July/August 2002 Conscious Media
Book Reviews

The Sai Prophecy

by Barbara Gardner

I’m not surprised that The Sai Prophecy won for Best Fiction at the International New Age Trade Show in Denver. It is a riveting and inspiring story that follows the influence and interrelationship of the three Sai Baba Avatars and three generations of the Hoffman family on the journey toward the Golden Age of Peace. Originally published by Illumination Arts of Bellevue, Washington, this brilliant novel by Barbara Gardner has since been purchased by Health Communications, Inc., publishers of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

The story begins in 1899 when a dying aborigine in Tasmania gives anthropologist Philo Hoffman a ring engraved with the words, Shirdi, Sathya, Prema. This ring takes Philo to a small town near Bombay where he encounters a remarkable Indian holy man.

Thus begins a sweeping 160-year saga of romance, intrigue, tragedy and enlightenment, as five generations of the Hoffman family find their lives impacted by the three Sai Baba avatars of modern India. The story shifts from country to country, with ominously portentous descriptions of the disintegration of the world social structure during the 21st century as a beleaguered civilization, caught up in a global game of power and corruption, struggles to survive. The transformation of consciousness fostered by the Sai avatars begins to take hold, but before the Golden Age can be realized, the long-awaited battle of Armageddon must be played out on the rocky hills of Meggido in the Holy Land.

Health Communications, Inc, www.hci-online.com. Paperback , $14.95.

---MK

A Fresh Start: Accelerate Fat Loss & Restore Youthful Vitality

by Susan Smith Jones, Ph.D.

If you are ready for a total mind/body/spirit fresh start this is the resource book for you! It reveals scientific understanding of the mind and how to release old habits and initiate new ways of thinking. There is vital information on StressLess Living and simple ways to detoxify, plus 250 savory recipes, detailed guidance for 3 Day and 7 Day Rejuvenation Retreats, and a resource directory.

Susan Smith Jones fractured her back in an automobile accident two decades ago. Shortly after her prognosis that she "would never carry more than a purse" she turned to her Higher Power within and determined that she would accept only vibrant, radiant health. Her book is exciting because she demonstrates how to scientifically and spiritually live one’s best amidst great challenges.

A Fresh Start is based on a program that Jones has used for almost thirty years as a fitness trainer at UCLA and in private practice as a wellness lifestyle coach. Jones says, "In my time of crisis, I didn’t just choose health. I chose to be the best I could be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually." In this work Jones provides ample reason for us to consider what it is we put into our bodies and minds. She explores the relationship between cortisol and weight gain, between stress and weight gain, and between massage and lowering of blood pressure; to note a few of her well researched reasons for us to consider our own fresh start.

Jones points to a well rounded exercise program that combines weight lifting, flexibility training and cardio work outs. Resistance training (weights) is recommended even into the ages of 80 and 90, Jones says, to prevent deterioration of muscles and bones and increase strength and energy.

In the recipe section there are soups, sauces, meals kids love, smoothies, side dishes and snacks. You can create your optimum diet around such items as: the Weight Loss Express, Rejuvenation Tonic, or Antioxidant Express, or try the Sushi Rice Salad, my favorite.

Finally, it is Jones’ emphases on love throughout the book that gets my deepest attention. "When you invite and allow love to be the guiding force of your life you become empowered," she says, because "changes that are loved into being are permanent." A total body mind spirit make over, based upon self-love and love for a greater good, what more could one ask for?

The book is in paperback, it costs $17.95 and you can order it from Susan at www.susansmithjones.com, or through www.tenspeed.com, or call (800) 843 5743.

--- Reviewed by PJ Starr

The Choice for Love: Meeting the Challenges of a Heartfelt Life
by Maggie Victor, Antenesca Publishing, Senneville, Quebec, 2002 - $14.95.

Although The Choice for Love is Maggie Victor’s first book, she is not new to writing. She pioneered in introducing a spiritual column in a fashion-oriented French Canadian women’s magazine. Her insights into human nature are born of years of earnestly seeking the best from a wide range of religious traditions. The Choice for Love reflects lasting truths from these, sometimes seen through the lens of A Course In Miracles.

Love is the abiding truth underlying all this phenomenal world. It is not only the essence of our being, it is the essence of all being. Since we know this, why don’t we live it? In the first section, her clear and precise writing sounded bells, reminding me of what I already know, but have painfully neglected. She reflects on the role of the heart in bringing about an awakened state, how every experience is worth exposing, and the most painful are the greatest teachers. When we deny or ignore what hurts, we miss the opportunity to grow. When we embrace it, we expand ourselves. This is not enlightenment by fire, or by withdrawal to an ashram. It is meeting ourselves in everyday activities and remaining conscious that staying open to love is a choice.

