Meditation Books

This is a wonderful book to carry around with you and read parts of it during the time you spend at the bank line, for your doctor's appointment, waiting for someone to arrive......It's packed with good sugestions on how to relax on an everyday basis with simple ideas that bring you peace and relaxation. The author uses simple language and a nice approach to help the reader.

This books is about more than just relaxation.
These are brief nuggets of wisdom, valuable insights, imaginative ideas, suggestions, solutions to common interpersonal problems are amazingly effective and helpful in their common sense, humanity and self-nurturing.

This is an easy-to-pick -up-anytime book . It's a change for the positive in your life when you are exasperated, freaking out, in emotional pain, having interpersonal problems, are frazzled or just want to take your mind to "a good place"-- instantly.

When I bought my copy of this book, it was lying haphazardly on a shelf and it was the last copy in store. I started browsing through it and actually sat down in the store for half and hour to read all of the clever, enlightening things the books has to say. This book isn't all about relaxation. It's sections are: Mornings, Dealing with Stress, Positive Change, Mind and Spirit, Body, The Peaceful Home, Work, People, Creativity and Play, and Evenings. Just reading through this book makes me happy. Each little passage will help in some way. I have already recommended it to my friends...even the ones who hate to read!

I am really enjoying this book. Jim does such a good job of giving you short and easy glimpses into the life of Jesus that teach us how to become closer to Him. Sometimes being close to Jesus seems impossible and scarry. It seems like something that only Spiritual giants can do. But this book makes that closeness a real possibility for anyone who will start investing just 10 minutes!

10 Minutes a Day with Jesus focuses our daily devotional attention on a rich variety of scriptures that, as the book's subtitle suggests, will surely deepen and expand the reader's love of the Savior.

Jim Reapsome helps us to examine Jesus' day-to-day responses to our world's excitements and temptations and to ask what Jesus' responses say about Him and what mean to us today. We are first brought up close to experience, to feel Jesus's living through His thinking and acting; we are then invited to appreciate and personalize our new awareness of our wonderful Savior.

The book is so very readable. Each short devotional entry has provided such a truly fresh, insightful look at familiar scripture that I have found myself sharing what I am learning in casual conversatons, now even writing my very first book review!

I am thoroughly enjoying 10 Minutes a Day with Jesus. Each entry is short (2 pages or less), though-provoking and memorable. Plus, it encourages me to read the Bible every day and think about it. This isn't just a devotional. It is not fluffy or wordy, but substantive, with one point that I can remember and think about during the day. Good questions at the end of each day allow me to expand my thinking and apply it to my life. The short prayer at the end sums it up and seals it in my heart.

This is perfect for those who are new to thinking about Jesus and want to understand more about him and his impact on our lives. It is also great for those who want to focus on Jesus with fresh eyes. The Invitations & Promises of Jesus at the end of the book are an added bonus! Although I have studied the life of Jesus for a long time, I am gaining much from this book.

My Sponsor gave me this book during a time in my life when i had lots of changes - both positive and negative. When I couldn't get a thought together she would direct me to a prayer that she thought would help - it usually did. Although I struggle with the Higher Power Concept, I find that the prayers in this book are comforting. I always read what I need to read. Prayer 122 (Resent Somebody) was especially helpful. Beth - Southern California

I found the prayers in this book beautiful. The readings really touched my spiritual side.It can only be of help to any one.

When the end of the day has come and I want to thank God for all that has come along and I'm at a loss for words, I read this wonderful little book to get me started. On the other end of the night, in the morning, when I get up, I read the prayer for the day and again it gets me thinking how grateful I am for God's mercy and grace to keep me sober for another 24 hours. This book is great for someone who's havng trouble praying or for someone who has trouble concentrating on a daily devotional.

I purchased this small book 14 years ago for my mom, and when she was sick and dying it was on her bedside table and we read from it everyday, Just as she did everyday for years. Now, her copy is my treasure and I am buying copies for my children. An excellent compass for everyday life.

I bought this in a used bookstore for [$$] in 1997, and have made it part of my daily routine ever since. I started using this after having used the one-year bible and one year new testament for several years each, and wanted something that didn't cut off passages in midstream....I especially wanted more of the Psalms, since the prayers of others are a wonderful way to hear God's voice speaking to your own life.

