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Rebel Buddha is a guide to finding Buddha within you, as well as exploring the concept of the Rebel Buddha, which is the voice of your waking self reaching out to challenge you. The essays in this book explore Buddhism from a philosophical/lifestyle approach as opposed to a religious approach. I found that I really got a lot out of such an approach, because the author doesn't use a lot of esoteric language. He strips Buddhism down to its core, and in the process asks the reader to do the same with him/herself. This is a book you'll read multiple times and you'll get something new out of it each time.

This book provides what I would consider to be the best practices of lucid dreaming and dream practice. The author doesn't focus on the psychology of dreams, though he does provide some insights on what dreams can reveal about issues you're working on. Instead the focus of this book is on how the techniques can be used to help you release attachment to those issues and achieve a state of connection with the universe, without being drawn back to samsaric existence. It's a very good book to read, but an even better one to do the practices. I've started doing them and already noticed some positive results. I'd recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about Dzogchen and for anyone who wants to use dream yoga for spiritual and physical well being.

This is an excellent guide to home remodeling. The author has put together a book which is easy to understand and explores the pros and cons of home remodeling as well as how to successfully navigate the stages of home remodeling. The surveys that are included are also very helpful as tools for mapping out how your family will be effected by the home remodeling. The author also did a job of seeding the book with anecdotes of successful and not so successful home remodeling case studies, which illustrated her points and also showed how important it is to pay attention to details. I highly recommend this book if you are going to be remodeling your home.

I found this book to be an insightful read into Taoist internal alchemy, however I'd also say that anyone reading it needs to have at least a couple years experience to even begin to get the concepts discussed. What I found was that the book provided greater clarity about some of the different exercises I'd already done, but I also realized that if I didn't already have experience with those exercises, I probably wouldn't get what the author was discussing. It's a useful book to have for an intermediate to advanced Taoist meditation practitioner.

In this book, the author presents practical ideas and strategies for people who are just starting out in their magical practice. This isn't a 101 book, but its safe to say it's a 102 book that also offers some insights to magicians with more experience. What I appreciate the most is that the author takes the time to focus on considerations such as finances and explains that while magic can help, it's also important to learn practical mundane skills. I also appreciate the author's choice to draw on a wide variety of sources that fall outside the traditional bibliography usually found in books. The author illustrates the importance of developing a well-rounded strategy by exposing readers to alternative sources. There are two reasons this book gets a four instead of a five, however. One reason is because the author doesn't address the value of doing internal work as a practical and strategic solution. while knowing how to do practical magic to solve a problem is important, being able to identify your participation in the problem and making changes is even more important, and more practical. The other reason is that while the author does draw on non-traditional sources, he doesn't address the topic of innovation and how it can be used to develop practical magic. All that said, this is an excellent book to read, and one I'd recommend to someone just starting out.

This is a very relevant book to read in a time of economic recession, but its also a book I would recommend reading even during a time of economic boom. The author spells out in clear cut terms what activities and behaviors work to make a business a fierce competitor and more importantly a successful business. I like the use of stories, but I also like the author's bluntness. The book is easy to read and to the point, but you will learn a lot in each chapter you read.

I highly recommend this book as an excellent introduction to the Bon tradition of Tibet. In this book the author explains what the Bon tradition is and how it differs from Buddhist beliefs and practices. The author explores in depth the foundational beliefs and practices of the Bon tradition while also explaining how they can be meaningfully applied to the life of the practitioner. What I like is that its also clear that this tradition has its own perspective on emptiness, which I found useful for getting a new perspective on it. Overall, I recommend this book for anyone serious about doing internal work.

Social Media 101 is chalk full of useful tips and suggestions for how to leverage social media for your business. Best of all the writing is not only approachable, but its to read a couple of chapters, put it down, and then come back to it later. I've found numerous useful tips that I've tried out, from the book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is wanting to learn more about how to use social media for business. Then check out Chris's blog, which will have more useful information for you.

What I most enjoyed about this book was Lee's efforts to provide detailed information about each path and create a framework for people from multiple belief systems to engage in the incorporation of kink to their spirituality. Lee's expertise as both a sex educator and spiritual teacher shows through in this book time and time again. He provides excellent examples and also useful definitions for understanding each path. I found a lot in this book that I know I can apply to my own spiritual practices and I think anyone else would find a similar treasure trough.

I was first told about this book by a friend of mine who used it to revitalize her sexual libido. I'm not sure if the information in here would help men or not, though it is worth looking into the fish oil for joint issues anyway. I do think, however, that this is a useful book for men to read, as well as women, so that men can better understand the sexual issues that women experience, as well as a possible solution for those issues. It's also a good book to read, because it may help men better understand the sexual physiology of women.

In this book Chia presents an advanced technique for Taoist inner alchemical work. While overall the information is good and in-depth, there are times were its clear Chia recycled content from previous books in order to fill out the book. Also some of the instructions are a bit more vague than they should be given the type of work involved. That said, if you've learned previous techniques it won't be hard to puzzle out what he means. The main thing to avoid is visualizing the work. You need to really experience it, and that's where the vagueness of the instructions is less than helpful. The technique in this book is worth reading and can be very helpful for body purification and health.

The author presents some useful evidence to prove that Qigong works to manage depression. What I would've liked even more was integration of Qigong exercises into the book. There was an appendix with some exercises, but it felt like the exercises were incorporated as more of an afterthought than anything else. This is a useful book for people who wish to make a case for alternative health practices, but isn't as geared to the lay person as I would have hoped.

I was thoroughly impressed with this book. The authors did a thorough job of explaining the system of Laban and its relevance to dance, but also bringing it down to the level of an utter novice, such as myself. They also provided detailed descriptions of exercises that are easy to follow and do and quite rewarding. Where this book really shines however, is in the theory of movement that Laban created around space and time and other elements he deemed significant to truly understanding the body. I feel, as a result of doing the exercises, that I have a much closer relationship to my body and a much keener appreciation of movement.

