Mindful Reading Club discussion

I have just joined this group. I am not in MS but would like to participate at a distance if possible. (Any ideas how that might happen?) I grew up in a Christian home but in recent years have been led to expand my thinking. I have read The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton; Awakening the Buddha Within and
Natural Radiance: Awaking to Your Great Perfection both by Lama Surya Das. I am currently reading After the Ecstacy, the Laundry by Jack Kornfield. It is interesting because it includes wisdom from many traditions, East & West. Any comments?

I am also new to this group. My background is Neuroscience.

Have you come across Meditations by Marcus Aurelius? It is simply astounding and has been in my permanent reread and apply to life "shelf" for the last 6 months.

I just joined this group. I have been a licensed therapist in California for 35 years. I use mindfulness teachings in my practice as well as meditate regularly myself. I would like to be connected with other therapists/meditators to keep current on books, insights, etc. on mindfulness, Buddhist psychology, etc.

Hi I'm also new to the group and just lurking until I find my feet and can join in the discussions
Best
Judy

Eileen wrote: "I have just joined this group. I am not in MS but would like to participate at a distance if possible. (Any ideas how that might happen?) I grew up in a Christian home but in recent years have been..."

I just finished Jack Kornfield's "The Wise Heart". It's a wonderful book. I also have been listening to some of his mediation CD's. Especially good for guided meditations. He has a great voice.

I haven't heard of Jack Kornfield ( must add to my list) but I do find some of Dick Sutphen's guided meditations excellent.

Judy wrote: "I haven't heard of Jack Kornfield ( must add to my list) but I do find some of Dick Sutphen's guided meditations excellent."

He's a clinical psychologist and Buddhist monk here in California and founded Spirit Rock which is a meditation retreat place north of SF. I really like what he has to say in his books and CD's.

Hi all:
So happy to have found this group. Right up my alley, as I love spiritual works!

I loved After the Ecstacy, the Laundry!

My current favorites are the books by Esther and Jerry Hicks, especially their basic one, the Law of Attraction. Really mind-expanding, but also very easy to read and test out in your own life.

Regards,
Meryl Davids Landau

I'm looking for any fiction that exemplifies the teachings and philosophies we're all interested in. I've covered the classics such as Zen and the Art of MM, Seagull and Illusions by Bach, Dan Millman, Redfield's series. But what contemporary New Age fiction is available? I think spiritual exploration should be entertaining as well as enlightening. Any suggestions?

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the group also. I also love reading Esther and Jerry Hicks. Right now I'm rereading Adam Dreamhealer. He's the young healer from Canada. It's really an excellent book! I'm very glad to see this group is up and running!

PJ wrote: "I'm looking for any fiction that exemplifies the teachings and philosophies we're all interested in. I've covered the classics such as Zen and the Art of MM, Seagull and Illusions by Bach, Dan Mill..."

PJ, yes, you're correct. What I would like to see more of is fiction that entertains AND enlightens. I've tried to do that in my debut novel (The writing teachers say 'write what you want to read,' so I did!) I'm also pleased that this thread is giving me some great ideas of books to read!
Judy, South Africa

Nancy wrote: "Judy wrote: "I haven't heard of Jack Kornfield ( must add to my list) but I do find some of Dick Sutphen's guided meditations excellent."

He's a clinical psychologist and Buddhist monk here in Cal..."
Hi Nancy, I wonder how I missed this? Sorry I've taken so long to get back to you. I'm definitely going to try JK now! :)
Judy, South Africa

Sumanth wrote: "I am also new to this group. My background is Neuroscience.

Have you come across Meditations by Marcus Aurelius? It is simply astounding and has been in my permanent reread and apply to life "she..."

An excellent suggestion! I have a small leather bound copy (circa early 1900s) of the George A Long translation of Marcus Aurelius that I often dip into when I need guidance.
Judy, South Africa

Josey wrote: "Hi everyone,
I'm new to the group also. I also love reading Esther and Jerry Hicks. Right now I'm rereading Adam Dreamhealer. He's the young healer from Canada. It's really an excellent book! I'm ..."

Josey, I haven't heard of either of those authors. I'm going to look them up now, starting with Adam Dreamhealer (what a lovely name)
Judy, South Africa

I am new to the group. See you are reading Wherever you are, There you go. Love the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn. One of my favorite books is Full Catastrophe Living, which Iread 16 years ago
Originally from South Africa (Hi Judy!) Been is USA for 27 years. Now living in New Jersey.
Glad to join this enlightened group.
Karen

Welcome Karen, I like what Jon Kabat-Zinn has to say too, but I really like Jack Kornfield. He writes and talks in much more depth on the subject of mindfullness. Eckart Tolle is a favorite of mine too.

Hi Nancy,
On your recommendation I will read some of Jack Kornfield books. They look good. I think I will start with After the Ecstacy, The Laundry. When I first saw the name I was thinking it was Jack Canfield from the Chicken Soup for the Series books - but different person. I read Tolles' books - but found them to be a little long winded.
Thanks
Karen

As a suggestion I'd start with "The Wise Heart" by Kornfield. His guided meditation and lecture series on CD's are really good too.

