General Practice Books

Rabbi Mike Comins' A Wild Faith offers Jews (and other spiritually-minded folk) a thoughtful, intelligent guide to a deeper understanding the Divine (God, Hashem, the universe, etc.) in nature. His book might be particularly welcome by those who feel themselves to be "spiritual-but-not-religious." Rabbi Comins' draws on his comprehensive knowledge of Judiasm & and Jewish practice along with his substantial experience as an outdoorsman. He writes with real humility, humor, and compassion.

Rabbi Comins' book is both theologically stimulating and well grounded (pun intended). It is a great resource for making that essential link between Judaism and the natural world, between our prayer life and our outdoors experiences.

Rabbi Comin's book is indeed inspirational. He has a way of conveying his passionate love of Judaism and nature that is contagious. I invited him to Colorado to help lead an Adventure Rabbi trip and my students loved learning from him on the trail. If you can't hike with Rabbi Comins, this book will do (almost) as well.
- Rabbi Jamie Korngold, the Adventure Rabbi, author God in the Wilderness: Rediscovering the Spirituality of the Great Outdoors with the Adventure Rabbi

When exploring the wilderness, it is vital to be prepared and carry the proper gear. Rabbi Comin's guide is a full backpack complete with trail maps, a soul directing compass, and just enough guiding to empower us to create and realize an intimate and personal adventure. I particularly appreciate the trek's preparation that conveys in succinct terms relevant Jewish resources that combines moral, spiritual, modern and environmental ideals so that we have the proper tools to traverse the untamed mountaintops (and cityscapes?) and find there nourishment for worn souls. Rabbi Comins is also an exceptional translator who reveals the essential vibrant aroma and intentions of the Hebrew terms for the English reader. This book is a significant addition to our Permaculture, Ecovillage Design and Jewish resource library.
Alex Cicelsky, Educator, Center for Creative Ecology, www.kibbutzlotan.com

A Wild Faith is a highly inspiring yet extremely practical guide to connecting with Judaism through the wilderness. My husband and I just returned from a week of hiking in the Rockies and our trip was very much enhanced by practices such as 25-25-50 walking that Rabbi Comins outlines in this timely book. For anyone who is a fan of the outdoors, I highly recommend Rabbi Comins' lucid, good-humored, well-informed, and profound perspective on Judaism.

I'm going to make this short and sweet. ANYTHING authored by Lama Yeshe is worth reading. In the course of a relatively short life span, he managed to inspire and inform many thousands of people. Wisdom Publications has printed several wonderful titles by Lama Yeshe, and they are all gems. If you are interested in pursuing the Dharma through Tibetan eyes, or even if you just wish to garner some insight into this ancient tradition, you must become familiar with the works produced by this highly revered monk.

Be caredul with this book. It can burn your hands! After you buy this book, you will see a picture of Lama Zopa Rinpoche
with Lama Yeshe. This is fine. Photographs can be fun to look at. But when you go to the next page, you will see another picture of Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Lama Yeshe. But now Lama Yeshe is a boy. How? This is his new incarnation. Now we must keep an open mind. We don't know about this. Maybe Tibetans just find a preganant woman and say, "That is the new incarnation." Actually, their system of recognizing incarnations is pretty scientific. But let us be skeptical.
But what if it is true? Now read more into the book. This book holds no punches. We are lucky if we are reborn a human! This
book may let us down, punch us on the jaw, and then hold us up.
But it will prepare you for what Buddhists really believe. They believe in reincarnation into another form. And you will be oh so lucky if it is a human the next time. This book is brillant and concise. It will cut you into a million pieces. It will leave blisters on your hands. Because despite your love for the teachings of His Holiness the Dali Lama or Sogyal Rinpoche, I am betting that you don't really know what they believe. Buy this book and find out. And if you think that the Tibetans may be onto something, then I think you better do something about it.