This book presents a "history" of time, with a heavy focus on physics and how physicists throughout history have approached and tried to conceptualize and explain time. The author does an excellent job of presenting a wide variety of both contemporary and historical perceptions of time. I enjoyed reading this book because it provided some food for thought on how I understand and conceptualize time. I recommend it to anyone who finds the concept of time fascinating and wants to learn what others have to say about it.

This book isn't explicitly for the magical practitioner, so much as its for a lay person, but nonetheless I was impressed by the thorough attention to detail and focus that the author provided. The author covered a variety of techniques and its fair to say that even experienced magicians could get a lot out of this book. What I liked the most was that it was very easy to follow the instructions provided. I'd recommend this book to any practitioner as a resource guide for magical and psychic cleansing techniques.

I just discovered this author's works recently and already I'm impressed by the depth and breadth of his writing as well as his attention to detail. Magical Techniques provides information on lesser known magical practices and tools that can be used by the magician to aid and enhance his/her workings. From his chapter on how to make chalk, to how to use feathers, to magic with orgone accumulators, there's something for everyone. He also provides some good anecdotes, both his own and of other people and how they used the different tools he discussed. This book is a definite must for the practical magician.

The Secret Pulse of Time is a very interesting book that looks at time from a number of angles, most notably cultural and neuroscience angles. I found it to be a refreshing read because it didn't focus on the conventional approach, which is usually physics, but actually delved into other disciplines and there take on time. The author also provided some excellent examples to back up what he was discussing. I found some of his thoughts on information overload particularly relevant, especially with the advent of social media. I highly recommend this book.

I found this book to be useful in terms of understanding Chia's approach to Taoist inner alchemy work and integrating more of the practices into my own work. At the same time, it seemed like this was just a much more convoluted version of the Fusion of the five element techniques, with a lot of extra and somewhat unnecessary steps included. I found that I needed to boil away a lot of the extra steps and once I did so still was able to achieve the desired and expected results for doing this practice. I'm not sure the material presented in this book warranted an entirely new book. It's still useful material and worth learning in order to refine your inner alchemical work.

Proponents of mindfulness and conscious intent may be disappointed when they read this book and realize just how much our unconscious dictates and influences our decisions. The author isn't afraid to tackle tough issues, such as how the hidden brain influences people's thinking about racial and gender issues, as well as how the group mind can actually harm you as opposed to help you. I found this to be a fascinating read because the author presents some compelling evidence that supports his claim and shows just how much the unconscious effects everyday life and decisions. I recommend this book as a refreshing and eye-opening perspective on how we make decisions.

Once again Keith Ferrazzi reveals the value and importance of cultivating genuine relationships in order to realize success at your business and life. I read this book during a difficult period of my life and the insights and wisdom that the author provided, especially on being vulnerable helped me reach out to my network during my time of need with a clarity and honesty that showed me just how much I am valued by that community, and made me want to give back even more. That’s the real gift of Mr. Ferrazzi’s work: He shows you the value of helping others and being generous. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to cultivate better relationships.

This short book provides concise and clear advice on how to grow your business, with useful exercises that will help you find clarity on the business process. The Early morning and evening question especially is useful for helping a business owner get oriented on what needs to be done to make a day successful. I will note that the book, due to the shortness of its length, doesn't touch on all aspects of a business or what a business owner might need to do with those aspects, but what makes this book so useful is it provides the necessary clarity combined with exercises that are easy to implement, making it a must read book for growing your business.

If you are writing a book and want to publish it you will need to write a book proposal at some point. This book explains how to write a book proposal that catches the interest of the agent or editor that you send the book proposal to. The authors methodically break down and explain each segment of the book proposal as well as what you need to do to write each section up successfully. They also provide 10 examples of successful book proposals and what made those proposals work. The authors provide commentary on each proposal. You will definitely find the book useful for understanding how a book proposal should be written and what makes one successful.

This book raises some tough questions about cultivating spiritual discernment for your own spiritual journey as well as what questions to ask your spiritual teachers. The author's experiences with the various forms of spiritual charlatanry that occur with teachers is evident in how she explains the symptoms and issues to look out for. I found this book very useful for analyzing my own spiritual journey and looking at how I've presented myself to others in a spiritual context. It gave me some valuable tools for evaluating my own journey as well as evaluating people who might claim to have spiritual authority.

In this book Hall explores how different cultures approach and integrate the concept of time into their lives. He explores in depth how the cultural differences can impact peoples interactions with each other, as well as how we can be more aware of the cultural differences as it pertains to temporal awareness. I felt that this book wasn't as dynamic as his previous works. I still got a lot out of it, but it did seem like he was rehashing a lot of his earlier work. I'd still recommend it, because he a lot of interesting perspectives to raise.

This is a very interesting book, which explores the role of metaphors in the English language and argues that the majority of communication is done in metaphors. In particular the authors explore space and time metaphors which makes for some rather interesting insights to how American culture handles space and time. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys linguistics or wants to explore how language use impacts everyday life. This is a dense read, so you'll need to spend some time working with it, but you'll get a lot out of it.

Like the rest of Seth's books there's a lot of ideas here, but not a lot in the way of really useful practical ideas. The concept of tribes, of creating a following isn't really new, but what Seth tries to do is present a new perspective to it, and to some degree he succeeds in that he does show how one or a few people can motivate many people to follow in the mission of those one or few people. What he doesn't really do is provide more than some examples and rants on what not to do and even the rants aren't articulated very well. What Seth's really managed to do is notice a trend that's already occurring and tried to present it as something new and novel, without really exploring how groups dynamics work.

