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Summary: A real person on an authentic journey of discovery
Review: Early drafts of Joan's book still occasionally appear in the scrap paper tray at Springwater Center. I worked there with Joan during the time she wrote the journals that became Bare-Bones Meditation. Hers in an honest account of life in a spiritual center and the development of a relationship with a teacher. From early idealization, she enters into the struggle all of us in such communities face, of reconciling the imperfections of the teacher and residents with the clarity of the teaching itself. I am looking forward to Joan's next book.
Rating:
Summary: A friend of mine
Review: Early drafts of Joan's book still occasionally appear in the scrap paper tray at Springwater Center. I worked there with Joan during the time she wrote the journals that became Bare-Bones Meditation. Hers in an honest account of life in a spiritual center and the development of a relationship with a teacher. From early idealization, she enters into the struggle all of us in such communities face, of reconciling the imperfections of the teacher and residents with the clarity of the teaching itself. I am looking forward to Joan's next book.
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Summary: Moving, engaging, insightful
Review: I have read this book several times and it still moves me profoundly. Joan describes wonderfully the search for a more meaningful life. The book is in part an engaging story, in part a portrait of a period and, more importantly, an insightful meditation that I highly recommend to anyone with an interest in the search of the real self.
Rating:
Summary: A real person on an authentic journey of discovery
Review: I heard about this book before I met Joan, the author. Then I read it and thoroughly enjoyed this honest, humorous and at times, maddeningly familiar jaunt through the spritual journey. In word and person, this is a refreahingly honest human being whose sincere interest in spiritual life battles with all the crazy fantasies and hopes of the personality. In a world of lots of spiritual experts, it is wonderful to read a book where I see myself in both the struggles and the victories of learning to fully be present to life as it is.
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Summary: I can hear her voice clearly.
Review: I knew Joan years ago. Her book IS her voice. She is just as she has written and you can believe every word and idea in her Bare-Bones. The thoughts she expressed are born from herself just as surely as you have children... You can trust her book to tell you something about how life can be: whether you want your own life to be better or if you want to read about a tougher one. That's how good the book is. Thank you for reading this review.
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Summary: A book of revelation.
Review: I've read the book three times. Each time feeling as if I have gone a little deeper into my own life. Joan peels back the layers until there is just This and just Now. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Moving, engaging, insightful
Review: If you are searching,you may find this book helpful. If your search is full of missteps and misdirections or different directions, "Bare Bones Meditation" may be a validation of your search - a constant questioning and finding "real" answers and finding that the real answers yesterday are not the same today-over and over again. This book demonstrates that as human beings we all have the same problems in our search. This book is on my bedstand.
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Summary: Heart-warming and mind-opening
Review: Joan simplifies the very complicated through a revealing account of her most remarkable life. Moment by moment we witness her struggles with identification and definition of self and watch it change and transform, change and transform again. Through the telling of her story, we see our own projections and clinging to what we think is real and definable. Like a gentle tap on the back or sometimes what feels like the blast of an air horn, we see more clearly with the help of Joan's experience. She wakes up right in the middle of a thought, a movie, walking through ice forests or talking to her dying aunt. Like her shadow, we are there holding her close, and waking up right along side of her.
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Summary: Stop the insanity!!!
Review: Joan's writing is so sincere and honest that it engages our identity beyond the outer trappings of who we are. I am not gay or handicapped and have lived a rather straight and narrow life, but was completely identified with Joan on her journey. I have been practicing meditation for twenty years, and have read many books on the subject. This is one of the most engaging.
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Summary: a window into the author's process
Review: This book is a very intimate look at the author's process. Here she is, suffering like the rest of us, living on an emotional roller coaster, compelled by habitual behaviours, confused, and at the same time engaged in her practice.She struggles. She learns not to struggle. Then she struggles again. Layers of confusion, resistance, and suffering drop away. At times reading this book was painful. I can see so many aspects of the author in myself. Almost everyone who is engaged in meditation practice should read this book. It is a very personal account, but at the same time it really is about all of us.
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