Lately I have been working on doing some groundwork for a singles' Meetup group that I will be starting in a few months; I will post widely when the group is announced. As a result, I am perusing a bunch of books for the seminars. In particular, I am looking for short prayers, meditations, and reflections on various topics that we’ll be discussing. The following are reviews of a few of the books I have read.
The Little Book of Love by Kahlil Gibran and compiled by Suheil Bushrui is quite literally little measuring in at about 4” x 6” and having only 80 pages of content, many of which have abundant white space or dark illustrations. This book must be aimed at young lovers because the font size is difficult for some of us who have crossed the 40 year age barrier. Despite those issues, the book has a few beautiful quotes and would make a romantic gift or stocking stuffer for a loved one. My heart would certainly melt to have a lover give it to me. However, it seems to fall in the category of a “bathroom book” in my opinion: All of its short entries are easily read in brief sittings.
Quiet Mind: One Minute Mindfulness by David Kundtz offers approximately 180 short reflections for the reader. This time the font is in a readable size! Focused around the idea of finding quiet and peace in our crazy lives, the author approaches a wide range of topics from death to road rage to the arts to walking, all in two short pages a piece. The spirituality is non-denominational and refers to many different traditions throughout the book. I found most of the pieces (though not all) to be engaging and worth reading. It’s an even better bathroom book than The Little Book of Love in my estimation!
Guided Meditation Scripts for Beginners by Amy Meyers and Sharon Whisler is a short e-book available in Kindle format for $2.99. The book is great in some ways and disappointing in others. The meditations are repetitive: The four breathwork meditations are actually all the same foundation with a little more added on each time. The chakra meditations don’t feel powerful enough to me to actually realign one’s chakras: They seem more suitable to simply bring attention to each chakra. Many of the love meditations feel more like writing prompts than guided meditations, though one could argue that journaling can be a form of meditation. However, several of the meditations will be perfect for me to use with my group. For the small investment, I feel like I likely got my money’s worth. It’s just not a book I would generally recommend to others looking to find guided meditation scripts.
The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year by Caitlin Matthews is a compilation of 365 daily readings. While the title asserts they are meditations, I think reflections or mini-history lessons are the more apt descriptions in many cases. Some of the reflections are excellent; others are very weak, meandering through topics Matthews seems to have forced together in a way that doesn't feel natural. Many of the readings were not engaging or thought provoking for me. The topics also began to feel repetitious by the end of the year with multiple days focusing on topics such as trees and the grail. The suggested “meditations” at the end of each reading are often actions, and some of those actions would take days or even months to complete. While I appreciate those readings that were excellent, I felt overall the book was a weak effort.
Like many others, I am a fan of the poetry of Rumi. There are many collections out there, so when I ordered The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing by Rumi and Coleman Banks, I had the expectation that this would be a book focused primarily on love. In reality, only part of the book focuses on love. Other sections focus on topics such as drunkenness and animals. While I appreciated the academic tone of this book with helpful prefaces and footnotes, it simply wasn't what I was looking for. (The cover on the edition I received is also nowhere near as beautiful despite this being the promised edition. It's a plain orange jacket.)
In contrast, Rumi: A Spiritual Treasury by Juliet Mabey was exactly on the mark. A physically smaller book, the poetry contained in it is more accessible to the general population. I loved the contents which actually focused on excerpts of spiritual poetry by Rumi. The book is divided into various chapters on different aspects of the human relationship with God. While the book is written in a traditional male perspective of God that doesn't fit with my personal beliefs, I was still able to enjoy its contents.
Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed Life Prayers from Around the World: 365 Prayers, Blessings, and Affirmations to Celebrate the Human Journey by Elizabeth Roberts. The collection is grouped by topic rather than daily prayers as one might expect from the “365” in the title. While it includes prayers and thoughts from many traditions, earth based spirituality is prevalent throughout. The collection has many thought-provoking poems as part of these prayers. Topics covered include all parts of the life cycle, moments of grace, justice, crisis and more. I was captivated by most of the included works from start to finish.
I will be posting more meditation and prayer book reviews in April as I've got a stack of several more on my coffee table that I am working my way through!
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
I will be posting more meditation and prayer book reviews in April as I've got a stack of several more on my coffee table that I am working my way through!
© 2015 Elizabeth Galen, Ph.D., Green Heart Guidance, LLC
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