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Summary: Spirtuality for seekers and other lost souls
Review: "Essential Spirituality" travels with me wherever I go. The insights are clear, the writing remarkable and the message transcends time and organized religion. Meditation made easy could be a subtitle of this book but it goes beyond meditation exercises. It gently leads the reader through a journey of hard questions that, once answered, leave the mind a little quieter. I am not a self-help book reader but this one is a true gem.
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Summary: Changed My Life
Review: After reading this book I changed many of my personal spiritual practices and have enrichened my life. I bought five additional copies of this book to share with fellow seekers. Dr. Walsh writes in a simple, straightforward manner that "eschews obfuscation". The exercises are easy to follow and have been helpful for my growth. I feel the book speaks to people of any religious background and is understandable to anyone from high school and above.
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Summary: Essential Spirituality
Review: Essential Spirituality is a book that integrates across all major religions and is consistent with recent developments in cognitive psychology. The basic challenge of humanity is to find the ties that bind us together so we don't seek to blow each other apart.
Far too often institutions ranging from religions, governments, down to athletic teams, have the opposite effect. In short, this book provides a much needed antidote to devisive spiritual competition, is one of the few spiritual books that integrates us back into the real world, and serves as a reference for internal choices and practices.
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Summary: A self help book of style, and depth
Review: For your quick reference, the seven practices to awaken heart and mind (stated in the front cover) as summarized by the author in pg 14 are as follows:-1. Transform your motivation; reduce craving and find your soul's desire.
2. Cultivate emotional wisdom: heal your heart and learn to love.
3. Live ethically: feel good by doing good.
4. Concentrate and calm your mind.
5. Awaken your spiritual vision: see clearly and recognise the sacred in all things
6. Cultivate spiritual intelligence: develop wisdom and understand life.
7. Express spirit in action: embrace generosity and the joy of service. If the above are what you want, buy it. I assure you that the author did write a very sophisticated but easy reading book which can satisfy you well, with his excellent writing skill and intelligent choice of wise sayings from various religions. Below please find some copy and paste for your reference:- It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks.
- Mother Teresa Any natural act, if hallowed, leads to God.
- Jewish teaching There is pleasure.
There is bliss.
Forgo the first to possess the second.
- Buddha No drives, no compulsions
No needs, no attractions;
Then your affairs
are under control.
You are a free person.
- Chuang Tzu, Taoist sage
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Summary: The Wisdom of Walsh
Review: Go into any bookstore and you'll find piles of books on spirituality, featuring spiritual paths ranging from Evangelical Christianity and pseudo-Vedantist guru worship to Americanized Zen and reconstructionist Neo-Pagan goddess worship. With people turning away from the churches they were raised in and world-weary atheists searching for spirituality, the spiritual marketplace is going through a boom period with no end in sight. But in the midst of such selection, how can one tell who's faking it, and who's the real deal? Is the teacher or author a committed seeker or a devious charlatan? Modern, sceptical Americans often avoid spirituality all together due to horror stories of silly cults and gurus perpetrating spiritual scams on the unsuspecting public. Who can we trust? How about an Australian philosopher-psychiatrist with years of experience dealing with spirituality, transpersonal psychology, and mental illness? Roger Walsh makes no claims to have attained a spurious level of "enlightenment" beyond a measure of basic sanity in this world gone slightly mad. In "Essential Spirituality", Walsh provides the perfect companion to Huxley's classic "The Perennial Philosophy"- a book of practical spiritual exercises, advice, and wisdom from sages the world over. Divided into seven sections on what Walsh believes to be the seven essential practices of the world's "Wisdom Traditions", Walsh provides advice on reducing craving, cultivating emotional wisdom, living ethically, meditating, awakening the senses, growing intuition, and pursuing spiritual action. This isn't New Age mysticism- "Essential Spirituality" is grounded in the teachings of saints throughout the world and history, extensively documented by Dr. Walsh. Even the most sceptical mind can see the gentle wisdom in his approach to spirituality. I give this book my highest recommendation to seekers of all faiths and none- may it help you on your way.
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Summary: Wise and Practical
Review: I have read and reread Essential Spirituality with increasing pleasure each time. Dr Walsh has done a remarkable job of synthesizing so much in a way that is so clear and accessible. For example, discussions of concentrative and mindfulness meditations (practices I'm very familiar with) are among the best I've seen any where, even in books that go one at greater length without any greater clarity. He demonstrates a remarkable ability to be both clear and brief. I am planning on doing a series of workshops for nonprofessionals, primarily for community and church groups, on contemporary spiritual practices and am compiling a list of recommended books. Essential Spirituality will go right to the top of my list.