In the next section she proposes that the path to the heart takes us from morality to integrity.  Under morality, she lists such attributes as ego, judgment or blaming of others, right/wrong polarities, and an external focus. When we reach integrity, we find universal inner experience, truth, expansion, and oneness. Her suggestion of this antithesis jarred me. I associate morality with ethics, admittedly making a behavioral distinction of right/wrong in a social context. But I had trouble seeing morality as so damaging to the spirit that it prevents integrity. And I didn’t want to associate integrity with morality’s obvious opposite, immorality. I kept thinking she meant "moralistic." Her precise economy of words became a stumbling block for me here.

In the third section, she visualizes the obstacles to love in a symbolic division of the heart, with front to back, left to right and with upper and lower sections. These correspond to how we divide our awareness based on separation from others, starting with reactions to the outer, socially-constrained world and prevent ourselves from feeling, thinking and acting with integrity. Instead of peeling off layer after layer of selfishness and insecurities, we can plunge directly into the core of deep peace where the love that never changes abides. Accepting that we have created all our experiences out of love is a blessed step to self-realization.

--Reviewed by Rosi Goldsmith

The Mist-Filled Path, Celtic Wisdom for Exiles, Wanderers and Seekers,

by Frank MacEowen, New World Library, 2002, $14.95

The Mist-Filled Path is a filmy, dream-like book. It’s evocative quietness mirrors the silence MacEowen names as a cornerstone to Celtic spirituality. This book blends the author’s personal spiritual journey, interesting facts of Celtic history and experiential exercises. Despite, or perhaps because of this mix of topics, the book flows easily as the reader is led into the realm of Celtic spirituality. Water and mist, as the book’s title reflects, is important in this path, as mists are gateways to Other worlds. After all, mist is a shape shifter-part water, part air.

This book covers information about the four directions, the basics of shape shifting, meditation, and a Celtic worldview. MacEowen’s original and sometimes humorous rituals are well worth trying. His water meditation incorporates drinking water and then peeing, integrating how water is part of us and flows through us. Interspersed in this book are tales of other people’s spirit world trips as well as historical information about the Celts.

A calming book to read, I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in Celtic spirituality. This book left me feeling, truly, like I’d walked in the mists: subtly changed, yet certain there was far more to be discovered than what I took away at a first glimpse.

Toll-free ordering; 800-972-6657 Ext. 52, Website: www.newworldlibrary.com

--- Reviewed by by Alaina Zipp

Fearless Living: Live Without Excuses and Love Without Regret

by Rhonda Britten , Perigee, The Berkeley Publishing Group, New York, 2002
$13.95

A strong mind and a spiritual path are no guarantee we aren't tangled in a web of fear-based actions that keep us stuck. Rhonda Britton found through personal tragedy how traumas have an insidious way of robbing us of the present, despite our best efforts to stay conscious, because our bodies respond to fear triggers. Our reptilian brains flood us with reactive chemicals that can leave us feeling like the kid who missed the circus show. Fearless Living is a major tool for taking fear out of the driver’s seat. You don’t need old trauma to benefit--we all have our stories, scars and wounds that remind us we aren’t good enough.

Britten challenges us with simplistic-sounding, but far-reaching fill-in-the-blanks and "fearbuster" exercises. She enriches these with abundant examples, placing overwhelming feelings in a behavioral context that is amenable to change. "If you could give one gift to the world as your contribution, which quality of wholeness would you choose?" She only provides ten choices. However attaining the first one brings the others naturally.

By understanding ourselves on Britten’s "Wheel of Fear," reactions can be untied from their triggers and the fears we avoid. We stop the cycle of fear when we act from the "Wheel of Freedom." She helps us identify friends and associates, the "fear junkies" who may reinforce fears or remind us of past failures, believing they are doing us a favor. She gives exercises on establishing healthy emotional boundaries with them. This contrasts with our "Fearbusting Team". These friends help us break through fears, express our true nature and live our wholeness.

Britten presents the Fearless Living Program in Part Two. "No Expectations" helps prune the blaming, wishing, waiting and hoping that deaden our growth. Living in intention, being fully accountable, and transforming our language help us thrive. The final chapters speak for themselves: No Excuses, No Complaining, No Beating Yourself Up, and The Fearless Path.

This is the most compassionate and comprehensive program I have read in years. As she says in No Excuses, "If we are to live fully, we must love as though we’ve never been hurt, dream as though our hopes have never been dashed, and take steps toward the future as though life has never given us pain." Her web site is www.FearlessLiving.org.

