<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Like the Shoemaker guy said
Review: Although I am not a member of the Joe Arpaia Fan Club, as most of the other reviewers seem to be (including Joe hisseff!), I am thoroughly enjoying this book and finding it helpful and relevant. I had never heard of this book before I found it in the library while I was looking for that "don't sweat the small stuff" book (which I never did find). I knew Joe and Lobsang were talking right to me when they pointed out that your typical westerner doesn't need weeklong fasts or hair shirts to develop spiritually or mentally -- we get all the earthly suffering we need trying to commute, pay our mortgages, placate our bosses, keep the toilet clean, etc. I think the Kirkus review missed the mark a bit. Seems like the reviewer just can't accept the idea that meditation could be a simple part of a typical day and still be beneficial -- perhaps even more beneficial than if you try to be something you're not (a monk, for instance) before you begin practicing meditation.
Rating: 
Summary: Warning - Not a replacement for medical care!
Review: Everyone now understands the value of regular exercise. This book reveals mediation as nothing more than exercise for the mind and makes it about as mysterious as going for a morning jog. It does an outstanding job of showing us Westerners how to integrate meditation into our hectic lives without having to go to a monestary. It also does an excellent job of explaining the kinds of practical benefits you can expect from meditation, and how to go about achieving them. I would consider this the best book I have ever seen for people new to mediation, and the more experienced will find plenty to expand their understanding.
Rating:
Summary: How to live life in a hectic world
Review: I can't meditate for hours on end to have some peace of mind to live in this world but I can find 15 minutes three times a week to do this. I can also do brief meditations as I shift from one activity to another. This book has taught me how to do that. I am very grateful to the authors for writing this book and hope that in the future they will write more.
Other recommended books? Thich Nhat Hanh's The Miracle of Mindfulness, Jonathan Carroll's White Apples and Charles DeLint's The Little Country.
Rating:
Summary: Warning - Not a replacement for medical care!
Review: I was Dr. Arpaia's patient in 1996. He told me my illness was "spiritual, not mental" because I feared death less than the pain. He gave me meditative techniques like the ones in this book to help me with my illness. I did the exercises faithfully. Dr Arpaia was eventually replaced. I continued to get sicker and sicker.
The meditations in this book are good if you are a hard-driving executive or empathic healer who needs to stop for a moment, who needs to subtly strengthen your mind. But if you are ill - suicidal, hearing voices, or in any way disabled by your condition - please believe me, the techniques in this book are not going to do it for you. They won't hurt you and by all means, jump right in, if you can focus on that kind of thing. But get some help. Even many years later, and much healthier, I still require medication, and therapy of the talking variety has been helpful.
This book has been on my shelf for a year and a half and it only occurs to me now that the good doctor may be "prescribing" it innapropriately. May these words reach whom they need to reach. May no harm be done.
<< 1 >>
| 