The bonus was, I found some wonderful passages in Proverbs that seem to be written just for me.

Each day, you read 5 Psalms, and a chapter of Proverbs. This isn't a substitute for studying the rest of scripture, but is a wonderful devotional habit I plan to continue for the rest of my life.

This is a wonderful way to fulfill the need to read a steady diet of God's Word. It allows you to read selected Psalms and Proverbs once every day. It is nicely broken up so that you can turn back and read it over and over without feeling you are missing any part of devotional and yet is not so much that you cannot read and enjoy His Word with only a few minutes a day.

This book has the perfect combination of insightful text and luminous illustrations. A perfect gift!

This special book encourages readers to quietly reflect on their lives. It gently puts things in perspective and provides a beautiful reminder of what is really important in life. Karen Kroll's illustrations are magical and add the perfect touch to the simple yet profound words. A perfect gift for friends or yourself!

This is an absolutely beautiful little book. Great for personal use or for a gift. Though the sentiments are quite simple and sweet they hold true, and combined with the thought-provoking, mood-inspiring watercolor illustrations, the book provides an opportunity to relax your inner stresses and just enjoy being!

It's great and inspirational. You won't be disappointed.

Writer @ bellaonline Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania 2001

Thank you for more Chicken Soup magic! The same great quality of stories. Inspirational!!

This book is for those people that really need a lift. Whenever I have a hard day at work or just feel I need to cheer myself up, I grab this book and start reading! It is Wonderful!!

This book helped me deal with the conflict that attempting to follow a spiritual path had always engendered in me. I, too, have had experiences of spiritual manifestations, lived in a state of peace and love, then become frustrated when I couldn't maintain it in my work, my relationships, and my entire outlook. This book helped me to deal with that, and to remember the sacred nature of my life a thousand times better than any of the more sophist-esque works from those who really don't seem to empathize with this struggle.

Jack Kornfield is down to earth, he is unpretentious, he is humble, and these are traits rare in today's culture of demigogues and snake-oil salesmen. This work must be read to be appreciated. It has myriad insights from great mystics and more munmdane practictioners. Kornfield includes an eclectic and open treatment of many traditions--Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, etc. In so doing, the words it teaches are applicable to any person who tries to follow a more meaningful path amidst the clutter and cacaphony of our modern lives.

I very highly recommend this work. It will not change your life, but it will remind you how to live it more consciously.

I wrote a review of this book in April of 2001. Here it is January 2002 and I'm writing a second review for this book.

I haven't re-read or revisited it, but it's wisdom stays with me. I'm concerned with my thinning hair, have troubled relations with friends, am pulled into politics at work. My apartment is a mess, my finances aren't in much better shape, I don't go out as much as I would like, I'm not making art as much as I would like. I get angry, tired, frustrated, upset, bored, all within the course of a day.

There's a book out there "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A book that changes lives." I read it despite it's silly name and silly cover. It didn't do much to change my life.

Then there's "After the Ectacy the Laundry." Has it changed my life? No, it hasn't either.

I can almost see you, the reader of this review saying "It didn't change your life? And you're still giving it 5 stars?" and in that, I see myself a just a year ago.

Our society makes too much of escaping the every day: The Laundry, the chores, work, commuting, cooking, cleaning, strained relationships with parents, family, and friends, guilt, anger, frustration, fear, and worry. We seek to escape these things into the magical world of unlimited money and advanced spirituality.

Advertising is based almost entirely on this aspect of our lives. "Buy my product and your life will change" each commercial seems to say. Buy a book by Dan Millman to become a Peaceful Warrior. Buy a sneaker by Nike and escape into a world of physical perfection and love of challenge. Buy some real estate (or a book on buying real estate by Robert Kiyosaki) and become financially independant. Everyone, every single one of us wants to escape.

The book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn states that the hippies of the 60s were trying to escape, but they couldn't because they couldn't identify the bars of the prison. So then what are the bars of the prison?

I have a phrase that I like to use lately. "Salvation tends to be in the opposite direction of where you're looking." Most people get angry when I say that to them. What do I mean by that? What is the opposite direction of the one they're looking in?

