Review – The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy

I don’t usually like to do book reviews so close together (just recently did Empowering Your Indigo Child), but I find myself recommending The Subtle Body by Cyndi Dale to everyone I know (including recently in a comment on a healing blog I visit, Heal Pain Naturally), so I decided I should just go ahead and review it already! Plus, this book is related to some of the themes I recently covered in Women’s Energy Bodies – Phases and Life Cycles, and that I will be looking at in more detail in my upcoming mystic spirituality for women series, so it actually provides a nice transition post.

**EDIT**After this review was published, I was lucky enough to interview Cyndi on many topics related to this book, so be sure to check out that post too.

The subtitle for the The Subtle Body is ‘An Encylopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy’, and this is exactly what it is. Ms. Dale, an already respected author, healer and writer on the chakras (and sure to be even more so after this work) has compiled and detailed energy body teachings from virtually every known energy healing tradition. Among these are Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, native and shamanic traditions from around the world, Hindi, Tibetan and Kabbalah chakra systems, ancient Greek philosophy, Western mystic teachings such as those from the Rosucrucians, and many, many others. She has combined this material with sections on basic human anatomy, and coverage of cutting-edge science that supports the mind/body/spirit connection, including work in physics and research into various alternative healing methods.

The result is simply amazing, a masterpiece really, for any healer open to the idea that “All medicine is essentially energy medicine, for energy composes the world.” It is also a gift to anyone like myself who is not a healer but an occult geek interested in any and all energy body teachings. The book is primarily written as a reference manual for healers, and as such begins with chapters on general energy healing principles, and a chapter on ethical guidelines for healers. It then moves into a section on basic human anatomy. Although this anatomy section is pretty straightforward, Ms. Dale intersperses research tying energy theories to physical anatomy, such as one on the energetic principles behind DNA, and a sidebar on the different types of brain waves.

From there the book moves into its core topics, with major sections on Energy Fields, Energy Channels, and Energy Bodies. The Energy Fields section provides a primer on energy fields, from both a physics and energy healing perspective. Part of the value of this book is that Ms. Dale manages to explain things like the Unified Field Theory and Zero-Point Field Theory in terms a non-scientist like myself can understand (or mostly understand, anyway.) She then moves into all different kinds of waves, L-Fields and T-Fields, and more importantly, what all this has to do with various energy body theories. If all this sounds a bit too theoretical, don’t worry – since this is structured as a reference manual, each chapter is self-contained, and you don’t need to read it cover to cover. I have to admit to getting a bit bleary-eyed at the various wave theories, but I perked up in her section on Field Pollution, which covers the potential impact power lines, cell phones and microwaves have on our body’s various energy fields. I also particularly liked her chapter on Sacred Geometry, and the patterns underlying our physical world that help us work with subtle levels, including as part of healing.

The Energy Channels section is mostly devoted to a presentation of the meridian system used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, which serves as the source for both acupuncture and acupressure. Beautiful color pictures detail all the major meridians, and several comprehensive charts break down their relationships to the elements, acupuncture points, internal organs, and more. The Energy Bodies section then covers my primary interest – chakra systems, including the classic Hindi system, the slightly different Tibetan system, the Tsalagi (Cherokee) system, an Incan system, a Christian version derived from the Bible’s last book Revelations, Egyptian and African systems, and a Kabbalah-derived system. As with the meridians, each system is beautifully illustrated, and charts relate them to physical body parts and ailments. Ms. Dale also provides an overview of the role of chakras in the kundalini meditation practiced within some Hindu and Tibetan spiritual traditions. She finishes up with a section describing what must surely be every energy diagnostic and healing practice in the world – from acupuncture, cupping, moxibustion, and crystal use to thai massage,  numerology, radionics and mudras.

As I said, this book is a reference, an Encyclopedia, and is priced as such. But it is also expertly organized and indexed, to assure that a reader can return to it over and over looking for guidance on a particular ailment, energy system, or healing practice. Ms. Dale does compare the systems, but doesn’t try and reconcile the differences between them, or offer judgment on which are more effective or provable, leaving that, presumably, to the healer and/or reader. I would think any healer would want to own this book and keep it close at hand, and anyone interested in energy body theories from a spiritual perspective as well.

