BARF Book reading suggestion for September'99
provided by Soyeba
At our last meeting, we suggested the follwing books around the theme of
spirituality. Below is my summary on them. (The opening paragraphs are
included for your convenience!)
My personal preference is #(1) as the primary/required reading.... #(2) as
the related/optional reading, and #(3) for a future reading if interest
prevails.
Please review and vote.... so we can get started by the end of the week.
-Soyeba
- Reincarnation: The Boy Lama, by Vicki MacKenzie
- The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living,
by Dalai Lama, Howard Cutler
- Many Lives, Many Masters, by Brian Weiss
by Vicki MacKenzie Our Price: $13.56, You Save: $3.39 (20%) Availability:
This title usually ships within 2-3 days. Paperback Reprint edition (April 1996)
Pages: 172 Avg. Customer Review: 4-star Number of Reviews: 2
From the Backcover
Reincarnation tells the story of a remarkable story of a small child destined
to become one of the most important and unusual spiritual leaders of our time.
Orsel Torres, the son of humble Spanish parents, beome the focus of world
attention when at the age of 14 months he was recognized by the Dalai Lama as
the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe, a prominent Tibetan lama who died in California
in 1984. This story tells of Lama Yeshe’s life, death, and rebirth as the
little Lama Osel, while explaining the controversial phenomenon of reincarnation
in a clear, engaging, and practical way.
“Reincarnation was the first account I read of a Tibetan lama reincarnating
as a Western boy. It is a dazzling and inspiring adventure story.” Bernardo
Bertolucci, film director, The Little Buddha
Opening Paragraph
The morning was particularly bleak. Horizontal rain lacerated the slate-grey
waves against my houseboat moored with military precision alongside the other
floating homes of London’s Celsea Embankment. The Boat has been my proud
possession for just three months; eighty-six feet of Thames barge convertd to an
astonishing dregree of modern convenience. But on this Sturday morning in
October 1986 the weather mirrored my mood.
Customer Comments
A reader, The author is a professional journalist and a devoted student of
Lama Yeshe, and the book carries both of those flavors. The author felt strongly
skeptical of the concept of reincarnation, and this skepticism is a strong
determining factor in the content of the book. It records her journey through
observations, doubts, questions, and arguments as the evidence mounts to
convince her (and, presumably, the reader) that the boy Osel really is the
reincarnation of Lama Yeshe. If you have the same doubts as the author, then you
might appreciate witnessing the process she goes through.
ananda@mssl.uswest.net from Montana, USA A treasure of information! I've been
a member of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition for
ten years. With Vicki's book, I've gotten to know Lama even better and in a much
different way than through his teachings; Vicki was close to Lama and her
thorough style of writing helps my feelings of closeness even after his death….
This is a fine book that examines the doubts we Westerners have about
reincarnation and how these great beings manipulate what ordinary beings fall
victim to.
by Dalai Lama, H. H. the Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama xi, Howard C. Cutler
Hardcover - (November 1998) Pages: 322 Our Price: $11.48, You Save: $11.47 (50%)
Other Editions: Audio Cassette (Abridged) Our Price: $14.40, You Save: $3.60
(20%) Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. Avg. Customer Review: 4-star
Number of Reviews: 65
From the Back Cover
I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is
clear. Whether one believes I religion or not, whether one velieve in this
religion or that religion, we are all seeking something better in life. So I
think the very motion of our life is towards happiness.
Nearly every time you see him, he's laughing, or at least smiling. And he
makes everyone else around him feel like smiling. He's the Dalai Lama, the
spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and an
increasingly popular speaker and statesman. What's more, he'll tell you that
happiness is the purpose of life, and that "the very motion of our life is
towards happiness." How to get there has always been the question. He's
tried to answer it before, but he's never had the help of a psychiatrist to get
the message across in a context we can easily understand. Through conversations,
stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day
anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement.
Opening Paragraph
I found the Dalai Lama alone in an empty basketball lockerroom moments before
he was about to speak before a crowd of six thousand at Arizona State
University. He was calmly sipping a cup of tea, in perfect repose. “Your
Holiness, if you are ready…”
Reviews: Amazon.com
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit down with the Dalai Lama
and really press him about life's persistent questions? Why are so many people
unhappy? How can I abjure loneliness? How can we reduce conflict? Is romantic
love true love? Why do we suffer? How should we deal with unfairness and anger?
How do you handle the death of a loved one? These are the conundrums that
psychiatrist Howard Cutler poses to the Dalai Lama during an extended period of
interviews in The Art of Happiness. At first, the Dalai Lama's answers seem
simplistic, like a surface reading of Robert Fulghum: As the Dalai Lama's
responses become more involved, a coherent philosophy takes shape.--Brian Bruya
Customer Comments
Average Customer Review: Number of Reviews: 65 A reader from Henderson, NV An
overview of the Dalai Lama's philosophy of life It's an interesting book that
provides much insight into the Dalai Lama's philosophy regarding answers to the
essential questions of our being. His values stem from the Tibetan Buddhism as
he is the religious leader thereof.
A reader from Asia East meets West and West meets East Eastern mindset takes
all master teachings for granted and would not raise a single question. Western
training emphasise on critical thinking. What we are reading in the book is a
blend of the two.
haganm@marshallcenter.org from Garmisch, Germany Excellent!!!! One of the
very best self-illuminating books. I'm re-reading the book again--it cannot be
absorbed in one reading. This book could be used as a daily guide to living. I
am purchasing other copies for friends. The only shortcoming, in my view as a
professional socilogist, was there is sometimes too much personal psychological
babble included by the interviewer/writer.