This is probably one of the best books out there on Genghis Khan and his descendants. Instead of portraying him as a bloodthirsty conqueror, it goes into the history of his policies and choices for governing his people, as well as the innovations he brought to warfare and government. The author also focuses on the stereotypes and debunks them to reveal a fascinating person with a unique vision for the word that is much more egalitarian than previously was known. An excellent read not merely for the history, but also for understanding how innovation can be applied.

This is a very good book, but it's not remarkable. However it is about trying to be remarkable, and while what Godin says is very useful, it's also nothing new. I've seen this book get a lot of hype, and I can see why it has gotten such hype, especially with the current economy, and businesses wanting to stand out and be more relevant, and certainly Godin exemplifies what he talks about, as is evidenced by Squidoo and his books. At the same time, what would have made Purple Cow remarkable would be more than just telling stories of what other people have done. Providing some exercises, or some in-depth case studies, as opposed to brief anecdotes provided, may have made it remarkable. Unfortunately, and ironically, with this book Godin has fallen into the very trap he discusses in it: His ideas have become so commonplace, they are no longer remarkable.

This proved to be a very useful read, because it spells out the necessity of determining when you should quit something and when you should pursue it. It's a short book, but you will want to take your time and think about what the author suggests, especially because quitting is so foreign to us. However by spending some time looking at what you are doing and if it's something you can really commit to, you can save yourself a lot of time, money, and effort. I wish I had read this before before I embarked on my ph.d program years ago. It certainly would've saved me a lot of time and effort. In anycase, I highly recommend reading this book, as it will help you prioritize what really matters in your life.

While I don't think it's realistic to try and do social media marketing on one hour a day, especially with the amount of work involved, what I appreciate about this book is the attention the author gives to the strategy behind social media marketing. The author provides resources and worksheets that the reader can use to help them plan out their social media strategy, and also details what the reader will need to do in terms of actually engaging their audience as opposed to just advertising to them. Best of all what this author writes about can be applied across a variety of social media technologies, even if and when that technology changes.

In this book, Hall explores the intricacies of time and space from a cultural studies perspective. Although this book is a bit dated, the information is still very relevant, and what Hell offers is an examination of how much our perception of time influences our cultural and everyday interactions. For example, learning just how tightly time is wound for Americans as opposed to other cultures is quite insightful to the workaholicism that pervades American culture. Hall touches on some aspects of space as well, though you'll find more of his thoughts on it, in the hidden dimension. What I most enjoyed about this book is an exploration of time from a social science perspective as opposed to a hard science perspective. I definitely recommend it to anyone interested in understanding concepts of space and time.

As always, I find myself intrigued by the depth of exploration that Evola brings to any of his books. In this book he discusses the earliest Buddhist texts and makes some persuasive arguments against how Buddhism is currently perceived. The analysis of the texts and techniques as well as instructions on the techniques makes for a very insightful read. I got a lot out of the book and undoubtedly will get even more when I re-read the book. This book isn't for the casual reader. Evola's writing is very dense and heady. You will likely need to re-read some of his passages to fully grasp what he is conveying, but once you do grasp, your understanding will be solid. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Buddhist mysticism or meditational practices.

This is a fascinating book which examines concepts such as territoriality, smell, touch, thermal heat in the context of space and how different cultures organize and interact with space. The author also examines how intercultural issues with space contribute to a lot of the conflicts that occur with people. Reading this book has presented me some new perspectives about space and how I interact with others in my own space, as well as ways to respect the space of other people better. Cultural space is explored in particular depth to show how even the living spaces of different culture varies due to how people in a given culture interact with space. Overall a very insight and revealing book about the relationship of space to how we live and interact.

In this book the authors suggest that it's important to routinize imagination. However take heart, for what they are suggesting is not to make imagination boring, but rather to make it a daily routine of your business so that you can use it to creatively solve problems, get yourself out of mental ruts, and approach what you do and how you do it in novel ways that reinvigorate your business. Filled with 28.5 practices, this book won't leave you with a dull imagination or moment, but rather can inspire you to approach business and life with new perspectives and ideas on how to make your life and business more fun and more successful. I found some of the ideas in this book very helpful and am already applying them to what I do, to help me get more creative and focused in what I do.

When I read this book, I was somewhat skeptical as to what exactly was different in this model of coaching, as opposed to others, but as I continued to read this book, I saw that what was different was two important factors. The first factor was this book approached the issue of coaching clients with an acknowledgment that clients need to deal with the possibility of failure and how they will renew themselves as a result of dealing with failure. Instead of advocating the false optimism of the Secret, which tends to influence some of the coaching paradigms, this book looked at how people really handle tough situations that can involve conflict. The second factor is that this book focused on the business of coaching, exploring what coaches need to do to make their business successful. I wish this section had been longer, but found it quite useful and helpful in terms of showing me how I can approach my business better.

If there's one book I wish I'd read when I was sixteen it would have to be this book. It's also the book I would insist on being mandatory reading for anyone who's serious about owning their own business. In this book, Ferrazzi distills the fine art of networking and explains just how important it is, as well as sharing his own tips and tricks for effectively networking. All of his ideas are useful and if you implement only a few of them, you'll still see some changes. I've already noted some positive changes in my business because of executing his concepts. I highly recommend this book as an excellent guide for how to network successfully and most importantly how to succeed by genuinely taking care of the people you know and letting them help you as well.

This was a very interesting read, which examined the varying theories of psychology and focused on integrating those theories together and then providing an overarching theory that they could fit into, supplied by Wilbur. The author is clearly very well studied in what he discusses and provides some detailed explanations that provide a successful argument for what he's attempting to do. This can be a dense read and jargon heave, especially with some of the words the author has come up with on his own, but don't let that discourage you. I see this work as an essential read for occultists, a way of expanding their understanding and application of psychology to their own practices. The charts at the end of the book are helpful for illustrating what Wilbur is explaining. My only wish is that he could've integrated the charts more into the book, instead of at the back.

