Inprint - New Books of interest

Do It Anyway: The Handbook for Finding Personal Meaning and Deep Happiness in a Crazy World by Kent M. Keith. (Inner Ocean Publishing, $15.00, Hardcover.)

Kent M. Keith wrote his Paradoxical Commandments while attending Harvard as an undergraduate in the 1960s. More than 25 years later he discovered that his words had taken on a life of their own, quoted by politicians and celebrities, written into inspirational office memos and advice columns, and cited on more than six thousand websites. They had even appeared on the wall of Mother Theresa’s children’s home in Calcutta. Keith recounted this amazing story in Anyway, which went on to become a bestseller. The precepts that sparked this global, word-of-mouth phenomenon are now the subject of a new guide to finding fulfillment.

Do It Anyway challenges people to do what is good, right, and true, despite the outcome or the obstacles. They begin with the call to love: “People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway,” and end with a reminder to “give the world the best you have anyway.” Keith offers stories of real people whose lives illuminate the meaning of each commandment. He also profiles paradoxical people from all walks of life. He gives tools to: Do what’s right in the face of adversity to find deep happiness, get past excuses to find personal meaning, and make a difference in the world.

Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants by Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Christian Rätsch, & Wolf-Dieter Storl. (Inner Traditions, $24.95, Paperback.)

Witch medicine is wild medicine. It does more than make some healthy, it encourages knowledge and engenders ecstasy and mythological insight. In Witchcraft Medicine the authors take the reader on a journey that examines the women from centuries past who mixed the potions and became the healers. As humans left the “thorny brush” and settled into agrarian societies, elements of nature (including human nature) became identified as wild and destructive, and the culture of the witch was born.

Through study of ancient and medieval texts and the artwork of the early Renaissance, the authors explore the demonization of nature’s healing powers and sensuousness, the legacy of Hecate, the sorceress as shaman, and the plants associated with witches. They describe important seasonal festivals and the plants used in these celebrations and rituals. They also look at the history of forbidden medicine from the Inquisition to current drug laws, with an eye toward how sacred plants of witchcraft can be used once again. Witchcraft Medicine is well researched and filled with illustrations and color photos.

Riding the Spirit Wind: Stories of Shamanic Healing by John Myerson & Robert Greenebaum. (LifeArts Press, $18.95, Paperback.)

Riding the Spirit Wind looks at shamanic healing and offers important clues to what stops so many of us from transcending our fears, realizing our hopes, and reuniting our physical and spiritual selves. Shamanic healer John Myerson and co-author Robert Greenebaum point to the wide range of emotional and spiritual roadblocks that can impede our life journey and hamper our growth as individuals. They describe the paths Myerson’s clients have taken to surmount such obstacles. With Myerson’s help, they tap into the unseen forces that act within and upon each of us. His patients not only discover the transformative power of dreams, visions, and prayer, they also conquer a host of afflictions — rage, fear, pain, shame, isolation, hopelessness — that too often throw our lives out of balance.

Riding the Spirit Wind’s accounts of shamanic healing offer tantalizing hints that there is indeed a spiritual plane at least as rich in answers for the soul as those found in the physical world. Each chapter begins with a healing story from the point of view of the patient that illustrates a specific topic and ends with an interview of Myerson with Greenebaum on that topic.

Are You Smarter Than You Think? 160 Ways to Test and Enhance Your Natural Intelligence by Claire Gordon. (Penguin Compass, $20.00, Paperback.)

A high score on an IQ test is not the only way to determine our brainpower or how successful in life we will be. While IQ assesses important aptitudes such as our logical, verbal, numerical, and spatial reasoning skills, true practical intelligence — the kind that we rely on in our everyday lives — goes beyond these skills. Other more hidden talents like our creativity, intuition, emotional sensitivity, appreciation for the world around us, and physical ability are just as essential for solving problems and overcoming life’s challenges.

With 160 scientifically proven self-tests and tips for improvements, as well as lively color illustrations throughout, Are You Smarter Than You Think? is a revealing and fun guide that shows you how to build the innate and wide-ranging power of your mind. It helps to answer: Do you see the world in numbers? Can you read faces? Are you a good friend? Do you and your partner communicate well? Can you speak persuasively? Do you have musical talents? How self-aware are you? Do you express or repress emotions? How strong is your body? Are you a natural at brainstorming ideas?

A Guide to Zen: Lessons from a Modern Master by Katsuki Sekida (edited by Marc Allen. (New World Library, $16.00, Hardcover.)

A Guide to Zen starts with the basics — posture and breathing — and proceeds, in a very few words, to give a complete course in Zen meditation. It’s for both serious students of Zen who have read other books or studied with a teacher, or anyone interested in a simple introduction to meditation.

Very few masters of Zen have been writers and very few writers about Zen have been masters. Katsuki Sekida was both. His finest work, Zen Training, published in 1975, remains one of the definitive books on Zen ever written in English. It is well over 100,000 words long and is daunting for most readers. Marc Allen, a former student, thought a smaller, condensed version of the book would be welcome to many readers and students of Zen. When he approached Weatherhill, the publisher, they gave their permission and support for the project. Allen has culled the finest gems from the original work and produced a brilliant, readable guide to Zen meditation.

The guide begins with a comprehensive summary of Zen, and explains the basics of correct posture and breathing. The chapters on “Samadhi” and “Pure Existence” are unique in Zen literature and are invaluable for any serious student. In “Stages in Zen Training,” the author comments on a classic of Zen literature: a traditional series of pictures called “In Search of the Missing Ox.” Throughout are specific practices, such as “One Minute Zazen,” as well as gems that are the result of a long lifetime of meditation and study. The result is a thorough and complete introduction — as much instruction as you would receive in a traditional Zen center.

Soul Coaching: 28 Days to Discover Your Authentic Self by Denise Linn. (Hay House, $14.95, Hardcover.)

If you could really hear a message from your soul, what would it be telling you? Soul Coaching is a four-week program dedicated to an in-depth clearing and cleansing of the different aspects of your life: mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual. By following the practical, carefully crafted steps, you will find that you are able to uncover your authentic self: who you are, why you are here, and what is your mission.

By utilizing the energy of the elements of nature: Air Water, Fire, and Earth, this program allows you to clear away old blockages so that you can truly begin to hear the secret messages of your soul. Days 1-7 are devoted to the properties of Air and are associated with clearing mental debris. Days 8-14 are devoted to the properties of Water and are associated with your connecting to your emotional self. Days 15-21 are devoted to the properties of Fire and are associated with clearing the shadows from your spiritual self. Days 22-28 are devoted to the properties of Earth and are associated with strengthening your physical self. After 28 days, Linn encourages you to embark on an inward journey much like a vision quest. After all the clearing you have done, this will be a time of stillness for the soul to reveal its sacred messages to you.