A reader from Portland, OR USA Decent But Heavy On The Personal Agenda This
book was a decent read, but I found Cutler to be a bit overwhelming. It seemed
as if he was trying to question the simplicty and thoughts of His Holiness. This
was a easy to understand book, but it was bit weighed down with Cutler's own
personal agenda. There are many other good books by and about His Holiness which
are much more insightful.
A reader from San Diego, California Both the scientist, and the Buddhist
disappointed. I am a biologist, and I bought this book because I was intrigued
by the idea of asking questions of the Dalai Lama from a scientific perspective.
Looking at "The Art of Happiness" both as a scientist, and as a
begginer in Buddhist thought, I found myself disappointed from both
perspectives. This book isn't really a "handbook" of anything. It is
poorly organized, and takes the form of a strangely interrupted "stream of
consciousness" conversation. So, as a beginning Buddhist, I say skip this
book and try "Buddhism Plain and Simple" by Steve Hagan. As a
scientist, I can also recommend a book about cognitive therapy called
"Feeling Good" by Dr. David Burns, which has a great deal in common
with Buddhist thought, particularly on the subject of happiness.
A reader from Miami, FL , Dalai Lama's Message Clouded by Cutler The insights
in this book from the Dalai Lama are very worthwhile. This part of the book
deserves five stars. The analysis by the author Michael Cutler and his
study-question style of interviewing the Dalai Lama was frustrating and
annoying.
A reader from Harvard, Massachussets , Very enjoyable to read, very enjoyable
to live by This book is for those who really cannot get along with themselves.
People who are unconfident, depressed or afraid. The Dalai Lama's insites on
life are truly inspiring.
ronin32@erols.com from Delaware , OK for those consumed with Western-style
therapy I agree with a previous reviewer in that this is a book by a
psychiatrist who is looking to reconcile the tenets of his practice with Tibetan
buddhism. I have read a lot on buddhism and this series of interviews really
misses the mark. The author keeps "pestering" (my words) the Dalai
Lama….
by Brian L. Weiss Our Price: $8.80 You Save: $2.20 (20%) Availability:
Usually ships within 24 hours. Paperback -(July 1988) Pages: 219 Other Editions:
Audio Cassette Avg. Customer Review: 4.5 star Number of Reviews: 65
From the Back Cover
As a traditional psychotherapist, Dr. Brian Weiss was astonished and
skeptical when one of his patient egan recalling past life traumas that seemed
to hold key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. His skepticism was
eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from “the space between
lives,” which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss ’s family and
his dead son. Using past-life therapy, he was able to cure the patient and embrk
on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career.
Opening Paragraph
The first time I saw Catherine she was wearing a vivid crimson dress and was
nervously leafing through a magazine in my waiting room, She was visibly out of
breath. For the past twenty minutes she had been pacing the corridor outside the
department of Psychiatry offices, trying to convince herself to keep her
appointment with me and not run away.
Reviews: Amazon.com
Psychiatry and metaphysics blend together in this fascinating book based on a
true case history…. No, we cannot verify the truth of this story using the
limited scientific tools we have available. However, it is hard to dispute that
this well-respected graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School has
discovered a personal truth that has led him to be an enormously popular
speaker, author, and leader in the field of past-life therapy. --Gail Hudson
Customer Comments
mddhodapkar@hotmail.com from SATARA, INDIA. THE BOOK IS QUITE MEANINGFUL AND
GIVES AN INSIGHT INTO MIND The book should be read by all. In one's human
existence it is our very purpose to seek our origin and understand it. The
lessons in the clients resume indicates to the validity of oriental philosophy ,
particularly the indian RAJYOGA. It will tell the western world a new way to
look at human existance; more than this it can enrich their lives.
enarcadie@earthlink.net from US , Simplistic and disappointing Just finished
reading "Many lives, Many masters" and I am extremely disappointed.
How can a reputable psychiatrist with impressive credentials come up with such a
flawed, simplistic and entirely unconvincing book? His account of the hypnosis
sessions and the conclusions he draws are childish. The book is full of
contradictions and all the issues, which could be interesting, are left
unexplored and unexplained.
A reader from Tucson, Arizona, Read Anything about reincarnation? This book
is too Simple. If you have read Anything about past life therapy, do not buy
this book. You will be very, very disappointed. Dr. Weiss never got the message
he wrote (to??!) himself in the book, over and over and over.... The message
was.. "This information is for you, Dr. Weiss."
suzanne.parker@bench.com from New Hampshire, Completely changed my point of
view I picked up this book because I thought it would be interesting and for no
other reason. I wasn't looking for answers, wasn't looking for something to
validate any preconceived ideas that I had. But reading this book completely
changed the way I look at life and death and what happens in between the two.
KClark3858@aol.com from Concord, CA, Great book!!! I thought this book was
great. It was so great, I want Brian Weiss to be my therapist!
karichr@hotmail.com from Norway, I recognized the period between the lives
Reading this book and getting confirmation that the experiences I have had my
self is not fiction. I have in a previous life given birth to an inidian child
Little Feather, through body harmony healing treatment. 18 months later I gave
birth to my daughter and I recognized her as Little Feather, her present name is
Dyveke i.e. Little Dove and she is my long ago Indian child from a previous
life.
