$13.95

Paperback

The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho

A wonderful fable. I read this to my wife one winter and we both fell in love with its beautiful writing and timeless Spiritual Message à la Wizard of Oz… our treasure lies at home. Give this book a try and you will fall in love with it. Read it to your partner and you will both be smitten.

Review by Tony Kainauskas.

$15.95

And There Was Light

Jacques Lusseyran

A powerful memoir. Blinded as a young child, the author became a member of the French Resistance during World War II. What stands out in this autobiography are Lusseyran’s powerful spiritual experiences despite the extreme challenges he was given in this lifetime. I was very much inspired by his story and highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a powerful page turner with deep spiritual insight. Despite the subject matter this memoir is truly an uplifting read. A 21st Century Books Best Seller.

Review by Tony Kainauskas.

$16.95

Paperback

An Interrupted Life

Etty Hillesum

I found this memoir to be gut wrenching and life affirming. Etty was a Dutch Jew during World War II. She was artistic, creative, and flamboyant, and had many friends in the art world. Etty’s portrayal of their lives before the holocaust is engrossing, but the main reason this book has stayed with me was the remarkable Spiritual transformation of the author as the situations surrounding her life became more tragic. As darkness begins to replace the joys of the creative lifestyle, her deep spiritual growth lies in direct contrast to the evils surrounding her. The greater the darkness which enfolds her outside world, the greater the light and unbounded/unconditional love grows within her inner world. A powerful read that inspired me deeply.

Review by Tony Kainauskas.

$14.14

Paperback

Still Here

Ram Dass

This book should be required reading for everyone, no matter how old he or she may be. Ram Dass is a man of great wisdom, and an accomplished writer and communicator. Now, following his debilitating stroke, he is personally qualified to comment on the physical challenges of aging and disability coupled with the psychological and spiritual approaches to dealing with and transcending the wearing out of the physical body. These are challenges with which most of us who live to a ripe old age will have to deal. The book is full of personal anecdotes, wisdom, humor, compassion, love, clarity, and most importantly, insight. Ram Dass speaks from the heart, the mind, and the soul. If anyone associated with Hospice reads this book, I hope he or she will recommend that Hospice provide this book to both those who are terminally ill and their families.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$15.95

Paperback

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry

Jack Kornfield

This is a very comfortable book to read (or to listen to as an audio). Kornfield has been "around the spiritual scene" for decades. He has been a Buddhist Monk, a meditation teacher, a seeker (I once saw him questioning Nisargadatta on a video about Nisargadatta that I rented) and an author of spiritual books. He has been associated with Mindfulness, Zen, Vipassana, and other related practices. He is also a householder, family man, and clinical psychologist. With all those experiences and lifetime of pursuits it is no surprise that Kornfield has written an excellent book that adds great perspective on trying to integrate the search for enlightenment with the everyday practicalities of living in the mundane world. Jack relates the following story, which to me catches the essence of the book and its appeal.

Student to Zen Master: Master, tell me, what is experience like after death?

Zen Master to Student: I do not know.

Student to Zen Master: You are a Zen Master, how can you not know the answer?

Zen Master to Student: I am a living Zen Master, you need to find and ask a dead Zen Master.

Review by Len Oppenheim.

$15.00

Paperback

Loving What Is

Byron Katie

The book is as good as the title. This book really delivers—it is an incredible "how-to." "How to" embrace your very own life exactly as it is unfolding in present time with all its goodness and what you might call its badness. The subtitle of the book is "Four Questions That Can Change Your Life." I can attest through personal experience that with sincere application you can indeed change your life. There are not many books that even attempt to provide such simple, clear-cut, profound advice, much less actively provide it. This is a rare and wonderful book for those who are interested.

Review by The Literate Lady.

$14.95

Paperback

Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge

Arthur Osborne

Both a biography of the great saint and an explanation of his teachings. This book has a very special place in my heart. If we had not put Godman’s book in Books You Can’t Live Without, this book would have been there. It was difficult to choose between the two. This is a book you cannot afford to miss reading.

Review by Len Oppenheim.

$23.00

Paperback

Miracle of Love: Stories About Neem Karoli Baba

Ram Dass

Out of print for many years, but is now available again. The book is a compendium of stories about Ram Dass’ guru, who he calls Maharajii. Some of the stories involve Ram Dass, or events he personally witnessed, while others were gathered from over one hundred other devotees. I am a junky for stories about Gurus and Yogis and their miraculous deeds and/or lessons they teach, both verbally and non-verbally. I especially enjoy these stories when they are modern, having occurred during my lifetime, and when the teller of the stories, or the gatherer of the information is highly credible. Those are the reasons I highly recommend this book.

Review by Len Oppenheim.

$13.95

Hardcover

One Liners: A Mini-manual for a Spiritual Life

Ram Dass

The book is 235 pages, one sentence or one paragraph per page, of the distillation of the wisdom the author has gathered and disseminated during his more than 30 years of seeking and lecturing. Books like this are very precious to me. Ram Dass is wise and eclectic. Here are a few samples I chose just by randomly opening the book:

"Treat everyone you meet like God in drag."

"It is very hard to grow, because it’s difficult to let go of the models of ourselves in which we’ve invested so heavily."

"You can’t buy into one half of a polarity without getting the other half. You want good? You’ve got evil. You want pleasure? You’ve got pain. That’s just the way it is."

If you like the above, buy and enjoy the book.

Review by Len Oppenheim.

$13.00

Paperback

Many Lives, Many Masters

Brian L.Weiss, M.D.

This is a book I highly recommend to both believers and skeptics about reincarnation. Dr. Weiss and I have never met, but we do have a few things in common. We are almost contemporaries, attended the same college (he graduated from Columbia two years before me), had children in the same graduation class of Columbia (his daughter, my son), had Jewish upbringings, and never considered reincarnation to be anything but myth, until certain evidence, encountered as adults, changed our minds. Brian Weiss, a Yale trained medical doctor and psychiatrist, used hypnosis to treat patients. This is the story of how he “accidentally” regressed a patient to a past life and how the evidence unfolded the author’s spiritual awaking. Weiss is an extremely credible source or resource, and an excellent writer. This is the first in a series of books he has written, and if the reader enjoys this one I am sure he or she will be interested in reading his second book, treating the same subject matter, titled, Only Love Is Real

Review by Len Oppenheim.

$24.00

Paperback

Consciousness Speaks

Ramesh Balsekar

Ramesh has written more than a dozen books. Each one is worth reading. In talking to fans of Ramesh, I have found that very often a single book resonates most strongly for a given individual. For some it has been Sin and Guilt, for others A Duet of one, and for other individuals it has been one of the other titles. For me, it was Consciousness Speaks that somehow opened my mind and heart to the full appreciation of this wonderful teacher. The brief introduction by Wayne Liquorman sets the tone for the book. In fact, I believe that reading the eight-page introduction is worth the entire price of the book, and in this seed is contained the wholeness of the teaching. Although Ramesh is a brilliant and skillful writer, I believe he is at his best when teaching and responding to questions from seekers. This book uses the question and answer format and that is why I believe it is his most effective book, and certainly it has been his most popular book at our bookstore. When my sons became interested in Ramesh, it was this book that I provided for them to read first.

The book is very comprehensive, covering all subjects, including mind, intellect, emotions, biology, creation, etc. All the answers are straightforward and simple. Ramesh pulls no punches and allows the knowledge to flow through him, as the title of the book suggests. This is a book to be cherished and read over and over again.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$17.00

Hardcover

The Art of the Moment: Simple Ways to Get the Most from Life

Veronique Vienne

Feel the excitement of being here now! In The Art of the Moment, best selling author Véronique Vienne explores ways to get the most from life, one day at a time. Her signature essays—short and sweet, yet insightful—are invitations to appreciate the uniqueness of each moment. Dismissing the notion that our notoriously short attention span is to be blamed for our distracted state of mind, she encourages readers to savor the fullness of life in brief, joyful installments. "Don't wait for a second chance to get it right," she says. "Each moment is both the last time and the first time because no two days are ever alike."

Each chapter is a reminder that time is not running out. You don't have to rush to experience a sense of joy, wonder, and adventure. It's yours for the taking, whenever you are ready for it. You can claim the "now" while watering the lawn, taking a seven–year–old to soccer practice, buying a new pair of shoes, or daydreaming about opening a small bookstore across the street from the bank.

This book is a must–read for anyone who enjoyed Véronique Vienne's now–classic The Art of Doing Nothing—and a perfect gift for anyone who believes that the ultimate art of living is to make each minute count.

Beautifully illustrated with radiant photographs by Ann Rhoney, The Art of the Moment celebrates the very special joie de vivre that is your birthright.

Prolong the Pleasure of Being Alive
Don't wait for a second chance to get it right.
Fold your napkin carefully at the end of a great gourmet meal.
Have serious conversations with seven–year–olds.
Forget to mention that you were right in the first place.
Say "Don't ask" and "Go figure" rather than launch into tedious explanations.
Reframe family pictures.
Always have a kind word for people with old dogs.
Look at the world as if you were a cat.
Welcome unexpected interruptions: They are often the prologue to happy accidents.
Think in the shower.
Find a little more time to be with friends.
Make the most of everything, one moment at a time.

$24.95

Paperback

Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom: A Collection of 10,000 Inspirational Quotations

Andy Zubko

This is slightly over 500 pages chock full of distilled wisdom. I don't know how Andy Zubko compiled this, but he did an outstanding job. The subjects covered run the gamut of anything a spiritual seeker could find of interest. The quotes come from everybody worth quoting. I keep this book on my desk and use it for both inspiration and as a source if I need something wise to say about any subject.

This book makes a perfect gift for anyone, whether they know they are spiritual or not.

Reviewed by Len Oppenheim.

$14.95

Paperback

Awakened: Meetings with Indian Saints

Michael O'Callaghan, Ph.D.

I must confess that I am a "seekers" junky. I love to read books about people on a quest for truth or about their visits to various masters, gurus and/or saints. This book is right up my alley. The author (a female despite her given name "Michael") is a trained psychologist who has practiced TM for 30 years. I am not sure if she is a TM teacher, but she is steeped in the teachings and knowledge of Maharishi, and lives in a meditating community in Austin, Texas. Like a number of long–time practitioners of TM she feels the lack of a personal Guru.

Her quest for the personal touch takes her to visit various Indian saints who come to America. Finally, she strongly connects with one of these saints and it results in her undertaking a pilgrimage to India to spend more than a month in an Ashram with Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji. Her experiences are, in many respects, quite extraordinary and very credible. The book is very intimate in its details and not exaggerated or adulterated. Whether or not you have been to India you will identify with the details of her culture shock and with her trying to reconcile her Western fixation on hygiene with the "letting it go" mindset necessary to adapt to Indian life in an Ashram's very primitive facilities.

But, there is a lot more in this book than her trials and tribulations with personal hygiene. She gets to the essential elements of truth and the great teachings of this remarkable Swami. She relates a number of fascinating experiences, which include both the paranormal, and the supernormal powers of her Swamiji.