I had a friend named Liza who was very into the spiritual journey. She wanted to escape this world. She thought LSD "showed you the other side, but never let you through" and read books by Carlos Casteneda. She believed that there was an escape, but it required a shift too subtle to grasp.

I agree, the shift is too subtle for most people to grasp. Most seekers never find it because it lies in the opposite direction of seeking. What is the opposite of seeking? Being present. Seeking splits you in two, and that split makes you vulnerable to many, many things. Seeking means that half of you is looking for something. I can almost see it, a neurotic half of you running around the attic of your brain trying to find something you misplaced that, if found, will make you whole again.

Being present, ah, now that's entirely different.

Will being present end anxiety? I doubt it. Will being present pay for your new Jetta? No. Then what does being present do for you?

My girlfriend is seeing a therapist. I barely talk to someone who was at one point my closest friend. I no longer call things "mistakes" I call it "being human." We are all human. The belief that you are somehow flawed is wrong because it implies that there is an "opposite of flawed" that you can be. You are not flawed, you are human.

Many of our problems stem from thinking we are different from other people and that other people are different from us. My girlfriend sees a therapist because she believes she is different from other people, that she is flawed. My ex-best friend and I rarely talk because we each believe the other is different, somehow selfish or manipulative.

After the Ecstacy the Laundry does something no other book I've read has done. It's turned my spiritual journey on it's head. I look now at other spiritual seekers and think "The integration that you seek can only be found if you stop seeking. It is the proverbial goal that prevents you from understanding the journey."

Jack Kornfield's book is amazingly human. It makes no promises and offers no illusions. It says "this oatmeal is oatmeal. your thinning hairline is a thinning hairline. your friday night is your friday night. your job is your job. the politics at your job are politics at your job. your insecurities are your insecurities. your worries are your worries. your ego is your ego."

I wonder, sometimes, where Liza is now. The last time I saw her she told me she was living in a neighborhood that's very trendy right now. She was dressed in the latest underground style. I didn't get a chance to talk to her about her journey, or my own.

There's a phrase that captures the truth of spiritual enlightenment presented in this book. "What is the difference between a Buddhist and a non Buddhist? The non-Buddhist think's there's a difference."

What is the difference between an enlightened person and a non-enlightened person? The non-enlightened person think's that there's an "enlightenment."

One of the stories relayed in this book is that of a spiritual seeker who goes to find a master who lives on the mountain. He tracks down this master while he is carring a heavy burden to his home higher on the mountain. The seeker asks "What is the way of Enlightenment?" and the master puts his burden down. The seeker instantly understands, and thanks the master asking "Now what?" and the master picks up his burden and continues walking up the mountain.

Life is not easy. I don't think entering a spiritual practice will make it any easier. Work will still be work, family will still be family, and bills will still be bills. What we can hope to change is the constant chatter of our minds, and the worry of what tomorrow will bring.

I always thought that a spiritual life meant escaping the world and living in a monestary, or a small mountain community where I would meditate and live simply. I thought it meant giving up all of my earthly wants and desires. Now I'm faced with the odd realization that my life is perfect just the way it is. That I need only to slow down and appreciate what is around me.

I also thought a spiritual life would end suffering for me - the anxiety, and the avoidance of discomfort. That life would become stress free because I would be unattached to everything. That I would have no neurosis, and that I would be able to let everything slide off my back. Now I realize that that too isn't the purpose of spiritual practice. Spiritual practice doesn't help you escape your life, but helps you face it head on. The analogy I've begun to use is that enlightenment is like living with a great insult. The refusal to run away from that which is painful or cling to that which is comforting is what spirituality has become for me.

This book helped put spirituality within my reach. I no longer had to run away to the mountains, or give up my life. I could engage in spiritual practice in my living room, at my job, in my relationships. I could simply be who I am and where I am, and more honestly than I had been willing to before.

Shortly after finishing this book I started to experience tremendous anxiety. I was unhappy at my job, I wasn't performing well, and I was looking for a way out. It took me a few weeks to realize that I was identifying with the stress and looking for a way to solve it. I tried noticing the stress as something "outside of myself", a feeling like hunger, or the pain of a scraped knee, and not who I am. This went a great way towards releiving the stress, but more importantly, I began to accept the stress, and my job, and the responsibilities of my life.