--Rosi Goldsmith

Healing the Hardware of the Soul

By Dr. Daniel Amen, Free Press, 2002, $17.50 paperback

This book helps further the argument that biology is destiny, with an added twist: it may be destiny unless you take medication. The author, Dr. Daniel Amen, has written several books on his psychiatric work utilizing brain SPECT scans to diagnose and treat people with ADHD, depression, anxiety and brain injuries. In his latest book, he theorizes that a healthy soul (evidenced by consistent impulse control, connection to divinity and empathy for others) needs good "hardware," i.e. a well-functioning brain to be in peak form. According to him, all people are NOT created equal: there are people who due to heredity, injury, or substance abuse whose brains are not functioning at peak levels and therefore are unable to make true choices about their actions and "good" versus "evil." Dr. Amen, having scanned the brains of many killers and diagnosed sociopaths, describes certain areas of their brains consistently being more active or under active, leading to the infamous behaviors.

Spect scans, a product of nuclear medicine, are routinely used to diagnose heart disease and cancer. Dr. Amen takes this tool to another "hidden" body part-the brain. These scans create a computerized picture of blood flow and activity, in order to diagnose which parts of the brain are over- or under-functioning. The author believes that all of these issues can be addressed, at least to some degree, by medication. Not surprisingly, he includes those ever-popular self-tests to assess whether you or your loved ones have any significant brain function imbalances.

While the science of this book is intriguing, I found that his own gender and religious stereotypes spilled into some of his conclusions. Furthermore, after reading this book, you might think that 1) everyone you know and have contact with might suffer a brain malfunction and needs medication 2) for most of the book, you might think ONLY medication can help. It is not until the very end of the book that Dr. Amen discusses other activities that are helpful, such as meditation, nutrition and therapy.

Overall, this book and the author’s web site at www.brainplace.com do bring some interesting knowledge about brains and how we interact with each other, but I found Dr. Amen’s jump into the language of religion to be scary and somewhat irritating. Reading this book, I had visions of "mandatory" brain scans, and mandatory medications whenever people’s brains don’t "look normal." While I have often sought out medical practitioners who incorporate a sense of divine spirit in their practice, I guess will qualify it now to practitioners whose sense of spirit is somewhat aligned with mine!

--- Reviewed by Alain Zipp

Meditation: Key to Spiritual Awakening, Revised Edition

by Mary Ellen Flora

Mary Ellen Flora is the co-founder of the Church of Divine Man and has taught meditation techniques for two decades. By her own account, the techniques provided in her book are simple and accessible. Meditation is a tool anyone can use to listen to his or her inner voice. Some persons refer to the guidance as God, angels, or guides. The important point stressed in the 96 pages of the book is the truth of our innate connection to God. We are all spirit. Ms. Flora offers this gentle reminder throughout to encourage her readers to accept that basic premise.

With the assistance of black and white illustrations, the basic techniques required to become a practitioner of this spiritual tool are provided. Ms. Flora begins with an explanation of meditation followed by the first technique in grounding; something I’ve noticed is absent in other works and meditation classes. Her advice is honest and sincere. She warns against taking this new way of relating to yourself, your spirit and your physical world lightly. "Many give up meditation practices after a short time, as they are disappointed by the results. They begin to experience all the disturbing or painful energies they have created and allowed in their reality, and stop meditating before they work through the difficulties."

Central to the technique is the visualization of roses, focusing on them during creation and destruction exercises. These are valuable experiments with manifestation. I was comforted by the constant sense of safety throughout the text and this is from the point of view of an individual who had a disturbing and intrusive experience during my first attempt to center myself with meditation several years ago. I cannot think of anyone who could consider a rose threatening and it bolstered my resolve to keep my intention focused.

Extra support and reference is provided for beginners as well as long- term practitioners with the companion 63- minute cassette tape. On Side One you are guided by the author’s voice through five spiritual techniques. Once you are comfortable feeling your energy systems, Side Two leads you through two practice meditations. Mary Ellen Flora’s voice is lilting and confident. She keeps her instructions for meditations, manifestation practices, and advice to the point and clearly understandable.

Meditation: Key to Spiritual Awakening has encouraged me to resume my meditation practice with a sense of security, comfort and unconditional love. You can purchase this book, audiotape and others in the key series via CDM Publications, 2402 Summit Avenue, Everett, WA 98201, 1-800-360-6509, or the website www.c-d-m.org.

--- Review by Kimberly A. Bennett

The Power Path, The Shaman’s Way to Success in Business and Life,

by Jose and Lena Stevens, New World Library, 2002, $14.95.

