Berg Books

but that isn't to say I am not glad I read it. Art's story is a very depressing one. He was engaged to be married and a terrible car accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. The book is all about the lessons he learned in recovery, but I recommend this book strongly because it challenges your belief that you can be happy despite negative circumstances. We all say we believe that because it sounds good. This book challenges you to ask the question, could I be quadriplegic and happy?

Art's story is timely and needed for a culture that has become so steeped in buy-this-to-be-happy consumerism. I live better for having read this book. And I believe the answer is yes, you can be happy despite what life deals you. Art is genuine, and you will never forget his example after reading this.

The only reason I didn't give it a fifth star was because I didn't care for the poems at the end of each chapter--a little sentimental for me.

I love the way Art Berg writes. It's as if he's there with you, talking to you. He is an inspiration to anyone who listens to his message. The world lost a great man when he passed away.

When I bought the audio version I laughed so hard I almost crashed the car ... so I was intrigued to see how much the book expanded on the events related on the cassette. It is wonderful. In addition to Art's perspective, his wife also contributes significant sections making it a deeper more well rounded experience (not that there was anything wrong with the talk tape!). I've laughed and cried with this book ... and love it so much I've given it to more people than any other book. You don't need to be a member of the LDS church to appreciate this - anyone with a family will love it and identify with it.

All the books in this set gives you a different view of looking at life. It's insightful and really makes you think outside the box. Love it.

If you are curious about Kabbalah, this is a great starter "kit". A little bit of everything to give you a taste of what Kabbalah has to offer. This would make a nice gift.

Wonderful! Peaking from behind a curtain into the world of Kabbalah, great place to start.

If you are so anal as I am and choose to read this monumental work along side the free online Kabbalah Centre edition, you will notice very early on that there are irritating inconsistencies. For example; the printed version uses "congregation of Israel/Yisrael" (which implies universality) which is consistent with the Tanach / Old Testament i.e Kings I & II, but the online version uses "Community of Israel / Yisrael" (implying local, closed, exclusivity). Personally, I find this offensive as both versions are from the Kabbalah Centre. On these matters the Kabbalah Centre chooses not to reply to any inquiry.
One will also find that upon closer examination of the numbering system that in many cases it does not line up with the King James, for example. If you are intending on researching as deeply as I, you will find the Stone Edition Tanach an essential companion to this version of the Zohar and save you many hours, days and weeks of distress.
The reader must also be aware that some Stone affiliates distance themselves from this Zohar edition and have another 5 vol. Zohar which is not on amazon.
Once these have been recognised, the reader will enjoy this multi-level complicated work that I believe needs to be accompanied with the Babylonian Talmud. Read the Zohar, and the world will never look the same. Read both, and you will discover that you know nothing at all. Those who have done so will understand this in an instant. Those who have not, it would be easier to describe the taste of a mango to someone who has never tasted one.
Generally, the text is as beautiful as it's covers.

Hello Seeker.

The Zohar is a magickal work of history. Some confuse the Kabbalah Center and this work as "creating a religion", the truth is - all western religions are rooted in the wisdom of this knowledge - most of which has been hidden from the common people, but used extensively by those in command and control.

I dismissed "all" religious systems 3 years ago and concluded "If the Divine is real, I should be able to find it in the present and connect with it in the present, without having to go to the past for any written or oral tradition" why? Because I found all if it filled will command and control "less than" fear based doctrines that I knew could not of come from a loving, all powerful creator. Too much contradition, too much war, too much abuse, too much racism and elitism embedded within the "faiths" that require "belief".

In fact, if a "religon" requires "belief" it's a clue to run away, because - "GOD" has always revealed itself through demonstration of power - so that people have "knowing" rather than "belief".

When I came across the Zohar - I was blown away because - it's authors apprantly had similar thoughts to mine, 2000+ years ago, in fact Rule #1 - "Don't believe anything you read or hear" is the first "Rule" of the Kabbalah Center - demand "proof", if it "doesn't work", why bother? I founded a spoof "church" called "TheChurchOfWhatWorks" and a 5 part Divinity and truth filter to sort out fact from religious fiction.

I have found that within the Zohar itself - is imbedded secrets, in fact when you read it - (scan/or what ever) it does trigger thoughts that come to you - (i.e. you receive) - and those thoughts and insights may have nothing to do with the text of the Zohar you are reading. Nobody can teach you a short cut - they can give you some contexts but I was stunned to find magickal principles embedded within the text that even the Rabbi's of the time - probably could not talk about other than in secret. Most will probably miss it. The concept of opposits is in play in the language and I suspect the origional author had an interesting sense of humor.

