New books, new books! yaaaayyyy
Yaaayyy, one last mark on the collective - yet mediated - consciousness known as the Internet, I got's some new books today and this particular bookstore caused me to realize: I must buy every single book Thich Nhat Hanh has written. I was tempted to buy many today. I think he might be a good mentor for me....hhmm, an excuse to go to France? ;-) hehe
Be Still and Know: Reflections from "Living Buddha, Living Christ," by Thich Nhat Hanh, a small, handy-sized book of quotations excerpted from his exploration of the deep spiritual connections between Christianity and Buddhism. The book itself will undoubtedly be invaluable to me in grad school....
Transformation and Healing: Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness, by Thich Nhat Hanh, with his commentary on the mindfulness teachings of the Buddha, organized into 20 exercises. I thought this would be a perfect complement to the summer independent study of "Satyagraha."
Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self (Revised, 2004), by Anodea Judith. So far, this is a wonderful melding of psychology and spirituality, exploring the chakras through Jungian psychology, somatic therapy, childhood developmental theory, and metaphysics. To understand "chakras" I think one has to know that there's more to life than meets the eye. The chakra isn't a "literal" thing in the sense that we SEE it with our eyes, it's more of an energy field idea. For instance, electromagnetic fields are absolutely integral to our existence, and yet are invisible to the naked eye. Is not this just one such "unseen" plane? There are many metaphysical maps to use, but I'm just "naturally" drawn to Eastern ones as the most usefully descriptive, and I'm quite pleased with the way Anodea adds Western psychological perspectives to make it more accessible to the average Westerner. A lot of interesting charts and illustrations, too.
Be Still and Know: Reflections from "Living Buddha, Living Christ," by Thich Nhat Hanh, a small, handy-sized book of quotations excerpted from his exploration of the deep spiritual connections between Christianity and Buddhism. The book itself will undoubtedly be invaluable to me in grad school....
Transformation and Healing: Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness, by Thich Nhat Hanh, with his commentary on the mindfulness teachings of the Buddha, organized into 20 exercises. I thought this would be a perfect complement to the summer independent study of "Satyagraha."
Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self (Revised, 2004), by Anodea Judith. So far, this is a wonderful melding of psychology and spirituality, exploring the chakras through Jungian psychology, somatic therapy, childhood developmental theory, and metaphysics. To understand "chakras" I think one has to know that there's more to life than meets the eye. The chakra isn't a "literal" thing in the sense that we SEE it with our eyes, it's more of an energy field idea. For instance, electromagnetic fields are absolutely integral to our existence, and yet are invisible to the naked eye. Is not this just one such "unseen" plane? There are many metaphysical maps to use, but I'm just "naturally" drawn to Eastern ones as the most usefully descriptive, and I'm quite pleased with the way Anodea adds Western psychological perspectives to make it more accessible to the average Westerner. A lot of interesting charts and illustrations, too.