Book Review: Your Truest Self – Embracing the Woman You Are Meant to Be

Your Truest Self: Embracing the Woman You Are Meant to Be, by Janice Lynne Lundy, is a lovely new women’s spirituality book highlighting twelve diverse contemporary women spiritual teachers and authors. Ms. Lundy is herself an Interfaith Spiritual Director and the longtime Lifestyle writer for Women’s Lifestyle magazine. She has authored three previous books, including Coming Home to Ourselves : A Woman’s Journey to Wholeness.

Your Truest Self is an interfaith book, focused on twelve principles, or ‘Transformational Truths’, of the spiritual growth process, not specific to any particular religious denomination. Each of the twelve principles is elucidated through the life story of one spiritual woman, and as a group they represent a variety of spiritual traditions. Some of the women are well-known, such as singer Naomi Judd, who in recent years has become a proponent of mind-body medicine, and Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant, New Thought minister and author of five NY Times bestsellers. Others are less well-known (at least to me) such as Joyce Rupp, member of the Catholic order Servants of Mary, and Mari Gayatri Stein, author of The Buddha Smiles: A Collection of Dharmatoons.

Ms. Lundy interviews each of these twelve women, and every single one comes across as someone I’d love to have dinner with (and I’m not that social.) They are down to earth, wise, honest, and, in the hands of Ms. Lundy, very revealing about the joys and challenges of their own spiritual journeys. The intimate experiences they reveal are the best thing about the book, and the most useful, for those of us journeying ourselves. Rev. Vanzant talks about the crises of faith she experienced after the death of her 31-year old daughter, and Ms. Judd discusses her battle with hepatitis C. Many discuss the self-doubt, stress in personal relationships, and fears of social ostracization that they faced as they explored new spiritual paths and practices.

In each chapter, Ms. Lundy takes the major theme of each woman’s journey and discusses it in the context of her own spiritual growth. She then presents a set of reflection questions for the reader on that topic, and a ‘Peaceful Pause’ – a contemplation or meditation exercise corresponding to the chapter’s theme. I think most women will enjoy the combination of interviews, personal stories, and prescriptive guidance. The format creates a kind of spiritual ‘sampler plate’, providing just enough of a sense of each woman to help you decide whether you would like to read more by or about that individual.

One thing to be aware of, however, is that this book is not as linear as many spiritual ‘prescriptive’ titles out today. It does not present a step-by-step ’self-help’ plan, although the themes are progressive from chapter to chapter. Featuring a different teacher in each chapter requires a shift in language and approach that prevents an overall philosophy from developing. Frankly, for me that is a plus, as too often today spirituality is presented like a workout plan or diet, with specific instructions and techniques that end up undermining the very personal and individual nature of the process.

So, if you love reading about other women, and If you think of your spirituality as exploratory rather than prescriptive, this book is for you. You can also read more about the author and the women featured in the book at  http://www.awakenedliving.com/.                                  .

For more book reviews, try the Book page, or to read about other women mystics, including Joan Borysenko, a contemporary teacher and author featured in Your Truest Self, try the Women Mystics page.

Meditation for Kids: Books, Articles and Other Resources

I am frequently asked about meditation resources for kids, so here (finally) is a compilation of the best resources I have found. First, are books you can read to your kids, and then books you can use to learn how to teach them meditation, as a parent or teacher. Note that these books are all geared for pre-teen children (perhaps I will create a list for teenagers someday.) After the book lists are some articles about research on children’s meditation, as well as meditation programs in schools. Finally, I have included a list of organizations currently teaching meditation in schools and other settings.

Thanks to all of you that suggested books or resources for this post, and if you have any more to contribute, please feel free to add them in the comments!

Books for Kids

Each Breath A Smile, by Sister Susan – Based on the teachings of Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, and written by a nun in one of his centers, this book introduces children to mindful breathing and awareness, but steers clear of any explicit religious teachings. Great for calming very young children and teaching them the basics of mindfulness.

Peaceful Piggy Meditation, by Kerry Lee Maclean  – This fun story featuring a playful piggy family presents meditation as a tool kids can use to help them deal with the difficult everyday situations they most often confront – getting teased by their siblings, falling down at school, or served a dinner they can’t stand. Includes instructions for basic meditations at the end.

