Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind

Rating:
Summary: A self help book of style, and depth
Review: For your quick reference, the seven practices to awaken heart and mind (stated in the front cover) as summarized by the author in pg 14 are as follows:-

1. Transform your motivation; reduce craving and find your soul's desire.
2. Cultivate emotional wisdom: heal your heart and learn to love.
3. Live ethically: feel good by doing good.
4. Concentrate and calm your mind.
5. Awaken your spiritual vision: see clearly and recognise the sacred in all things
6. Cultivate spiritual intelligence: develop wisdom and understand life.
7. Express spirit in action: embrace generosity and the joy of service.

If the above are what you want, buy it. I assure you that the author did write a very sophisticated but easy reading book which can satisfy you well, with his excellent writing skill and intelligent choice of wise sayings from various religions. Below please find some copy and paste for your reference:-

It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks.
- Mother Teresa

Any natural act, if hallowed, leads to God.
- Jewish teaching

There is pleasure.
There is bliss.
Forgo the first to possess the second.
- Buddha

No drives, no compulsions
No needs, no attractions;
Then your affairs
are under control.
You are a free person.
- Chuang Tzu, Taoist sage

Rating:
Summary: The Wisdom of Walsh
Review: Go into any bookstore and you'll find piles of books on spirituality, featuring spiritual paths ranging from Evangelical Christianity and pseudo-Vedantist guru worship to Americanized Zen and reconstructionist Neo-Pagan goddess worship. With people turning away from the churches they were raised in and world-weary atheists searching for spirituality, the spiritual marketplace is going through a boom period with no end in sight. But in the midst of such selection, how can one tell who's faking it, and who's the real deal? Is the teacher or author a committed seeker or a devious charlatan? Modern, sceptical Americans often avoid spirituality all together due to horror stories of silly cults and gurus perpetrating spiritual scams on the unsuspecting public. Who can we trust?

How about an Australian philosopher-psychiatrist with years of experience dealing with spirituality, transpersonal psychology, and mental illness? Roger Walsh makes no claims to have attained a spurious level of "enlightenment" beyond a measure of basic sanity in this world gone slightly mad. In "Essential Spirituality", Walsh provides the perfect companion to Huxley's classic "The Perennial Philosophy"- a book of practical spiritual exercises, advice, and wisdom from sages the world over. Divided into seven sections on what Walsh believes to be the seven essential practices of the world's "Wisdom Traditions", Walsh provides advice on reducing craving, cultivating emotional wisdom, living ethically, meditating, awakening the senses, growing intuition, and pursuing spiritual action. This isn't New Age mysticism- "Essential Spirituality" is grounded in the teachings of saints throughout the world and history, extensively documented by Dr. Walsh. Even the most sceptical mind can see the gentle wisdom in his approach to spirituality.

I give this book my highest recommendation to seekers of all faiths and none- may it help you on your way.

Rating:
Summary: Wise and Practical
Review: I have read and reread Essential Spirituality with increasing pleasure each time. Dr Walsh has done a remarkable job of synthesizing so much in a way that is so clear and accessible. For example, discussions of concentrative and mindfulness meditations (practices I'm very familiar with) are among the best I've seen any where, even in books that go one at greater length without any greater clarity. He demonstrates a remarkable ability to be both clear and brief. I am planning on doing a series of workshops for nonprofessionals, primarily for community and church groups, on contemporary spiritual practices and am compiling a list of recommended books. Essential Spirituality will go right to the top of my list.

James W. Jones
Author of "In the Middle of This Road We Call Our Life" And "The Mirror of God"

Rating:
Summary: A Must Book in Everyone's Personal Library
Review: I stumbled on to this book at the Library and started reading it. Before I finished this book I went on line and ordered a copies for myself and my friends.
I have read many books that could be summed up in a paragraph. In this book, every paragraph is a book in itself full of reflection and wonderful thought.
Ton's of information to go back through at least a second time if not more to write down and remind yourself daily of the important things in life.
Dr. Walsh made me feel good in my own skin and I felt like he was talking to me.
He really hit's the nail on the head about Attachments and False Goals of Happiness. It is really clear how Western Society is full of meanless and soul-less existence. We tend to look down on 3rd world nations as being behind in the times but Dr. Walsh shows how they have had some of the answers to happiness all along.
I will keep this book with me forever.

