say is that this book changed my life. If you are looking for a bit of help in trying to get inside yourself and then to look at the world through a greater perspective, read this book.

I had this from the library and now I want a copy, so I can go slowly through the meditative practices described. I particularly liked the "light" meditations.

One of the book's best features is the focus on bringing back into everyday life what you have gained by stepping out of everyday life. This is an important perspective often missing from contemplative works.

Khan quotes freely, and knowledgeably, from Hindu, Buddhist and Christian ideas as well as giving a good introduction to his Sufi tradition. The only flaw I noted is that his grasp of physics, even for metaphorical purposes, is extremely poor, but you can ignore that and just enjoy the spiritual wisdom.

When "The Awakening" arrived, it took me 2 weeks before I sat down and turned to page one. I tried to scan through like a "good" student, but somehow this book is not a typical Sufi book that teaches you through steps without wisdom. You have to be "awaken" or to "have died before death", in order to embrace every word, and comprehend the underlying structures and words chosen to convey the message therein. I would recommend "The Awakening" only to serious seekers. If you are a self-labelled religionist {Muslim, Jew, or Christian} and a staunch one at that you might find yourself against a brick wall.

"The Awakening" is a book that teaches you to take the time to heal your heart, in the wake, will then open you to your "Reality". The religion of the heart is most important here. If you're devoid of that, taking the path written therein can be an awesome task. "The Awakening" is one of the best Sufi manual I've read and understood without recoursing to references. A must-have in your collection, if you're seriously contemplating returning "home" sanely.