Moody Cow Meditates, by Kerry Lee McLean – By the same author as Peaceful Piggy Meditation, this book centers on a young boy cow, aka ‘moody cow’, who has had a very bad day, and ended up VERY angry. His grandfather helps him settle down with a ‘mind-jar’, where the agitated sparkles in the jar represent his angry thoughts. A great book for opening up discussion about difficult emotions, especially anger, and for introducing meditation as a method for dealing with them.

Relax Kids: Aladdin’s Magic Carpet and Other Fairy Tale Meditations for Princesses and Superheroes, by Marneta Viegas – You might have to buy this (or one of the author’s related books) used as last I checked it is out of stock, but it is well worth it if you have elementary through tween aged children you would like to introduce to meditation, with fanciful themes and guided visualizations.

Seven Spirals: A Chakra Sutra for Kids, Deena Haiber and Aimee MacDonald – If you are a practitioner of chakra meditation, or do yoga and want to introduce your children to the chakras for that reason, this is a great non-religious introduction. For each of the 7 core chakras (within the system Westerners are most familiar with through yoga- there are actually other systems), there is first a page featuring a mandala-type picture with the color, English, and Sanskrit name of the chakra. Then there is a brief vignette featuring a child – kind of a story, but really more of a ’scene’ or setting that corresponds to the energies that chakra represents. There is a final reference page that lists the locations of the chakras within this system, and provides an overview of how to meditate on them. The pictures are colorful and fanciful.

Books for Parents and Teachers

Sensational Meditation for Children: Child-Friendly Meditation Techniques based on The Five Senses, by Sarah Wood Vallely – Blending science, spirituality and practicality, this book covers everything you need to know to introduce children to meditation, and has many fine techniques.

Baby Buddhas: A Guide for Teaching Meditation to Children, by Lisa Desmond – Geared specifically for teaching toddler and preschool age children how to meditate, this book also includes meditation for parents and instructions on creating a meditation space in a school or home.

Articles

Mindfulness and Meditation in Schools, 1/08, Greater Good Magazine, reprinted here by Sharp Brains – Very comprehensive article on meditation programs in schools and current research related to its benefits.

It’s Cool to be Calm, Los Angeles Times, 9/05 reprinted here by The Buddhist Channel – A briefer overview of some of the trend and research on kids and meditation, including as it is practiced within some LA area schools.

Less Homework, More Yoga: From a Principle that Hates Stress, NY Times, 10/07 – Article on the stress modern students are under, and how one high school is incorporating meditation exercises into its program to address it.

Meditation Sharpens the Mind, Live Science 5/2007 – Brief overview of meditation research with implications for treating ADHD in children.

Still Thinking: The Case for Meditation with Children, Science Direct 2006 – This is an abstract of an article published in the journal Thinking Skills and Creativity. You will need to pay to purchase the full article, which includes a comprehensive listing of meditation research related to kids.

Meditation in Schools

Inner Kids Foundation – An LA-based group that pioneered teaching meditation in schools. Now nationwide, their programs are also part of research projects by UCLA on the benefits of meditation for kids.

Garrison Institute – The Garrison Institute is devoted to research and training related to contemplative practices of all types. Their Education Initiative includes programs to teach meditation in schools.

Impact Foundation – Colorado based organization that designs contemplation training programs of all types, including for teachers.

Lineage Project - This NY-based organization focuses on yoga and meditation for at-risk and incarcerated youth.

If you are interested in learning more about recent meditation research, or meditation techniques for adults, try the Meditation page.

Book List: Introduction to the World’s Spiritual Traditions

Since I try and pull from all the world’s spiritual traditions in my own teaching, over the years I have compiled a book list of my favorite introductory and classic texts within each of the major traditions. This list is of course entirely subjective! I welcome other suggestions or feedback on these books in the comments section.

Tibetan Buddhism
Introductory:

• Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World, Lama Surya Das
• A Journey in Ladakh: Encounters with Buddhism, Andrew Harvey
• The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche

Classics:

• Buddhist Masters of Enchantment, Keith Dowman & Robert Beer
• Tibet’s Great Yogi Milarepa, W.Y. Evans-Wentz
• The Tibetan Book of the Dead, W.Y. Evans-Wentz

Zen Buddhism
Introductory:

• Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki

Classics:

• Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki
• The Bodhidharma Anthology, Jeffrey Broughton

Hinduism
Introductory:

• Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda
• Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna : Abridged Edition, Swami Nikhilananda
• The Eternal Companion, Swami Prabhavananda

Classics:

• The Song of God: Bhagavad-Gita, Swami Prabhavananda & Christopher Isherwood
• How to Know God, Swami Prabhavananda & Christopher Isherwood

Vedanta
Introductory:

• Just Like You, Gangaji

Classics:

• Shankara’s Crest Jewel of Discrimination, Swami Prabhavananda & Christopher Isherwood
• The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi, Ramanah Maharshi

Taoism
Introductory:

• Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life – Living the Wisdom of the Tao, Wayne Dyer

Classics:

• Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu
• I Ching or Book of Changes, C.F. Baynes, R. Wilhelm

Christianity (the emphasis here is on the practice of Christianity as a spiritual path, not religious theology)
Introductory:

• Return to Love, Marrianne Williamson
• Conversations with God, Neale Donald Walsch

Classics:

• The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels
• Beyond Belief, Elaine Pagels

Kabbalah
Introductory:

• Simple Kabbalah, Kim Zetter
• The Practical Kabbalah Guidebook, C. J. M. Hopking

Classics:

• Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment, Daniel Chanan Matt

Sufism
Introductory:

• Essential Sufism, Huston Smith, Robert Frager, and James Fadiman

Classics:

• Feeling the Shoulder of the Lion: Poetry and Teaching Stories of Rumi, Jelaluddin Rumi

For more book lists and book reviews, go to the Book category.

Book Review: The Heretic’s Daughter – Religion, Fear and the Salem Witch Trials

I received an advance copy of Kathleen Kent’s first novel, The Heretic’s Daughter, this past Spring at the Los Angeles Book Expo, and have been anxiously awaiting its official publication date to review it. The Heretic’s Daughter takes place in and around Salem, Massachusetts during the 1690’s, before and during the infamous Salem witch trials. The narrator’s mother, Martha Carrier, is based on the real woman of the same name, who was one of the first woman to be tried and hung in the trials. The book’s author is a tenth generation descendant of Martha Carrier.

Ms. Kent has done her research, and she does a beautiful job of depicting the harsh realities of life during this time. While the initial Puritan settlers had come to this land to escape persecution, and hoped to found a new religious community, they were besieged by plagues, crop failures, and attacks by indigenous tribes. The child mortality rate was so high, we are told in the first pages, “that some families did not name their child until the child was past twelve months and more likely to live. And in many households if a baby died, that same baby’s name would be passed on to the next born. And to the very next if that babe died as well.”

This is from the novel’s narrator, Sarah Carrier, Martha Carrier’s daughter. If Sarah sometimes seems distant and unfeeling as she describes horrific events, it is no wonder, based on the climate in which she was raised. In fact, Sarah’s voice and attitude was at first a put-off to me, making her difficult to relate to or feel for. But as the novel progresses, her voice becomes one of the book’s greatest strengths, because it provides such a vast contrast to our emotion-laden, Oprah-fueled times. Sarah helps us to see what a stark and difficult existence does to people, and as she does mature – through watching her mother’s trial and surviving her own incarceration - her growth and new-found wisdom is that much more evident.

As the novel begins, Sarah and her family are on their way to live with her grandmother, and, unbeknown to them, are bringing smallpox with them to their new community. This fact, along with Martha Carrier’s headstrong and outspoken nature, will ultimately lead to the family becoming a target when the terrible accusations begin. Those accusations, as presented in The Heretic’s Daughter, gain traction in the community because of the lethal combination of fear and damnation-based religion. The community, facing so many challenges to its existence, cannot fathom why they are being targeted by God for such wrath. Surely there must be some offense, some sin, that they are being punished for? In their desperation, they seek out the ’sinners’ amongst them, literally demonizing their own neighbors for the smallest of offenses. They seek to scapegoat and purge - as so many have done in the name of religion throughout history.

From there, the paralysis of fear takes over, with each new charge silencing more people within the community, all seeking to protect their own lives and families. Children as young as four are taken into custody – since the ‘devil’ is behind it all, and can take over anyone’s mind, no one is considered innocent. Quite the contrary, during the trials the defendants are most definitely considered guilty until proven innocent. And their innocence is in the hands of several hysterical, adolescent girls no less (I’ll let you read the book to learn more about this.)

One of the most touching aspects of the book is how Martha gets Sarah to save herself, helping Sarah to realize that behind her mother’s stern exterior lies the greatest of maternal loves. While Sarah at first despises her mother’s difficult personality, wishing she would just capitulate to others, she comes to realize her mother’s seeming obstinance is actually born of tremendous faith and wisdom. This is exactly the opposite of what her community elders teach – that strict obedience is the foundation for faith. As Sarah observes, that obedience, along with fear, is what allows the madness to continue for so long.