Demon Chick is a quick and fun read for all ages. I found the premise of the story intrigued and liked how the author described hell. The characters are a little flat, and the antagonist is somewhat absent throughout the story, but it was a funny read and the story works. I'd like to know more about what happens to the character afterwards and if she ever gets to have a discussion with her mom, but overall I really enjoyed this book.

it just is...a great book. I found myself turning pages, unable to stop reading. The characters are believable, the stories realistic, and at the same time you get intrigued by how the main characters navigate through the gray world of being a cop and the ethical quandaries that occur as a result. I liked the action scenes, and the humor, but also enjoyed the author's attention to detail. Really enjoyable book to read. I look forward to more.

In this book, the author presents an explanation of the divinatory system of the i-ching and classic Taoist techniques for understanding and utilizing that system. The case studies he provides are very helpful for understanding how the divinatory system works, but be warned, you do need to have more than a basic familiarity with the concepts he discusses to get the most out of this book. While I definitely could understand what he was writing about, I know I'd need to do more research on the i-ching before being comfortable with this divination system. That said, this book does provide an excellent read and opportunity to learn more about the i- ching

Although I'm already conversant with twitter, I did finding reading this book useful, because it turned me on to some twitter applications I didn't know about. The author's enthusiasm for the technology is evident in the book and in the tips and suggestions he provides for how to make twitter a useful experience. And whether you are a beginner or an expert, you will learn more about twitter in this book, as well as how to take advantage of all it's technology and the applications it provides. The one issue I have wit this book is a minor one. As time goes on and the technology advances, it will become less relevant. It's mainly focused on how to use the technology, so while that is useful, it doesn't present strategies for how to use it beyond being familiar with the technology itself.

Right from the beginning I found this book to be an engaging read, which showed two (and occasionally three) perspectives on the relationship between clients and agencies in the marketing world. While this book can definitely shed some light on the relationships between agencies and clients, it also will give small businesses some perspectives on marketing and client relationships as well. What I really like however is the rapport between the two authors. At times they might disagree with each other, but throughout the book the honesty and clarity they bring to the book shows through and provides insight on their own relationships as well as the relationship between clients and agencies, as well as how to improve those relationships. Highly recommended as a must read for its unique format and approach to the subject.

I wish I could say this book really represented an evolution in psychology or how we conceive of the self, but the truth is, it really doesn't. If you read this author's other works, then this work can be thought of as half a step beyond those works. At times the author is judgmental, condescending, and whiny, and he doesn't offer much in the way of a concrete definition of self. The final few chapters predictably focus on flow, but don't provide anything significantly new to the theory that he hasn't offered anywhere else.

This is one of those rare reviews where I would have to say that this book is an essential read for today's occultist. Taking a mystic's perspective to magic and it's integration into our lives, Coyle provides a model of attaining mindful awareness that isn't newagey and is something the occult culture sorely needs. She explores in depth the value of internal work and provides exercises that the reader can use to get in touch with his/her higher self. This book is a guide to internal work and what is refreshing about it is that it's written from a Western tradition of magical practice. Definitely put this book on your must read list this year.

The author presents an interesting argument...that it's possible to work only a few hours each week and otherwise live a life of luxury and ease. The author provides strategies for mini-retirements, outsourcing work, and other methods for otherwise organizing and cutting down on the amount of time you spend working. I definitely found some of what the author wrote useful in terms of analyzing my own patterns of behavior and whether or not I was really spending my time effectively. However, his book is written toward people who are primarily working from a product driven approach. Since I work in a service industry, this book is only somewhat helpful, and doesn't address how to achieve such a lifestyle, while working in a service industry. The book has some useful ideas, but there's a lot more that would need to be addressed from a service focused industry.

This was a thought-provoking book about the emotional lives of animals and how much we take for granted by trying to assume that only humans can feel emotions. The authors provided a wide variety of anecdotes from their own experiences as well as the experiences of others. They show that animals can feel emotions and also interact in a variety of ways that go beyond traditional scientific reports on them. This book also raises some important questions about how we treat animals. My only complaint would be that at times the authors are very biased about how they feel, which consequently tones down some of what they attempt to convey to readers.

I found this book to be very readable and easy to follow. I really appreciated how it was set up to explain Buddhism in a very approachable manner, with clear and concise explanations of what Buddhism is about. While I'm already familiar with Buddhism, the author's way of explaining the core concepts and different components of it really helped me understand a lot more about Buddhism. I came away with a much more solid understanding of Buddhism, its practices and how I could incorporate it into my life.

This is an excellent beginner's book into neuroscience, and one I'd recommend for anyone who wants to understand how the brain works and how the mind is connected to the brain. The author presents the connectionist model and does a good job of also explaining how the neurons and synaptic processes of the brain work. The examples she uses are also very helpful. This is a short book, and an easy read. It's definitely the first book I recommend to someone new to neuroscience, because the author concisely introduces and explains the concepts, while keeping the reader grounded.

If you've read his first book on Flow, this book isn't going to offer anything substantially different from the first one. It's a rehash of what he already wrote, albeit a more concisely written rehash. What I don't see is anything substantially new or different. It's a good book to read if you want to familiarize yourself with the concept of Flow, but if you have already read his previous works, save yourself your money and time on this one.

I found this book to be very insightful about the blend of Eastern Mysticism with Western Psychology. At times, it seemed liked every page offered a new insight or perspective that not only helped me understand this blend, but also helped me make sense of myself. This was a fairly dense read. I definitely needed to take breaks and process what I read, as well as meditate on it, but it proved really useful for helping me navigate through some interpersonal issues, as as proving useful for examining how identity is approached by Eastern mysticism and Western Psychology. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and would in fact suggest that anyone using meditation to work through personal issues should read this book, as it could prove helpful for navigating through some of those issues.

