The New American Spirituality

Rating:
Summary: Seeker's Guide is Tour de Force
Review: Institutions of religion and learning take note: Elizabeth Lesser's "Seeker's Guide" is proof positive that personal experience is equal to tradition and scholarship as a pathway to truth. Elizabeth's life of seeking, organizing, promoting and teaching spirituality is disclosed beautifully in this multifaceted work. She shows by her own story, by her inspiring writing, and by her practical guidelines for meditation how ordinary mortals can create the sacred space for spiritual fulfillment in their own lives. Readers will find scripts for specific spiritual objectives, pearls of wisdom for the refrigerator, models for parenting, friendship, and marriage, holistic prescriptions for mental and physical health, deep prayers, profound wisdom, and the best bumper-sticker slogans in the universe. Her use of resources is erudite without pedantry or scholasticism. The book is at once a spiritual autobiography, a systematic theology of spiritual formation, and a useful handbook for spiritual practice. Personalities of some of our greatest spiritual leaders come to life as real people in the mix. If Elizabeth had only shared with us what she has learned from her years at Omega Institute, that would have been plenty, but she has also added her own powerful voice to the rising chorus of teachers and leaders of the New American Spirituality. Seekers who pick up her book will turn every page to the end and say, give us more, Elizabeth!

Rating:
Summary: A Map of the New American Spiritual World
Review: This book is a good book, not great (I'd give it 3.5 stars if possible). As the others reviewers have stated, Ms. Lesser has written a book that covers all the different spheres of spirituality: body, mind, soul, etc. She has written helpful, insightful advice in all these areas.

However, I'm afraid that the author has bitten off more than she can chew. The main problem is that you could write entire books on each subject Lesser discusses. Lesser must then edit out a lot of information in order to obtain a book of publishable length. But that means she has left a whole lot out, making each section of the book shallower than if Lesser had written 4 or 5 separate books.

This problem is generally resolved by the well-organized and generous bibliography. Rather than lump all the references together in one alphabetical list, Lesser has provided separate bibliographies for each major section. Accordingly, if you're interested in reading books on the body, you can quickly find such books without guesswork.

At the end of the day, I do not know who should read this book. As someone who has been seeking for some time, I found that the book constitutes a great research resource to locate further resources. I am afraid, however, that a person just starting to seek may be overwhelmed and confused by the amount of information involved.

Rating:
Summary: Good global resource
Review: This book is a good book, not great (I'd give it 3.5 stars if possible). As the others reviewers have stated, Ms. Lesser has written a book that covers all the different spheres of spirituality: body, mind, soul, etc. She has written helpful, insightful advice in all these areas.

However, I'm afraid that the author has bitten off more than she can chew. The main problem is that you could write entire books on each subject Lesser discusses. Lesser must then edit out a lot of information in order to obtain a book of publishable length. But that means she has left a whole lot out, making each section of the book shallower than if Lesser had written 4 or 5 separate books.

This problem is generally resolved by the well-organized and generous bibliography. Rather than lump all the references together in one alphabetical list, Lesser has provided separate bibliographies for each major section. Accordingly, if you're interested in reading books on the body, you can quickly find such books without guesswork.

At the end of the day, I do not know who should read this book. As someone who has been seeking for some time, I found that the book constitutes a great research resource to locate further resources. I am afraid, however, that a person just starting to seek may be overwhelmed and confused by the amount of information involved.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: This country is truely messed up! If only half of the population would read a chapter from this book, the world would be a safer place. Come on, people, read!

Rating:
Summary: A very transformational work of great genius!
Review: This is a very comprehensive guide to spiritual transformation. Where most authors write about spirituality and exclude the body, Elizabeth brilliantly includes it as part of the spiritual puzzle of who we are--Del Millers, author, Dancing with God.

Rating:
Summary: fantastic spirit food
Review: What I love about this book is I can open it anywhere and be nourished, drawn back into my spiritual core. Yes, it covers a lot of ground but it does so beautifully, accurately, and with great honesty. And reading the personal story of the author is very compelling. I keep this book by my bedside and dip into it often.