This is a deeply refreshing book about elementary Buddhist ideas. The authors, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, present the material in a clear logical way that immediately rings true. They are empirical and scientific in their approach, even comparing Buddhist inquiry about the nature of self to a scientific investigation. Their refrain throughout the books is "check it out" --- verify for yourself, in your own practice, that their observations are true. They are not preaching dogma: quite to the contrary, they are proposing "testable hypotheses" of inner life, and they suggest inner "experiments" for the reader to carry out. The analyses are precise, and yet the precision is conveyed without jargon. This book is profoundly accessible to the modern Western reader, particularly to someone who has a background in science. Because of the cogency of the arguments, I would recommend this book not only to students of Buddhism and comparative religion, but also to students of philosophy, psychology, anthropology --- anyone who uses rational and scientific investigation to explore human nature in an attempt to ameliorate human problems.

This is a great book! This is one of the first books to really turn my mind to the dharma. Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche were like the dynamic duo of Dharma, spreading the truths of the Buddhist teachings to the west. I would recommend reading anything by either of them as their wisdom and skillful means are perfected and help us to understand ways to grow and reach full buddhahood for the benefit of all. If you ever have a chance to receive teachings in person from Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche I would highly recommend taking the opportunity to receive the blessings and transmissions of this enlightened master, Lama, Guru, Shaman, healer, Buddha. I have given this book to relatives and would recommend it to anyone.

This relatively short volume covers a lot of ground in terms of explaining basic Tibetan Buddhist concepts. More importantly, it illuminates the human condition and invites the readers into deep inquiry to determine the nature of the world for themselves. This is in the spirit of the original Buddhist teachings where Buddha encouraged people to test his ideas and not follow the teachings blindly. Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche are two of the best Tibetan teachers at explaining Buddhism to Westerners. Here they are at their best. This book is a winner.

I read this book.What I like about it is that he gives real life stories of people.He tells them in a way to help the reader out .It is worthwhile for anyone to read and then apply to their own work lives.

This is an excellent book. It was very easy to read, and provided lots of practical advice on all sorts of work problems ranging from stress to stagnation. It accepts the premise that emotions (such as anger) do happen at work, and provides advice on how to diffuse the negative aspects of emotions and harness the positive energy. This book was very helpful to me and probably would be helpful for many people.

Let's face it, if you study Buddhism you probably have at least a dozen solid theoretical texts lining your bookshelves. And if there is any area in which those texts seem to be weak, it is in their approach to applying Buddhist tenets to the modern workplace. At first glance, Western capitalism and Eastern spirituality appear distinctly at oods. How is it possible to follow Buddha's Right Livelihood tenet and still succeed in the cutthroat workplace?

Mr. Richmond has been there and done that. He brings practical advice that is soundly grounded in Buddhist thought and tradition. He doesn't try to pretend that it is realistic to construct an altar at your desk, but provides reasonable ways to extend your spirituality to the workplace. Above all else, this book is a practical set of guidelines for maintaining your spirituality in America's competitive workplace. I've only just read it, but it has helped me immensely to find ways to make my worklife simply an extension of the rest of my life.

You will find something that applies to whatever kind of work day you are having. I read it as I struggled with a decision to quit or not quit; to compromise my personal beliefs or keep my job. I already knew the answers, but this book was comfortingly reassuring and supportive of the path I knew was correct for me. Now when I go back to reread, and reread sections, I always find something that helps me survive whatever work situation with which I'm dealing.

This is an excellent book for those seeking to integrate spirituality into their workplace. It covers many common concerns and issues, but also leaves enough flexibility for the reader to adapt the content to their own situation. A good and easy read--I read it during breaks at work!

This book wonderfully encourages young people to practice the therapeutic and creative art of journal writing.

I found this book heartachingly true. Parts made me laugh, parts made me cry. Jump into it with your hear open and your eyes wide. You won't regret it.

Rachel Elisabeth

of self-knowledge through journals, myths, dreams, story and autobiography. Deena Metzger will have you grabbing your pen over and over as she leads you down the road to the inner territory of the writer.

