A Book Review

Have you ever picked up a book, opened to a page and found the answer to a question that you had asked, probably silently, just a little while ago?  Scott Blum’s new book, Summer’s Path is like that – a guide to life’s questions on living, dying, reincarnation and healing lifetimes – all in 209 fast reading pages.

Some of you may have read Scott’s first book, Waiting for Autumn about Robert, a seemingly homeless man on a mission and Don, his black Lab puppy who meet up with Scott (no coincidence with the name) who is on a journey to heal.  This is the prequel to Autumn.  This is the tale of how Robert and Don meet, Don’s death, both of their walk-in experiences and their quest to heal the lives, past lives and bodies.

As a reviewer, I am challenged to condense this book down to 149 character sound byte.  There is too much love and life in this book to simplify it

It is a primer for those just beginning to seek their path and those seeking to remember it when faced with a hectic, fast-pasted existence.  Summer’s Path answers questions on topics not easily googled; and certainly not with the love and attention that Scott puts into explaining non-threateningly concepts like walk-ins and why they are here and how walking-in differs from reincarnation; how to help people to cross to the next life and how to heal life time patterns of guilt and abandonment.

I particularly like Scott’s placement of centering exercises right before his characters had to dealing with healing lifetimes of karmic issues.  From a teaching perspective, and I will be using this book as a personal growth primer, it’s a great reminder that healing is not just about experiencing past memories.  It is also about preparing the body at all levels for the change and growth that’s about to commence.  As healers and teachers we sometimes forget this critical step.  So Scott’s placement of the centering section before the healing section was so stellar.

Would I recommend this book?  Even before I finished the book, I loaned it to a friend who was seeking answers.  Because I trusted Scott’s information, I gave her the book and; on reading it, she found peace of mind.

If you are looking for answers, Summer’s Path will guide.  And remember, Waiting for Autumn is another great read.

By Stephen Simon

If the lines this past weekend are any indication, this is an incredible movie.  It definitely on our must see list, along with Clint Eastwood’s Invictus.

     Landmark films literally change the face of the art form itself and are rare indeed.  THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, the first big hit silent film; THE JAZZ SINGER, the first talking film; THE WIZARD OF OZ, the first huge family film; JAWS, the first summer blockbuster; STAR WARS, the first science fiction epic of the new technology era; and now AVATAR.

     AVATAR is simply unlike any other film ever made. The experience of AVATAR in 3D is a glimpse into the potential of film to literally immerse the viewer in the story.  We actually materialize in the on screen world.  Even more amazingly, the spirituality of the story of AVATAR is on a par with its technology. We truly aren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto.  We’re on Pandora.

     Pandora is the distant planet on which AVATAR plays out.  Humans have come to Pandora to mine the most valuable mineral in the universe.  Standing in their way are the N’avi, Pandora’s blue, 10 foot tall, deeply spiritual, indigenous race.  To infiltrate the N’avi, humans create biological avatars of the N’avi into whom the consciousness of human beings can be transferred.  The avatars can then interact with the N’avi, even though the N’avi can easily detect the difference.  One particular human marine is sent in as an avatar and falls in love with a N’avi, ultimately transforming both himself and the world around him.

     The spiritual metaphors of AVATAR are truly dazzling.  Aren’t all of us as humans truly avatars? Spiritual beings inhabiting human bodies that our consciousness adopts as a temporary home while our spirits evolve.

     The N’avi are a deeply spiritual race, fiercely devoted to family and their environment, choosing mates for life and worshiping the beauty and power of their natural world. “We are all one” is taken to its highest zenith on Pandora. Not only are the N’avi connected to each other, but also they have learned a way to bond, both physically and spiritually, with the magical and glorious creatures of Pandora. Furthermore, all of nature itself on Pandora is connected in a very tangible and communicable way, something that humans encounter in the denouement of the film.

     Nothing can prepare you for the visual and visceral wonder of visiting Pandora in 3D. Fortunately, the film uses none of the old and cheap 3D tricks of scaring you out of your seat with arrows or bullets coming straight at you. You just feel like reaching out and touching the wonders of Pandora.

     The genius behind Pandora is writer/director James Cameron, whose last film, TITANIC, became the highest grossing film in history. As in TITANIC, Cameron gives us a magical love story in AVATAR, tender and fierce, loving and comical, challenging and engrossing. Cameron has here mastered a new 3D technology that literally catapults us into a new era of film wherein we as viewers truly inhabit a whole new world.

