September 2003
 
Radical Acceptance:
Embracing
Life with the Heart of a Buddha
Psychologist and
Buddhist teacher Dr. Tara Brach writes movingly from her own
personal experience. Suffering for
years from feelings of inadequacy, she resorted to addictive
behaviors to quell the pain. Longing to be kinder to herself,
Brach practiced Buddhist meditation, which helped her to escape
the “trance of unworthiness” that she believes permeates
Western culture.
This practice
led her to develop an approach to living she calls “radical
acceptance.” Radical acceptance means adopting an attitude
of profound lovingkindness toward ourselves. Through the practice
of loving who we are, without judgment or criticism, the painful
experience of isolation and deficiency is gradually replaced
with a sense of belonging and well-being. Recognizing we are
imprisoned in the trance of unworthiness is the first step toward
freedom from self-hatred. The problem is not us at all; it is
an epidemic of fear and shame in which we have become ensnared.
We can, and must,
stop being at war with ourselves, Brach says, because by accepting
and loving ourselves just as
we are—and
there is no reason not to do so—we are creating not only
a happier life but also a more peaceful world. This is a consoling,
honest, and wise book.
— Kathy Juline
www.lifepositive.com
I must confess I was tempted
to begin this review with, “Now
here is a site where one can find just about anything to do with...well,
nearly everything!” Not quite so. But I was honestly amazed
at the abundance of information available at the touch of a key.
First of all, the site is intelligently
organized into three basic sections: Body, Mind, and Spirit.
Click on any one of them
and you are immediately introduced to an astonishing variety
of links. Under “Mind,” for example, the viewer can
find subjects as diverse as peace, dreams, evolution, and (yes)
sports psychology. The links under “Spirit” are equally
fascinating: Buddhism, spiritual healing, meditation, spirit
centers, and Sufism, to name just a few.
The home page also displays
a number of interactive features, two of which particularly
intrigued me. The first was, “Get
Your Tarot Read.” Why not? The first card told me I would
meet…well, you know the rest. I tried again, and was told
that meditation was my answer to peace of mind. Better. I next
tried, “Ask the Laughing Buddha.” I asked, “Will
anybody read this review?” His answer: “You are here
and it is now.” Hmm. Well, that is what the Buddha said.
— Cliff
Johnson
 
The Next Enlightenment:
Integrating
East and West in a New Vision of Human Evolution
Walter Truett Anderson explores our understanding of what it
means to be human, and how our humanity is connected with the
world in his new book The Next Enlightenment. He states that
the current state of Western thought is an evolutionary one that
began with the Enlightenment, in which man freed himself from
restrictive dogmas, particularly those of established religion.
From there, we have moved through the Darwinian, Freudian,
and Existentialist phases. Anderson sees the human potential
movement
of the last century as our most recent shift in perspective.
The author argues that each
of these “liberation movements” was “an
attempt to stretch the boundaries of human consciousness and
move beyond narrow visions of the future.” We are on the
cusp of the next enlightenment, wherein “the exploration
of the universe and the study of human consciousness” will
be viewed as “two sides of the same coin, and equally important,
personal enlightenment as a natural process of individual growth
rather than a supernatural gift bestowed upon a chosen few.”
The Next Enlightenment provides a thoughtful perspective of
where we are going and where we have been. It will be enjoyed
by anyone
interested in the constant progress of modern spirituality.
— Amanda Pisani
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