Titles Beginning with A and B
1. Aging with Grace by David Snowdon, Ph.D.
|
I found his book,
Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About
Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives by David Snowdon, Ph.
D. a human and compassionate study of these women who have dedicated their lives
as nuns: School Sisters of Notre Dame, of the Mankato, Minnesota province.
(As a little aside, I'd like to mention that as a young girl I received
my catechism lessons from the nuns of the Baltimore, Maryland province of this
order.)
You can't help but admire the selfless service through their
time spent with the researcher and their final gift to medical science of
donating their brains to be examined for signs of the ravages of Alzheimers
disease.
What was surprising to me was that even some nuns who showed
decayed brain matter after death were still leading active lives with fully
functional communication skills. I would have thought that brain deterioration
would have meant that nearly all the time communication and higher functioning
skills would be affected.
The nuns in the study lead lives teaching or in
related services to the convent, so a wide range of women involved in various
jobs were studied. I think that is important to get a well-rounded view in the
study. After all, we each have our specialties in life, no one a carbon copy.
And though the women were all nuns, they each had their own personality and
strengths.
What tied them together as nuns would be their daily spiritual
practices, prayer, meditation, reflection: those activities that help us stay
inspired in service to humanity no matter what our tasks in the world.
I
think you'll enjoy getting to know the individual nuns as Dr. Snowdon talks
about them and seeing a close up view of mental acuity in advanced age or how
the ravages of dementia affect both the brain and daily
functioning.
Studies like this are important because depth of interaction
over a period of time gives the researcher time to see the small changes along
the way. And perhaps this research will help others learn how to age
gracefully.
Highly recommended reading!
Details -
256 page paperback; Bantam Books (April 30, 2002); Size: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
ISBN-10: 0553380923 ISBN-13: 978-0553380927
Available from
Amazon.com
Aging
with Grace by David Snowdon, Ph.D.
| 2. Art of Pilgrimage by Phil Cousineau
|
Phil Cousineau in his book,
The Art of Pilgrimage - The Seeker's Guide to
Making Travel Sacred gives the reader much to think about before embarking
on an adventure - here or there. Whether around the world or close to home,
travel can be made into a pilgrimage for awakening the soul by observing all
impressions along the way.
What I learned from reading this book is that pilgrimage is
first an attitude of seeking lasting fulfillment, keeping an open mind, and
savoring what happens, and to take your time in travel, really pay attention to
each new event of the moment.
The book is divided into these chapters: I.
The Longing; II. The Call; III. Departure; IV. The Pilgrim's Way; V. The
Labyrinth; VI. Arrival; VII. Bringing Back the Boon.
Chapter IV. The
Pilgrim's Way opens with the both light and profound verse by Christina
Rossetti, 1867:
"Does the road wind uphill all the way?
Yes, to the
very end.
Will the journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my
friend."
To me this is saying every bit of travel and all the
experiences, no matter how unrelated they seem are the bits and pieces that make
up the pilgrimage. And, the same chapter concludes with:
"THE FIVE
EXCELLENT PRACTICES OF PILGRIMAGES"
"Inspired by a fifth-century
conversation between Zi Zhang and Confucius about the practice of wise rulers in
The Analects, here are five excellent practices for travelers on sacred
journeys:"
"Practice the arts of attention and listening.
Practice
renewing yourself every day.
Practice meandering toward the center of every
place.
Practice the ritual of reading sacred texts.
Practice gratitude and
praise-singing."
I take these 5 reminders to be applied to any journey
where one is seeking to be uplifted, not just in that moment but enduringly long
after the physical travel is complete.
Phil Cousineau has traveled all
his life, well suited to authoring this sacred travel book. Just a few of his
previous works include:
Soul Moment - Marvelous Stories of Synchronicity;
Design Outlaws - On the Ecological Frontier; Soul - An Archaeology; and
The Soul of the World. Plus he has many screenwriting credits in
documentary films, winning more than 25 international awards.