She also has chapters dealing with visits to Amachi, Karunamayi, Mother Meera, and Viswamji Viswawaguru, an incarnation of Dattatreya. Ms. O'Callaghan covers a lot of ground in a very succinct and straightforward manner.

If you like spiritual adventures, this is a must read. I give it my highest recommendation because it is so honest and profound, in both the knowledge and the experiences.

Review by Len Oppenheim.

$14.00

Paperback

God in the Equation: How Einstein Transformed Religion

Corey S. Powell

The author does a great job of taking the reader through the progression of how, beginning with the insights of Einstein and continuing throughout the 20th century, the scientific community has discovered that the mechanical, Newtonian based model of the universe does not tell the real story, and that reality has more to do with unseen forces (dark matter, cosmological constants etc.) that seem to be more consciousness based than matter based. If I had to take one statement from this book that made the book exciting and worthwhile, it was this revealing statement about the nature of time. I don't have the exact quote, but this is a pretty accurate paraphrase: If you were present just after the big bang occurred, and you called that moment today, it would be the only today without a yesterday. I can't explain why I found this statement so illuminating, but for me it created an understanding of how time is a relative fourth dimension. The author chose the following for the book jacket: He wanted to know where our world comes from and where it was going. He wanted to understand how the remote stillness of the heavens relates to the erratic, ever–changing events here on earth. Above all, he wanted to know if the answers to these questions would bring him closer to a higher authority. So Einstein put GOD IN THE EQUATION.

If you have any interest at all in quantum physics, cosmology, and how the world's greatest scientific minds in the 20th Century tried to approach God and the questions of why we are here and what is reality, you must read this book!!

Review by Len Oppenheim.

$15.00

Paperback

I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

The most beautiful poetry. This is my favorite spiritual poetry book.

Review by Tony Kainauskas.

$12.00

Paperback

The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

To Persians, the fourteenth-century poems of Hafiz are not classical literature from a remote past, but cherished love, wisdom, and humor from a dear and intimate friend. Perhaps, more than any other Persian poet, it is Hafiz who most fully accesses the mystical, healing dimensions of poetry. Daniel Ladinsky has made it his life's work to create modern, inspired translations of the world's most profound spiritual poetry. Through Ladinsky's translations, Hafiz's voice comes alive across the centuries singing his message of love.

$19.95

Hardcover

The Concise Kama Sutra

Anne Johnson

Based on original translation.

The Kama Sutra can open up a world of enchantment, bliss, and sensation to those who understand its teachings. One of the oldest and most famous works of eroticism ever written, this undeniably frank and beautifully illustrated book offers instruction in the "science of pleasure." Modern readers will take delight in a new, wonderfully readable version that includes up–to–date commentary on the text's meaning (including the famous 64 doctrines of pleasure) and breathtaking traditional Indian art in every spread. More than just a manual of sexual positions, it covers courtship and marriage as well, poetically teaching lovers how to care for themselves and their homes, the proper way of life, erotic techniques, different sexual characteristics, what to do when passion takes over, how to increase sexual attraction, and far more. A treat for the eye and stimulation for the senses and mind.

$15.95

Paperback

Being Our Own Heroes: Our Stories and Other Myths

Edited by Linda Egenes

By the Timeless and Trancendental (TNT) Bunch:

Margaret Ashelman, Dorothy M. Beal, Fern Fairiebell Flesner, Harriet Glubka, Paul Godsman, Cielle Kollander, Hoshea Love, John Ong, Inez Valentine, Susan R. Wilk

How to capture a life in words? Is there a higher purpose underlying the turning points, sorrows, and triumphs? Can heroism be found in everyday life? These are the questions an avid group of mature writers, aged 65-89, explore in this sprightly collection of memoirs. From a childhood in 1920's Shanghai to escaping Nazi Germany to rounding up cows on a South Dakota homestead, you'll experience the sounds, tastes, smells, sights and textures of a time long past. And by expressing the full range of human experience—from childhood innocence to teenage epiphany to adult musing on the value of memoir writing—the writers deftly lead you to a discovery of the heroic in your own life.

Introduction

What started as a meeting of minds quickly became a melting of hearts. What did I expect at our first gathering, a continuing education class in memoir writing?

I knew, of course, that these students would be seekers, though not of my own 60's generation. These were people of my parents' age, who had families and careers and a whole lifetime of friends—and then somewhere in midlife started over in this community of meditators in Fairfield, Iowa, to help create world peace.

I didn't anticipate how deeply they would connect to writing. Each of their stories, so simple, so honest, revealed deep truths of life...

$14.00

Paperback

Voices

Antonio Porchia
Translated by W. S. Merwin

English translation
Original Language: Spanish

Antonio Porchia (1886–1968) wrote one book, a slender collection of poetic aphorisms that became a classic in the Spanish–speaking world. With affinities to Taoist and Buddhist epigrams, Voices bears witness to the awe of human existence. Revised and updated with a new introduction by translator W.S. Merwin, this bilingual volume brings back into print one of Latin America's great literary treasures.

He who tells the truth says almost nothing.

I know what I have given you. I do not know what you have received.

Only a few arrive at nothing, because the way is long.

Out of a hundred years a few minutes were made that stayed with me, not a hundred years.

When I come upon some idea that is not of this world, I feel as though this world had grown wider.

This world understands nothing but words, and you have come into it with almost none.

We become aware of the void as we fill it.

About the Author
Antonio Porchia (1886–1968) was born in Italy. After his father died, he emigrated to Argentina with his mother and seven siblings, and as the eldest child, started working at the age of 14. He was self–taught, and his only book, Voices, caught the attention of a noted French critic who assumed him to be a scholar of Kafka and Buddhism, rather than the humble man who loved to tend his garden. Today, Porchia's aphorisms are published in more than a dozen Spanish–language editions as well as in German, French, and Italian.

W.S. Merwin's awards include the Pulitzer Prize, the Tanning Prize, the Bollingen Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the NEA. He is the author of dozens of books of poetry and translations. He lives in Hawaii.

$12.95

Paperback

The Essential Crazy Wisdom

Wes Nisker

Take a wild and rickety ride through the philosophies of the East and West to discover the madmen, dreamers, and unconventional wisdom seekers in the abridged, better–than–ever version of our best–selling cult classic. Essential Crazy Wisdom delivers the most significant, most lunatic, and most compelling insights of the ages. Scoop Nisker patches together the unorthodox teachings that have bubbled up through the words of such crazy visionaries as Rumi, Gautama, the Buddha, Mark Twain, Lao Tzu, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Allen Ginsberg, and Lily Tomlin. Discover the common thread in these multiple perspectives and travel on this comedic course to enlightenment!

$13.00

Paperback

No Way: A Guide for the Spiritually "Advanced"

Ram Tzu

71.

What could be more ludicrous
Or boring
Than a discussion about the truth?

Ram Tzu has some questions for you…
Just who do you think you are?
Are you other than God?
Are you separate from Me?

If so…
What are you made of?
Where did it come from?

Don't look to science to help you.
The physicists have all become mystics.
They're of no more use to you than is Ram Tzu.

If you're really clever you'll turn around
And walk away
Fast!
Hang around here and you're liable to lose
Everything you hold dear.

Go back to your church, your temple,
Your therapist, your drug dealer, your ashram.
There you may find a moments peace.
You found it there once.
Here is only emptiness for you.
You'll find no food for your ego here.

What if your precious sense of self
Were to shrivel up and die?
Where would you be then?
What would happen?

Best not to risk it.

22.

Your New Age
Is neither new
Nor will it last an age.

You ride a pendulum
On a clock wound
To run for eternity.

Your despair has
Today turned to hope.
Tomorrow it will
Turn back again.

The walls of oppression
You tear down here
Will be rebuilt
There.

The meek shall
Inherit the earth
Then the clever ones
Will take it back from them.

The torture chamber
Will empty
And refill.

A disease will
Be conquered
And a new one will
Appear to take its place.

This strikes you
As a bleak vision
But Ram Tzu knows this…

It is your hope for a better future
That keeps you in chains today.

$15.95

Paperback

The Hand of God: Thought and Images Reflecting the Spirit of the Universe

Michael Reagan, et al

Founder of Lionheart Books, Reagan has produced the ideal smaller coffee-table book for the 21st century. The Hand of God combines dozens of dazzling images of starscapes and far planets captured by the Hubble telescope with reflections on the self, the stars, and the universe, from writers as various as Oscar Wilde, Albert Einstein, Annie Dillard, and Edward Taylor. To Reagan's credit, the writers selected are admirable, and the quotations from their works are well chosen, but the images alone are worth the price of admission and are as profound as the writings that surround them. Highly recommended.

$9.95

Hardcover

A Guide for Grown-ups: Essential Wisdom from the Collected Works of Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes." For more than sixty years, this insight from The Little Prince has been quoted in more than 130 languages by fans around the world. Now, for the first time, quotations from the collected works and letters of Antoine de Saint–Exupéry are presented in a charming gift edition. Six chapters—"Happiness," "Friendship," "Responsibility," "Fortitude," "Love," and "What Is Essential"—offer inspirational and thought–provoking words about the subjects held most dear by the author. A perfect gift for graduates, or for anyone who wants gentle guidance.

$13.00

Paperback

The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry

Edited by Stephen Mitchell

An anthology of poetry chosen from the world's great religious and literary traditions—the perfect companion to the best selling Tao Te Ching.

The Upanishads • The Book of Psalms • Lao–tzu • The Bhagavad Gita • Chuang–tzu • The Odes of Solomon • Seng–ts'an • Han–shan • Li Po • Tu Fu • Layman P'ang • Kukai • Tung–shan • Symeon the New Theologian • Izumi Shikibu • Su Tung–p'o • Hildegard of Bingen • Francis of Assisi • Wu–men • Dõgen • Rumi • Mechthild of Magdeburg • Dante • Kabir Mirabai • William Shakespeare • George Herbert • Bunan • Gensei • Angelus Silesius • Thomas Traherne • Basho • William Blake • Ryõkan • Issa • Ghalib • Bibi Hayati • Walt Whitman • Emily Dickinson • Gerard Manley Hopkins • Uvavnuk • Anonymous Navaho • W. B. Yeats • Antonio Machado • Rainer Maria Rilke • Wallace Stevens • D.H. Lawrence • Robinson Jeffers

$15.00

Paperback

The Experience of Ultimate Truth

Michael Graham

I am an admitted junkie when it comes to books we have put in the category of "Seeker's Journals". The author Michael Graham has provided me with another excellent narrative relating his 28 years of seeking that culminated with his surrender to Christ and becoming a Christian.

Graham de Freitas

Graham de Freitas' poetry ranks with the finest of spiritual verse. He treats the most profound subjects—the yearning for God Realization and the natural cycle of life—with freshness, insight, beautiful and compact language, and deep feeling. You can read a poem and immediately want to re-read it, so that you may fully appreciate what he has accomplished, not only with his words but with your own feelings. This is a book readers will want to return to at regular intervals, for strength, comfort, and most of all, inspiration.