To check out quotes from the book, see the associated Twitter account homepage (I’ve been enjoying the daily quotes for a couple of weeks), and the author’s website at http://www.cyndidale.com/. You can also purchase the book at Amazon.

And, although I know book reviews don’t normally inspire a lot of comments, please feel free to use the comments on this one to recommend any related resources you have found, or, if you have read any of Cyndi Dale’s other books or know her personally, provide more feedback. I really enjoyed receiving so many of your comments on my last post, and have vowed to encourage more commenting going forward (unfortunately I found out I can’t install CommentLuv without upgrading to WordPress.org, and I just don’t have the mental bandwidth for that right now, but I do love your comments anyway!) I’ll continue the mystic series I started with my last post later this week….

And if you like, please:

Empowering Your Indigo Child – Book Review

Most of Empowering Your Indigo Child: A Handbook for Parents of Children of Spirit, by Wayne Dosick and Ellan Kaufman Dosick, is a manual instructing parents in psycho-spiritual healing rituals they can do with their children to help relieve the negative feelings and behaviors sometimes associated with Indigo children. Dr. Wayne Dosick is a Rabbi, educator, and healer who authored the book Golden Rules: Ten Ethical Values Parents Need to Teach Their Children. Ellen Dosick is an MSW and practicing psychotherapist who also practices spirit guidance, and publishes the teachings she receives through this guidance regularly. The methods in this book have been derived from the couples own work with Indigo children, and from their spirit guides.

I have provided some basic info on the Indigo Children theory, and written about my own doubts about it, in a prior post, Indigo Chidren – New Age Myth or Proof of Evolution? The introductory chapters of this book only increased my discomfort with certain aspects of the Indigo Children theory, mostly because the metaphysical framework put forth is very different from my own quasi-Buddhist perspective. For one thing, I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of spirit guides (which might sound funny coming from someone who calls herself a mystic, but there you go.) I also am uncomfortable with the utopian expectations placed on these children; for example, the Dosicks write:

The Indigos have come to this Earth to envision and embody the coming perfection of our world. Earth’s evolution depends on the amazing gifts these children bring…they are the spiritual inheritors and, now, transmitters of this ever-evolving world of ours…

I am not inclined to believe the world will ever be perfected, or is meant to be so (although there’s no question there’s room for a lot of improvement), nor am I comfortable with the idea that a particular generation is born to play this role. Finally, I’m not comfortable with the idea that this generation is in a special kind of pain because of their  unique ’separation from God’. The authors write, “They come in perfection, and they are tossed into our wildly imperfect world.” Welcome to the human condition, as far as I’m concerned. Sages from every mystic tradition known to humankind have been writing about this kind of pain – and how to get out of it – for a millenia. It’s not new and it’s not unique.

Despite my reservations, I liked this book (once I got past the intro) because it is instructional and practical, and because I do believe that those working with Indigo Children have identified some unique spiritual and energy-based trends in today’s kids (whatever the cause.) And the methods outlined here draw on two things which I believe have  a very special healing power – ritual and the energy/spiritual connection between parent and child.

There are three sets of healing techniques outlined in the book. The first are the ‘YouMees’, seventeen exercises for children ages 7-17, designed to be performed in a ritual, game-like fashion, between parent and child. Each of these exercises is meant to address a particular form of negativity in a child, such as anger, grief, fear, distrust, despair, etc. Specific instructions are given for each exercise, including how to set up a sacred space to conduct them in, how to initiate each session, and how to close each one out. The exercises themselves are very easy to perform, mostly involving statements on the part of both the parent and child, and simple movements. The YouMees are the heart of the book, and considered the primary healing method for Indigo children.