Will it bring miracles into your life? The truth is, you will bring miracles into your life, but the Zohar will be able to help you realize that and release the barriers that have turned you into nothing more than a slave on planet earth. It is a dangrous work of knowledge to be sure - because it gets to the roots of your freedom and most of us have no idea how we have become slaves to fear, ideologies, doctrines and religions. If you are locked into a "belief" or "religion" don't worry, the Zohar won't make much sense to you and you'll want to argue with it - really, who wants to admit that all they have known and have been taught about "God" and the world for the most part was a manipulative lie - those in power and rule want you to be afraid, they want you dis-empowered, they want you to be "sheep" so they - the good shepards can lead you.

It even reveals the truth about "God's Chosen People" - right in volume 1 - as if, the Creator of all that is would play favorites? Nope - folks there is historic truth here that dispells fear, empowers the individual and wakes sheep up to the lie that no sheep can ever become a shepard. Even those of Pagan paths will find their tradidtions - secretly embedded within the Zohar - no conflict - only confirmation and acknowlegement of things they already know.

Kabbalah - wisdom - pre-dates Ancient Egypt - so it should not be a surprise to discover knowledge and secret wisdom can be found here - and many secret rites and knowledge can trace it's roots here...now listen up - it is not that the secrets are necessarily embedded within the Zohar or Kabbalah traditions - remember Kabbalah is "to receive" - the Zohar - and it's scanning/reading and the study or even introduction into Kabbalah is not about learning a new "tradition" or a "new belief" or a "new religion" - it is about "RECEIVING", and I have concluded it is about receiving directly from "source", energy, insights, wisdom, healing of mind, body and spirit. This is the stuff the Magi and Astrologers of old "received" their power and insights - these became "scientists" over time and as it is proven - the Zohar has inspired modern medicine, philosophy and science - in it's "day", these were the "magical" approaches - FORBIDDEN - by all RELIGION - unless performed within the secret places of those RELIGIONS.

Literacy - and freedom of speech combined with the Kabbalah center's decision to STOP THE CENSORSHIP of knowledge has made this knowlege, this magick, this gateway...or a tool to open the 50th Gateway (volume 1, you'll know it whan you come across it), or should I say 5th Element? There are many secrets embedded, masterfully. There really is nothing for you to be "taught" from the Zohar - but there are new dimensions of being available for you to "receive" and discover through the tool, the key that is called "Zohar".

You'll never know or understand until you pick up, Volume 1 and begin reading and scanning it.

Though I do not agree with all of it's perspectives - then again - I do agree with much - if I am open to realizing when I am reading code or when I am reading text - I can simply say I know a magickal text when I encounter one. The Kabbalah Center has a video link that gives an amazing history of the Zohar that will blow you away.

It is what it is. It cannot be denied. It works, has worked and continues to work. My own ego does not want you to have this knowledge because if the majority of people stay in the darkness that has prevailed over the last 4000-6000 years, those who are "awake" have a powerful advantage over those who are stuck in the dark and dead teachings of "religion". But there is a world, a better world that we can create and I would rather we transform our world together with love and light, than to sheer the sheep further. May the sheep wake up and realize they are not sheep, but men and women - children of a Divine Creator (which is beyond gender, but evidenced all through creation as male AND female) . May the sons and daughters of the Creator - wake up - and more importantly Grow up into what they were designed and destined to be from...the beginning!

Run from this work and knowlege unless you want Life Transformation. The first reviewer of this work is a "Catholic", I've been there - and let me simply say, if it can work for a "Catholic" - it can work for anyone - because that Religion - has been the root source of "command and control" for 2000 years, and introduced the context of sheep.

See if you want change - you may have to die and be "reborn" in your knowledge and spirituality. "Think" about it .

Namaste'