This book also did a lot to dispell the illusions I may have had (even though I knew they were wrong) about what a spiritual life is. The Dalai Lama says that the meaning of life is to be happy. Until now I viewed spirituality as an escape from pain. I thought that that was the path to happiness. But as the story goes, the Buddha became friends with anger and envy. So must I become friends with my life. "Ah, my old friend pain. I see you've come to keep me company again."

Acceptance of these truths, and the courage to live honestly are the most difficult lessons I've ever had to learn. I reccomend this book to anyone who wishes to dispell the illusions, the comforting ones as well as the difficult ones, and begin to face life honestly. For those who wish to maintain their illusions (and I can't blame you for wanting this) do not read this book. To quote Carolyn Myss (who was quoting someone else) "I was not ready for the way that that man would have changed my life."

This book is a lovely collection of positive statements by different personalities--famous, historic, etc. The statements reinforce the fact that with adequate effort, anything can be accomplished. This is a very attractive book too--a good gift item for a special friend, graduating senior, or co-worker.

This book helped me through my diabetic cat's final days while he endured acute kidney failure. It kept me going through the painful ordeal of finally letting him go through euthanasia.

This book was given to me as a gift about 5 years ago and I am still picking it up from time to time for encouragement. I keep my copy in my desk at work and pick it up when life, work, etc seems too much to handle. Its a great tool for getting a better, more productive outlook on things. A treasure!

A friend brought this book to a meeting, and everyone in the room spent time looking at it and reading it. It is a beautiful book with exquisite artwork. One of the group had a print by Podesta, so they can be purchased. The address is in the back of the book. It's a book I will continue to enjoy and one I'll give to others for special occasions.

Very inspiring messages. And the beautifully designed graphics give anyone interested in this art form inspiration in and of themselves. He apparently sells them as framed art, but I cannot locate how to purchase. They would also make excellent cards to share.

For full-color catalog and information on purchasing the artwork pictured in this book, call 1-800-922-3595. Glad you liked the book!

Que puedo decir. He conocido personalmente al autor y puedo decirte que su sinceridad dentro y fuera de sus textos le hacen un ocultista especial. Este libro es importante para todos los que quieren aprender el camino de la magia ceremonial y para aquellos que aun ya estan fielmente practicandola. Por que? Pues les ayudara a meditar en la seriedad de su trabajo, les ayudara a no tomarse las cosas tan en serio -pues la magia es cosa seria, pero a veces tenemos que reirnos-, y por ultimo el libro ayudara a muchos a salir de la supersticion y la ignorancia con la que la gran mayoria de nosotros entramos al caminar magico cuando nos pusimos las sandalias de un neofito. Leelo, sonrie, y busca "My life with Spirits" o "The chicken Kabbalah". Lon te ayudara muchisimo, o por lo menos te sacara de este camino y te dedicaras a otra cosa. Sonrie. :)

Duquette siendo uno de los autores mas reconocidos en los Estados Unidos, con su sentido del humor y su vasta experiencia en magia ceremonial, Tarot, kabala, grupos iniciaticos como la OTO, etc presenta esta obra que no solo habla del aspecto psicologicoe e historico sino tambien practico de la magia, muy util para todo aquel que quiera aventurar en las artes magicas sobretodo de evocaciones e invocaciones. Yo poseo sus libros en ingles pero prefiero por obvias razones leer los libros en mi idioma pues es para mi mas facil de asimilar. Este libro no solo habla de la evolucion y el aspecto simbolico de estos personajes, sino una explicacion de como estos seres trabajan y son parte de nuestra spiquis. La pregunta es, si estan en nuestra mente entonces, no son reales? pero la verdad es que aun no sabemos que tan real nuestra mente puede ser.. Con introduccion a la kabala para el neofito y anecdotas es un libro que recomiendo altamente.

Welcome to the magical mind of Lon Milo DuQuette. He is at once brilliant, profound, folksy, irreverent, terrifying, funny, erudite and blasphemous. From the Emerald Tablet of Hermes to the Egyptian Book of the Dead - from the Holy Qabalah to why Demons Are Our Friends - this little book is a crash course in the Western spiritual traditions, and includes a full-color fold-out chart that will delight anyone even remotely interested in the Hebrew Qabalah. I read the entire chapter on Hypatia of Alexandria aloud to my wife and daughter.