The second healing method is designed for children under 7, who “have not yet developed the cognitive abilities and skills to participate meaningfully in a healing session…and are connected to their parents by a ’spiritual umbilical cord.’” In the ritual associated with this method, called Gracelight, the parent is acting as a surrogate for the child, until they are old enough to participate in the YouMees. Because my children are all under 7, I tried Gracelight out on my eldest, now 4 1/2, and could certainly feel the power of the exercise; she herself was absolutely fascinated with the process, not to mention thrilled at being 100% the center of my attention for awhile (a lesson in itself.) Because she doesn’t exhibit any particularly troublesome behavior (beyond what I consider normal for her age), it’s hard to say whether or not it had an impact, but I plan to continue to do these monthly for awhile as the authors suggest, and perhaps will post more on the result in a future post.

The final healing method is for adults who feel they are Indigos, and revolves around energy work with the seven primary chakras, and issues associated with their blockage. Because I teach and do chakra meditation, this was the most familiar to me, although none of it seemed particularly specific to Indigos.

To sum up, if you subscribe to the Indigo Children theory, and are a parent looking for new ways to work with your own children, you will probably really appreciate Empowering Your Indigo Children. If you aren’t so sure, or aren’t a parent, you may still find it interesting. If you’d like more information about the book, you can visit the authors website at Soul by Soul.

I welcome comments! Go to the book page for more book reviews, or the parenting page for other posts related to spiritual parenting.

Book List: Daily Spiritual Contemplation Books

This is my last book list as part of my ‘give a book’ holiday effort (and as much as I love to read, I am ready to take a break!) Check the Books Page for more book lists and book reviews.

Before I dive into this last list, a few other recommendations I’d like to mention. The first is The Faith Club: Three Women Search for Understanding. I finally got around to reading this book (as part of a Religious Debate forum on Cafemom, check it out if you are into such things), and think it is a fascinating read for almost anyone, regardless of whether you are religious. In it, three women, one Muslim, one Jewish and one Christian engage in a two-year debate and discussion on their respective religions, and write about their experience. It is about a lot more than religion, touching on politics, social stereotyping, parenting and many other themes.

The other thing I’d like to mention is a ‘Mothering and Spirituality’ booklist that I recently found on a blog called RiversGrace. Scroll down the right sidebar on her blog for the list. A booklist such as this is another thing I have been working on, but I have not yet read enough books to do a full list (I do read EVERY book I put on my lists.) Several of the books on RiversGrace’s list I have read and loved, and the titles of the others sound promising, so check out this list if you have been hankering for a book on spirituality and motherhood.

OK, now for Daily Spiritual Contemplation books. These are books that are designed to be read just a few pages at a time, and in some cases are even dated that way. I was recently sent a few great ones for review by a publisher, and that reminded me how many I have that I love, and how dear they are to me. Having a book like this at your bedside, in your purse, or, yes, on the back of your toilet (I do all three) is a great way to assure you touch base with your spiritual side daily, however briefly.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to try and be more mindful, more present, more spiritual (whatever that means) or something along those lines, consider getting one of these books to help you out. Just DON’T turn it into a source of guilt, as I just won’t be part of that:-) If you miss a day, or a few, just slide back into it – no anxiety please. As usual, I have tried to offer a mix of non-denominational spiritual books, along with those tied to particular religions or traditions.

Wide Open: On Living with Passion and Purpose, Dawna Markova – This luscious book is a mixture of musings, quotes, questions and photographs designed to help you contemplate how you can do exactly what the subtitle says – live with more passion and purpose. This book is not coming from the perspective of a particular spiritual tradition or set of practices, but in my mind the themes around which the book is organized are intrinsically spiritual. Some samples: ‘Losing Yourself to Find Yourself’, ‘Embracing the Mystery’, ‘Sheltering Fear’, and ‘What Have You Been Given With Which to Give?’ The nature photography is especially stunning, so if you enjoy a mixture of text and images, this book is for you.

Quiet Mind: One-Minute Retreats from a Busy World, David Kundtz – This book offers over 150 two-page musings on aspects of our busy, hyper-stimulated modern life, and ideas for ’stopping’ in the midst of it. In ‘Telephones, Beepers and Clocks’, the author suggests designating a particular sound you hear daily – such as the microwave beep when something is done – as a trigger for a mindful moment through a single deep breath. In ‘A Hard Question’, the author muses on the materialism of our world, the pressure to accumulate more and more, and suggests looking for ways throughout that day to say to yourself  “that’s enough”. This is a great way to focus on just one simple mindful theme each day, in a way that is bound to transform your perceptions over time.