I an a Catholic, but I can recognize the real stuff when I see one. The Zohar represent a real miracle in my life. As they say: you do not need to know Hebrew to "read" the Zohar, all that is sufficient is just "to scan" the Hebrew sentences with your eyes. I was very poor and unemployed, I purchased this version of the Zohar (with an English translation and notes beside the Hebrew text). I started scanning with all my faith. The collision with my Catholic faith was huge, I started challenging many of the explanations given in the English text (because I could understand them). At the end I could not scan any longer because I was challenging everything. Nothing seemed to fit into my previous mindset and I was extremely upset about that. But a little voice was telling me: "There is TRUTH in those volumes, do not give up." So I purchased the Hebrew Zohar, no English text whatsoever, I finally could not challenge a single word. I started scanning, again faithful 100%. I scanned the Zohar for a year and a half, nothing happened. They say that the Zohar provides miracles, I believed that, but I was not seeing a single miracle in my life, despite all my scanning. I spent many nights awake, just to scan the Zohar. Now, FINALLY, I saw a miracle, and what a miracle! I am talking about real stuff here, not those intellectually justified explanations that want to show you that you had a miracle when indeed you had none. I received an offer from a company, they want to pay me huge money, just to work from home, and it is in a field I like very much (actually it is in the field of my .....hobbies), I also put into practice many of the principles that the Kabbalah Centre teaches, like tithing your money, like using the energy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, using the energy of Chanucka to manifest miracles.
What can I say? This is not a review about the editing of the chapters of this Magnus Opus, it is not a review on the writing style of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, nothing of the sort. It is a review of what YOU CAN DO thanks to the Zohar. I am a Catholic and I have a fool-proof intuition, I KNEW I WAS IN FRONT OF THE SOLUTION TO ALL OUR PROBLEMS, when I was holding the Zohar in my hands. Now, I see all sorts of malignat remarks about Rav Berg and his family. Do not believe a single word! These are people that are indeed bringing the Light to our society that is choking in darkness. I did not believe in the miracles that the Zohar can bring: I am a Capricorn and Capricorns DO NOT believe, they want proof. I had my proof, and I am at peace now. DO THE SAME.

It's not often you can find a cook book that recipe after recipe can be used as written in an a la carte restaurant. The Asian Collection has given us a wonderful range of spicy dishes to add to our menus over almost six years. A real chef's cook book.

This book has recipes from all aroung Asia, sometimes it presents a beautiful pictures of the recipes. Just recipes, no backgrounds or anything like that. Still a nice book.

Anthony Poole's study of Berg's violin concerto is one of the standouts of the Cambridge Music Handbooks series, exploring every facet of the work and giving a vivid picture of the society in which the book was written. If you love Berg's quirky yet moving masterpiece, or are trying to understand what all the fuss is about, this is a vital book to have. Note, however, that one must also have a copy of the score to fully use this handbook, as Poole makes frequent reference to rehearsal numbers.

Poole's work consists of four parts. In the first, Poole presents the music scene of the 1930s, paying especial attention to the style of allusion used by Stravinsky et al. and the conservatism of Rachmaninoff and even some of Schoenberg's American works. Berg, writes Poole, elegantly balanced between the competing musical philosophies of the time. The second part of the book takes up this theme, showing the breakthroughs Berg made in the works written up to the violin concerto, such as the Three Orchestral Pieces, the "Lyric Suite", and parts of "Lulu".

Yet it is the latter half of the book that will be most fascinating to many readers, getting as they do to the violin concerto itself. In the third part, Poole tracks the composition of the work, explaining how it was partially inspired by the death of Manon Gropius. A big bombshell is that parts of the work are inspired by a bawdy Carinthian folk song; a work often seen as of angelic purity (dedicated as it is "to the memory of an angel") has a rather risque subtext. Poole also mentions Berg's fathering of an illegitimate child by a servant girl in his boyhood home, memories of which, which he says, leave meaningful traces in the work.

The next two chapters form the musicological analysis of the work. Some of it is accessible to everyone. For example, he goes step by step through the various portions of the concerto. The two movements break nicely into two sections each, and each section has several distinct parts of its own. Poole helps the reader follow these developments in a way that greatly enhances appreciation of the concerto. The discussion of tonality in the work, however, supposes some knowledge of music theory, and makes heavy use of Schenkerian/Neo-Schenkerian theory. Poole reveals the work to be much more traditional than is often let on--which, incidentally, vindicates Boulez, who over fifty years ago famously dismissed Berg as too bound by early notions of form and tonality. The final chapter of the work talks about the critical reception that the concerto met.

An admirable handbook, and much more successful than most entries in the CMH series.

This book covers almost everything you could want to know about this concerto, which is difficult but full of powerful emotion. It explains the commission, the performance history, the program, and the tonality. I wish the book had more short musical examples in the program section, but that is a small caveat. The discussion of tonality is much clearer than in the other works I have read on this concerto.

This is one of the most under-rated phenomenology books available. On first read it appears simplistic, but this is both its charm and power. Phenomenology is not complex - it is very simple. It is seeing (or hearing etc) what is there - before any interpretation. And this is perhaps the difficult part - engaging with things without intepreting them.

This book must be re-read and then it can be mindblowing. And many of todays 'stars' - like Hillman and Sardello owe van den Berg a large debt. Also try his other books, particularly 'Changing Nature of Man' and 'Divided Existence and Complex Society'.