$24.95

Hardcover

Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul

Tony Hendra

A key comic writer of the past three decades has created his most heartfelt and hard-hitting book. Father Joe is Tony Hendra’s inspiring true story of finding faith, friendship, and family through the decades-long influence of a surpassingly wise Benedictine monk named Father Joseph Warrillow.

Like everything human, it started with sex. In 1955, fourteen-year-old Tony found himself entangled with a married Catholic woman. In Cold War England, where Catholicism was the subject of news stories and Graham Greene bestsellers, Tony was whisked off by the woman’s husband to see a priest and be saved.

Yet what he found was a far cry from the priests he’d known at Catholic school, where boys were beaten with belts or set upon by dogs. Instead, he met Father Joe, a gentle, stammering, ungainly Benedictine who never used the words “wrong” or “guilt,” who believed that God was in everyone and that “the only sin was selfishness.” During the next forty years, as his life and career drastically ebbed and flowed, Tony discovered that his visits to Father Joe remained the one constant in his life—the relationship that, in the most serious sense, saved it.

From the fifties and his adolescent desire to join an abbey himself; to the sixties, when attending Cambridge and seeing the satire of Beyond the Fringe convinced him to change the world with laughter, not prayer; to the seventies and successful stints as an original editor of National Lampoon and a writer of Lemmings, the off-Broadway smash that introduced John Belushi and Chevy Chase; to professional disaster after co-creating the legendary English series Spitting Image; from drinking to drugs, from a failed first marriage to a successful second and the miracle of parenthood—the years only deepened Tony’s need for the wisdom of his other and more real father, creating a bond that could not be broken, even by death.

A startling departure for this acclaimed satirist, Father Joe is a sincere account of how Tony Hendra learned to love. It’s the story of a whole generation looking for a way back from mockery and irony, looking for its own Father Joe, and a testament to one of the most charismatic mentors in modern literature.

$15.95

Paper

Grace In Dying: A Message of Hope, Comfort, and Spiritual Transformation

Kathleen Dowling Singh

Singh, a hospice worker with training in psychology and an avid interest in religion, here combines a Kubler-Ross-like approach to death and dying with an Eastern religious take on finitude. She questions our sense of death as an “outrage” and her book is filled with the cornerstones of Buddhism and Tibetan religion, ideas that provide no easy comfort (“Our fear of death is grounded in a strong sense of the ‘I’”). Some of Singh’s consolations are not as strong-minded as this analysis of the ego, however. Occasionally, she uses insights that are hardly transcendent (“As we enter the Nearing Death Experience, both emotion and cognition clear.... Beatitudes flow naturally from our being, now a vehicle for of Spirit”). She is at her most perceptive when she seeks to explain why death is so frightening to us: “We are able to maintain the illusion of a separate self... able to maintain it until we enter death row. The moment we receive a terminal prognosis is the moment that fiction begins to transform into documentary.” Singh works with terminal patients and can give careful accounts of dying bodies and minds, yet she also notes that the living in fact have no idea what death is like. Nonetheless, her book serves a wise and moving expression of the living helping the dying and should give solace to those facing death as well as to their friends and family.

$8.95

Paperback

The Prophet

Kahlil Gibran

One of America's most purchased and beloved books. An excellent gift for people of any age, full of wisdom and simple poetry, and addressing twenty-seven topics of our daily lives. An elegant paperback edition, enhanced by drawings of the renowned Aubrey Beardsley. An Evergreen bestseller.

$6.50

Paperback

To Be Victorious in Life

Paramahansa Yogananda

In this powerful new book Paramahansa Yogananda shows how we can realize life's highest goals by bringing out the unlimited potential within us. He provides practical counsel for achieving success, outlines definite methods of creating lasting happiness, and tells how to overcome negativity and inertia by harnessing the dynamic power of our own will.

From To Be Victorious in Life:

God has given you mental dynamite sufficient to destroy all your difficulties. Remember that. It is the most effective force you can use to be victorious.

$20.00

Paperback

Our Spiritual Heritage: An Informal History of the Masters of the Sankaracharya Tradition

Lynn D. Napper

A MUST BUY book in the opinion of this reviewer. It is especially highly recommended for all who have learned Transcendental Meditation. The author was trained as a teacher of T.M. and has the benefit of many years of meditation as well as intellectual training. The story of each of the Masters of the Shankaracharya Tradition is given, as well as appropriate Sanskrit quotations (with English translation). Also a rather thorough glossary of important terms is given, and a very complete bibliography. This is one of the most uplifting and inspiring volumes on the market today.

Review by Michael Laughrin.

$16.00

Paperback

Divine Romance

Paramanhansa Yogananda

In this new anthology of his talks, the late author of Autobiography of a Yogi shows how we can meet our daily physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges by awakening to our divine nature. Readers will find these talks alive with the unique blend of all-embracing wisdom, encouragement, and love for humanity that have made Paramahamsa Yogananda one of our era's most revered and trusted guides to the spiritual life.

$6.50

Paperback

Living Fearlessly: Bringing Out Your Inner Soul Strength

Paramanhansa Yogananda

Life is meant to be a great adventure—a precious opportunity to fulfill noble ambitions and achieve worthy dreams. But fear often waylays us on the journey, robbing us of our happiness and inner peace. In this book, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi teaches us how to break the shackles of fear and overcome our psychological stumbling blocks. Filled with life-transforming counsel, this concise book includes informal talks and personal anecdotes complemented by parable and prayer.

$12.00

Hardcover

Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda

Collection of sayings, anecdotes, and words of wisdom—Paramahansa Yogananda's candid and loving responses to those who came to him for counsel. These brief vignettes offer the reader an opportunity to share in these personal conversations and experiences with him. Shining from every page are his compassionate understanding of humanity and his deep love for God.

$10.00

Paperback

Where There Is Light: Insight and Inspiration for Meeting Life's Challenges

Paramahansa Yogananda

A practical handbook to which readers can quickly turn for a reassuring sense of direction in times of uncertainty or crisis, or for positive guidance and encouragement in meeting the challenges of everyday living. Selections from Paramahansa Yogananda's lectures, writings, and informal talks are arranged under more than 40 topics, including:

Friendship
Marriage
Creativity
Healing
Decision-making
Overcoming worry and fear
Understanding death

$14.00

Hardcover

Where There Is Light: Insight and Inspiration for Meeting Life's Challenges

Paramahansa Yogananda

Friendship
Marriage
Creativity
Healing
Decision-making
Overcoming worry and fear
Understanding death

$16.00

Hardcover

Whispers From Eternity

Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda's universal prayers and vivid descriptions of his experiences in elevated states of meditation beckon readers of all faiths to cultivate their own intimate relationship with the Divine. Features invocations to the great prophets and leaders of the principal world religions, and a special section of children's prayers. Illustrated throughout with evocative nature photos and masterpieces of art, many in full color. Also available is a photographic reproduction of the well-loved first version of Paramahansa Yogananda's inspirational poems and prayers before he revised the book later in life.

From Whispers From Eternity:

O Lord of Compassion, teach me to shed tears of love for all beings. May I behold them as my very own—different expressions of my Self.

240 pages. 43 photos.

$6.50

Paperback

Why God Permits Evil and How to Rise Above It

Paramahansa Yogananda

Philosophers and religious scholars the world over have sought to answer the question of why a loving God permits evil. In these pages, Paramahansa Yogananda provides strength and solace for times of adversity by explaining the mysteries of God's lila, or divine drama. Readers will come to understand the reason for the dualistic nature of creation—God's interplay of good and evil—and receive guidance on how to rise above the most challenging circumstances.

$14.00

Paperback

World in Transition: Finding Spiritual Security in Times of Change

Paramahansa Yogananda

Selections from writings and talks by Paramahansa Yogananda and monks and nuns of his Self-Realization Fellowship.

A World in Transition reminds us that, behind the outward tumult, life has a profound purpose—that in the larger view we are on a universal journey that will ultimately reveal who we are and why we are here.

Includes talks by Paramahansa Yogananda, Sri Daya Mata, Mrinalini Mata, Tara Mata, Brother Anandamoy, and others.

$25.00

Hardcover

Same Soul, Many Bodies: Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives Through Progression Therapy

Brian L. Weiss, M.D.

The cover of this book has the promotional subtitle: Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives Through Progression Therapy. There is a treatment of progression therapy in most of the cases in this book, but for the most part the primary treatment for the cases remains regression to past lives. Despite that caveat, this is a book I would highly recommend.

When I read Dr. Weiss's first book, Many Lives, Many Masters, I became an immediate fan of Brian Weiss. Here was a mainstream psychiatrist, undergraduate degree from Columbia, Yale Medical School, who went out on a limb and exposed his beliefs about reincarnation and many spiritual themes. I even went to one of his seminars in San Francisco. I found his following books to be less enthralling and thought he was becoming both too commercial, and also too self-impressed with his burgeoning "guru status". Also, I have reservations about the validity of data obtained from hypnotic states. After all, the subject certainly might be "suggestible."

However, Weiss is thorough and careful and he presents very compelling evidence. This book was much better than any of his other books with the exception of Many Lives, Many Masters, which I do highly recommend. The cases are fascinating and the new wrinkle of taking patients forward into the future is worth exploring. All sorts of issues about free will, karma, and the nature of reality are raised in these studies. Also there are some very thought-provoking glimpses into the future of our planet and the human race.

My bottom line is that I found this book not only fascinating and intellectually stimulating, but I also felt very uplifted and found the experiences related to be very inspirational. This is worth reading.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$15.95

Paperback

Seabiscuit: An American Legend

Laura Hillenbrand

Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit's fortunes:

Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon. Author Laura Hillenbrand brilliantly re-creates a universal underdog story, one that proves life is a horse race.

$19.95

Hardcover

At Hell's Gate: A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace

Claude Anshin Thomas

Thomas offers a raw and poignant memoir of his nightmarish Vietnam experience, postwar depression, and ultimate discovery of peace through Buddhism. He spares no anguish in describing his tour of duty in Vietnam in 1967-68, where he had to dehumanize the enemy and himself in order to be a good soldier. Upon his return, he hoped for a hero's welcome but was instead greeted by a young woman in the Newark Airport who spat in his face. Tormented by the memories of killing and of seeing his fellow soldiers killed, Thomas suffered from addiction, suicidal tendencies, and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

In 1990, after more than twenty years of misery, he attended a meditation retreat for Vietnam vets led by the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh, and it changed his life. Through Buddhism, he learned that healing could never come through the avoidance of more suffering. After spending years trying to sleepwalk through life, he experienced joy in becoming what the Buddha called "awake"—mindful of the gift of the present moment. Now a monk himself, Thomas leads retreats and talks with other victims of violence all over the world.

$12.95

Paperback

The Soul of Success : A Woman's Guide to Authentic Power

Jennifer Read Hawthorne

Women often seek external barometers to define success—their salary, their looks, their relationships, their possessions. This book offers them a truer barometer: the quality of their inner experience. In a time of widespread disillusionment with material rewards, this is a guide for women seeking both inner and outer riches.