The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have, Mark Nepo – Written by a poet and teacher, this book is organized by date, with 1-2 page offerings for each day of the year. Beautifully written, each entry begins with a quote from another poet, saint (practically every spiritual tradition is represented), or other literary work, followed by the author’s musings and a set of questions to contemplate that day. Some random samples: “August 1: The Pain of Becoming – We do ourselves a great disservice by judging where we are in comparison to some final destination.” “April 10: At Home in Our Skin – The spiritual life is about becoming more at home in your own skin.”

Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat – This is a collection of hundreds (650 according to the back cover) excerpts from contemporary books and movies, organized according to spiritual themes such as ‘Things’, ‘Nature’, ‘Creativity’, ‘Service’, ‘Relationships’ and ‘A Day in the Spiritual Life’. Each section is designed to help us find the sacred in every moment and experience we have. Just opening the book randomly (which I often do), I find a poem from Mary Oliver, a quote from Thich Nhat Han, and an excerpt from a book on quilting. All of the book titles are listed right with the excerpt, so this is a great way to find new books that you might not otherwise have found, in addition to providing daily food for thought.

365 Tao: Daily Meditations, Ming-dao Deng – This book offers 365 gems of wisdom from Taoism. Each page is themed, and begins with a short quote or poem, followed by the author’s contemplation, often in the form of a parable. Day 1 – ‘Beginnings’ starts with “This is the moment of embarking, All auspicious signs are in place.” Day 59 – ‘Source’ begins “Wellspring of energy, Rises in the Body’s Core. Tap it and be Sustained, Channel it and it will Speak.” Both the content and form stay true to the essence of Taoism, without New Age clutter. If you are looking for authentic Taoism, give this a try.

Dhammapada: The Sayings of the Buddha (Pocket Classic), Thomas Byrom – This pocket-sized version of the Buddha’s core teachings and sayings was in my purse for almost ten years when I lived in Manhattan. I read it on the subway, in line at the post office, waiting for the bus, or even stuck in traffic (one spends a lot of time on transportation in NYC.) It isn’t just that this book is small, it’s that this particular translation is excellent – accessible but true to the original meaning – and without cluttering notes or author thoughts. A random sample – “Believe, meditate, see. Be harmless, be blameless. Awake to the law, and from all sorrow free yourself.”

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki – Another Buddhist offering, this classic is not strictly speaking a daily contemplation book, but a set of Zen parables and aphorisms that cut to the heart of Zen. Since most are less than a page, they are perfectly absorbed on a one-per-day basis. If you are interested in absorbing Zen, give this a try. The trick is not to force understanding – just let each story or saying sink in over time.

The MacArthur Daily Bible: Read the Bible in One Year, John MacArthur- I went back and forth on including this, because I have reservations, but I decided to do so because I think there is alot of educational (and spiritual) value in getting through the Bible at least once in your life, regardless of your religious beliefs (or lack thereof.) I have not yet found  a truly ecumenical or interfaith daily bible, but this one worked fairly well for me. Mostly I like the organization, with each day offering a reading from the Old Testament, New Testament and Psalms. The author throws in his own commentary, which you may or may not like, but in any case can easily skip.

The Little Book of Hindu Deities, Sanjay Patel – This book also isn’t really a daily contemplation book, but it isn’t a children’s book either, and I included it on my Children’s World Religions book list. I just like it a lot, and so does everyone I have shown it too, and I wanted to include something from Hinduism. The author is an animator from Pixar Studios, and has drawn anime-style pictures of all the major Hindu deities, along with cheeky descriptions of their legends and attributes.

A Year with Rumi: Daily Readings, Coleman Barks – Rumi, a Sufi mystic, is one of my favorite poets, and this collection offers up a poem a day, accessibly and beautifully translated. A sample from June 26th, ‘The Self We Share’ begins “Look fish, you are already in the ocean. Just swimming there makes you friends with glory.” Or, from February 5th, ‘Throat-Song’, “Let your throat-song be clear and strong enough to make an emporer fall full-length, suppliant, at the door.”