For those looking for an accurate and concrete introduction to phenomenological psychopathology, this book is probably the best way to go. Van den Berg is a pretty good phenomenologist, and has a very down-to-earth yet evokative descriptive style that, while sometimes frustratingly vague, can also be quite revealing. Unfortunately, Van den Berg spends a bit too much of his time talking about patients' relationships with the physical world and almost no time speaking of the structure of their interpersonal relationships, making his interpretations sometimes seem strangely decontextualized and a bit off the mark. Still, this is a neat little book that can can be quite helpful when one is trying to get an intuitive and nontechnical grasp of phenomenological psychopathology.

Este libro ayuda al principiante a entender los conceptos basicos de la Kabbalah. Resulta muy facil de leer y todo lo basico se expone de una manera sencilla. Recomiendo altamente su lectura sin importar la fe que Usted practique. Tambien le recomiendo "La Caja de Sabiduria" por el mismo autor Yehuda Berg.

Muy fácil de leer y entender para aquellos que comienzan sus estudios en esta ciencia a pesar de tocar temas profundos y no tan fáciles de explicar. Toca conceptos mencionados en otros libros de la familia Berg pero profundizando más sin hacerlo muy complicado para el lector.
Luego de esta lectura les recomiendo que lean Ecstatic Kabbalah de Rabbi David A. Cooper el cual le servirá de complemento y guía.

Nitza Morales ( San Juan, P.R. )

Keith Kahn-Harris' "Extreme Metal: Music And Culture On The Edge" investigates sociological and subcultural insights from the world of Extreme Metal. An often misunderstood music scene where musicians explore positive and negative themes together, and an influential music identity that embraces the relevance of relationships empowered by community and friendship. Extreme Metal is a pioneering publication featuring interviews with both band members and music fans. Readers will find this text well referenced and researched; a critical and crucial companion for all fans of extreme music. Keith Kahn-Harris has produced a brilliant book expressing a sincere depth, focus, and passion for Extreme Metal.

Keith Kahn-Harris' book on extreme metal started out as a PhD thesis caled "Transgression and Mundanity: The Global Extreme Music Scene," and this tells you a few things about the nature of the book. While I found it a fairly entertaining read, some might say it's overly scholarly and dry. It also largely focuses on themes and the "scene" more than it does the actual music involved.

It starts off with the reasons that KKH thinks that extreme metal is culturally important, and goes on to discuss issues such as gender, race and sexualiry in extreme metal, and to compare/contrast the relative absence of women, gays and ethnic minorities in extreme metal to those in the more mainstream metal scenes. This was some of the more interesting material covered in the book, and most of his ideas seemed fairly sound. He suggest that the above groups tend to exclude themselves, and that "certain backgrounds seem to engender a dislike of extreme metal." He could have written more on outright misogyny and racism, but it's probably all been said before anyway.

I liked the discussion of the lack of "out"homosexuals in the extreme metal scene, despite the abundance of people in black metal who dress a lot like Rob Halford. He quotes another author in saying that a "key element of metal is the misogynist fantasy of a world without women," and cites some of the rather ridiculous (homoerotic?) photoshoots of the band Manowar.

Having spent some time at a few metal messageboards and having run a metal fanzine in the mid-90s, I'm inclined to agree with a lot of this. In fact, I'd say the average metal messageboard user appears to be about 15, male, and still under the impression that women all have cooties. It may also be that the older/wiser/less misogynistic people just have other things to do besides hang around messageboards, but the fact remains that the internet has become a widespread and visible way of discussing music, and the global extreme metal community has changed greatly with the advent of the internet. The views of Kahn-Harris on the subject are thought-provoking, anyway, and the apparent views of the community at large are something that merits thought, even the ones not universally accepted.

Kahn-Harris discusses the ways that music was traded and bought in the early days versus today's file sharing and internet distribution, as well as the impact of things like nu-metal. He suggests that more mainstream bands calling themselves black metal, such as Cradle of Filth, are shunned not only because they suck, but also because they wear bondage gear, have dreadlocks, and feature women on album covers.

An interesting book, but most will probably just skim it here and there. It's not really something to sit down with at night and read cover to cover.

Some of the styles in this book were obviously western-inspired, with their own twist. Very amusing book, although it could have done with some background info.

Judd Stitziel has written a fine book. Well researched and put together. This work is very interesting, informative and revealing.....much like the fashion itself.

This book was great! The right mix of passion and pure raw sex. Good characterization and lots of hooks to keep you wanting more

This book follows the lives of two women, one a nurse and the other her patient who has lost her memory due to an automobile accident. As time unfolds, our patient, in her recurring dreams finds there is someone lurking in the far reaches of her mind yet unable to be seen clearly enough to identify. The passage which is travelled to find the memory she wishes to regain is filled with an intense level of feeling and emotion and a highly charged sensual and sexual flavor. It made me hot just reading it and I longed for more.