James W. Jones
Author of "In the Middle of This Road We Call Our Life" And "The Mirror of God"
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Summary: A Must Book in Everyone's Personal Library
Review: I stumbled on to this book at the Library and started reading it. Before I finished this book I went on line and ordered a copies for myself and my friends.
I have read many books that could be summed up in a paragraph. In this book, every paragraph is a book in itself full of reflection and wonderful thought.
Ton's of information to go back through at least a second time if not more to write down and remind yourself daily of the important things in life.
Dr. Walsh made me feel good in my own skin and I felt like he was talking to me.
He really hit's the nail on the head about Attachments and False Goals of Happiness. It is really clear how Western Society is full of meanless and soul-less existence. We tend to look down on 3rd world nations as being behind in the times but Dr. Walsh shows how they have had some of the answers to happiness all along.
I will keep this book with me forever.
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Summary: excellent with lots of wonderful insights and things to do
Review: Roger says a teacher had each kid in class write something good about every other person in class..wonderful idea..i loved the book but my knit picker did criticize a bit..like Carlos Castanda at the end of 'Yaqui Way of Knowlege', Roger Walsh , has to categorize, classify, analyze, sub-cateorizse..that's ok i suppose..but swatting a fly, killing a mosiquitoe etc. shows great rage and anger welling up..hardly..many folks can kill with compassion..Dr. Walsh suggests visulizing a white circle with black dot in the center..not being able to hold the visualiztion for extended period is a failure of concentration and focus/mindfulness..hardly..many folks aren't visualizers..i'm one of those folks and it has nothing to do with a failure or distraction or an inability..i think most folks aren't visualizers..when i'm given those descriptive visualizing exercises like walking into a cave to the all wise one or whatever i 'sensilize', 'sensationalize' 'philosophize', 'feelingize', vaguely get a clear 'picture'/'image'..yet my dreams are clear and strong precise images visualized just dandy..not being able to visualize has nothing to do with distraction or lack of ability..it may be a distraction if the person is normally a good visualizer but need not be..usually the person setting up the visualization excercise talks too much in doing so..Roger says repeatedly "all the great religions" do such and such..yet doesn't mention that all the great institutioniled religions are based in fear and paranoa and aren't the most reliable places to 'get spiritual'..i think Roger is pushing spirit over soul..escapism over getting involved..it's necessary to be dark to apprecitate and play with the light..like Campbell points out the trick is to just get that 51% in the light..i'm learning my gurus are my mom and dad (i'd like to see Satya Si Baba, Krishnimirti or whoever raise 11 kids)..pretty sure Roger Walsh was raised in a strict Catholic family as i was and this book is a way to help placate that ole relationship..lots of practical suggestions for gaining peace, love and joy..but i don't need to say "may X be peaceful, loving and joyful" or experience whatever when i can just 'send them love' etc.' ..kinda between the lines i sense a bit of a 'control freak' / 'perfetionist' bent..however there's much to be gained by reading and incorporating the practices and excercises he freely gives..stuff like not killing flies etc. is just simply out there..and if one successfully did all the excercises to a tea we wouldn't have artists or their expressions because art involves delving in the dark, the out of control, the lie to encounter the truth, beauty that is life..an artist needs to be attached as well as disattached..i give it a 5
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Summary: Very practical and insightful
Review: This book has a wonderful combination of practicality and insightfulness. Once again, Roger Walsh has shown us that he is one of the foremost thinkers in the field of spirituality and transpersonal psychology. The author puts together an immense amount of information and explains it coherently and in addition to that, he provides practical exercises to help us understand the message from our heart. For another angle on this topic, I would highly recommend "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. It is also a wonderfully insightful book with lots of practical advice as well!
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Summary: Practical Spirituality
Review: This book, more than any other I have ever read, integrates the spiritual practices of the world's religions into a workable framework for the secular person. Walsh's methods not only bring the various religions together in a theologically interesting way, he shows us that living life to the full is a spiritual issue that all faiths seek. Their timeless wisdom and practical living are desperately needed in a world that moves away from wisdom and embraces an ethical vaccuum.
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