And so The Heretic’s Daughter works on at least three levels. First, as a gripping historical novel that masterfully depicts a certain setting and time period. Second, as a personal story of a mother and adolescent daughter struggling to understand each other. And third, as a cautionary tale about how religion can be twisted when a society is ruled by fear.

You can purchase this book though Amazon, or for more info about it, go to its official website. To view a video interview with the author, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDbUVZUv9yM.

For more book reviews on this blog, to the Book category.

Book Review: Deepak Chopra’s Why is God Laughing?

I picked up Deepak Chopra’s latest fiction effort, Why is God Laughing?: The Path to Joy and Spiritual Optimism, with high hopes. I generally like Chopra’s work, although I am not a hard-core fan, and I love to laugh. I also believe humour is a key companion to spiritual growth – when you can laugh at yourself, you probably have hit on some self-truth. And Mike Myer’s Foreword seemed to be heading in the right direction, quoting Lenny Bruce’s  equation for comedy as “laughter = pain + time”, and noting that Chopra would call the ‘plus time’ detachment. Enlightenment and comedy share that in common.

Unfortunately Why is God Laughing? doesn’t quite follow-through on its promise, although it has some nice moments. The main problem for me is that the book seems more like an outline, and a derivative one at that. It doesn’t evoke any powerful emotions, because we don’t have enough time with the main character, Mickey, to feel invested in him. The entire book feels rushed, more like a premise for hitting certain spiritual points, chapter by chapter. These points, or lessons, drive the book’s progression more than the character’s inner growth. This is often a problem when non-fiction writers cross over to fiction, but I thought Chopra had solved it after his last fiction effort, Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment (recently released in paperback, and which I highly recommend.)

Why is God Laughing? revolves around Mickey Fellows, a famous, self-absorbed Los Angeles comedian whose father has recently died. As he struggles with his grief, a mysterious stranger appears in his life and starts providing him with boilerplate spiritual lessons – overcoming fear, seeing beyond ego, embracing humility, etc. In format the book seems to follow in the footsteps of Dan Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior; in fact it is kind of a cross between Way of the Peaceful Warrior and Tuesdays with Morrie, which should be a winning combination, but it just falls short of both in emotional depth.

Chopra is at his best in this book when speaking through the mysterious teacher, as it gives him a chance to expound on his usual spiritual themes. There is no question that he is a master at communicating usually complex ideas in simple nuggets. Some of my favorites are:

“Either you’re a person wondering if you have a soul, or you’re a soul that knows being a person isn’t real.”

“Your soul and your ego are as invisibly mixed as white wine and water…[people] wander through life searching for their soul when it’s right there all the time. They talk about losing their soul when that’s totally impossible.”

“Before, what you experienced was personal happiness. It was based on having a reason to be happy and no reason to be sad. But happiness based on a reason can be snatched away from you at any moment. Now you are happy without a reason. That’s far more durable…”

Throughout his spiritual journey, Mickey experiments with humour. The state of his humour becomes symbolic of where he is in his process of awakening. When he is self-absorbed or self-pitying, his jokes are often crude or based on putting down others, and they fall flat. As he progresses, his jokes come from a lighter, more joyful place within himself, and become funnier. That’s the idea anyway, which I like in theory, but I didn’t personally find many of the jokes funny, at least not in print, so the whole humour aspect of the book didn’t quite work for me.

Chopra’s epilogue is interesting, as he lays out his own ideas on how to embrace joy and optimism while living in a scary, fear-based culture. If the story doesn’t grab you, you can always jump straight to the epilogue for a good Chopra fix. The bottom line is, the themes of this book are true to his usual message, and clearly presented – it just doesn’t work as a novel. So you probably won’t be deeply disappointed, but you won’t be deeply moved either. If you don’t want to risk it, just buy Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment instead.

For other book reviews on this blog, go to the Book category.

Women’s Spirituality Book List

The following is my somewhat eclectic list of favorite women’s spirituality books, divided into 4 categories: Mind Body Spirit, Women Mystics, Memoir/Spiritual Journey, and Fiction. I like books that focus on the practical issues of women’s lives and spiritual journeys, or that highlight women who found their way to mystic truth within the world’s major religions. I have included links to the author’s websites where possible. As with all the Amazon links on this site, if you purchase through them, a few cents will come back to me to help support this site, which is ad-free.