This timely book shows how thirty remarkable women broke through to a deeper experience of success in their personal and professional lives by tapping into their authentic power.

Through moving personal stories from women of many professions and walks of life, the book explores thirty essential principles not often associated with success, such as Compassion, Self-Love, Intuition, Forgiveness, Freedom, Intention, Accountability and Wholeness.

Some women who share their stories:
Dynasty actress Catherine Oxenberg seemed like she had it all—looks, fame and money. But her fairy-tale life had a very dark side, starting with child abuse that eventually led to her struggle with bulimia. She details how the power of receptivity led to her healing.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Christine Horner was enraged when an insurance company told her they wouldn't cover reconstructive surgery on her mastectomy patient because the breast was an "organ with no function." She vowed to pass laws that would make insurance companies pay for breast reconstruction for every woman facing this surgery. Her power of intention got it done.

$16.00

Paperback

Resting in the Cave of the Heart

Anne Courtney

Who are you? What do you really want? These questions are an invitation to discover the deepest calling of your heart. Rest in the eternal stillness of your true nature before any thought arises. The possibility is to stop all searching and open to the underlying reality of radiant being that is your Heart and abide here where you already are.

Revelation of the author's awakening in spare writing like Hemmingway's, well chosen words, many human touches, uncompromising honesty. —Victoria Ritchie, Editor, Practicing the Power of Now

I love it! It reads well, it's true, and it will be immensely helpful to all who read it. —Gangaji, Author, The Diamond in Your Pocket

This book is a warm gentle rain of Love… what a pleasure to raise my face to it and drink. —John Mizelle, Marriage Family Therapist

About the Author

Anne Courtney was thirty-three when she met her teacher, in Oakland, California. In this meeting with Gangaji the true fulfillment she had been seeking throughout her life was revealed. Gangaji has asked Anne to share her direct experience with all who are drawn. Anne lives and works in the Bay Area.

$14.95

Paperback

The Little Book of Bleeps: Quotations from the Movie What the Bleep Do We Know!?

William Arntz and Betsy Chasse

For thousands of years, the inner teachings of all great religions have expressed the idea that human beings—each of us—create our own reality. That is, that the life we experience is a function of our own belief system and mental processes. "As ye believe, so shall it be." They have also taught that the life we experience is like a dream, insubstantial.

Now, leading edge science (quantum physics) is proposing the very same notions: that our physical reality is more like "information"—similar to a thought—than like anything else. And that physical reality consists mostly of empty space. Furthermore, mind-body scientists (neurophysiologists) are learning more about the profound and pervasive effects that our minds have on our physical bodies.

In What the Bleep Do We Know?!, 14 top scientists, theologians, and mystics explain "how this all works," as we follow Amanda, an anxious, depressed professional photographer played by Academy Award-winner Marlee Matlin, through her awakening and transformation. The Little Book of Bleeps captures many of the most enlightening sayings and impacting graphics from the film.

William Arntz and Betsy Chasse are two of the three filmmakers of What the Bleep Do We Know?! Arntz, formerly a successful software entrepreneur, was the film's original visionary and driving force. He is also the project's sole financier. Betsy Chasse was a successful feature film producer in Hollywood. Shortly after she determined that she only wanted to work on projects of significance and meaning, What the Bleep Do We Know?! was presented to her. Arntz and Chasse have personally selected all the excerpts and images that appear in the book.

$29.95

Paperback

Ocean of Bliss: The Recent Sayings of Maharishi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

A sequel to Power of Silence.

214 pages

Imported from Croatia

$11.95

Paperback

The "God" Part of the Brain: A Scientific Interpretation of Human Spirituality and God

Matthew Alper

The "God" Part of the Brain: A Scientific Interpretation of Human Spirituality and God, by Matthew Alper, is a book which is faithful to its title. Alper makes the case that "our species is unique… humans possess what we could call 'spiritual' needs. No less than our bodies crave food, we long to understand our purpose in the universe, our reason for being." He also points out that "every human culture has perceived reality as consisting of two distinct substances or realms: the physical and the spiritual."

Taking the above two premises as his starting point, and then examining both cultural and individual spirituality from the point of view of materialistic science (starting with the assumption that matter produces consciousness and the human brain is a product of Darwinian evolution) Alper does a great job of marshalling his evidence that man's concepts and experiences of "God" come very specific areas of and the neurophysiology of the brain. His basic point is: "all that we perceive as "real" is nothing more than electrical signals as they interpreted by our brain." His somewhat controversial conclusion is that the human being is "hard-wired" to believe in a spirit world and God.

Alper is brilliant. The book is very well written, easy to follow, and very easy to understand. I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks this is a topic of interest. Personally I fault the book because Alper dismisses offhandedly all evidence of matter being a function of consciousness. Clearly I think anyone who reads this book ought to get a balanced opinion by reading one of my all-time favorite books, The Holographic Universe, by Michael Talbot.

I really enjoyed the book and got a lot out of it. Some of the data about mystic experiences and drug-induced states is really fascinating. This book really can stimulate the intellect and it provides ample food for thought. I would really urge anyone with an interest in spirituality and biology or neurophysiology to read this book.

$24.95

Hardcover

The GOD Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes

Dean Hamer

The GOD Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes, by Dean Hamer, argues that "spirituality is one of our basic human inheritances. It is, in fact, an instinct." The author is a leading geneticist. He uses the scientific method to first define or set up criteria for "spirituality" which is quite different from religion. He comes up with a term "self-transcendence" which he defines and then develops criteria to measure. In many ways it is similar to what Abraham Maslow called "self-actualization."

The author is a dedicated scientist and his methodology is not only very rigorous but also painstakingly explained. His mission is to discover: "why humans believe, not whether those beliefs are true." He uses numerous studies, including very persuasive evidence from studies of twins separated at birth, to marshal evidence to buttress his ultimate conclusion that spirituality, self-transcendence, and even mysticism are at least predominately an inherited proposition, and thus hard-wired into the genes.

I found the story of "The Good Friday Experiment," conducted in 1962, fascinating and quite instructive. It was a carefully randomized double-blind placebo experiment using Psilocybin and quantifying its effect on mystical experiences, with a follow up done 25 years later.

Hamer addresses some very interesting topics, such as: "Can consciousness be explained scientifically?" He is very careful to be fair in his treatment of this subject and correctly points out that many who argue that consciousness is solely produced by the brain start out with a mechanistic model of the universe, which is postulated rather than proved. His lengthy discussion of the Y chromosome and its relevance to the Jewish people is very fascinating.

All in all, I really liked this book and respect the author's conclusions, which are: "that there is nothing intrinsically theistic or atheistic about postulating a specific genetic and biochemical mechanism for spirituality" and "that spirituality is genetic, while religion is based on culture, traditions, beliefs, and ideas."

$14.95

Paperback

Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief

Andrew Newburg, M.D., Eugene D'Aquili, M.D., Ph.D., and Vince Rause

Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science & The Biology of Belief, by Andrew Newberg, M.D., Eugene D'Aquili, M.D., Ph.D., and Vince Rause is an exceptional book which I very highly recommend.

This is very fascinating exposition of the relationship between religious experience and brain functioning. Topics like "The Science of Perception," "How the Brain Makes the Mind," and "The Biology of Transcendence" are among the fascinating topics explored and explained in a manner that is very comprehensible by the layperson. You don't need to be a doctor, scientist, or a yogi to understand this book.

The authors get into some very profound issues. These guys are scientists who buy the whole "materialistic science" viewpoint, which encompasses a strict belief in evolution and that consciousness comes from matter; the brain. However, they are open enough to include data and thoughts that maybe there are other possible explanations. Ultimately, the book is straightforward, honest, and I found it to be a "must read".

They conclude that science and religion do not have to be incompatible. They conclude that our brain is structured to include "mystical experiences" which, from the point of view of a neurophysiologist, are just as "real" as non-mystical experiences. What I liked about the book was that the authors were very clear about laying out the limitations of science and the scientific method.

$16.95

Paperback

The New Quotable Einstein

Albert Einstein
Collected and edited by Alice Calaprice

Einstein's theories changed the way 20th century mankind viewed the universe. Einstein was not only a Nobel Prize winning scientist, he was a cultural icon. Whether or not you understand Special Relativity or General Relativity, you know that Einstein changed the world as we know it.

I am a fan of Einstein, and as a layman have been fascinated by quantum theory and relativity. From time to time I have been deeply impressed or moved by quotes I have read from Einstein. This book puts it all together.

This is much better than a biography or autobiography. The editor has done a nearly perfect job of selecting and organizing quotes from Einstein so that the reader can understand his life, his intellect, his politics, and his spirituality.

This is a book that everyone will enjoy and profit from. It is fun to read and can be kept by the bedside (or even the john) and digested bit by bit for maximum entertainment and enlightenment. As the reader will learn, Einstein is a mere mortal, and has human faults and foibles, but as the reader will also learn, Einstein is a person of great depth and breadth.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$17.95

CD

Daivi Shakti

Graciella Zogbi and Student Girls Chorus

Ancient Vedic Devotional Songs to Eliven the Universal Quality of Mother Divine within Everyone

Vedic Devata productions presents the first of its entirely Vedic CDs performed by Westerners; featuring the ancient science and art of Vedic Classical Devotional Song. These delightful and divine melodies and texts are from Vedic pujas and yagyas; They are sung in Sanskrit with English transliterations and translations provided. The songs are sung in the oral tradition known as guru-shishya-parampara, with teacher and student chorus alternating, so that listeners may easily learn and sing along. There is no substitute for a good teacher; however, this CD provides a good teaching supplemental tool to learning to sing Vedic Devotional Songs.

These divine songs have a remarkable power and ability to nourish and uplift the heart and consciousness toward a state of complete unity. They are always nourishing, but especially fulfilling when sung during the Nine Days of Mother Divine, which occur in the spring and fall of every year according to the Vedic calendar.

Instrumentation has been limited to the customary use of drone and minimal percussion; using traditional acoustic instruments to encourage maximum purity of intonation along with perfection in pronunciation.

About the Vedic Devata

In the tradition of ancient Vedic Science, there are five main Devata or cosmic administrators, five fundamental structures of the administration of Natural Law. They are known as the pancha Devata. The Sanskrit term Daivi Shakti represents one of these. She is the organizing power of that cosmic intelligence or administrator of Natural Law known as Mother Divine. She is said to nourish all aspects of creation. The three traditional aspects of Mother Divine—Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati—are always said to be together. Durga is the energy and power value, Lakshmi is the nourishing and wealth-giving value, while Saraswati is the knowledge and wisdom value.

The Vedic Literature states: “For eternity, there is nothing other than that one exalted, supreme sovereign Mother Divine, the source of creation—supreme creative intelligence in her magnanimity, supreme invincibility, totality, pure potentiality—the source of everything—the end result of the analysis of the Veda." (Durga Saptashatj 10.5)

Profits benefit the Ideal Girls School of Fairfield and Vedic City, Iowa

$14.00

Paperback

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

Ken McBride

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, by James McBride, is a book that I believe everyone would enjoy. I had the good fortune to be given this book by a good friend and I have, since reading it, recommended it to family and friends. I can guarantee that this is an absolutely unique story. James McBride grew up as the eighth child in his family. He grew up black, living in black neighborhoods. He father died before he was born, and his mother remarried and had four more children with another black husband. His mother is a white woman, born in Poland, who immigrated to America with her orthodox Jewish parents.