I found this book to be an insightful look at how George Bush has been demonized and how that's really reflective of a process of how people externalize their own issues and project them on to other people. Levy builds a strong case for how the madness and demonization of Bush is ultimately something we are all responsible for by our choice to treat Bush as a being of such evil and harm and ignorance that we can't see the human person that he is. If there's one thing I really would have liked to have seen from Levy, it would be more focus on the solution to the madness of Bush. He only writes a few chapters on that solution and ultimately doesn't spend enough time showing how it can be implemented or how to utilize the concepts he speaks of to make active and healthy changes in our lives. He's able to prove his point about how the shadow self can manifest and be projected, but more focus on what to do with that shadow self, how to work with it, etc., would have been really nice.

This book explains what optimal experiences are and how they relate to the psychology of happiness. This book also provides some intriguing definitions for consciousness, attention, and intention, which I think are useful in reconsidering how to purposely use such elements of our behavior to prompt flow. It's a good book overall, with the author providing some excellent examples of how people have used flow states to overcome adversity as well as create works of genius. It also presents some psychological theory which isn't rooted in Freud, Jung, or the eight circuit model, which is refreshing to read, and much needed in order to better appreciate psychology as a discipline and how that discipline can be related to one's spirituality. If there's one area where this book suffers, it's that the author is sometimes too wordy and overly repetitious. While I enjoyed this book, there were times, I felt the author was repeating himself too much, in order to get a point across. That said, it's definitely worth picking up, to broaden your understanding of psychology and optimal states of experience.

I found this book useful from the very beginning. It helped me clarify and capture what both my strengths and weaknesses are professionally. I also think this model could be applied on a personal level, though the author mainly focused on careers. I liked the exercises in the book. They provided a useful way to implement the theories in the book, so that you could really grasp what your strengths and weaknesses are. I definitely felt like I had a much better grasp of what I can be doing as well as what I want to do...and how I can delegate my weaknesses to people who enjoy those activities more than I do. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to discover what his/her strengths are and start using them in his/her life.

I found Mencius to be an excellent book, which clarified and drew out a lot of the Confucianist principles found in the analects, with much lengthier explanations offered. In particular Mencius's focus on the Heart and also changing your vices into virtues by sharing them with other people is fascinating because it illustrates a different perspective on how to approach the world, while simultaneously advocating a humanistic approach, sorely needed in our current time. It's wroth revisiting this great classic, both as a way to evaluate our practices, and also to remind us that ultimately we need to value an approach that is humanistic as opposed to materialistic.

This is pretty much an exhaustive coverage of the memory mansion technology, where a person creates a virtual space and symbols and associates information with each symbol. Yates traces the technique to pre-socratic Greece through Rome and the medieval and Renaissance era. There's some intriguing overlay with the occult history of Giordano Bruno. I'll admit, however, I was actually looking for what I hoped would be detailed information on how the memory technique is done. While Yates does provide some information, I didn't find this book to be as useful as I hoped. It's useful as a history about memory techniques, but not really for a description of those techniques.

This is a really intriguing book which looks at how investors can use their values to shape not only their stock portfolios, but the companies they invest in as well as explaining how this is a form of social activism. I found this book to be useful in terms of considering how I want to plan my investments to reflect my values as well as helping me be an agent of social change. This book shows that people who are middle class can be socially aware and use their financial influence to be a positive force for change. Different criterias of investing for change are included which examine the motivations of people for doing certain types of investments. Definitely worth reading if you want to use your finances to make a statement about your values.

This is probably one of the most elegant and useful processes I've found for doing internal work. She bases it off of the Chod ritual done in the Tibetan Bardo and Buddhist systems of work, but makes it sufficiently culture free so that anyone could use the technique and get the concepts behind using the technique. Additionally the technique is broken down into a five step process, which is easy to do and definitely produces results, while also continuing to build upon the internal work you may already be doing. Pick this book up, because it will definitely put a new twist on your dysfunctions, and also help you move past them.

This is an excellent book to read if you are working for yourself. Fishman explains how taxes work for self-employed people, how to make the IRS work for you, while avoiding an audit, and also how to draw up contracts which protect your time and income. If you are self-employed you will need this book. Even better, the matter is very accessible and easy to work through. Fishman breaks the chapters down so that it's easy to find what you need, without necessarily having to read the entire book.

I found Tai Chi dynamics to be an interesting mixture of martial arts, physics and philosophy. The author clearly and concisely explained how physics could be applied to Tai chi movements and practice as well as providing some very interesting exercises a person could do to demonstrate the principles in action. I also found his chapter on fasting to be very useful as he explained how to properly do it and what needs to be considered in order to do a successful fast. This is definitely a book for intermediate practitioners. If you aren't familiar with Tai Chi, spend some time learning it and then come back to this book.

I found this to be a fascinating book because it presents a perspective on social morality and the obligations constructed around having a family and a duty to the society you live in. I'm not sure if the translation is as accurate as it could be and there were times where the subtlety of the subject matter escaped me, likely because I'm not from china nor do I really have an accurate understanding of the culture in Confucius's time, let alone present time. Still, I found this book fascinating because it presents a different perspective on social responsibility and morality toward the people we interact with. I highly recommend reading it as an opportunity to expand your horizons both culturally and for social responsibility.

This is an intriguing book that is mostly focused on practical applicatiosn of everyday items to results driven magic. The author offers amusing stories without being pretentious and more importantly includes tips and suggestions that the magician can use to effectively apply the concepts to practical workings in his/her own life. Something I do wish the author focused a bit more on was the business of being a magician, i.e. charging people for services. He hints at this throughout the book, but doesn't comment much on it at any length. That said, however, this book does challenge you to think on the edge of the magical kaostar. I really enjoyed it and will definitely take the suggestions and run with them in my own practice. 4.5 kaostars out of 5.