Metzger does the best job I've seen on jump-starting your creativity, and tying your writing into archetypes. There's lots for the reader who wants to think of writing as a spiritual exercise. BUT for me, by far, its great gift is pragmatic. Between books, or when I feel stuck, or at the beginning of a revision, I take out "On Story" and work through all her suggestions as if it were the first time. I always come up with something new and deeper relevant to THIS story--or I come up with a new story entirely. If you are ready to get past Natalie Goldberg to the goods, here's the book. It helped me tremendously with my last novel.

Aristotle said "the unexamined life is not worth living." Deena Metzger provides effective and fun tools for examining one's life. I know that my life is awesome!

I have hundreds of cookbooks and dozens which contain Jewish and Yiddish recipes. This is the only Jewish cookbook I need! I purchased the book several years ago for my friends who are Parisian Jews and were having a difficult time finding Ashkenazi cookbooks in the Paris book shops. I have since purchased copies for myself and other friends. No matter the recipe I select, it is just like my Grandmother and Great Grandmother had prepared it! My father and cousins love everything I have prepared from this book. Even the simple recipes like the lokshen kugel with schmaltz is just like Bubbe made! The explanations are wonderful and I oft times find myself reading it just for the sake of enjoyment!

Many thanks for such a superb cookbook! It has brought a bit of nostalgia to my family table.

All recipes we have tried - and we have tried many - are excellent. The directions are detailed and the results are superb. Some recipes, the Bialysrtock-Style latkes, have become our family favorites.

Did your family eat prakke, holishkes, golobtzes, huloptches, or just staffed cabbage?? Read this book and learn what this means about your family's history. This book is complete. Let me put it this way; there are 22 noodle-kugel-lokshen recipes and 7, count them, 7 recipes for chicken soup in this definitive book of classic Ash-kenazic Jewish cuisine. He includes maps of the Yiddish speaking areas of Europe and a pronunciation guide. Not only is the book filled with recipes and Yiddish aphorisms, but the author analyzes the history of the Jews through their language and cuisine. For exmaple, in his analysis of Lithuania and Northern Poland (an area known as Litteh), the popular herbs are understated dill and sorrel. Salmon and herring were the fishes used, and the starch was potato. Thus Jews from the area made the best potato kugels. But for non-potato breads, the best Jewish area was the Ukraine, which perfected black breads, challahs and bagels. Beet borsht eaters were mainly in the Ukraine, fruit soup eaters were in Litteh. Get the idea? If your gefilte fish was peppery, think Litteh; if it was sugar sweet, think Galitzia and southern Poland and Hungary. Either way... u have good cooking ahead for u with this book

This is a wonderful cookbook -- both for the recipes and for the rich cultural heritage it paints. We got this book half price a long time ago and liked it so much, we bought 8 more copies to give to friends and relatives. It's really that good.

This book doesn't have the glossy pictures or fancy covers that you often see in cookbooks these days, but the content is superb. The recipes are beautiful, and strike me as authentic. The best part of the book, though, are the stories the author writes that put the food into the context of Ashkenazi Jewish culture. As a non-Jew, I found Sternberg's stories and sidebars both fascinating and intimate. I've other books on Jewish food, and this is the only one I use regularly.

this is the second book that i have read by dt suzuki. i started with 'introduction to zen...' where 'introduction' was just that, and introduction to many of the ideas of zen, this book extracts from several other writings to focus in greater detail on different subjects in zen. one chapter that i was excited (but later left feeling wanting for more) about was a comparison of zen with existentialism. furthermore, i feel as though i got enough out of the 'introduction...' that much of this book was superfluous. however, that which i did appreciate were the chapters on the history and development of zen that was lacking in the 'introduction...'

DT Suzuki is one of the most influential writers/philosophers on Zen and Buddhist teachings in the western world. Whether they agree with all of his positions or not, nobody in the western Zen community would deny the importance of Suzuki's role on bringing Zen to awareness in the West.

William Barrett has done an extraordinary job in compiling and introducing Dr. Suzuki's writings in this book, which is a veritable horn of plenty when it comes to the classic teachings of Zen Buddhism. Barrett's introduction alone (around 100 pages) is massive treatise on the core teachings of Zen.