For more book lists and reviews, head to the Book Page.

Book Review: Remember Who You Are – Seven Stages on a Woman’s Journey of Spirit

Like the last book I reviewed (Janice Lundy’s Your Truest Self) Linda Carroll’s Remember Who You Are is a spiritual rather than religious book for women. It is subtitled ‘Seven Stages on a Woman’s Journey of Spirit’, and as this suggests, the book focuses on the stages of the spiritual process, apart from any particular religion. The seven stages Ms. Carroll identifies are Forgetting, Remembering, Exploring, Practicing, Shadows on the Path, Reclaiming, and Acceptance. Forgetting is “losing [our] connection to essential spiritual self” and Remembering is any spiritual experience or insight that helps us to reconnect. The other stages are all steps in the process of seeking that spiritual self. Although these stages are presented linearly, Ms. Carroll tells us that often “the stages overlap, circle back, and intertwine, forming a pattern that reflects the multifaceted quality of the feminine spirit.”

Of course, these stages aren’t intrinsically feminine, and each are described in the mystic writings of all the world’s major religions. But two things make Remember Who You Are a uniquely feminine book, and a beautiful read. First, Ms. Carroll incorporates dozens (maybe hundreds) of poems, quotes, and passages from fabulous women poets and authors such as Mary Oliver, Emily Dickinson, Alice Walker, Annie Dillard, Virginia Woolf and more. Second, she includes a comprehensive guide to using the book as part of a women’s book club or spiritual support group, with detailed guidelines for forming, organizing, and conducting such a group.

Ms. Carroll herself clearly loves poetry, and her prose reflects that. The chapters are more like musings or contemplations of each spiritual stage, and she seamlessly integrates the poems and passages of others. Each chapter gets to the point quickly, and thus the book is a little gem, at only a little over one hundred pages. The Practicing and Shadows chapters were my personal favorites, each exploring ways we can get sidetracked or distracted by our own spiritual practices. As a mother of young children, I especially enjoyed a story about a mother attempting to start a regular morning meditation practice, only to end up frustrated and angry as she is continually interrupted by her young boys’ demands. As Ms. Carroll tells us, “[Lily realized] her practice was hurting all three of them. What her true practice should be…was to use every event in the day as an opportunity for kindness and patience to emerge. Nowhere was this practice more important than with her children.”

Another favorite section of mine, ‘The Secret Club’ tackles the spiritual ego, and the feeling of exclusivity and specialness that can easily arise. Ms. Carroll quotes Julia Cameron here, from her book God is No Laughing Matter:

“Sometimes when you talk to them, Very Spiritual People close their eyes and sort of nod sagely as if they were on heroin. They do this in alot of settings where they are being officially spiritual. You’re at a spiritual talk, for example, or a concert, and all of a sudden, whoops, there go the eyes…Very Spiritual People scare me to death. They know the secrets. It’s like a spiritual clubhouse.”

As this quote demonstrates, much of Remember Who You Are is probably most meaningful to women who already consider themselves on a spiritual journey. However, the reflection questions at the end of each chapter, and the guidelines for using the book as part of a women’s group, help to make the material accessible and relevant to anyone reading it as part of such a group.

You can read more about Ms. Carroll at http://lindacarroll.org or purchase Remember Who You Are by clicking on the title anywhere in this post (as with all my posts, if you purchase the book through the Amazon links I include, a small percentage of the proceeds will come back to me to support this blog, which is ad-free.) Or, if you are interested in more book reviews, check out the Book page, and check back in the coming weeks for more lists and reviews.