This is a really intriguing book that examines how the physiology of the body changes throughout an entire day. The reader learns a lot more about the different cycles that the body undergoes, which dependent on the time of day as well as how to make his or her habits work around and with the cycle of the body to produce healthier benefits. What I found particularly fascinating was the detailed look at different parts and functions of the body such as digestion and sleep. As I read this book, I came to appreciate the miracle of my body even more, as well as how I can consciously work with it in order maximize the life I'm living. I definitely think that this book offers a lot of exploration for people who wish to work with their bodies on a conscious level.

This is an excellent book on contemporary physics. It is written for a popular audience, but even with that, it is a dense book. However Greene does an excellent job of making the material easier to approach. He uses some pop culture references such as the Simpsons to illustrate and explain the concepts involved in the physics he's discussing. What I enjoyed most, however, is the evident enthusiasm in Greene's work. His enthusiasm consistently made theb ook more enjoyable and the concepts easier to understand. I highly recommend picking this book if you want to learn more about physics, or if you're interested in how science can inform your spiritual practices. I found it useful in helping me understanding some of the finer details involved in quantum mechanics and how time and space work from a physics perspective.

Meta-Magick is an intriguing book which presents readers with an opportunity to create not one entity, but actually a number of entities based off of principles such as attention, passion, trance, language, making, and Fitting. Additionally Farber provides 36 exercises which can be used by people to learn how to integrate these principles into their lives. Farber also focuses on eight powers: Communication, neuroplasticity, transformation, transmission, beauty, understanding, balance, and opening. The book doesn't overtly focus on these powers much...instead the focus is more subtle. You will experience them through doing the exercises in the book, which is what the author intended. Meta-magick definitely is not intended to be something intellectually read, so much as it is intended to be experienced and worked with. You will get a lot of leverage out of this book if you do the exercises in them. It's an excellent book to introduce people to magic, but is also good for intermediate to advanced practitioners.

This is a must have book for anyone who's starting or running a small business. Levinson includes tons of tactics and strategies that any small business owner can benefit from and best of all can personalize to their own advantages. I have lots of pages dog tagged in my copy, because I know I'll be referring to them again and again and again. I also like Levinson's style of writing; he makes readers instantly comfortable with the concepts, while also urging them to incorporate those concepts into how they do business. You can't go wrong with Guerrilla Marketing...what you can learn is how to make your business successful while spending as little as possible.

This was my favorite of the Lincoln rhyme novels. I liked the plot, because of the twists and turns and I enjoyed how fleshed out every character was. Even the minor characters were believable. I also like the ongoing plot that continues from Cold Moon. What I particularly have enjoyed is seeing the character of Pulaski used more. There's a lot that Deaver does with other characters, but in this novel, he brought Pulaski to life and it makes me curious to see what he'll do with him in the future.

I initially found this book to be really intriguing, particularly in terms of how Bonnasse presented the concept of observing the self as the self is reading. I think it’s a good point to make because people can be resistant to what is read. However, the first half of the book didn’t live up to the potential expressed in the introduction. It came off as pretentious and somewhat confusing. I’ve been told that the confusion is characteristic of Gurdjieff’s works, so I wasn’t entirely surprised to find it in a disciple’s work, but I think that confusion detracts from the overall message that the author is attempting to convey. The latter half of the book improves when the author focuses on explaining the enneagram and concepts of language and magic and how those relate to the Gurdjieff philosophy. I particularly found the focus on vibrations to be interesting and insightful. What might’ve helped with this book was some exercises that readers could do in order to implement the theory into action. While I found this book interesting and a somewhat decent introduction to Gurdjieff’s philosophy, I was disappointed by how confusing the book could get, as well as the occasional pretentious holier than thou attitude conveyed by the author. This book could be worth picking up if you want to learn a bit more about Gurdjieff or want to examine how language is treated in his system of philosophy.

I was really intrigued when Carroll released a new book on chaos magic. The Apophenion is the introduction to a goddess, more space/time specualtation, theory, and practice from Carroll, an exploration of the multi-mind and much more. It is a book worth picking up if you're into chaos magic or experimental magic, or if you're curious as to how someone who has training in math and science is applying that training to magic. What I liked about the book was Carroll's succinct explanations of his theories about time magic and the multi-mind. I also liked his explanation of Apophenia and how one can work with her. I already consider her a deity of space/time workings from his description of her. I will note that the Apophenion is mainly a book of theory and that it assumes that readers already know a good deal about magic. Any practical applications of it, are left entirely in the hands of the readers to produce. With this book, Carroll charts new path for chaos magic, while also updating readers on his own work. I highly recommend it as an inspiring and thought-provoking read. 5 out of 5 chaostars

The Inner Smile is a book entirely devoted to the inner smile meditation technique developed by Mantak Chia. Chia discusses some of the basics of chi and Taoist energy work and then proceeds to describe how the inner smile technique works. His perspective is that using the inner smile can be used to bring emotional happiness to the internal organs of the body. While I think this is a good book, my main problem with it is that pretty much all of the material can be found in his more advanced books. While he does seem to go into a bit more depth about the inner smile meditation technique in this book, it doesn’t, in my opinion, justify a completely new book to explain the practice. It feels like he’s trying to milk these topics for everything he can get, when he might better serve his readers by combining some of the related topics into a larger book. The consistency of how much he repeats his other works diminishes the value of this book and his other writing. I’d recommend this book for someone who’s just learning about Taoist breathing and energetic techniques and wants a light introduction to it. However, I can’t really recommend it to anyone else, because the majority of the information is available in all of this other books.

This book really impressed me. I liked Palmer's style of writing, which was direct and to the point, but also very approachable. His use of anecdotes to explain his various experiences, both good and bad, with different styles of leadership also made me very comfortable with the subject material of the book. Additionally, he wasn't afraid to use the stories that other leaders had to offer. However what really makes this book work is Palmer's diverse experiences with different styles of leadership. From his suggestions about academic leadership, to the rigors of being and entrepreneur, to corporate leadership, Palmer shows what works and doesn't work in each style of leadership. This is a very valuable book for anyone who wants to be a leader or is a manager. Additionally, it is useful for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to gain insight in how to best direct their efforts when deciding to lead others. Pick this up book and you'll get some good perspectives to consider in your journey to succeed with your business.