The Power Path, by Jose and Lena Stevens, provides advice on how to interact with the business world while remaining true to your heart. This information is provided in very small snippets, so you might call it a "Shamanic Soup for the Soul."

Jose and Lena share information they gathered from a ten-year apprenticeship with a Huichol shaman in Mexico and have applied it to their work as consultants in the business world. They outline shamanic values and various expressions of power, in a concise and clear format. The concepts of being afraid to wield power, as well as bidding for and attaining power are discussed, as is a unique shamanic interpretation of the story of the Garden of Eden. I found this book valuable in its validation that it IS possible to be true to your heart in the business world. Ten pages into the book, I was overcome by the urge to pass it out in manager’s meetings at my company.

My only complaint about this book is that its segments and chapters are so short. To me, it read choppily-it has four page chapters. At the end of each chapter is an outline of its key points. Though I read the outline, I couldn’t help feeling I was reading a "Cliff Notes" segment and pictured busy people beaming the outlines into their Palm Pilots without integrating the essence of the book. Ultimately, though, everyone will probably get a little something different out of this book, the same way that we are struck by different things at the same workshop or ritual. What is true is that you will finish this book feeling More Able-more able to handle conflict, more able to speak up for yourself, and more able to remain centered in every part of your life.

---Reviewed by Alaina Zipp

Peaceful Earth: Spiritual Perspectives on Hope and Healing beyond Terrorism,
compiled by Lisa Hepner, Hold the Visions press, 2001

I avoided reading this book. I selected it because "I knew I should," and took three weeks to even open it. After the World Trade Center’s destruction and the resulting world war, I found a mental box to contain most of my horror and grief. While curious about this book, I had no great desire to rip things out again.

The Peaceful Earth is a collection of reflections by Western religious leaders about the events of September 11, 2001. Contributors include Marianne Williamson, Father Leo Booth, Jean Houston, and Portland’s own Mary Manin Morrissey. Each essay has a similar premise: that while honoring the lives that were lost and directly affected by these horrific events, people must not languish in fear, anger and bitterness, but search for its lessons. The renewed commitment of the people of the United States to the sanctity of life, our emotional connections to each other, to Source and to the world is a frequent theme. We are repeatedly charged to help vision and change our world, no longer able to rely on others to accomplish our vision. I found Father Leo Booth’s essay to be most intriguing-his observation that this terrorism resulted from the little-discussed religious fanaticism and religious addiction. Father Leo Booth has devoted much of his life to working with addictions and speaks frequently about religious addictions.

Lisa Hepner, the editor, clarifies her intent: to provide essays of hope and reflection. I believe this book accomplishes that. However, I couldn’t help noticing that though the editor and nearly every essayist mentions a need for global consciousness and integration, all the contributors were from the Western world and of Christian, New Thought or New Age background.. Though reference was made to wondering how the Tibetan or Israeli people have survived decades of terrorism, no essays from someone from other lands or traditions was here.

Unfortunately, I believe this book’s construction fell into a familiar American cultural trap-isolationism. I do commend the editor’s compilation of the book. I did gather some peace from its writings. I believe that one of its messages is that we must speak out about what is lacking in our lives and in the world, helping to create our visions. In my wish to see another book that reflects a global and multi-cultural consciousness, I, too, have assimilated The Peaceful Earth’s message.

--- Review by Alaina Zipp

Globetrotter Dogma : 100 Canons for Escaping the Rat Race and Exploring the World

by Bruce Northam, New World Library, 2002, $14.95

The Globetrotter’s Dogma is a baseball-sized book full of pithy travel stories, some of which were probably more fun to write than they were to live. Don’t get me wrong, this book, an easy read, is also pleasantly interesting. Organized like a daily meditation resource, each chapter gives a basic "lesson" and a story to illustrate it, supplemented by quotes from travelers, writers or people the author encountered in his travels around the world.

The author, Bruce Northam, tells stories of being chased by animals, meeting apparently unfriendly native people, and walks you through a three-day death-defying outdoor survival school with his frank narrative. If one were to take his advice in the introduction, this book would sit on desks, on toilet tanks, or be read by a campfire, where people could read snippets and muse on them the rest of the day. I recommended it to a friend’s 67-year-old father as road trip reading material.

Best to not be read in one sitting, but slowly savored, this book reflects something that all of us need help remembering from time to time- that joy we can find in the travel, in the trip, and not just in reaching the end destination. This book fed my hunger for adventure and I would recommend it as light, summer reading for armchair travelers everywhere.

---Reviewed by Alaina Zipp