Inprint - New Books of interest by Jeanne Spiro

The Spirit of Indian Women edited by Judith Fitzgerald and Michael Oren Fitzgerald. (World Wisdom, $14.95, Paperback.)

The Spirit of Indian Women is a companion book to the best-selling Indian Spirit, a compilation of rare photographs accompanied by the eloquent and moving words of some of the wisest leaders ever to have lived on this continent. Judith and Michael Fitzgerald have been researching and writing about this culture for over thirty years. Their ORDER THIS BOOK latest book offers readers the thoughts and words of extraordinary Indian women along with their intensely beautiful images and provides a glimpse into the sacred world of the nomadic American Indian women of the nineteenth century. It is an elegy for the women of this irreplaceable world, who were the perfect complement to the great chiefs and warriors.

This book opens us to a world of honesty, generosity, self-mastery, courage in the face of adversity, nobility of soul, and of constant living awareness of the creator in creation. The photos and words are from a wide variety of tribes from the Great Plains, but the single message they express is clear: the olden-day Indians and their way of life were imbued with the presence of the Great Spirit. These photos and words combine to communicate that presence to us, powerfully, but with immense grace and dignity.

Life Ahead: On Learning and the Search for Meaning
by J. Krishnamurti. (New World Library, $13.95, Paperback.)

In Life Ahead, one of the greatest teachers of our time presents a practical philosophy of learning and understanding that moves far beyond the traditional forms of education promoted in most schools and colleges today. The life he holds forth requires a complete change of thought, even a revolution. This revolution begins not with theory and ideation, but with a radical transformation in the mind itself. Such transformation takes place only through an education that concentrates on the total development of the human being.

Drawn from transcripts of talks Krishnamurti gave to students, in which he challenged the habitual through patterns created by traditional education, Life Ahead covers a wide range of universal topics sure to challenge and enlighten all readers. Topics include the danger of competition, the value of solitude, the need to understand both the conscious and the unconscious mind to prevent internal contradiction, and the difference between concentration and attention, between knowledge and learning. It also explores the dangers of blindly succumbing to authority, the interplay between freedom and discipline, and the question of whether true security really exists.

Krishnamurti was one of the great spiritual philosophers of our time. He was born in India in 1895. When he was fourteen, members of the Theosophical Society found him and became convinced they had found the new world leader. Subsequently, theosophist Annie Besant adopted him and raised him in England. By the 1920s he was attracting worldwide press attention and audiences of thousands. In 1929 he set out on his own, teaching a secular philosophy bound by no caste, nationality, religion, or tradition. For more than sixty years he traveled the world teaching his philosophy to millions.

Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story by Christina Baldwin. (New World Library, 21.95. Hard Cover.)

Storytelling has been a part of the human experience since the cave paintings of prehistoric Europe. In her new book, journal writing pioneer Christina Baldwin stresses the importance of recreating a sacred common ground for honoring each other’s stories in our modern world.

Storytelling is an innate skill that we can remember and practice. Baldwin shows how taking the time to share authentic story connects us with each other and with our deepest wisdom. Whether it’s through the story of our family legacy, the personal story revealed in our private journals, or the underlying story that drives our company’s business, she encourages everyone to become storycatchers, people who value story and find ways in the midst of everyday life to honor storytelling. The art of storycatching challenges us to spend time speaking and listening, writing and reading. It focuses our abilities to heal ourselves and change the world around us through the stories we share. Story is a map. One person’s story lays out a path for listeners and readers to follow.

Storycatcher offers a wide variety of ways to hold dedicated space for speaking, writing, and listening. Each chapter features helpful suggestions, examples, and anecdotal materials designed to help us think meaningfully about the stories of our lives.

Lost Star of Myth and Time by Walter Kruttenden. (St. Lynn’s Press, $19.95, Paperback.)

Ancient folklore from around the world rings with two resonating themes: history moves in cycles with alternating Golden and Dark Ages, and the slow movement of the stars across the sky, the Precession of the Equinox, is the cause and timekeeper of these cycles.

For years we have heard that these are only myths, there was no Golden Age and precession is just a wobbling of the Earth’s axis. Now Lost Star of Myth and Time shows evidence the ancients were not just weaving fanciful tales—science is on the verge of an amazing discovery—our sun has a companion star carrying us through a great cycle of stellar influences. If true, it means the ancients were right and our views of space and time and history of civilization will never be the same. More than that, it would mean we are now at the dawn of a new age in human development and world conditions.

In the groundbreaking and richly illustrated new book, Walter Cruttenden makes the compelling case for the profound influence on our consciousness and our planet of this unknown star as it relates to the sun. Modern science, and ancient texts, myth and folklore, agree that this binary relationship of the two heavenly bodies may well be the cause of Dark and Golden Ages of man.

The Zen Book by Daniel Levin. (Hay House, $19.95, Hard Cover.)

The Zen mind is the beginner’s mind, which sees everything as if for the first time. It is in this Zen mind that realization comes. People sit for many years in meditation to find that suddenly in seeing or hearing something again for the first time, they’re lifted to a state of understanding that’s far beyond anything they’ve ever experienced.

That’s why this book was written. It contains stories and sayings from many different places and many different traditions, that have the power to change perceptions by offering a new way of looking at something we’ve seen a thousand times before. They’re not meant to teach, but rather to remind us of things we already know. This is a gift book filled with beautiful color photographs. In a time of such distress it may be a perfect resource for those seeking peace of mind.

Flexing Your Soul: Moving with Energy and Consciousness by Jalieh Juliet Milani and Alessandra Shepard, Ph.D. (Pathwork Press, $19.95, Paperback.)

Flexing Your Soul is a unique way to become truly present in your body and to realize your full potential. Chock full of black and white photographs, the book has exercises for every part of the body and addresses not only the physical, but also the emotional and the spiritual. It also includes information about energy and consciousness.

Many of the exercises were designed not only to be done alone, but with a partner or a group. Exercising with someone else can make it more interesting and enjoyable, and is a great way to motivate yourself and your partner. Clear step-by-step instructions combined with lots of photographs for each exercise make this book the ideal and complete way for practitioners to lean to integrate body, heart, mind, and spirit.

Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia by Rob Brezsny. (North Atlantic Books, $19.00, Paperback.)

Rob Brezny believes that the universe is fundamentally friendly, and that is the premise of this unique, fresh, and provocative new book. Pronoia features illustrations, workbook-type exercises, and whimsically liberating wisdom in snippets and article length segments. It will leave you laughing and refreshed while pondering your own belief systems regarding the human condition.

Brezsny says, “Thousands of things go right for you every day, beginning the moment you wake up. Through some magic you don’t fully understand, you’re still breathing and your heart is beating, even though you’ve been unconscious for hours. The air is a mix of gases that’s just right for your body’s needs, as it was before you fell asleep.” Rather than believing that human beings are selfish, small-minded, violence prone savages who are inevitably doomed, Brezsny awakens us to see that we live in a universe that passionately wants us and provides what we need in order to live a life of truth and beauty. He says that evil is boring, cynicism is stupid, and despair is lazy. Life is a sublime game created for our amusement and illumination, and it always gives us exactly what we need, exactly when we need it.