For the most part I enjoyed this book. The author impressed me with using footnotes, which is definitely a step up from the majority of occult books out there. A lot of his advice and ideas are practical and useful for beginning magicians. All of the exercises in the book are ones I'm familiar with, as it's written for a beginner to intermediate audience, but they are useful to work through. I particularly liked the invent your own magical language exercise, which reminds of TOPY speak, and also Spare's alphabet of desire technique. The questions at the back of the book were handy and useful for processing information and extending the ideas in the book further, which is again a rarity and something I applaud Mr. Dunn for doing. The author's focus on semiotics and symbolism is a fresh perspective and will offer readers food for thought and action, should they follow through on doing the exercises. Also Mr. Dunn does a good job of covering a wide range of occult techniques and presenting them from a symbolic perspective. However, while I did like this book, there are some issues with it, which I find problematic. I would have liked to have seen an integrated system of in-text citations such as APA to get a better sense of the sources he draws on. Also he does not, imho, draw on enough available sources. As an example his paradigm piracy in chapter one doesn't cite Josh Wetzel's work, which given that Mr. Dunn lives in Illinois, is surprising, since Wetzel's work is available there, although in limited print. He never defines the term postmodern, which given the title of the book, is rather important. Also beyond providing his own definition of semiotics, he doesn't draw on any semiotic theory. A brief introduction to semiotic theory complete with some references to semiotic theoriticans for curious readers would have been nice as well as drawing on the most updated semiotic work. His influences seem to draw more from Saussure's work than anywhere else, but again without a reference list, that's only a guess. The other issue I had was his focus solely on magic as a symbolic reality, with him throwing out the energy/spirit models because they couldn't be "proven". Given that he is drawing on a social science background, his focus is ultimately on what he knows as a social scientist, and yet his stance as a social scientist frequently seems to take the magic out of magic. Ironically at times he comes off as contradicting his view that magic is entirely and only a symbolic reality that can be worked with. As an example he worries about whether cutting a tree would hurt it, and yet earlier argues that everything, even a physical cat you look at is just a symbol. If that's the case, the tree is just a symbol, so why worry if it can be hurt? The argument that symbols and reality are one and the same is intriguing, but also dangerous in terms of leading a magician toward solipsism. In the end, the book is worth checking out and reading for some intriguing ideas. Keep a bit of salt and skepticism on hand and try his paradigm out, but also do some further research into semiotics on your own. I'd give this book 3 and a 1/2 stars out of five.

Overall, I was fairly impressed by this book. I think Dunn does an excellent job of explaining a lot of the theories behind language and magic, as well as showing how theories can be made into practice. He explores concepts of gematria, glossalia, metaphor, semiotics and much more and in the process makes all the concepts approachable and easy to understand. In fact, I think that's the strength of this book. It's written so that anyone can pick up the book, read about the concepts, and put them into practice, though at least in the case of gematria, readers will probably need to have a decent familiarity with Quabala. I also liked his explanation of the semiotic web and the Defixio. In both cases he not only explains the theory, but also provides personal anecdotes and suggestions for how the reader can incorporate those practices into his/her work. I think his latest book is a good introduction to linguistics and magic, and he provides the reader some other works to explore once they finish his work. I did have two minor issues which made this book a four out of five for me. The fourth appendix of the book has a bunch of practical exercises for the book. It seems odd that the exercises are placed at the end of the book, instead of incorporated into the book. I'm not sure if that a decision of the publisher or the author. The other issue is that while he does cover a lot of the connection between linguistics and magic, he doesn't cover much of the contemporary work occurring with linguistics or magic. He dedicates only a small section to the contemporary work. That said, this a good primer for linguistics and magic and how the two disciplines can be brought together. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in branching outward from more conventional approaches to magic.

This is a short and to the point book which explains how to think like a millionaire. The authors explain concisely how to change your thinking about wealth, how to set a goal and how to stick to it. The language is easy to read and the advice offered is common sense, albeit common sense rarely followed. The exercises at the end of the book help the readers apply the concepts in the books to their lives. About the only quibble I have is that this book is just the latest of many books offering similar advice on how to think your way to wealth. It's fortunately not too new agey, which does make it different from some of the other books out there. I gave it a five, because I think the authors did a good job of explaining the concepts and providing exercises to make those concepts work.

This book was probably the most fascinating book I read about neuroscience and that's saying something since I find all of them fascinating. In this book the author explains neuroplasticity and how it continues to work in the brains of an adult as well as a child. The author also reviews many of the neuroscience experiments and projects done by various people as well as how those projects have confirmed the efficacy of mindful practices in controlling our habits and thoughts. What I found really fascinating was how the author's work with OCD patients help them overcome that affliction by learning how to rewire the thought patterns. Equally interesting is the focus on how we can deliberately change our brains not only to heal, but also to continue sharpening our skills. For people interested in the intersection of neuroscience and magic, this book is a must read. 5 out 5

While not a typical book that one might associate with spiritual techniques, this book proved rather intriguing because the author examines how punctuation, tenses, clauses, passivity, etc is used in language to communicate and also empower an individual. As someone who consistently is interested in exploring the connection between language and spiritual techniques, I also found this book useful for considering how I could not only improve my writing, but also improve the efficacy of my magical workings when it came to using language. Each chapter is only a few pages long, but the author manages to include a lot of information as well as samples for how grammar can be used to empower and communicate, as well as create personal change. The author's narrative is friendly and approachable. I didn't feel lost in a sea of grammar rules. If anything, I felt that I could easily navigate grammar's laws and use them to my benefit, both for my writing and my sense of self. If I have one quibble with this book, it's that the author didn't include exercises for the reader. While the examples he used were illustrative of how to improve one's writing skills as well as how to use writing to effect personal change, the lack of exercises can keep the reader from realizing the book's full potential, unless they are already active writers. That said, I'd give this book a 4.5 out of 5.