The author became a successful journalist. The well-written story results from his efforts to trace his roots on his mother's side. To say this story is mind-boggling is a gross understatement. This book was on "The New York Times" Best Seller List for over two years, so it is not exactly undiscovered. If you want a book that is fascinating, will blow your mind, is very uplifting, easy to read and enthralling, this is book for you. I rate it as a Must Read for everyone.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$10.95

Paperback

Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year

Esme Raji Codell

Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher's First Year, by Esmé Raji Codell, is not the type of book I would typically read. However, I was in our bookstore looking for new reading material when Sally, who works part-time at our store, handed me this unique little treasure. I must confess I probably would have put it down were it not for the fact that my elder son, Sam, is just finishing his first year of teaching at an inner city school in the South Bronx, New York.

This little diary or memoir is as unique as the author, a young lady who insisted her students call her "Madame." Esmé Codell was willing to take risks and do things her own way. While this is certainly not a "How to..." teaching manual, the lessons for would-be educators are very relevant and could be inspirational. For those of us who have never had to confront the horrors of teaching fifth graders from a deprived (and, in some cases, depraved) socio-economic environment, this is a real eye-opener.

This is a very candid and emotional little book in which author "lets it all hang out." I highly recommend this for everyone who has a mind and a heart, and I guess that includes all of us.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$16.95

Paperback

The Translucent Revolution: How People Just Like You Are Waking Up and Changing the World

Arjuna Ardagh

For more than a decade, Arjuna Ardagh has studied a worldwide advance in human consciousness marked by "translucents"—ordinary people who have "a glowing appearance, as though light were coming through" because they are no longer limited to their own separate agendas ("opaques"). The Translucent Revolution draws on the author's dialogues and workshops with thousands of individuals around the world who have experienced and benefited from this phenomenon.

The book clearly explains the deep change in awareness, new sense of well-being, increasing joy in life, diminishing of fear—including fear of death—and striving for selflessness that mark this state. Ardagh blends observation, anecdote, and research, including commentaries from leading pioneers in the field of human consciousness, such as Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, Jean Houston, and Neale Donald Walsch, to create a blueprint for life change. The Translucent Revolution offers simple, concrete strategies for cultivating translucence.

$29.99

DVD

What The Bleep Do We Know!?

Our best selling DVD of all time

What The Bleep Do We Know !? deals with the latest connections between Science, physics and spirituality. Our own Dr. John Hagelin is featured in this must have film. What the Bleep was the sleeper hit of 2004, and since it did not get broad distribution you may have missed in the theater. If you have not seen it, you are in for a magnificent treat. If you have seen it once or more, then you know it is a film to be watched over and over. A must for any spiritual seekers collection. This is a great movie to share with friends, as it may open them up to all sorts of possibilities and understandings that may have eluded them.

$12.00

Hardcover

Paramahansa Yogananda: As I Knew Him

Roy Eugene Davis

Experiences, Observations, and Reflections of a Disciple

The author of this book, Roy Eugene Davis, had a very significant effect on my life. I met him in 1969 when I went to visit his late wife, Carolyn, in connection with a project on astrology in which I was involved. The astrology project never got very far off the ground, but when I met Roy my life was changed. He had a "presence" that was so strong and tangible that I wanted to know what it was and how I could achieve a similar state of being. Roy explained that he had been a discipline of Yogananda, and that his presence, or consciousness, had been developed by following the path of Kriya Yoga.

I attended Roy's lectures about the Bhagavad-Gita and read Autobiography of a Yogi. Roy initiated me into a form of Kriya, and my path as a seeker and meditator had commenced.

In this book Roy shares some intimate accounts of his relationship with his Guru, Yogananda. It is very personal and at the same time very universal.

Anyone who has read Autobiography of a Yogi, (and who hasn't?) will probably enjoy the views, reflections, and insights shared in this very intimate and pleasing book. I found it very enjoyable and uplifting, and I highly recommend it.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$2.00

Paperback

Heart of a Gopi

Raihana Tyabji

Heartwarming tales of Krishna and the Gopis.

Very devotional.

$14.00

Paperback

A New Earth: Awakening to your Life's Purpose

Eckhart Tolle

Building on the astonishing success of The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle presents readers with an honest look at the current state of humanity: He implores us to see and accept that this state, which is based on an erroneous identification with the egoic mind, is one of dangerous insanity.

Tolle tells us there is good news, however. There is an alternative to this potentially dire situation. Humanity now, perhaps more than in any previous time, has an opportunity to create a new, saner, more loving world. This will involve a radical inner leap from the current egoic consciousness to an entirely new one.

In illuminating the nature of this shift in consciousness, Tolle describes in detail how our current ego-based state of consciousness operates. Then gently, and in very practical terms, he leads us into this new consciousness. We will come to experience who we truly are—which is something infinitely greater than anything we currently think we are—and learn to live and breathe freely.

$21.95

Paperback

Signs of the Times: The End of the World and the Coming Golden Age

Robert Fitzgerald

The author presents a fascinating account of how time and history follow an astrological structure. This structure consists of astrological ages that are chronicled from before the Age of Cancer, and the invention of agriculture around the world, to the present end of the Age of Pisces, and the much-prophesied apocalyptic end of the world.

Within this pattern an end-time cycle emerges that explains the Apocalyptic energies we see around us today. Astrology also promises, in the coming Age of Aquarius, a new golden age and gives us indications of what needs to be done to survive the end-time.

$13.95

Paperback

Where God Lives: The Science of the Paranormal and How Our Brains Are Linked to the Universe

Melvin Morse, M.D., with Paul Perry

Every so often we discover a little gem of a book that is so good, so sweet, and so universal that we take great pleasure in recommending it to everyone. Where God Lives is the perfect example of a perfect little book.

The author, Melvin Morse, M.D. is a pediatrician who practices in Seattle. Early in his medical career he encountered a case of a child who recovered after a Near Death Experience (NDE.) This led him to seek out and treat numerous children who had NDE's. This book relates his experiences with these unique patients, and what they taught him about life, consciousness, the brain, and spirituality.

Whether you consider yourself a "spiritual person," or a scientific materialist, the data and conclusions in this book will be well worth considering. Morse's data and conclusion concerning the functioning of the right temporal lobe of the brain and how it can shape one's perceptions of reality and relationship to humanity and the universe are fascinating and enlightening.

I give this book my highest recommendation for all readers from all walks of life.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$5.00

Paperback

Om Ma: Anandamayi Ma

Mangalananda

A short biography of Anandamayi, Ma is filled with beautiful, inspiring stories and includes a number of black and white photos.

Sri Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982) was one of the most influential spiritual luminaries of the Twentieth Century. Her devotees ranged from Prime Ministers and great Saints down to the simplest villagers, and people came from all over the world to simply see Her and sit in Her presence. Though virtually uneducated, She spoke with the authority of direct experience and captivated all with Her sweetness and power. To this day, Her presence and guidance is felt by those who turn to Her in prayer, and Her life is an inspiration to all who feel drawn to the spiritual Path. This book gives an informal introduction to Her life and teachings with the hope that it will direct seekers of Truth to the great source of virtue and blessing which is Anandamayi Ma.

$17.95

Paperback

The Book of One

Dennis Waite

Although the author, Dennis Waite, lays no claim to being a sage or realized, he has written the best single book about advaita that I have ever read. This book is quite remarkable in that it is both brief (only about 200 pages) and at the same time totally comprehensive. Although it is easy to read and understand, it is very profound. Amazingly, I would highly recommend this book to both the most devoted student of advaita and to someone who knows little or nothing about the subject.

While this book is solid and rigorous, like an academic treatise, it is also vibrant and alive with a teaching that many, including myself, believe to be the most profound attempt of man to take the unfathomable, the unspeakable, and the inexplicable and put it into words.

This book is simple and profound, and combines the eternal wisdom of an ageless teaching with modern insights and discoveries made by modern man and leading edge scientists.

The Book of One is, as the title suggests, flat out the best articulation of advaita I have come across so far. As an added bonus, the references to other books and definitive lists of internet sites make this a must have book for any serious student.

Review by Len Oppenheim.

$24.95

DVD

Mother Teresa

Ann and Jeanette Petrie

A powerfully moving documentary. Shot in a period of 5 years in 10 countries on 4 continents, this award winning film follows Mother Theresa into the world's most troubled spots. The film is an experience of the way Mother Teresa transcends all political, religious and social barriers with her works of love.

$24.95

DVD

Mother Teresa: The Legacy

Ann and Jeanette Petrie

The dramatic story of Mother Teresa's last day, her sudden death and her moving state funeral, which was attended by the poor, the powerful, and the rich from around the world.

$19.16

Hardcover

Send in the Idiots

Kamran Nazeer

Nazeer, a successful British government policy adviser, was diagnosed early on with autism; he now seeks out the fate of four autistic classmates at his former New York City school. He first encountered the "idiots" (as one of them called the group) more than 20 years ago, in an unnamed private school that has subsequently closed. In addition to interviewing the former pupils, all but one (who committed suicide) enjoying varying degrees of success in the greater world, Nazeer also visits the school's former director and special-needs teacher to learn how teaching autistic students has evolved. Considered a neurobiological disorder, autism largely confines a child to his or her own mental world. André, for example, living in Boston with his sister, became a competent computer researcher and manages to mediate the challenges of ordinary conversation through the use of a puppet. Randall, a courier in Chicago, demonstrates how early "parallel" play led to a satisfying love relationship (developing empathy is difficult for the autistic). Craig became an accomplished speechwriter until his awkward social skills derailed him, while Elizabeth immersed herself in playing the piano before withdrawing completely. Nazeer delicately interweaves his own story of being "cured" for an enlightening journey through the unreachable mind.

You save 20% on Hardcover

$13.00

Paperback

The Journey: A Practical Guide to Healing Your Life and Setting Yourself Free

Brandon Bays

Nearly 10 years ago, Bays was diagnosed with a basketball-sized tumor in her uterus, which was causing internal bleeding. While her surgeon advised immediate removal, Bays, an alternative health-care worker, persuaded the doctor to allow her to try natural methods to reduce the size of the tumor. Bays, already reasonably well versed in relaxation techniques and homeopathic medicine, immediately sought out various noninvasive treatments including vitamins, a radical change in diet, massage and various other emotional and physical therapies. Miraculously, within a few months, the tumor disappeared. This dramatic recovery motivated Bays to change her life and teach others her healing practices. It was a difficult time for her; her husband of many years announced he was having an affair and eventually married his girlfriend. However, Bays rarely dwells on the negative; when she's angry, she admits it but manages to put her anger toward something productive. Like Deepak Chopra, on whose teaching her method is based, Bays wants people to focus on what she calls "the Journey" a path, she claims, to freedom and accomplishment that consists primarily of emotional reckoning and relaxation techniques. Bays's optimism will appeal to readers who are weary of traditional treatments that don't relieve emotional or physical hardships. However, other readers will tire of Bays's unmitigated certainty in the rightness of her approach.