Mind Body Spirit:

Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause, Dr. Christiane Northrup – Classics in women’s holistic health, stressing the interdependence of mind, body and spirit. (www.drnorthrup.com)

A Woman’s Book of Life: The Biology, Psychology, and Spirituality of the Feminine Life Cycle and A Woman’s Journey to God, Joan Borysenko – The first focuses on women’s life cycles in terms of physiological and personal growth, while the second is part memoir and more explicitly spiritual. (www.joanborysenko.com)

The Mother Dance, Harriet Lerner – Although a decade old, this is a good psychological book about the experience of motherhood, and how it impacts women on every level. (http://www.harrietlerner.com)

Meditation Secrets for Women: Discovering Your Passion, Pleasure, and Inner Peace, Camille Maurine and Lorin Roche – Alternative meditation techniques geared towards women’s strengths. (www.camillemaurine.com)

Remember Who You Are: Seven Stages on a Woman’s Journey of Spirit, Linda Carroll – Musings on the stages of the spiritual process, integrated with dozens of poems from wonderful women writers such as Mary Oliver, Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson and more. (www.lindacarroll.org)

Women Mystics (for more info on some of the mystics featured in these books, go to the Women Mystics Page.)

Wise Women: Over Two Thousand Years of Spiritual Writing by Women, Susan Neunzig Cahill – This book includes writings from women mystics from every major world religion and time period, with brief historical bios.

Visions and Longings: Medieval Women Mystics, Monica Furlong – Anthology that excerpts the writings of eleven medieval Christian women mystics.

The Receiving: Reclaiming Jewish Women’s Wisdom, Tirzah Firestone – Biographies of women Jewish mystics from several time periods, interspersed with the author’s insights on how their wisdom is relevant to women today. (www.tirzahfirestone.com)

Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 Years of Buddhist Wisdom, Sallie Tisdale – The life stories of Buddhist women, mostly nuns from Zen lineages, reimagined in a way that highlights their feminine challenges and experiences.

Memoirs/Spiritual Journey

Your Truest Self – Embracing the Woman You Are Meant to Be, Janice Lynne Lundy – Interviews with and lessons from 12 contemporary women spiritual mentors, some of whom are well-known such as Dr. Joan Borysenko, Dr. Iyanla Vanzant and Naomi Judd. (www.awakenedliving.com)

The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman’s Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine, Sue Monk Kidd – Memoir by the author of The Secret Life of Bees on her personal struggle to reconcile her Christian faith with Christianity’s harsh patriarchal past. (www.suemonkkidd.com)

Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert – A bestseller for a reason! This book resonates with many women, and is essentially a spiritual memoir. The psychological baggage she must release to move forward spiritually rings true. (www.elizabethgilbert.com)

Just Like You, Gangaji – Memoir of contemporary American spiritual teacher Gangaji, as told by her to one of her students in interview form. (www.gangaji.org)

Initiation, Elisabeth Haich – Written mostly as a past life memory in Ancient Egypt, this book is a little strange and slow in parts, but the sections on ancient Egypt offer a fascinating glimpse into what temple priestess training might have been like.

The Sorcerer’s Crossing, Taisha Abelar – Written by a female sorcerer who studied within the same circle as the infamous ‘shaman’ Carlos Casteneda, this book profiles a very different journey than his.

Fiction
Strands of Starlight, Gael Baudino – A suprisingly insightful story of female spiritual persecution and forgiveness, based on 14th century Europe, but told within the context of a fantasy world.

The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley – This classic retelling of the Arthurian legend from the perspective of the women characters touches on many themes of women’s spirituality and persecution.

Evensong, Gail Godwin – A novel centered around a woman Episcopalion minister as she confronts questions regarding her faith and the nature of love and marriage.

Keeping Faith, Jodi Picoult – A riveting story in which a young girl begins to experience stigmatas, and claims God is a women, plunging her family and community into turmoil and soul-searching.

Enlightenment for Idiots, Anne Cusheman – A recent favorite of mine (see my Book Review). I included this because unlike the memoirs and fiction on this list, the main character is in her twenties and involved in all the latest urban spiritual trends (i.e. this book is much hipper than most on the list!) (www.enlightenmentforidiots.com)

For more book lists and book reviews, check out the Book page.