Spirituality Bestsellers

The Places That Scare You
A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
By Pëma Chöndrön

According to Pema Chondron, we can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder.  Here Pema provides the tools to deal with the problems and difficulties that life throws our way. This wisdom is always available to us, she teaches, but we usually block it with habitual patterns rooted in fear. Beyond that fear lies a state of openheartedness and tenderness. This book teaches us how to awaken our basic goodness and connect with others, to accept ourselves and others complete with faults and imperfections, and to stay in the present moment by seeing through the strategies of ego that cause us to resist life as it is.

So, this book is not at all what I was expecting.  Actually, it is a book about the cultivation of compassion for others and ourselves through the acceptance of our own suffering and pain.  I think the title is misguiding in that sense.  It is a fairly nice look at Buddhism for the layman, it is a nice introduction to those who are unfamiliar with how Buddhism can be used on a daily basis.  But it is definitely not a book about conquering your fears, which is what I was hoping for.

This morning while I was looking in my bookcase for the next book to review, I ran across an old copy of Journey of Awakening: A Meditator’s Guidebook by Ram Dass. Up until today I had never heard of this book or the author. I don’t even know how I came to own this book, I don’t remember buying it or borrowing it from anyone, but somehow it came to me. Like a gift from the universe, or more like an answer to my questions: What is meditation? How do you do it? Does it work?

So I opened it up to the first chapter and started reading. It was easy to read and went by fast, before I knew it I was half-way through the book and my entire morning was spent, so much for getting caught-up with work. But, I’m not complaining. This book was exactly what I needed to read today.

Journey of Awakening is a very good book to read if you are totally ignorant of and somewhat skeptical about meditation. Ram Dass is an excellent teacher, he is clear, concise and non-judgemental or condescending. He is able to explain some complex ideas by using metaphors and visuals to help the reader grasp the concepts of meditation. I literally lost myself in this book for three hours, and I’ve come out feeling refreshed.

My initial reaction to this book is very positive, I feel inspired to practice the teachings of the book. I feel inspired to breath and live in the present. I feel inspired to learn more, live more and just be.

I’m sure that as the day goes on and the pressures of life take their grasp on me my high will fade and I’ll be a grumpy mess by bedtime, as usual. But maybe not. I feel like something has been awakened in me. Something about this book has touched a nerve in me and I think that that is the sign of a great book. I plan to read more books by Ram Dass in the future.

Does anyone have any suggestions?