In this
current book he brings a wealth of insight on making travel a sacred journey and
does remind the reader to take time to meditate and absorb new impressions on a
regular basis while traveling.
I think you'll enjoy the text and the many
black and white photographs enriching the book. I did.
Highly
recommended!
Details - 288 pages soft cover; Conari Press
(April 2000); 8 by 5.8 inches; ISBN: 1573245097
To order from
Amazon.com go to
The
Art of Pilgrimage by Phil Cousineau
| 3. Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda |
Talk about life-changing books -
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa
Yogananda was the one that awakened my yearning for self realization!
A friend handed me the book and suggested it was a good read.
Well, I put it off for 5 months, but took it with me on a trip. As I read
chapter after chapter of the amazing mind-boggling, nay, mind-opening
experiences of this early 20th century sage I knew these were the kinds of
spiritual experiences I wanted for myself and as soon as possible!
So,
I began meditating using a mantra that came to me in a dream from Sri Yogananda
- which I will share with you, because it had such a profound effect on my
life. The mantra is "Om Reveal" with the emphasis on the "m" of the word Om
and the 2nd syllable of Reveal. Breathing in on "Om" and out on
"Reveal."
This all happened more than 20 years ago, and still today,
Autobiography of a Yogi sits at the top of my stack of bedside books - no
matter where my travels around the world take me.
This may seem like an
unusual book review, but all 49 chapters of Yogananda's travels and visits with
saints of his day are inspiring - including Rabindranath Tagore, Luther Burbank
and Therese Neumann, the Catholic Stigmatist, amongst many others.
What
more can I say to convince you
this is my all-time top rated spiritual
read!
Details: 592 page paperback; published by
Self-Realization Fellowship (June 1, 1979); ISBN: 0876120796
To order
from Amazon.com go to
"Autobiography
of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda
| 4. Bhagavad Gita translated by Antonio T. de Nicolás |
Subtitled "The Ethics of Decision-Making" this is a clear and inspiring
translation of the classic spiritual text
The Bhagavad Gita.
The book is divided into 18 chapters plus a chapter titled
Pronunciation of Sanskrit Words, and a very useful Glossary.
The
Gita is seven hundred stanzas of the epic Mahabharata, which is two
hundred thousand lines making up chapters 23 to 40 of the
Bhisma-Parvam.
The author of this translation is
well-credentialed. Antonio T. de Nicolás is Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus,
SUNY at Stony Brook, and The Bio-Cultural Research Institute, St. Augustine,
Florida.
To give you an ideas about the relevance of
The Bhagavad
Gita in today's world I'd like to quote from the Preface: "The text of
The Bhagavad Gita has always been ahead of its time. It understands
philosophy as a practice in moments of crisis - which is every moment of our
life - and demonstrates how to overcome it. "
Though the story running
through the verses takes the form of the master and student, it is to show us
the relationship between our own body-mind-soul. And what a drama is portrayed -
with all the challenges we face in the ultimate quest in life - mastering our
own selfishness and realizing our true nature of bliss and harmony. Yes, indeed,
for each it can sometimes feel like a battle during our personal struggles
before self-realization.
There is so much to say that this short review
cannot possibly tell much about the scope of this important work for personal
evolution, but I will relate a portion to apply to your time in meditation from
a quote in Chapter 12. The Yoga of Devotion:
"4. Who restrain all their
senses, are even-minded,
Who take delight in the welfare of every being,
They also obtain me."
And, dear readers, my opinion about devotion in
meditation is to keep caring and kind thoughts near and dear to your heart; that
upon rising from sitting and stillness, you use those qualities in practical
daily living.
Highest recommendation!
Details - 160 page
paperback; Publisher - Nicolas-Hays (March 2004); English; 9 by 6 inches; ISBN:
0892540907
To order from Amazon.com go to
The
Bhagavad Gita translated by Antonio T. de Nicolas
All reviews, summaries and content on this site are copyright Susan Kramer
and may not be used in any manner without express written permission.
Email: susan@susankramer.com
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page created June 23, 2009