Book Review: Deepak Chopra’s Jesus – Christianity as a Path to Enlightenment

I have to admit, Deepak Chopra had me at the subtitle of his novel Jesus, officially out today. The subtitle is ‘A Story of Enlightenment’ – the same subtitle he used for his novel of the Buddha’s life, released last year. Since my entire approach to spirituality is cross-denominational, and I believe the mystic branches of all the world religions are paths to spiritual enlightenment, I was predisposed to like Chopra’s version of the lost years of Jesus’ life. And in his preface Chopra is very straightforward about his purpose in writing this book, saying “[there is] a Jesus left out of the New Testament – the enlightened Jesus. His absence, in my view, has profoundly crippled the Christian faith, for…making [Jesus] the one and only Son of God leaves the rest of humankind stranded…What if Jesus wanted his followers – and us – to reach the same unity with God that he had reached?”

‘Crippled’ is a strong word, and this book will undoubtedly anger many. Yet Chopra’s Jesus maintains the divinity at the heart of mainstream Christianity – he is not just some average Joe who happens upon God. Nor is he simply a spiritual teacher or ‘guru’, as other Eastern teachers have characterized him. From a young age others recognize a special quality in Chopra’s Jesus, and this separates him in a way that both fuels and challenges his spiritual faith. The novel mostly covers the years of Jesus’ life left out of the Bible – the years in which he transforms from a serious and insightful young man into the son of God – and throughout that period he is surrounded by signs of his future divinity.

Jesus himself is not comfortable with these signs, but they draw others to him. The early part of Jesus’ spiritual journey is dominated by his relationships with Mary Magdelene and Judas – both of whom of course feature prominently in the later part of his life, as told in the New Testament. Chopra’s earlier versions of these figures each have delusions about Jesus, and want to possess him for their own purposes. Judas wants to use Jesus to inspire his own band of Jewish followers in their rebel fight against the Romans, and Mary wants him for personal love and fulfillment. Jesus struggles to understand what each wants from him, and is tempted by what they have to offer. It is through them that he comes to understand the human condition, and the forces – both external and internal – that prevent many from pursuing a deeper relationship with God.

Ultimately, Jesus comes to see the spiritual power in ego surrender, telling Judas “We’ve both struggled to be first…Now we’ve been shown the way out…How can we discover God’s will unless we give up our own?” Soon after, Jesus leaves his early companions, and ventures to the Essenes, a mystic Jewish religious community now believed by many to have authored the Dead Sea Scrolls. Jesus stays with the Essenes for five years, revered by them as the Jewish Messiah. But ultimately Jesus disappoints them also, as he will not conform to their view of him. He insists that God wishes to save all, not just the Jews, and tells the Essenes “All you’ve ever wanted from me is to save the Jews. The Jews cannot be saved as long as the world is what it is. We need a new world, nothing less.”

After leaving the Essenes, Jesus travels to a mysterious holy man in distant mountains, also the story’s narrator. Although the teacher is left unnamed, he clearly calls to mind classic Himalayan spiritual masters and hermits, and it is here that the path of Chopra’s Jesus most closely resembles that of his Buddha. Both struggle with their concepts of good and evil, and both are tempted by demons with promises of greatness. They both come to understand they must abandon all concepts and personal identity to truly allow God to work through them. As Jesus’ mysterious teacher tells him, “Only someone who can see the demons as part of God is free. Good and evil dissolve. The veil drops away, and all you see is divine light – inside, outside, everywhere…Your soul is the world’s soul. In your resurrection will be the resurection of the world.”

Jesus’ awakening is powerfully told, and the new Jesus returns to his homeland as an agent of enlightenment. Encountering Judas and Mary once again, he transmits a grace that literally wipes away their past. Or, as Mary puts it when asked ‘what has he done to me’ by others who receive Jesus’ grace, “He killed who you were, so that who you are can be reborn.”

Chopra’s Jesus is not a perfect book. Scenes change rapidly, and many conversations seem stunted in a way that occasionally left me disoriented. But it conveys a profound message in an accessible and passionate voice (something I can’t always say about Chopra’s nonfiction.) If you are interested in considering a new vision of Christianity, and of all religions, give it a read, and consider reading Buddha as well.

You can purchase this book on Amazon, or for more book reviews, go to the Books page. To learn more about Deepak Chopra, try the Heroes of Healing site, an online directory of contemporary spiritual teachers, healers, and authors.