$15.00

Paperback

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations...One School at a Time

Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse's unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world's second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Coauthor Relin recounts Mortenson's efforts in fascinating detail, presenting compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious school girls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. As the book moves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson and Relin argue that the United States must fight Islamic extremism in the region through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls. Captivating and suspenseful, with engrossing accounts of both hostilities and unlikely friendships, this book will win many readers' hearts.

$21.95

Hardcover

700 Sundays

Billy Crystal

There are very few books that I would recommend to everybody I know. This book fits into that rare category. Billy Crystal adapted this book from his very successful one man show with the same title.

700 Sundays refers to the time he spent with his father before his father died. This a very funny, warm, and moving story about how Billy Crystal grew up, his relationship with his family, and it captures the essence of life for a baby boomer.

The book is very short and very sweet. It will make you laugh and make you cry. It is a real “feel good” experience, and I think everyone wants to feel good.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$29.95

Hardcover

His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: A Living Saint for the New Millennium

Helena & Roland Olson

Stories of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's first visit to the US.

This a revised version of Hermit in the House.

$9.95

Hardcover

Furry Logic: A Guide to Life's Little Challanges

Jane Seabrook

This delightful book has whimsical illustrations of animals wonderfully portrayed with sayings that are laugh out-loud funny yet very heartfelt. My favorite is a drawing of a chipmunk grasping a yellow flower with the saying “If you leave me… can I come too?” My 2nd favorite is a giraffe and these words“Do you believe in love at first sight? Or should I walk past again?”

Yes I know these are a little hokey, but they make you laugh and your endorphins will thank you.

Review by Tony Kainauskas

$13.95

Paperback

Extra-Ordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things: Fourteen Natural Steps to Health and Happiness

Larry Dossey, M.D.

Every so often I read a book which I hope and pray all my friends and loved ones and even all my acquaintances will read. Larry Dossey’s book, Extra-Ordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things is the first book I have read in a long time that I feel that way about. In fact, it was so good, I purchased 10 extra copies and had them sent to family and friends.

What, may you ask, is so special about this book? That is a good question. This answer is that this book is profound, charming, easy to read, and full of so many insights and out of the box ideas that anyone and everyone should love it. Besides that, the health tips, insights, and wisdom will probably help you to live a better and more enjoyable life.

Dossey is a charming guy. He is down to earth. His writings are full of common sense (which is so un-common in this day and age). This is a great book that can help each and every one of us align his or her consciousness and behavior with the wisdom of nature.

Every man needs to read the chapter on “Tears”. “Dirt”, “Music”, “Risk”, and “Miracles” are each chapters which cite important data which should help us to realize how we need to question a lot of modern concepts and go back to common sense and to aligning ourselves with nature and consciousness.

If this book were published and promoted in the mainstream I believe it could be at least as popular as The Da Vinci Code.

You don’t have to trust me on this one. Buy it from our store, and if you don’t like it, return it to us for a full refund. If you like it, please continue to patronize our store.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$18.95

Paperback

The Miracle Man: The Life Story of Joao de Deus

Robert Pellegrino-Estrich

If you are anyone you know is in the unfortunate circumstance of having a debilitating physical disease of worse yet, a terminal illness, you really ought to read, or give your friend a copy of The Miracle Man: The life story of Joao De Deus , by Robert Pellegrino-Estrich.

In July of 2006 a good friend from out of town was visiting Fairfield and he paid Dena and me a visit. He had just returned from Brazil where he and two friends had spent two weeks in the small encampment where John of God has treated over 11 million people in 30 years. The story of John of God has been well-researched and well-documented. A great deal of information is available via the web. There have been TV documentaries and many articles written about him.

This simple book gives excellent insights into what is happening the mechanics of what John of God does when he does operations, removes tumors, cures Aids, etc. It is an astonishing little book. (John of God is a medium, but that is only the beginning of the story and really only scratches the surface of this phenomenon.)

The fact that my friend was there and saw these things and experienced the powerful vibrations in this unique spiritual center of healing gives me a very high level of confidence that this is for real.

Furthermore, the miraculous healings at the Casa de Dom Inacio are now more easily accessed by non-Brazilians. It is only a 2 hour drive from Brasilia. The roads are good, and the accommodations are quite nice.

If someone wants or needs to go there, one can email the author of this book (he provides his email address at the end of the book) who can arrange transportation from Brasilia and quiet and clean accommodations with meals.

J.S. Salt

In the best-selling tradition of Kids Say the Darndest Things and Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me, this warm and funny book offers 147 truly wise parenting tips in the words and handwriting of kids who don't always know how to spell, but always know what they need.

If kids came with an instruction manual, this would be it -- a clever and poignant collection of suggestions, observations and reminders to parents from the experts themselves (kids 6-12). Organized into three sections: (Love and Caring, Family and Friends, and Guidance and Independence), these one- or two-line requests will bring a smile to your face, a lump to your throat, and a renewed sense of confidence that you can give your kids the love and support they deserve.

This warm and funny book offers truly wise parenting tips from the experts themselves, kids ages 6-12, who know exactly what they need.

$7.95

Hardcover

The Gnostic Gospels Including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene

Alan Jacobs

In 1945 several secret gospels, hidden since the first century, were discovered in the Egyptian Desert at Nag Hammadi. They caused a sensation in the religious world as they revealed the mysteries of Gnostic Christianity. The gospels selected for this volume reveal intimate conversations between Jesus and his disciples and shed new light on his relationship with Mary Magdalene. The Gospel of Thomas, also included, consists of symbolic mini-parables, many of which are not in the New Testament.

$14.95

Paperback

Encountering Bliss: My Journey Through India with Anandamayi Ma

Melita Maschmann

This book was first published in 1967 under the title " Der Tiger singt Kirtana " (A Tiger sings a Kirtana). It was revised and enlarged and was published in 1990 under the title Eine ganz gewohnliche Heilige" (A very ordinary saint). It was also published in paperback edition in 1992.

"The book gives a lively account of Anandamayi Ma’s life and work, of a saint whose both feet were firmly on the ground and who inspired not only people of all faiths, but could also give something to someone what one wanted-whether a believer or an atheist, an artist or a scholar, a politician or a housewife, a writer or a simple farmer.

But this book is not only an account of Ma. It is a fascinating account of Melita Maschmann’s encounter with the divine India (for she met only religious people), her trials and tribulations, her joys and sorrows in the constant company of Ma. Melita meandered her way through questions and more questions, doubts and more doubts in her search for the ultimate truth. On her way, she met luminaries like Mother Teresa, who was worried because she was not a saint, Raihana Tyabji, a grand old lady who was an associate of Mahatma Gandhi, a Tantra-Lama and many others to realize finally, like Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha that she had to look into herself to get the ultimate answer."

$19.95

Paperback

This House is on Fire: The Life of Shri Dhyanyogi

Shri Anandi Ma

A half dozen times or more every year I am fortunate enough to discover a book that I enjoy so much and find so compelling that I really can’t wait to review and recommend it. This House is on Fire falls into that category.

I must admit that I am drawn towards reading biographies or autobiographies of saints and/or seekers of truth or self-realization, so a book like this has somewhat of an easy time in trying to please me. However, often I am disappointed by either the life described or by the poor quality of writing. This book suffers from neither of these faults.

Shri Dhyanyogi left his body in 1992 at the ripe old age of 114. Before he departed he touched the lives of thousands, and appears to have been universally loved by all who knew him. The text and photos in this new spiritual classic make me very jealous of those who were fortunate enough to enjoy his presence and the Shaktipat he delivered.

Dhyanyogi is an authentic master and saint. Everything in this book rings true and thus it is very enlivening to the reader. The fact that this is pretty much a contemporary story and is so well-documented adds tremendous value to this reader.

I doubt that this will ever attain the popularity of everyone’s all-time favorite story of a Yogi, Autobiography of a Yogi , but I think all those who enjoyed the story of Yogananda have a treat in store if they will read this book.

Review by Len Oppenheim

$15.00

Paperback

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Elizabeth Gilbert

One of the most charming and alluring book I have read in many years.. part travelogue , part spiritual journal and part psychological memoir. The author after a painful divorce travels to Italy to experience outer sensual fulfillment and then she journeys to an ashram in India to experience the silent inward solace of spiritual transcendence and then lastly to Indonesia to reconcile the two. Elizabeth writes with deep insight into her personal psychological issues and in turn addresses universal ones.

For anyone that loves books about foreign lands, human relationships, spiritual quests, and all written with a good dose of profound humor… I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Please do yourself a favor and do not pass this one by. This is a definite must read.

Review by Tony Kainauskas

$40.00

Hardcover

The Visionary State: A Journey through California’s Landscape

Erik Davis, Photographs by Michael Rauner

A gorgeous book that is a homily to the varied spiritual landscape of California... From Christ to Krishna, from the Old Testament to the New Age. This coffee table books covers it all, drawing together history and geography, architecture and poetry with incredible color photographs that reflect California consciousness through landscape and architecture.

$19.95

Hardcover

Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity

David Lynch

“In this rare work of public disclosure, filmmaker David Lynch describes his personal methods of capturing and working with ideas, and the immense creative benefits he has experienced from the practice of meditation.

Over the last four decades, David Lynch has created some of the best-known and widely discussed screen works of our time. This distinctive writer-director's art bears not only the mark of box-office success but also critical acclaim and cultural posterity.

Yet Lynch generally reveals little of himself, or the ideas behind his work. Now he provides a rare window into his methods as an artist and his personal working style. In Catching the Big Fish , Lynch writes candidly about the tremendous creative benefits he has gained from his thirty-two-year commitment to practicing Transcendental Meditation .

In brief chapters, Lynch describes the experience of "diving within" and "catching" ideas like fish-and then preparing them for television or movie screens, and other mediums in which Lynch works, such as photography and painting.

In the book's first section, Lynch discusses the development of his ideas-where they come from, how he grasps them, and which ones appeal to him the most. He then shares his passion for "the doing"-whether moviemaking, painting, or other creative expressions. Lynch talks specifically about how he puts his thoughts into action and how he engages with others around him. Finally, he discusses the self and the surrounding world -and how the process of "diving within" that has so deeply affected his own work can directly benefit others.

Catching the Big Fish provides unprecedented insight into Lynch's methods, as it also offers a set of practical ideas that speak to matters of personal fulfillment, increased creativity, and greater harmony with one's surroundings.

The book comes as a revelation to the legion of fans who have longed to better understand Lynch's deeply personal vision. And it is equally intriguing to anyone who grapples with questions such as: "Where do ideas come from?" and "How can I nurture creativity?”

