Cutting Through Fear

Rating:
Summary: Well Done Indeed
Review: The producer of this tape, the company Sounds True, is known for the high quality of its products, and this two-cassette lecture is no exception.

The lecturer, Tsultrim Allione, is one of the leaders of the modern movement to find a feminine face in Buddhism. As a former Tibetan Buddhist nun, she has a great deal of knowledge of Tibetan practices, and this tape is a somewhat simplified adaptation of an ancient practice designed to help the listener deal with difficult situations and emotions. In even more simplified terms, the listener is invited to visualise his or her demons and then feed them to satisfaction. If this appeals to you, this tape will tell you exactly how to do it, and why, in the Buddhist realm, you would want to do so.

Allione's presentation is apparently delivered live, or at least extemporaneously, because she does not appear to be reading from notes, and there are two minor sound difficulties early in the tape where she appears to have turned her head away from the microphone. Allione does not have a particularly appealing speaking voice, enunciating with an odd sort of muffled heaviness most of the time, but the content of her presentation is such that any annoyance at her speaking mannerisms drops away quickly. This tape is both clear and content-rich and I listened to it eagerly several times over the space of a single week.

Well worth a listen.