In Emotions Revealed, Ekman discusses how a person's face can be "read" to determine what kind of emotions s/he is feeling. The author then proceeds to focus on emotions such as contempt, disgust, sadness, happiness, and anger. In each chapter he has a model who shows different expressions. He explains in great detail how to read the facial expressions as well as what they seem to mean. He also has an exercise that people can do to use facial expressions to invoke feelings. Overall, it's a fascinating read, which shows how much the face is integral to feeling emotion as well as expressing it. At times, the book is dry and can be a bit of a slog to read through, but Ekman does a fairly comprehensive job of explaining the subject. I'm already eager to see how I can apply the concepts in my everyday communication.

My wife Lupa really liked this book and I was curious myself to see what it was about. Nature and the Human soul examines nature and how it informs and otherwise nourishes the human soul. The author breaks up the human life into eight stages and relates a concept of nature to each stage of human development. The author's argument is that we need to cultivate an ecocentric relationship with nature and each other as opposed to a selfish egocentric relationship. After reading this book, I will say that I have a renewed appreciation of nature and why it's important to have activities in one's life that involves doing something to foster a relationship with nature. I'm not talking about a walk in the park or even a hike in a forest either...I'm talking more along the lines of actively being a steward of nature. In this book, the author argues that we need to bring nature back into our cultural practices so that we can build spiritual and community practices that focus on the well-being of all, as opposed to the material well-being of humans. The author uses different stages of human development to show what can be done during each stage of development to build such practices. One thing which works against the efficacy of this book is the lack of exercises. While the author makes an excellent argument for integrating into a person's spiritual and community practices, he doesn't offer much in the way of practical exercises to show how this can be done. The theory is in place, but the practice also needs to be instituted to really make the concepts in this book workable. Four out of Five stars.

I found this book fascinating to read, in part because I had to monitor my own reactions to some of his statements, and in part because as always Evola does such a thorough job of supporting his arguments that even when I disagree with him, I'm also filled with a sense of acknowledgment toward the work he was clearly doing. At the same time, this book mainly stayed in the theoretical and philosophical domains of the metaphysicals of sexual love, as opposed to focusing on the concept on any practical level. My main knee jerking with this book has a lot to do with Evola's depiction of women and also his stance on polarity when it comes to sex magic. I think to some degree his belief in fascist ideology also comes through, but not to a large degree. Evola does a fairly in-depth exploration of the metaphysics of love via a variety of fields, including psychology, Platonic and neo-platonic thoughts on love, as well as some of the occult perspectives on sex magic, including references to Crowley and Randolph's works. Throughout that exploration he weaves in his own thoughts and perceptions about the metaphysics of sexual love in a manner which clearly shows his stance as well as his arguments against other perspectives. I'd recommend checking this book out if you're interested in sex magic. I'll note that you may find yourself re-reading soem passages. Evola is not an easy author to read. He can be fairly dense in his take on the subject matter. It is, however, worth your tiem to re-read the passages...I know i'll be reading this book again down the line because there is so much information he conveys in it. Five out of five stars.

Gladwell offers an intriguing look at how the subconscious or intuition of a person works in different situations, as well as how it can be trained and the importance of sometimes taking a step back before acting on a situation. This is a relatively quick read with some intriguing ideas offered in it. If you like this book, you may find it useful to track down some of the writings by people he references as they go into more depth than Gladwell does.

In this book, Welwood examines the concept of unlove and how that concept motivates the unhealthy patterns that people sometimes act out when in a relationship. I enjoyed this book as I enjoyed his other books. What I found useful was his thoughtful but also detailed examination of unlove and how it manifests. His examples of his work with clients was also helpful for illustrating his theories about unlove. Most importantly I came away with a better recognition of my own issues and how to cultivate a good awareness of those issues. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to better love hirself.

Out of all the financial books I've read so far, I believe this one is the one that speaks most to my values and beliefs about finances. Instead of preaching about how you can have it all, the authors discuss the value of frugality and recognizing when a person has enough. The authors have nine steps in their program and each step is designed to help you make your way to financial independence and intelligence by asking yourself what your really getting out of your spending habits, and also the way you live your life. The authors posit that it is entirely possible to retire earlier in your life provided you know how to live frugally, and I believe this is entirely the case. I've already been modifying how I spend money, thinking carefully about what the benefit is of buying a particular item, as well as what my overall goals are. I'm already noticing some effects and I'm willing to continue comitting to a program that ultimately could lead to satisfaction in terms of having enough time to really do everything that I want to do.

The Tipping Point offers an intriguing perspective on how buying trends, social trends, and other patterns of behavior occur as a result of a few people: connectors, mavens, and salesmen. I think the author supports his claim really well with the data he draws on. I found the book intriguing because the author makes the concepts easy to follow and shows how societal trends are shaped by just a few people who help tip the rest of us to what those trends are.

In Big Brain, two neuroscientists offer up an intriguing argument about the size of brains and how that size corresponds to evolutionary advancements. They also shed light on the politics that sometimes informs how scientists present or obscure information. I found this book interesting, but beyond their argument about bigger brains, I didn't find anything startlingly new. Most of what they presented is information about how the brain is believed to work and how it allows us to think and learn. They did focus on some intriguing mutations that are found in the occasional person where said person has gifts some of us don't have while also having disabilities that we don't have. The book is an interesting read and does provide some solid information for people who are just learning about neuroscience. It's perspective on evolution is also intriguing, but there are other works that provide more insight into how the brain works than this book will.