Inprint - New Books of interest

All You Need is Love: An Eyewitness Account of When Spirituality Spread From the East to the West by Nancy Cooke de Herrera. (Jodere Group, $??, Hardcover.)

In this book Nancy Cooke de Herrera tells the amazing story of how a blue-blood society mother of four began a love affair with India and became a pioneer of the spiritual movement in the West.

Through a series of events, de Herrera found herself a disciple of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the late ’60s. As his confidant, she was selected to take care of the Beatles, Mia and Prudence Farrow, Donovan and others. She offers an eyewitness account of these stars’ experiences amidst this pivotal period in cultural history.

Upon returning to the United States, she was sought after for meditation training from the likes of Doris Duke and Greta Garbo. With her social and political contacts, she helped open the Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation centers around the world. Her stories include her meetings with a then young Dalai Lama and Sai Baba.

De Herrera offers an insight that few have ever witnessed. Her book traces the explosion of the spiritual quest for knowledge and understanding that so many people are seeking today in our uncertain times.

Aidan’s Way, The Story of a Boy’s Life and a Father’s Journey by Sam Crane. (Sourcebooks, Inc., 18.95, Hardcover.)

Sam Crane’s first child Aidan was born severely retarded as a result of a developmentally malformed brain. Unprepared, Crane struggled with being a father to a child who will never walk, talk or see, and with his son’s worth to the larger world. Through studying Chinese philosophy, particularly the Tao Te Ching and Chaugn Tsu, he found the peace he craved.

Throughout his memoir, Crane refers to the Tao or the Way as a means of understanding the life he was to live with Aidan. Faced with pressure from doctors who could only cite what was physically wrong with Aidan, Sam realized that doctors try to analyze the world and fix it. Through his spirituality, Sam saw that everything beneath heaven is beautiful and defies improvement, including his son.

Aidan’s Way is an inspiring account of parental love and devotion, of the lessons of ancient eastern philosophy and of what it means, ultimately, to be human.

The Seven Whispers: Listening to the Voice of Spirit by Christina Baldwin. (The New World Library, $17.00, Hardcover.)

In The Seven Whispers, circle innovator and journal writing pioneer Christina Baldwin teaches us to listen to the inner voice that originates from each of our souls, the voice of spirit. Though we may call this voice by whatever name has meaning for us — intuition, spirit, or God — hearing this voice is a universal human experience.

Built around seven phrases, or whispers, Baldwin gives us a personal guide for finding and listening to that voice. A powerful call to re-envision our lives, told in the voice of a trusted friend, The Seven Whispers delivers an inspiring yet practical spirituality for times like these.

The Inspired Heart: An Artist’s Journey of Transformation by Jerry Wennstrom. (Sentient Publications, $18.95, Paperback.)

In 1979, Jerry Wennstrom, a rising star in the New York art world, realized he was becoming too attached to his identity as an artist. He decided that the ultimate creative leap was to destroy his large body of art and give away all of his possessions. He spent the next fifteen years living on basically nothing. He surrendered to unconditional trust, allowing life to provide all that was needed. In The Inspired Heart, Wennstrom tells the extraordinary story of this daring exploration into the source of his creativity. He let it all go, became nothing, and found everything.

After this extended period of questioning his motives and getting by on next to nothing, he moved to the state of Washington, got married, and began creating art again in the form of unique, interactive, life-size sculpture. The book includes sixteen color pages of his art and has a forward by Thomas Moore.

La Magdalena by William M. Valtos. (Hampton Roads, 15.95, Paperback.)

Private investigator Theo Nikonos is back (he appeared in Valtos’s earlier book, The Authenticator). Having been acquitted of a double murder charge, he has left New York and is spending time in Spain, recuperating from his harrowing experience and recovering from the loss of the woman he loved.

Visiting an old church, he has a chance encounter with a mysterious young nun, known only as La Magdelena. Theo’s vacation turns into an investigation that unearths the little known and mysterious world of early Christianity. A conversation with a priest, who tells a story that is stunning in its scope and heretical in its context, turns deadly. The realization that there is someone who will do anything to prevent the revelation of who La Magdelena really is leads him, with nun in tow, through a hair raising chase through Spain and France.

Valtos includes many interesting details about Church history, theology, and dogma in his book. These, added to stories about various groups, are woven through the book and make it informative and well as entertaining.

Momentum: Letting Love Lead by John-Roger with Dr. Paul Kaye. (Mandeville Press, $19.95, Hard Cover.)

Who wouldn’t want a perfectly balanced life? As much as we might like to have the important areas of our lives — relationships, health, finances and career — all settled and humming along, the reality for most of us is that there is always something out of balance, often causing distress.

Rather than resisting or regretting this condition, we learn from this book that there is inherent wisdom in imbalance. Where there is imbalance, there is movement, and that movement “gives rise to a dynamic, engaging life that is full of learning, creativity, and growth.” We can discover — in the very areas where we experience most of our problems and challenges — the greatest movement and greatest opportunity for change.

The approach is not to try harder at making life work. Life already works. The big key is to bring loving into it. Momentum is filled with practical keys for spiritual living in the midst of everyday stress.

Dr. Paul Kaye will speak at Transitions Bookplace in March. Call 312/951-READ for information.