     Cameron also created the TERMINATOR films and, unfortunately, the final confrontation between the N’avi and the marauding humans is quite violent, as are some earlier sequences.  For that reason, I do want to warn those of you who are sensitive to violence on screen that AVATAR very well might be a bridge too far for you.  Normally, my wife and I feel the same way but we were so immersed in the drama and wonder of the story that we made it through the violent scenes of the film, knowing that the spirituality and goodness of the N’avi would ultimately rule the day. (Not to be a spoiler, it does).  Still, I would be remiss in not waving a caution flag about the violence in the film.  It’s there and it’s significant.

     The violence aside, AVATAR has birthed a new method of movie storytelling.  Some day, the technology of AVATAR will be used (sans violence) by filmmakers to take us much further into the spiritual journey of our souls.  Into the dreams, we call illusion and the illusions we call reality.  Into the awe and wonder of this majestic, mysterious, and mystical adventure that we call life.  Into a new world of Spiritual Cinema. And we will look back and thank James Cameron for bringing this new vision to us for the first time.

     See AVATAR in 3D while it is still in theaters.  You just may want to be able to tell your children and grandchildren that you were there when everything changed.

(Stephen Simon produced SOMEWHERE IN TIME and WHAT DREAMS MAY COME.  He produced and directed INDIGO and CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD and co-founded www.spiritualcinemacircle.com).

The Ten Golden Rules
Ancient Wisdom from the Greek Philosophers
on Living the Good Life
M. A. Soupios, PhD and Panos Mourdoukoutas, PhD

By TessaGrace Aluna-Braithwaite

This small but mighty book truly shines a spotlight on the fact that the ancient philosophers knew and lived the truth of which they spoke.  They realized fully what was important in creating an honest and well-balanced life.  A large part of the beauty and wisdom conveyed in The Ten Golden Rules is that, as true as these rules were back in the days of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and other ancient wisdom keepers, they continue to be just as pertinent and important today as well.

As a matter of fact, all of the principles presented in this book could very well be the beginning of our salvation from the seemingly disingenuous lives being lived by the vast majority of our country.  In the ever growing race for power and the almighty dollar, somehow we have slipped away from the regal values the founding mothers and fathers so valiantly stood for as they birthed this nation.  Reading this book and following its rich advice can lead us back to those values of long ago and help us to live more connected, loving, and fulfilled lives.

These Ten Golden Rules, as Soupios and Mourdoukoutas have so adeptly compiled, are the culmination of actions we would take when we practice the original golden rule as we have always known it:

Do  unto others as you would have done unto yourself.

In order to do this, we must first begin by examining our own lives.  Any inward journey to the soul begins within our own psyche, dissecting and looking into our patterns and behaviors, disseminating how we treat ourselves, and that will show us how we treat others. 

Aptly, then, the first of the Ten Golden Rules, according to Soupios and Mourdoukoutas, is Examine Life.  It is the space in which we find out where we can stretch and become more authentic and real with ourselves and others.  Any path we begin to walk upon necessarily bears this inward searching before we can proceed any further to better ourselves. 

The next of the Ten Golden Rules is to worry only about the things we can control, because worrying about things that are out of our control is foolish and produces stress, which can lead to illness and pain.  

The third rule is to create, nurture and protect true friendship.  Aristotle says it best; “Friendship is a relationship in which two people come to share the same soul.”

After that we learn to experience true pleasure.  Not the superficial pleasures that leave us feeling empty and alone, but rather the pleasures that are pure, long-lasting, and bring inner peace and warmth to our aching souls. 

Then comes mastering our Selves; an inner process whereby we are ruthlessly honest with ourselves about ourselves, our choices, our values, and the way we live our lives.  When we know our weaknesses as well as our strengths, we can begin choosing to create our lives more purposefully and authentically. 

Avoiding excess is the art of learning how to live in balance within the structure of our daily routines, habits, and actions.  This is the opportunity to examine the parts of our lives where we live to excess or completely deny ourselves of what we need.  It is the place where we navigate between extremes such as, overeating and starving ourselves, having the most expensive car, house, or other bling thing and denying ourselves even the most basic of necessities.  Living life in this balance and moderation brings an inner peace as we begin to live a simple and uncomplicated life that is truly worth living.   The rest of the ten golden rules you can unearth for yourself.  

Soupios and Mourdaukoutas have done an excellent job compiling the wisdom of the ancient ones on how to treat ourselves and others.  It is a wonderful little book that can be read over and over again, just to remind us, lest we forget.

I must admit there are a couple of downfalls to this book, but I warn you not to throw the baby out with the bathwater on this one.  If you choose to overlook this book because of these minor flaws, you will miss out on some basic wisdom that, with a little practice, can make life much more fulfilling and sweet.

These authors have over fifty-five years of teaching between the two of them, Soupios holds eight graduate degrees, including four doctorates; and he recently published a study on the cultural history of Ancient Greece called The Song of Hellas.  Mourdoukoutas has traveled extensively throughout the world lecturing on business strategy and leadership, has published several books, including Business Strategy in a Semiglobal Economy, and he received the Emerald Literati Club’s Highly Commended Award for Excellence.

