Nature and the Human Soul


Book Description

Addressing the pervasive longing for meaning and fulfillment in this time of crisis, Nature and the Human Soul introduces a visionary ecopsychology of human development that reveals how fully and creatively we can mature when soul and wild nature guide us. Depth psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin presents a model for a human life span rooted in the cycles and qualities of the natural world, a blueprint for individual development that ultimately yields a strategy for cultural transformation. If it is true, as Plotkin and others observe, that we live in a culture dominated by adolescent habits and desires, then the enduring societal changes we so desperately need won’t happen until we individually and collectively evolve into an engaged, authentic adulthood. With evocative language and personal stories, including those of elders Thomas Berry and Joanna Macy, this book defines eight stages of human life — Innocent, Explorer, Thespian, Wanderer, Soul Apprentice, Artisan, Master, and Sage — and describes the challenges and benefits of each. Plotkin offers a way of progressing from our current egocentric, aggressively competitive, consumer society to an ecocentric, soul-based one that is sustainable, cooperative, and compassionate. At once a primer on human development and a manifesto for change, Nature and the Human Soul fashions a template for a more mature, fulfilling, and purposeful life — and a better world.




The Life Cycle of the Human Soul


Book Description

Dr. Metzner discusses the experience of birth and of prenatal life, the unconscious psychic imprints of the conception event, the soul's choosing of a human incarnation, and the connection with familial ancestors. He also discusses the experience of death of the physical body and the soul's life in the intermediate realms before choosing rebirth into another life.




Human Development and Faith (Second Edition)


Book Description

Updated with the latest research, this second edition approaches human development from a multidisciplinary perspective. Uniquely inclusive of the moral and faith dimensions of the life cycle, 'Human Development and Faith' examines the interplay of mind, body, family, community, and soul at every stage of development. (Back cover).




Nature and the Human Soul


Book Description

Today there is a growing awareness that our planet has entered a time of crisis. The damage to our ecosystems, and the pollution we create, are consequences of our self-centred and irresponsible cultures. It is now undeniable that significant change is required. According to wilderness guide and former psychology professor Bill Plotkin, the changes we need will only flow once we progress from egocentric, competitive consumer societies to ecocentric, soul-based ones that are sustainable, cooperative and compassionate. Bill Plotkin profiles eight maturation stages in the human life cycle from child to elder and depicts the qualities and challenges of each. He offers a practical integration of personal and spiritual understandings (from nature and the journey of the human soul) that will allow us to transform our culture. This landmark book - the result of 25 years' work - encourages us to connect personally with the natural world and reassess our place in it. In this way we can create a more responsible and fulfilling way to live. Given the perilous state of our planet, the optimism and guidance contained in NATURE AND THE HUMAN SOUL are an inspiring breath of fresh air!




The Soul of an Octopus


Book Description

Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction * New York Times Bestseller * A Huffington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year * One of the Best Books of the Month on Goodreads * Library Journal Best Sci-Tech Book of the Year * An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year “Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk did for raptors.” —New Statesman, UK “One of the best science books of the year.” —Science Friday, NPR Another New York Times bestseller from the author of The Good Good Pig, this “fascinating…touching…informative…entertaining” (The Daily Beast) book explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans. In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food. Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.




Journey of The Soul


Book Description

Taken up with our human existence, the journey of our soul through birth, death and afterlife remains a mystery to most. This insightful book sheds light on the very nature of the soul, explaining its presence before, during and after life. Part one describes our soul's engagement with the physical world and ends as it prepares to be released again at death. Part two exposes the most mysterious phase of the journey - as the soul enters another dimension. With evidence from near death experience, past lives and clairvoyance, Brenda details fascinating aspects of our soul's experience, including communication with the living and reincarnation. Illuminating and uplifting, this book offers peace, hope and comfort making us revisit our life afresh.




Calling in the Soul


Book Description

“Calling in the Soul” (Hu Plig) is the chant the Hmong use to guide the soul of a newborn baby into its body on the third day after birth. Based on extensive original research conducted in the late 1980s in a village in northern Thailand, this ethnographic study examines Hmong cosmological beliefs about the cycle of life as expressed in practices surrounding birth, marriage, and death and considers the gender relationships evident in these practices. The Hmong (or Miao, as they are called in China, and Meo, in Thailand) have lived on the fringes of powerful Southeast Asian states for centuries. Their social framework is distinctly patrilineal, granting little direct power to women. Yet within the limits of that structure, Hmong women wield considerable influence in the spiritually critical realms of birth and death. Calling in the Soul will be of interest to sociocultural anthropologists, medical anthropologists, Southeast Asianists, and gender specialists. Replaces ISBN 9780295800424




Eternal Living


Book Description

Curated by Dallas Willard's long-time colleague and friend Gary Moon, this medley of images, snapshots and "Dallas-isms" moves readers toward deeper experiences of God. Whether influenced by him as a family member, friend, professor, philosopher or reformer, contributors bring refreshing insight into his ideas, what shaped him and also his contagious theology of grace and joy.




Working with Oneness


Book Description

Humanity has been given access to the secrets of oneness, but we need to learn how to work with them. Working with Oneness brings mysticism into the center of the marketplace, into the world of business and technology, and shows how we can work with it in everyday life. The dynamic energy of oneness has the potential to heal the planet and revolutionize life more than we can imagine, but it requires our individual participation and awareness to become fully alive. The energy of oneness is already present but waiting to be lived, and Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee provides a blueprint for working consciously with this energy. As we understand how our consciousness affects the whole fabric of life, the potential for real global change comes alive. Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee stresses the need to change from hierarchical, patriarchal power structures to organic patterns that allow for the free flow of energy and ideas. Through these patterns the dynamic energy of oneness can become part of everyday life. Working with Oneness includes a number of additional important topics, including: the changing energy structure of the planet and how to work with it; the power of individual consciousness; the danger of the desire for spiritual security; the return of joy to everyday life; the awakening of the heart of the world; a new understanding of magic; the use of the imagination; and mystical participation in life with the energy of oneness. Working with Oneness offers guidance on how to work with the energy of oneness, to learn how to participate in life free of the patterns of the past, so that the divine can come alive in every moment of every day. Working with Oneness is mystical activism at its most potent. “There is a growing and eager audience waiting for a vision of unity consciousness... Working with Oneness offers a salutary antidote to worn-out antagonisms. It challenges readers to join other kindred souls in a mystical activism that can bring new hope to humanity.” —Spirituality & Health “A book filled with wonder and the kind of insights that can leap out to your heart and gladden you for having read them. It's words are simple and straightforward—always a blessing—but its message it the most vital and important for the time in which we live. I recommend it.” —David Spangler, author, Blessings: the Art and the Practice




Words from the Soul


Book Description

Accepting relentless impermanence as the ground of human experience, Words from the Soul derives a spiritual psychology from the mystery and poignancy of time-passage itself. Drawing from Wittgenstein, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Foucault, Dostoyevsky, Buddhism, kundalini yoga, and twenty-five years of clinical/mediation experience, the author's epigrammatic insights into our struggles with mortality, gratitude, apology, and forgiveness make this book relevant to psychotherapy and conflict resolution in a wide range of professional settings. In his exploration of the furthest-reaches of human development, Stuart Sovatsky reveals the deepest potentials of the ensouled body, transforming our views of language, sexuality, ecstatic spiritualities, and of the human life cycle.