About the Author

Three-time Oscar-nominated director David Lynch is among the leading filmmakers of our era. From the early seventies to the present day, Lynch's popular and critically acclaimed film projects, which include Blue Velvet , Eraserhead , The Elephant Man , Wild at Heart , Twin Peaks , , , , and Mulholland Drive ,are internationally considered to have broken down the wall between art-house cinema and Hollywood moviemaking.

$14.95

Paperback

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race & Inheritance

Barrack Obama

Barrack Obama’s memoir is one of those books we all “should read.” Politically I am and have always been a Libertarian. I have had lots to complain about with all of the Presidents who have been elected during my lifetime. I have never voted for either a Democrat or Republican for president. Obama is really charismatic, and I feel he is a man of strong intellect, integrity, and a deep wholeness. Even though I disagree with many if not most of his policies (mainly because I think government is the problem and he thinks government can be at least part of the solution) I think I could vote for this man. That is why I read this book. It is very significant that this book was written 12 or 15 years ago, long before he had national recognition and national political appeal. It is a fascinating story of his unique birth, upbringing, and maturation. It is probably a book that he would not want everyone to read, because it might make some accuse him of being a racist. The book is fascinating and extremely candid. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and I have increased respect for this man as a human being. It is a very powerful and I think most of us would find it extremely rewarding to read and experience. He gets my vote if he runs!

Review by Len Oppenheim

$19.95

Hardcover

A Thousand Names of Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are

Byron Katie

The latest book by Byron Katie, explores the ancient wisdom of the Tao Te Ching. She analyzes different sections of this ancient text from the point of view of one who is an actual embodiment of the knowledge. Each chapter is Byron’s personal experience of the different verses.

“This is a portrait of a woman who is imperturbably joyous, whether she is dancing with her infant granddaughter or finds that her house has been emptied out by burglars, whether she stands before a man about to kill her or embarks on the adventure of walking to the kitchen, whether she learns she is going blind, flunks a “How Good a Lover are you” test or is diagnosed with cancer. With her stories of total ease in all circumstances, Katie’s does more that describe the awakened mind, she lets you feel it, in action. And she shows you how that mind is yours as well.”

A wonderfully inspiring book.

20% off hardcover price

$22.00

Hardcover

A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul

I think the reason I find autism and the individuals affected by it so fascinating is that they are really living on the outer boundaries of where brain and mind are both separate and interactive. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat , by neurologist Oliver Sachs is another excellent work dealing with the frontiers of brain damage or mal-functioning and some incredible experiences of individuals whose brains and minds often have a monumental disconnect. Tammet’s condition is, as described above, a relatively mild form of autism. His ability to describe himself, coupled with his intelligence, and his somewhat unique savant abilities make this book another fascinating glimpse into mind, brain, personality and psychology. The writing style is very straight-forward and efficient and I found it easy to read and lots of fun to see the world through this unique individual’s eyes. The book is very moving as well as most intriguing and entertaining. I recommend it very highly.

Jennifer Read Hawthorne

By Fairfield resident and New York Times best selling author, Jennifer Read Hawthorne. Inspiring and practical stories on the meaning of happiness… a wonderful, therapeutic book. Will make a great gift this holiday season. Filled with stories that illustrate how one can:

Feel more at home in the world
Create Happiness from the inside out
Turn fear into courage
Transform your life through honesty
Letting go of judgments
Leading with the heart

One of the most beautiful books on the great saint.

This Illustrated Edition features

125 color & sepia photos and illustrations
A concise and sensitive biography written by an American scholar and admirer
Edited selections from Anandamyi Ma’s teachings, previously unpublished outside of India

Through her teachings and the example of her life, Anandamayi Ma has inspired millions of individuals of diverse faiths and circumstances—from Prime Ministers, artists, and industrialists to shopkeepers, beggars and monks including Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Jawarharlal Nehru, Former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the Queen Mother of Greece, and the Former President of India, Ragendra Prasad. Without a doubt, Anandamayi Ma is one of the most beloved 20th century saints within her native India, and across the globe. Beautifully illustrated with over 100 color & sepia photos and illustrations, the present book includes a concise and sensitive biography of Anandamayi Ma with important selections from her oral teachings.

$19.95

Hardcover

Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out

Marci Shimoff

The book reveals a remarkable program to increase your happiness. The book incorporates the latest findings in positive psychology. It provides powerful tools and techniques and moving life stories. The book teaches you the secrets for sustained happiness despite your outward circumstances.

Marci has been featured in the movie The Secret. She is president and cofounder of The Esteem Group.

20% off hardcover price

$14.95

Paperback

Rock Your World with Divine Mother: Bringing the Sacred Power of the Divine Mother into Our Lives

Sondra Ray

The Divine Mother is known by many names and takes many forms. In Christianity, she is the Virgin Mary. In China, she is universally loved as the goddess of compassion, Quan Yin. In Hawaii, Pele, the goddess of fire, manifests in the form of a woman near the volcanoes. In India, she is embodied by Kali, Lakshmi, Tara, and other goddesses.

The fusion of feminine qualities from all religions and traditions, the Divine Mother can be a nurturing presence and a powerful guide along your individual spiritual path. Through stories, prayers, and teachings, Sondra Ray enthusiastically escorts you into the profound reawakening of the sacred feminine in the hearts and minds of seekers throughout the world.

Ray describes her pilgrimages to holy places where she has sought the divine feminine, from the revered Baca Valley in Colorado to the Himalayan foothills. Her reflections on Amma (the hugging saint), Mother Teresa, Mary Magdalene, and other Divine Mothers, as well as men like Shastriji and Babaji, who embrace the feminine aspect of divinity, provide insight and inspiration as well as suggestions for worship and renewal. Ray's delightful and awe-inspiring adventures, coupled with insightful teachings and prayers, show how embracing the Divine Mother can help attract more love, abundance, clarity, and wisdom into your life. In Rock Your World with the Divine Mother, Ray demonstrates that the Divine Mother's presence is essential for both inner peace and peace in the world.”

$30.00

Hardcover

Love

National Geographic

This National Geographic book is filled with beautiful and intimate photographs portraying human love.

It touches one’s heart just to gaze at the subjects in their innocent expressions of deep love for one another…the couples, the families. Photographed in many cultures and countries.

This is a wonderful gift book that just about anyone would deeply appreciate.

$20.00

Hardcover

Lone Survivor

Marcus Luttrell

Lone Survivor is about four men, Navy Seals, on a mission in the Hindu Kush, the lonely mountains of Afghanistan, that turns out to be a disaster, leaving only one survivor, Marcus Luttrell, to recount this amazing story.

There is nothing politically correct about the author. Luttrell is a patriot, a Texan, and a Navy Seal. He has a very clear point of view and is highly opinionated. I found this to be part of the charm and integrity of the book. No matter whether one is a liberal or conservative or anything in between, it appears to me that the exciting and astonishing events recounted here will hold one’s rapt attention and provide hours of enjoyment.

Luttrell and Robinson do a great job of describing the almost beyond human capacity training that potential Seals must endure. It is no wonder that only a very small minority of those who apply make it through the training which culminates in “Hell Week”. It is a real eye-opener to get the inside view of this training process. It is most remarkable that even a few survive it. It is a wonderful testimony to the mental and physical resiliency of those who make it through to the end.

There is a lot to learn from this book, especially for those of us who have never been in the armed services or experienced the horrors of war. Things that I have never considered, like the Rules of Engagement, play an enormous role in this real life drama. There is no question that war is hell, and that the death and destruction claim many innocent victims. A story like this makes these abstract concepts personal and compelling.

Perhaps the most fascinating chapters dealt with Luttrell’s rescue and recovery in a Pushtan village. The experiences related and insights into the Afghani villagers and how they relate and interact with the Taliban was engrossing and informative.

This is a book that deserves to be read by everyone, men and women, people of all ages and political beliefs, and anyone who wants to be informed and entertained. This is a remarkable narration, proving once again that truth is stranger and more powerful than fiction.

I read many books and have reviewed many books on this website. I must say that this is one of the best non-fiction books I have read in years.

Review by Len Oppenheim

20% off hardcover price

$15.95

Paperback

The Mystical I

Joel Goldsmith

An Advaita book from the Christian perspective. Joel speaks of the risen Christ as a metaphor of our own resurrection to full embody the “I” dying to the small i. Using quotes from the New Testament Goldsmith shows us the obvious misinterpretations of many of the sacred words. Someone once told me that Goldsmith was initiated by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 60’s…though I cannot confirm that, Joel’s writing seems in synch with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi philosophy.

Here is my friend and Advaita teacher Michael Baxter’s commentary on The Mystical I

“Finally, a little book that bridges the big gap between Christianity and Advaita Vedanta!

“Although the ideas in this book are presented in Christian terms, they are clear expressions of Advaitic principles. At their very core is the assertion that I-ness itself is the key, both to understanding who or what God is and to one’s personal journey back to Him.

According to Mr Goldsmith, we find in God the True I-ness, in Jesus the pure reflected I am-ness, and in man the familiar feeling of i-ness at the center of each experience. Here are a few of the pages on which Mr Goldsmith says something very interesting,

p. 31 .. the ‘I’ of me is the ‘I’ of you .. I am recognizing your I-ness ..
p. 39 ‘I’ is the presence of God .. that Self is ‘I’ .. ‘I’ is that very God ..
p. 50 It is in this word, ‘I’, that you find the entire secret of the spiritual message given to the world by Jesus Christ …
p. 50 Rightly interpreted, the words ‘I am the way’ mean … ‘I’ is the way …
p. 51 Is there any He within you other than the ‘I’ of your own being … your own Self? …
p. 57 The revelation of Jesus Christ is that ‘I’ is the way …
p. 74 When you understand that Jesus used the word, ‘I’, in two different ways …
p. 132 Again we come to that word, ‘I’, and the two ways of using it ..

These and many similar statements have helped me to appreciate both traditions and their essential unity. Whatever your faith is, I hope you’ll enjoy this small but potent book as much as I do. “

Review by Michael Baxter

$9.95

Paperback

Living the Wisdom of the Tao: The Complete Tao Te Ching and Affirmations

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

A small paperback packed with the essential teachings of the Tao Te Ching, considered by many to be the wisest book ever written. Its 81 short verses offer guidance to all aspects of life. Each page contains a verse from the Tao as well as an affirmation that captures the essence of that particular verse. A wonderfully uplifting and nurturing book that brings a deep sense of peace when read.

$35.00

Paperback

New Lives: 50 Westerners Search for Themselves in Sacred India

Malcolm Tillis

A engrossing study of 50 Westerners living ascetic lives in India.. many have been there for decades and have renounced all ties to the Western world.

Among the individuals we meet are…

Vijayananda, a devotee of the great saint Anandamayi Ma
Ani Tenzin Palmo (Diana Perry), who lived and meditated in a cave over 12,000 feet in the mountains
Swami Jnanananda, who spent years wandering and meditating in the Himalayas in the company of saints and yogis
Lucia Osborne, wife of author Arthur Osborne, a close follower of the great sage Ramana Maharshi
Father Bede Griffith, a Benedictine monk who has formulated a synthesis of Christianity and Hinduism

Many of the seekers have left successful material lives behind in exchange for the inner wealth of the spirit.