So perhaps we can forgive them for lapsing, at times, into language that is clinical and dry.  Perhaps, too, we can give them the benefit of the doubt when they use examples of people’s lives that are outdated and, frankly, trite.  These are not flowery, poetic men, but rather they are scientific in their approach to the Ancient Greeks, though they do manage to get their point across.  Despite this, I think this book is well worth reading in order to return to the ancient wisdom so long ago written by the Greek philosophers.

by Arielle Ford
Arielle Ford is one of our favorite guest writers.  She has been a friend of Dr Wayne Dyers for year.  This is an interview she did recently with him after the release of his movie, The Shift.

Dr. Wayne Dyer, who is affectionately called the “father of motivation” by his fans, began his career as an author in the early 1970’s by traveling the country alone and selling his first book, Your Erroneous Zones, from the trunk of his car. That book went on to sell more than 30 million copies, and became the best selling book of the 1970’s.
Despite a childhood spent in orphanages and foster homes, he has overcome many obstacles to make his dreams come true. Today, he spends much of his time showing others how to do the same.
As an internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development, he has written more than 30 books, 18 of which have been national bestsellers. Several of his books have been featured as PBS specials, which has resulted in raising over $150 million for national public television.
There is now a film that encompasses his core teachings, The Shift, which is available through www.SpiritualCinemaCircle.com.  Dr. Dyer appears as himself, along with a star-studded cast.   In The Shift we discover that every life has a turning point, a shift, a choice to make about what really matters.

AF: What’s the most important, life-changing thing that you’d like people to walk away with after seeing this film?
WD: That everyone has a dharma, a destiny, a “calling of the soul.”  Every bird, every tree, every person comes into this world with something it is destined to do.  All of the creatures on the planet don’t get confused about this. They are what they are.
Human beings, because they take on a false self, or ego, start to believe that what they do or what they have defines them.  The Shift illustrates that when you are at peace and you let go, you will be guided into your dharma.  You will be living a life of meaning rather than ambition.  That is the “shift.”
AF: What’s a memory that stands out about the making of the movie?
WD: At one point, after I had done a scene many times, I realized that I was trying too hard.  I was trying to be an actor and remember my lines.  Then I remembered that the words in the script were guidelines.  I just needed to be myself.  At that moment, the movie shifted from being a trial to allowing myself to just be me.
AF: What are some of your all-time favorite movies that have touched or inspired you?
WD: My very favorite is Déjà Vu by Henry Jaglom (featured in Spiritual Cinema Circle’s Vol. 10 – 2007) I’ve seen it 50 times.  This film opens up all the possibilities about life, love and fate — you begin to realize that this universe has endless possibilities.  Brother Sun, Sister Moon, the story of St. Francis of Assisi is my second favorite movie.  I also loved Forrest Gump and A Man for All Seasons.
AF: You’ve recently been diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.  What can you share about this experience?
WD: When you come into this world with big dharma, you get big challenges.  This is just another one of them.  As a child I lived in an orphanage.  My parents left me when I was little.  My wife left me.  I have had serious addictions in my life that I have let go of.  I will be able to understand it, make it work for me, and help other people.  I haven’t judged it or been angry with it.  I am not worried about healing it.  I am working to live with it.  I think when you fight anything, you weaken yourself.  I am inviting it to stay in peace and harmony with me or leave.  It’s up to it.  It’s just another life force.  Elisabeth Kubler Ross said, “When you shield the mountain from the windstorms, you will never see the beauty of the carving.”
You can receive The Shift plus three great short films for FREE when you sign up for a trial membership of Spiritual Cinema Circle (just pay a small shipping fee). This is the only DVD service dedicated to films about love, compassion and inspiration. Simply go to: www.spiritualcinemacircle.com
For more information about Wayne Dyer, his books and workshops, please visit www.DrWayneDyer.com.
                  # # #
About Arielle Ford:
Arielle Ford is the bestselling author of THE SOULMATE SECRET: Manifest The Love of Your Life With The Law of Attraction. She is also a founding partner of www.SpiritualCinemaCircle.com. Her websites include www.soulmatesecret.com and www.everythingyoushouldknow.com.

Melinda Ribner

By Melinda Ribner
  At the suggestion of a friend, I journeyed to Jerusalem for Shabbat last year to meet this man who once was a guru to hundreds of people, who now resides in Jerusalem as an Orthodox Jew. Like me, he had mystical experiences outside of Judaism, returned to Judaism, became a Jewish spiritual teacher and authored several books on Jewish meditation. As we seem to have so much in common, I wondered whether this man might be a potential soul mate. He arranged for me to stay with a woman who also resides in the Old City of Jerusalem and invited me and a girlfriend to participate in a Friday night Shabbat meal at his home.  Every week he himself generously prepares lovely meals for strangers and uses this meal as a platform to teach them about Judaism.
 