Rating:
Summary: excellent with lots of wonderful insights and things to do
Review: Roger says a teacher had each kid in class write something good about every other person in class..wonderful idea..i loved the book but my knit picker did criticize a bit..like Carlos Castanda at the end of 'Yaqui Way of Knowlege', Roger Walsh , has to categorize, classify, analyze, sub-cateorizse..that's ok i suppose..but swatting a fly, killing a mosiquitoe etc. shows great rage and anger welling up..hardly..many folks can kill with compassion..Dr. Walsh suggests visulizing a white circle with black dot in the center..not being able to hold the visualiztion for extended period is a failure of concentration and focus/mindfulness..hardly..many folks aren't visualizers..i'm one of those folks and it has nothing to do with a failure or distraction or an inability..i think most folks aren't visualizers..when i'm given those descriptive visualizing exercises like walking into a cave to the all wise one or whatever i 'sensilize', 'sensationalize' 'philosophize', 'feelingize', vaguely get a clear 'picture'/'image'..yet my dreams are clear and strong precise images visualized just dandy..not being able to visualize has nothing to do with distraction or lack of ability..it may be a distraction if the person is normally a good visualizer but need not be..usually the person setting up the visualization excercise talks too much in doing so..Roger says repeatedly "all the great religions" do such and such..yet doesn't mention that all the great institutioniled religions are based in fear and paranoa and aren't the most reliable places to 'get spiritual'..i think Roger is pushing spirit over soul..escapism over getting involved..it's necessary to be dark to apprecitate and play with the light..like Campbell points out the trick is to just get that 51% in the light..i'm learning my gurus are my mom and dad (i'd like to see Satya Si Baba, Krishnimirti or whoever raise 11 kids)..pretty sure Roger Walsh was raised in a strict Catholic family as i was and this book is a way to help placate that ole relationship..lots of practical suggestions for gaining peace, love and joy..but i don't need to say "may X be peaceful, loving and joyful" or experience whatever when i can just 'send them love' etc.' ..kinda between the lines i sense a bit of a 'control freak' / 'perfetionist' bent..however there's much to be gained by reading and incorporating the practices and excercises he freely gives..stuff like not killing flies etc. is just simply out there..and if one successfully did all the excercises to a tea we wouldn't have artists or their expressions because art involves delving in the dark, the out of control, the lie to encounter the truth, beauty that is life..an artist needs to be attached as well as disattached..i give it a 5

Rating:
Summary: Another 5* for an important psychology book
Review: This is an important psychology book. It is an Aristotelian categorization of psychotherapy sayings of Buddhism, psychotherapy, Christianity, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Taoism, with a strong leaning toward Buddhism.

And, this is the best foundation book I've read that can use our heritage of religious mental healing knowledge to build a new religion, ethics, and psychotherapy. Because Walsh so expertly defines the psychotherapy terms used in religions, another writer can use these terms as a building block for new religious-psychotherapy ethics.

It is so difficult to wade through the mountains of pages of these various religions, with their esoteric metaphysics and ancient practices, to extract the elements of psychotherapy. The author has done this, and presents a cataloguing of the various practices. He, for the most part, accurately ties in the sayings from these many religions to show that they are all describing the same principles.

For example, "The Kingdom of heaven is within you" (Christianity), "Atman and Brahman are One" (Hinduism), "In the depths of the soul, one sees the Divine, the One" (Chinese Book of Changes"), "Those who know themselves, know their Lord" (Islam), etc.; all these are pointing at the same concept, as Walsh expertly points out.

From here, Mr. Walsh lays out a method for improving oneself, in psychotherapy and "spiritual" terms. The method is Buddhist, but Mr. Walsh points out that the other religions also have components of this methodology.

One of the few matters not described in this book is the meaning of feelings and how these are suppressed. Without defining this and knowing what it is, it still remains somewhat haphazard to apply time-tested techniques to cure psychological illnesses. Perhaps Walsh will write (or has already written) another book on this topic.

Overall, this is a timely, important book that sets the foundations that others, I hope, will follow, to create a modern psychology and religion. As Nietzsche points out, the overman shall set his own ethics. Walsh is providing the dictionary for the overman.

Rating:
Summary: May actually be an essential book for spiritual development
Review: Walsh takes the universal wisdoms from our major world religions and miraculously compacts them into one mere 285 page book. Combining the common beliefs and practices of all the major religions allows for anyone with an open mind to discover important practices and philosophies for spiritual development. The exercises are simple and benevolent. He quotes and demonstrates with stories, the teachings of Jesus, Mohammad, Confusius, and Buddha. Possibly the easiest to understand and practice of any of the spiritual or religious books I have read.