The book is in interview format and is a must for any one interested in the many diverse paths of the spiritual journey.

Please note: This title will be put on back order and ship end of May

$19.95

Paperback

Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty

edited by Alan Jacobs

One of the most complete anthologies of sacred poetry I have yet to come across, this inspiring work includes both Eastern and Western poets. Some of the poets included are Vivekananda, John Keats, Kahlil Gibran, DH Lawrence, Ramana Maharshi, Marcus Aurelius, Rumi, and Charlotte Bronte. The poems span the history of civilization from the period of the Rg Veda and King Solomon to the 20th Century. If you have been looking for a collection of the greatest uplifting poetry, all in one volume, then your journey is over.

Over 600 poems by more than 250 poets.

$19.95

Hardcover

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey

Jill Bolte Taylor

A first hand account of Jill’s experience of a massive stroke. She became a silent witness to her body’s breakdown and subsequent healing. Observing her left brain dying she experienced her right brain taking over, with the corresponding feelings of euphoric nirvana, a deep feeling of spiritual oneness and total peace. Because the author is herself a brain scientist her astute observations become even more compelling.

If you have yet to do so, watch her powerful video on YouTube, then buy her book.

Jill states that the stroke is the best thing that ever happened to her, having taught her that the feeling of nirvana is never more than a thought away. Her remarkable insights are, for me, verification of much of the true spiritual/Advaita literature. I found this to be a fascinating book.

“I was, by anyone’s standard, no longer normal. In my own unique way, I had become severely mentally ill. And I must say, there was both freedom and challenge for me in recognizing that our perception of the external world, and our relationship to it, is a product of neurological circuitry. For all those years of my life, I really had been a figment of my own imagination.” —Jill Bolte Taylor

Review by Tony Kainauskas

20% off hardcover price

$10.00

Paperback

The Essential Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor (121-180 AD). He was also a great philosopher. A recent collection of his thoughts have been compiled by Jacob Needleman and John P. Piazza in The Essential Marcus Aurelius. Reading his quotes make you feel as if you are sitting at the feet of a great Christian mystic or an Indian guru.

Here are some examples of the quotes I liked best:

“Whenever you are focused by circumstances to be disturbed in some way, quickly return to yourself and do not loose your footing any longer than is absolutely necessary, for you will have more control over your internal harmony by continually returning to it.”

“The person who sees the present has already seen everything - all that has come from eternity and all that will happen in the infinite future- for all things are of one ancestry and likeness.”

Quotes such as these and many others make you wonder if this a Roman emperor or a preincarnation of Ramesh Balsekar talking. This is wonderful, inspiring book and would make a great gift for a young person starting out on his or her own.

Review by Tony Kainauskas

$15.00

Paperback

Infidel

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This is a heart wrenching autobiography of growing up Muslim. The author has not only a fascinating story, but she is also a moving writer who captures her story with powerful, vivid imagery.

Reading her description of growing up In Somalia and Kenya, we experience the culture of Islamic tribalism through the eyes of the author. The importance of clans, the Islamic faith and and how deep family ties played such a great factor in one’s life is told with page turning intensity. From enduring female circumcision to escaping Somalia during its civil war, the experiences related in this autobiography hold your attention throughout.

In one nail-biting chapter, the author actually braves going back to war-torn Somalia to help her family escape from a refuge camp. Bribing officials and enduring lice, scorpions and snakes, she is able to escape for a second time.

One of the more fascinating characters in the book, besides the author, is her father. He is a revolutionary fighting the government of Somalia and is jailed for many years. Finally, he is able to escape through the efforts of a sympathetic guard. He is married to a number of women and has children spread out through Kenya and Somalia. This aspect of the culture is accepted by all, and the various wives learn to endure and be civil to each other.

Ayaan’s father’s progressive decision for her to learn English at an early age, as opposed to her mother’s more repressive views, is one of the factors that allowed her to escape a life that was stifling her selfhood. Her rejections of her past and her outspoken political views have resulted in death threats. The author now requires permanent bodyguards.

This is a brave, brave book—a 5 star memoir.

Review by Tony Kainauskas

$14.95

Paperback

Touching The Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival

Joe Simpson

For fans of Into The Wild and Into Thin Air, Touching the Void : The True Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson surpasses both in intensity and the ability to put you into the psychological fears and sufferings that take place on a high mountain in the Andes.

This is a true story of two men attempting the first ever west face ascent of a mountain in the Andes range. While near the summit the author breaks his leg (a virtual death sentence on such a high elevation). This leads to a moral dilemma for his partner that has been a matter of debate by many climbers since the publication of the book.

The book is filled with mounting climbing jargon that may be hard for the lay person to follow (there is a glossary in the back that does explain the terms) but this is a minor point of distraction, for once the reader gets to the point of the fall and the broken leg he or she will not want to put this book down. Even if you have never been above sea level, this book is a must read.

Review by Tony Kainauskas

$18.95

Paperback

The Blackened Canteen

Jerry Yellin

Jerry Yellin came to our store to do a book signing last August. A former Farifield resident, Jerry was a fighter pilot during World War II. His story is told in Of War & Weddings. After many years of hatred towards the Japanese Jerry finally learns forgiveness and understanding…the catalyst being Jerry's son who falls in love and marries a Japanese woman.

After the book signing Jerry gave me an assignment to read his latest book The Blackened Canteen and to e-mail him with my observations. Well, the book is a mirror image of Jerry. Jerry's deep passion and unsentimental but heartfull emotions shine throughout his historical account of an incident in Japan during World War II. Jerry's book is based on actual events that took place during the war. Some of the characters stories have been fictionalized, but the facts are historically accurate.

This is an inspiring story told within the backdrop of the horrible sufferings of the bombing of the Japanese town of Shizuoka. A local resident interred the bodies of 23 dead Air Force pilots, soldiers responsible for the bombing and destruction of 2/3rd's of the city and the death of 2,000 people, alongside the bodies of the dead Japanese. He later went on to build a memorial to honor the lives of both the Japanese and the Americans who lost their lives on that fateful day.

A blackened and charred canteen belonging to one of the fallen American soldiers has now become part of an annual memorial service honoring the dead of that tragic day. Told with vivid immediacy, we see the war through the eyes and fears of soldiers—young innocents saddled with a responsibility few of us could even fathom. The main character driving the story is Jack O'Connor, whose dreams of a normal life with the woman he loved was interrupted by the War. Jack is one of the fallen that fateful day—his body buried with the local citizens of the town.

The book has many intriguing scenes, such as the secret diplomacy between the U.S. and Japan, attempting to avert conflict. Much of this behind-the-scenes narration gives us fascinating glimpses of history. I can now see more clearly the reasoning behind the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. One of my favorite minor characters is the Admiral of the Japanese Navy who tries to prevent and block the path to war.

Many lives intertwine and meet on that fateful day in Shizouka… lives meeting a destiny they could not have ever imagined, a destiny that laughs at us and our feelings of individual control.

Here is what Yoko Ono says about Jerry Yellin's book: "Having campaigned for peace for many years, this beautiful story strikes a deep chord with me. I hope it will become more widely known around the world and inspire other people too."

The world is a better place because of brave men like Jerry Yellin, Jack O'Connor, and the citizens of Shizouka who put aside hatred to find common ground. Jerry recently attended the annual memorial service in Shizouka Japan (a service that honors the Japanese and Americans that lost their lives that day). His inspiring visit can be viewed here.

The book is not only a great peek into a world that the majority of us baby boomers could not imagine, but also a heartwarming inspirational message that resonates to the reader with the same powerful qualities of Three Cups of Tea.

Review by Tony Kainauskas

$16.95

Paperback

The Elixir of Immortality: A Modern-Day Alchemist's Discovery of the Philospher's Stone

Robert E. Cox

In 1989, while attempting to extract precious minerals from his property, a wealthy Arizonan obtained a mysterious white material that initially defied scientific attempts to identify it. After several years of testing, this substance was revealed to consist of gold and platinum—but in a form unknown to modern science. Further research showed that this powder, which had also been discovered to possess marvelous healing powers, contained monatomic forms of precious metals whose electron units had been altered to no longer display the physical, chemical, or electrical properties of the original elements. This substance, Robert Cox shows, bears eerie resemblance to the ultimate quest of the alchemists: the elixir of immortality.

The mysterious material-spiritual science of alchemy was once pervasive throughout the ancient world, spanning the globe from China and India to Egypt and medieval Europe. In The Elixir of Immortality, Robert Cox reviews the alchemical lore of these traditions and the procedures each used to produce this fabulous elixir. Using his own alchemical research, he then reveals secrets that have been kept hidden for millennia heuncovered in his own modern-day quest to rediscover this long-sought-after elixir of life.

ROBERT E. COX holds a master’s degree in Vedic Studies from the Institute of Creative Intelligence in Switzerland. He is the author of Creating the Soul Body and The Pillar of Celestial Fire and has spent more than 15 years engaged in alchemical-metallurgical research.

$25.00

DVD

Guru Dev DVD

Paul Mason

Featuring specially digitally remastered film footage of Guru Dev, Shankaracharya Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, plus recordings of Guru Dev with onscreen translations. So now it is possible to view good quality film images of Guru Dev, and also to be able to listen to his discourse whilst tracking the specially prepared subtitled translation. "The closest thing to obtaining the darshan of Guru Dev." This is a must have for your personal library.

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$13.95

Paperback

The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho

$15.95

And There Was Light

Jacques Lusseyran

$16.95

Paperback

An Interrupted Life

Etty Hillesum

$14.14

Paperback

Still Here

Ram Dass

$15.95

Paperback

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry

Jack Kornfield

$15.00

Paperback

Loving What Is

Byron Katie

$14.95

Paperback

Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge

Arthur Osborne

$23.00

Paperback

Miracle of Love: Stories About Neem Karoli Baba

Ram Dass

$13.95

Hardcover

One Liners: A Mini-manual for a Spiritual Life

Ram Dass

$13.00

Paperback

Many Lives, Many Masters

Brian L.Weiss, M.D.

$24.00

Paperback

Consciousness Speaks

Ramesh Balsekar

$17.00

Hardcover

The Art of the Moment: Simple Ways to Get the Most from Life

Veronique Vienne

$24.95

Paperback

Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom: A Collection of 10,000 Inspirational Quotations

Andy Zubko

$14.95

Paperback

Awakened: Meetings with Indian Saints

Michael O'Callaghan, Ph.D.

$14.00

Paperback

God in the Equation: How Einstein Transformed Religion

Corey S. Powell

$15.00

Paperback

I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

$12.00

Paperback

The Subject Tonight is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

$19.95

Hardcover

The Concise Kama Sutra

Anne Johnson

$15.95

Paperback

Being Our Own Heroes: Our Stories and Other Myths

Edited by Linda Egenes

$14.00

Paperback

Voices

Antonio PorchiaTranslated by W. S. Merwin

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Antonio Porchia
Translated by W. S. Merwin