Inprint - New Books of interest

We are in the fortunate position here at the Aspectarian of receiving many newly published books each month. They cover the areas of self-help, spirituality, healing, philosophy, metaphysical fiction, and more. In order to share a greater number of books with you, we've decided to highlight several of the more interesting titles in this column each month.

Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West by Daniel Ladinsky. (Viking Penguin, $15 PB)

Daniel Ladinsky brings together the timeless work of twelve of the world's best spiritual poets from both Eastern and Western literary traditions. Ladinsky, the editor and translator of The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, once again reveals his talents for creating inspiring, profound, and playful versions of classic poems for a modern audience. Included in this collection are Rumi's joyous, ecstatic love poems; St. Francis's loving observations of nature through the eyes of Catholicism; Kabir's wild, freeing humor that synthesizes Hindu, Muslim and Christian beliefs; St. Teresa's sensual verse; and the mystical, healing words of Hafiz. Despite different religions, languages and times they lived in, the poets show surprising similarities in the way they speak about themselves, the world in which they live, and their love of God. These poems are accessible enough for the casual reader, intelligent and witty enough for the lover of classical poetry, and spiritually rich enough for new age readers.

Galaxy on Earth: A Traveler's Guide to the Planet's Visionary Geography by Richard Leviton. (Hampton Roads, $18.95, PB)

For millennia, people have traveled to spiritual places seeking wisdom, peace and enlightenment. Galaxy on Earth is a guidebook to more than 50 of these hallowed sites which range from Machu Picchu to Avebury, Easter Island to Monticello, and Mt. Etna to Sedona. It distinguishes more than 40 different types of holy sites, each with its particular effect on one's spirit; each offering a special type of experience.

Leviton discusses subjects such as the increasing popularity of spiritual travel among Westerners, the significance of sacred sites and their ancient messages, and how to utilize the energies of the sites. The book includes physical descriptions of the sites, myths and legends, location, history and archaeology, and the sites' metaphysical meanings.

An Instinct for Freedom: Finding Liberation Through Living by Alan Clements (New World Library, $22.95, HC)

Alan Clements was the first American to become a Buddhist monk in Burma, where he lived for ten years under one of the world's most repressive regimes. Since leaving Burma, he has become a leading voice for spiritual activism, working for universal human rights and teaching his contemporary understanding of spirituality to audiences around the world.

After thirty years of teaching, Clements offers Instinct for Freedom, his first book of spiritual material. In it he presents an approach to spiritual development he calls "liberation through living"--an approach that mirrors the narrative of his extraordinary life. He gives voice to an essential spirituality that can be common to all people, regardless of religion or nationality, a spirituality based on one precious value: freedom. It offers liberation from fear, apathy, and ignorance and the elevation of dignity, beauty, and goodness.

Clement's approach is not a doctrine. It is an intuitive process that appears through self-inquiry and honesty and expresses itself in acts of courage and love. No amount of spiritual practice or meditative training can adequately prepare us for life, he says. We must find our liberation through living, in this moment, now, in whatever circumstances we face.

Alan Clements appears in Chicago on November 20 for a book signing at Transitions Bookplace, 1000 W. North Avenue, Chicago at 7:00pm. Call 312/951-READ for information.

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. (Penguin Books, $14, PB)

In The Art of Possibility, Rosamund Stone Zander, a leading family therapist and accomplished artist, and Benjamin Zander, the renowned conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, combine their unique experiences into a dynamic model for resolving personal and professional dilemmas and transforming lives. The Art of Possibility centers on the premise that the frames of our minds create, define and confine what we perceive to be possible. Every problem that we find ourselves facing in life only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view. If one creates an alternative interpretation of this frame, problems can vanish as new solutions appear.

The authors' harmoniously interwoven perspectives provide a deep sense of the powerful role that the notion of possibility can play in every aspect of life. Through uplifting stories, parables, and personal anecdotes, the Zanders invite us all to become passionate communicators, leaders, and performers whose lives radiate possibility to the world.

The Art of Possibility was originally published in hardcover by Harvard Business School Press and was a national bestseller.

Animals and Psychedelics: The Natural World and the Instinct to Alter Consciousness by Giorgio Samorini. (Inner Traditions, 12.95, PB)

From caffeine-dependent goats to nectar addicted ants, wildlife offers amazing examples of animals and insects seeking out and consuming the psychoactive substances in their environments. Ethnobotanist Giorgio Samorini explores this little-known phenomenon and suggests that, far from being confined to humans, the desire to experience altered states of consciousness is a natural drive shared by all living beings and that animals engage in these behaviors deliberately. Rejecting the Western cultural assumption that drug use is unnatural, Samorini opens our eyes to the possibility that beings who consume psychedelics, whether human or animal, contribute to the evolution of their species by creating entirely new patterns of behavior that eventually will be adopted by other members of that species. The author's fascinating accounts of mushroom-loving reindeer, intoxicated birds, and drunken elephants ensure that readers will never view the animal world in quite the same way again.

Good Life, Good Death by Gehlek Rimpoche. (Riverhead Books, $13.00, PB)

Gehlek Rimpoche, a highly respected and beloved teacher of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, explores some of our most pressing questions in Good Life, Good Death. At one time or another we all wonder: Who am I, really? Where did I come from? Where am I going? How do I get there? How can I cope with my fear of dying? Drawing on sixty years of experience and Tibetan Buddhist practice, as well as the Buddhist investigation of reincarnation that dates back 2,500 years, Gehlek Rimpoche seeks to ease our pain, relax our anxieties, reduce our anger and attachment, build our wisdom, and remind us that within each of us lies every solution to our problems. Rimpoche, who studied with the same teachers who taught the Dalai Lama, is one of the last reincarnated lamas alive who received all of his training in Tibet before the Chinese takeover in 1959.