Thanks for the recommendation. I hope to read it soon...

Karen wrote: "Hi Nancy,
On your recommendation I will read some of Jack Kornfield books. They look good. I think I will start with After the Ecstacy, The Laundry. When I first saw trhe name I was thinking it wa..."

Try listening to a Tolle's CDs e.g." Findhorn Retreat" or watch the DVD "The Flowering of Consciousness". There is something about his energy that I can connect with more in these venues than in his books. He even mentions that people return again and again to hear him say the same things, but get something from just being present with him.

Karen wrote: "I am new to the group...Originally from South Africa..." Sawubona, Karen! You'll find great recommendations for good reads on this list. I lurk a lot, but glad to see you here!

Judy, South Africa

"Lekker" to you here. Happy to be here!

Karen wrote: ""Lekker" to you here. Happy to be here!"

Haha! You can take the person out of South Africa, but you can't take the South Africanisms out of the person! :)

Hi, Karen. Happy reading! Let me know if you have any great new age or metaphysical novels to recommend. I'm always on the lookout.

I'm Michael Taft, author of the books The Mindful Geek: Secular Meditation for Smart Skeptics and Nondualism: A Brief History of a Timeless Concept. Interested in joining the conversation here.

Hi All, I'm not sure if it's okay to do this. But I'm wondering if anyone is interested in a free epub copy of my book in exchange for an unbiased review. It's an exploration of the ethical and spiritual process of taking photographs in India & Tibet. Here's a blurb.

Adventures in Travel Photography: Exploring Approaches to People of India & Tibet
From a chance encounter with an oracle to daily life in an ashram and a rural Tibetan home, Adventures in Travel Photography is a light-hearted collection of travel stories about unexpected friendships and photo opportunities that emerge from a series of connections with people on the road.

Hi! I just joined Goodreads and typed in the word yoga in the search engine and landed in this group.
I've been doing yoga ever since the 60s and have been teaching for over 3 decades and have now started to write with the help of my past and ongoing experiences with yoga and spirituality. I naively thought there would be a huge community just sitting around and waiting for an entertaining yoga novel. But it is hard to get past the "genre" step.
I published my first book on Amazon. On Beyond Yoga: A novel of adventure, romance, and transformation
in the hopes of reaching interested readers. Not much luck yet outside of friends and acquaintances.
If anyone does have an interest, I would really appreciate your comments as I am now working on my second book and need to know if there is an audience of any kind.
Thanks so much for allowing me to post this here. As I said, any help at all would be appreciated!
Namaste
Eric

Hi Eric,
It can be tough to find an audience for any kind of book, no matter the genre. It sounds as though you might need to do some research on marketing - getting your book in front of yoga students through yoga websites, blogs, forums etc. Are their yoga bloggers that you like who might like a free review copy of your book?
If you're on Facebook a promoted post might work if you target those who list yoga in their profiles.
I'm sure there are many other great ideas out there.
All the best.

Mary-Lou

Hi I've joined this group as I've been practising and mindfulness meditation for many years now and I am always happy to meet and talk to other people passionate about this field of interest.

Paul

Hello all! I'm a public librarian and I love to read books about meditation and mindfulness. I'm very pleased to meet and connect with others who are also interested in the same things and titles!

Heidi

Eric wrote: "Hi! I just joined Goodreads and typed in the word yoga in the search engine and landed in this group.
I've been doing yoga ever since the 60s and have been teaching for over 3 decades and have now..."

Hi, Eric, Looks like a very interesting book. I've downloaded a sample to check out. I see you got a bad review due to a file upload issue early on. I'm sad to see that. Kathy Cordova may be willing to withdraw her review if you thank her for informing you about the issue, ask her nicely and send her a free corrected book. This is probably her: http://www.amazon.com/Kathy-Cordova/e...

Leigh (Nashville) Ole Miss 2001

Hi everyone,

Like Eric above, I've been clicking around Goodreads, trying to find people who are interested in yoga, meditation and spirituality and so may be interested in checking out my novel - Stumbling into Life

The book is about a spiritual journey in which the protagonist, made miserable by her mind and materialistic society, stumbles into yoga, spirituality and well, life. I believe that the themes of the book are those to which members of this group will be able to relate.

I would love for people to have a look and leave me any comments or better still, a review on Amazon (I'm happy to give a free copy to any book reviewers who may be interested in reviewing it). Thanks in advance and apologies for the small self-promotion, but it's really hard to find people who are interested in these themes!

Best wishes,
Shruti

Shruti wrote: "Hi everyone,

Like Eric above, I've been clicking around Goodreads, trying to find people who are interested in yoga, meditation and spirituality and so may be interested in checking out my novel -..."

Hi Shruti, sure send me over a copy and I'll review it on Goodreads and Amazon. I'm also an author so know just how you feel. I've written one called The Silence Between The Noise a practical guide to establishing mindfulness in everyday life. It pretty much does what it says on the tin, it is a non academic book on mindfulness written by someone who has been doing his best to live the mindful spiritual life for the last 19 years. So if you could review that in return that would be great. Thanks