Rating:
Summary: Very practical and insightful
Review: We moderns have a difficult life. We are aware of suffering on a global scale as well as struggling with our personal suffering. We have been able to alleviate some of it with our science and technology and in other ways we have made it worse. The materialistic philosophy of modern times undercuts our spiritual hopes, but we are spiritual beings and we must find a way to live that gives us deeper meaning than nihilism or consumerism. So many of us have turned to ancient traditions, like Buddhism, and found various degrees of satisfaction, but the ancient traditions often seem too simple for the complexity of modern times - and we can't really turn our backs on the fact that we are moderns, steeped in a scientific view of the world, which has much truth in it.

Wouldn't it be helpful to have some guidance from someone who is both a scientist and a spiritual practitioner, who has managed to integrate both approaches to reality? Roger Walsh's Essential Spirituality is such help.

I was fortunate to see this book in manuscript form when the publisher asked me for a promotional quote. I was very rushed at the time and could only read through the manuscript lightly, but knowing the quality and depth of Walsh's work, I was able to enthusiastically say "I could not imagine a better person to write this book." I knew he was not only a first class scholar and writer in these areas, but indeed someone with a serious personal practice informing his writing. Rereading the book more thoroughly for this review has been a pleasure and a privilege, for the clarity, depth, and importance of it is very great indeed.

I should also take this as a lesson about the hurry in my life and what it costs me. Allowing oneself to be carried away by the rush of life is, as Walsh points out in Essential Spirituality, very costly:

"You need to have a routine of some kind with sacred time carefully set aside. Otherwise the world's distractions and demands will consume every open moment and leave you astounded to find that yet another day, month, year, or even decade has disappeared into oblivion with only a few scattered moments devoted to spiritual practice."

This is an example of the clarity and practicality of the advice Walsh gives. Essential Spirituality is a complete introduction to the spiritual path¾and an essential refresher for those of us who think we already know something about it!

Walsh has isolated a common core of seven practices or directions of development. He not only explains them, but gives practical exercises for realizing them. The seven are:

-Transform your motivation: reduce craving and find your soul's desire.
-Cultivate emotional wisdom: heal your heart and learn to love.
-Live ethically: feel good by doing good.
-Concentrate and calm your mind.
-Awaken your spiritual vision: see clearly and recognize the sacred in all things.
-Cultivate spiritual intelligence: develop wisdom and understand life.
-Express spirit in action: embrace generosity and the joy of service.

It is hard to know what is best to quote to illustrate the practicality (and compassion) in the book, there is so much of excellence, so I will first quote the beginning of the first chapter on how to use the book:

"Each practice, exercise, and idea in this book is applicable to life and helpful in transforming it. Test them for yourself. This book allows you to do just that."

"These practices require no specific religious belief, nor do they require giving up any specific religious belief. This book is much more concerned with learning and living than with believing. All that is necessary is an open mind and a willingness to experiment. The crucial question is whether the practices are helpful to you."

"This is not to imply that spiritual practice is easy . It takes courage to examine yourself and your life carefully. It takes effort to do the exercises regularly and commitment to keep doing them during difficult times. Fortunately, the more you practice, the more these essential qualities grow. Above all, be patient. Transforming yourself and your life is a gradual process."

Throughout the book Walsh emphasizes experimenting with the various practices, recognizing your own natural rhythms, finding what works best for you, and being kind to yourself. The sections on work with negative emotions are particularly valuable, for we often tend to have harsh superegos and so are counterproductively hard on ourselves.

When I was younger, I used to think that spirituality was mainly about special states of mystical revelation. Now, while not devaluing those, I think that compassion and kindness toward others are what it's really all about, so I'm pleased that Walsh gives so much attention to these qualities. Near the end of Essential Spirituality he wisely reminds us that:

"The power of practice depends in part on why it is done. This is why practicing for the well-being and awakening of everyone, including ourselves, is more potent than practicing for ourselves alone. To focus solely on our own well-being is to separate ourselves from others and to starve beneficial qualities such as love and generosity."

"To practice for the benefit of all people-even all creatures- is to expand our circle of care and to cultivate emotions such as love and kindness. Over time it becomes increasingly obvious that the happiness of others is our own and that to practice for the benefit of all is not a sacrifice but rather a delight. Our spiritual work not only helps us but is, according to Ramana Maharshi, "the best help you can possibly render to others." Our task is simply to do our practice as fully as we can. In this way we gradually learn to awaken ourselves, to love and serve life in all its infinite forms, to see the sacred in all things, and to care for our troubled world."

A real contribution!