A great read for all! Zen students that have not yet tackled the massive corpus of D.T. Suzuki's writings would be well advised to start with this superb collection which presents the essential teachings of Zen, and the heart of Suzuki's message in a wonderful format for all.

This was the first book I ever read on Zen, and it remains, in my mind, one of the best. D.T Suzuki is thorough and imaginative, linking the principles of Zen to the culture and history of Japan, as well as to Western philosophy. Suzuki has a well-deserved reputation as the 20th century's foremost authority on Japanese Zen. While perhaps more of a scholar's book than a practitioner's book, this selection of essays from Suzuki's Zen and Japanese Culture do a wonderful job of conveying the spirit and rich history of Japanese Zen, and its roots in Chinese Ch'an. Faced with a complex topic that by its very nature does not lend itself to written accounts, Suzuki manages to neither over-analyze the topic nor sidestep the issues by refusing comment. The essays selected give a good taste of the complex spectrum of Zen, and its many cultural and historical manifestations, without swamping the reader with material. A fine and complex work by a well-respected figure of the Zen tradition.

Besides the great writer Alan Watts who was able to popularize Zen and the Eastern mindset to the West,morphing into the literary current day pschologists such as Mark Epstein and Jon Kabat Zinn, much credit must be given to Suzuki who was the undisputed earlier intellect who brought Zen as an academic calling to the West..His writing is difficult,historic, and philosophically prosed yet taking one's time with these works sheds light on Zen's themes of seeing that IS second nature because it is original nature.
The great intellectual's of the day,such as Karen Horney,Erich Fromm all showed their respect to Zen in their concepts while William Barrett's introduction rings fresh as the new intellectual zeitgeist of the then day hit Western shores...Barrett himself a fine philosopher and writer offers a timely overview bringing in Heidegger and existentialism one of his areas of expertise.

It takes a while to understand, but Suzuki really knew what he was talking about. It provides a very good understanding of his take on Zen Buddhism.

A friend of ours recommended this book to us when we got engaged.... we went through the book while going through marriage couseling at church. We found that this book allowed us to talk about relevant topics at our pace and it gave us the guidance that we needed to discuss topics in great detail. We just bought this for a family member that just got engaged too!

My husband and I met with Natelle and Curt twice in the fall of 2005 before we were married in summer 2006. We also used the 10 dates in the book. I am so glad that we took the time to answer all of the hard questions and to "lay it all our on the table". We discussed everything from sex and finances to religion and how to fight fair. I didn't think that we really needed to do premarital counseling because I assumed that we already knew each other well enough to get engaged. However, after we were married my husband lost his job (for a year!), we sold our house and moved to the 'burbs and had a baby. These are all stressful and exciting things to happen. We never would have made it through all of these events without the help of this book. Our marriage is stronger than ever. I credit this book with saving us.

If you are thinking of or planning on getting married this book is fantastic. My husband and I got it about 6 months before we got engaged and went through the 10 dates. It is a great conversation starter and just plain fun to plan dates (especially dates that focus on your relationship rather than wedding planning which can be consuming!).

I liked this book and it was good for my boyfriend and I to go through at different times during our relationship. The book brought up important topics that need to be discussed before you make the committment of marriage. The book brought up some very touchy subjects between us and also started some heated discussions but it ultimately brought us closer together which is what we needed. We don't have everything figured out of course but we are steps closer to having a good solid foundation to our relationship which will carry over to our marriage.

My fiance and I are currently reading through "10 Great Dates Before You Say 'I Do'" and we both are learning a lot about our communication styles and issues that need to be discussed before our wedding day. We are in a couple's bible study group and have used one of the dates as a group in order to have realistic expectations, hopes, and dreams. This book is a great way to share your ideas and realize some fun and interesting facts about your partner. The book set-up is great because it actually sets you up to go on a date. First you read the chapter (my fiance and I usually read it aloud together), then after the chapter it tells you to go to a specific location that is ideal for discussing the chapter (of course, this is optional but always fun!). At the back of the book are worksheets that both you and your significant other fill out and then together on the date you discuss your answers in regards to the topic and chaper that you read. A great way to open up communication... At the end there are bonus dates that encourage you to continue practicing what you have learned throughout the week. A great tool! One of my favorite things to do as I prepare for marriage...

This is a perfect gift book that we have given to numerous friends. We also keep one on the dinig table and often invite guests to choose a grace to read before meals. There are selections that appeal to almost any spiritual tradition or viewpoint.

This was a very nice collection of table blessings, but not what I was looking for as a teacher of the very young.

This is a dear, concise, wise little book. It sits on our dining table. My husband and I take turns saying grace each evening, opening randomly and reading. It has prayers from many different spiritual sources and we find it refreshing and meaningful.

As the spiritual aims chair for a civic club, I'm the fella' who gives an invocation before each meal. Since it's important that our activities are non-denominational, I find this book to be a great resource. Need a meal-time invocation? Then get this book.

After realizing how rote saying grace had become for me, especially since I eat most of my meals alone, the glorious graces in this book helped me center and use this sacred time to make a heartfelt connection. Also, I began to praise things I'd never considered before (like the sacrifices made by individuals, animals, plants, etc.) that went into the making of the meal. It is an absolutely awesome collection of elegant blessings.

If you will entering the world of virtual environments, 3D graphics and worlds, virtual reality and even augmented reality, this book will give you ALL the background information you need. It summarizes everything from software, hardware devices, interaction and everything that deals with the Third dimension.

The book present a very good perspective that how is walking the tecnology of 3DUI, and limits that are growing down versus time.

A fortnight ago, at the Siggraph 2004 convention in Los Angeles, Addison-Wesley had a booth with many of their graphics books. This book was garnering a fair amount of interest. Now that I've had a chance to read it, I can see why.

It is a lucid explanation of how to design three dimensional user interfaces. The authors summarise a vast body of work done in past decades. Plus, unlike perhaps some books that might focus on only US research, they show the global scope of the effort.

Being a text on 3D graphics, you might expect considerable maths. There is indeed some, including a brief description of quarternions. But the amount of maths is deliberately downplayed. Enough is used to impart a basic flavour in certain sections. However, the general tenor of the book is at a higher level of design.

Many serious issues remain unresolved. The book shows you what these are. Very helpful if you are in this field. Especially for newcomers.

If you are interested in knowing 3D UI, you should buy this book. It covers almost every technologies designed or developed in recent years. This book consists of about 13 chapters. In each chapter, it explained the different aspect of 3D UI interfaces following chronological patterns. So, if you want to follow or know technological paradigms, it can be one of useful books you should reference.

I hope nobody takes academic in the negative sense. This is fascinating book that provides an overview of all of the different hardware and software techniques in the 3D user interface world. And it does a very capable job of using a combination of images and text to describe the technologies. It's academic in two regards; first, it's written like a paper, and second that it has little in terms of practical implementation.

Frankly I doubt you could go far beyond the academic in an overview of a field that is this broad and this early in it's development. What this book does do is provide some real incentive to enthusiasts and developers to evaluate and combine these technologies. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who is in the field or has an interest in it.

This volume is a needed manual for the health care provider. The general information on disease processes are invaluable. Everything needed for charting up through ICD9 coding for insurance is covered. A must have volume!

This book is essential in todays 15 min appt times to aid in quick workups of problems, speedy diagnosis and treatment of the problem.

it is a handy book . Gives practical points in different titles. good book for quick reference.

The entire "5 minute consult" series is incredible. Easy to use and up to date ... you can't ask for much more than that in today's chaotic health care arena. Thanks to Lippincott for publishing such a necessary yet accurate product.

Soy medico de Familia y el tiempo en la consulta medica en muy valioso pues veo muchos pacientes en el dia. El "Griffiths 5 Minute" me soluciono este inconveniente para mi y mis colegas pues es muy facil de encontrar lo que busco y define mi conducta frente a los problemas e inquietudes de mis pacientes. EXCELENTE!