 This woman whose home I stayed in became a friend and introduced me to the Shabbat morning service in a women’s synagogue buried in the caverns adjacent to the Kotel. I would not have known of its existence if I were not escorted to it. Unlike the kotel that publicly welcomes all spiritual pilgrims of all faiths, this women’s synagogue is hidden, away from the view of spectators.
 
 After spending some time there, my friend suggested that I journey alone further into the tunnels by going to the left, down a flight of stairs, and through additional tunnels to pray by the “Holy of Holies.”

“It is never open to women on Shabbat, but perhaps it will open for you.” Her eyes twinkled as she said these words to me.
 
   I could hardly believe that I could soon actually find myself in the most holy place on earth, one that I had imagined in my meditations and had heard stories about for years. In a state of awe and amazement, I trembled and cried as I walked through the dimly lit winding paths and down the stairs to this sacred site.
 
  Soon I found myself approaching a very simple place, resembling a cave.  There were no special or elaborate ornaments marking the place, only three plastic chairs and two women dressed totally in white, sitting enraptured in prayer and meditation, facing a blank wall.  Energetically, I knew that I was indeed in the right place. Intuitively, I felt invited to come forth and stand in front of the Holy of Holies and claim the remaining chair as mine. Instantly, I felt transported to the realm of the holy, where I felt totally loved and accepted as I was.
 
  I can’t recall all that transpired within me during the hours I stood and sat there. It felt like wisdom and deep spiritual insight on many subjects from marriage, to re-incarnation, to Jewish history, to what will be in the future was being downloaded into my soul directly. And mostly I felt the Presence of God known in Judaism as the Shechinah, the Divine Feminine. The Shechinah is the name referring to the revelation of the immanence of God.
 
  The foundational tenet of Judaism is that there is one God and that God is one, neither masculine nor feminine, but with attributes of both. Jewish prayer, however, generally refers to God in the masculine, as the Father, the King, the Holy One, Blessed be He. Yet in the cave, I felt myself to be in the presence of the most loving beautiful exquisite royal feminine energy. 
 
  Though having had occasional glimpses of the Shechinah through my years of prayer and meditation, the Shechinah now seemed virtually clear and present to me in a way that I had never experienced before.  She demanded that I be present, that I be real and true and that I not give my spiritual power away to others. She was and is the only one, the only true reality. All that I had previously learned and even at times questioned about the Jewish people, the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, and the unity of God now seemed to be totally true by the transmission that I was blessed to receive that morning.
 
   While I was living in Tzfat last year, I returned to Jerusalem several times and always went, whenever possible, to pray at the cave of the Holy of Holies.  Whenever I arrived, there was always a group of women huddled there, reading psalms, meditating, weeping gently.  One time when I was standing there in the third row or so from the wall of the cave close to the holy of holies, I was reflecting on the lack of a loving man in my life and began to cry. Soon I found myself lovingly and gently moved to stand closer to the actual wall of the cave so I could rest myself upon the wall. I cried and cried once again, deeply from the core of my being, weeping alongside the other women.
 
  Every time I go to the cave, I always see women crying. I can’t imagine another place in the world where women of all ages and backgrounds are not ashamed or embarrassed to cry in front of strangers. There is such a feeling of love and intimacy with the women there.
 
 During one of my visits to the holy cave, I became aware of the sound of horns and trumpets blasting. I listened closely and was guided to a stairwell, very close to the Holy of Holies cave. There were a few women standing there completing the end of morning prayer services. I learned that there was a morning minyan that begins at sunrise each day that has been going on for many years.
 
 In talking to a few of the participants, I learned of the history of this minyan. The late Rabbi Meir Yehuda Guetz, the rabbi of the kotel, would go to this site at midnight alone and on Shabbat mornings with a minyan. When he died, Rav Shmuel Darzi, a prominent kabbalist in Jerusalem continued to pray there on Shabbat. One Hanukkah, Rav Darzi asked to pray close to the Kodesh kodeshim so as to be as close as possible to the site of the menorah of the Holy Temple where the miracle took place. It was such an amazing experience for the people who participated with him that they then petitioned for the right to pray there on other days of the year.  Those students and those close to Rav Darcy continued this minyan for many years. When Rav Darzi knew that he was going to die, he approached the head of Yeshivat  Beit El to take over the minyan at the Kodesh Kodeshim. The Rosh Yeshivah, the head of the yeshivah, began to attend, and then slowly some of the yeshivah students joined with many of the original men from Reb Darcy’s minyan so the minyan has continued.

For several mornings while I am visiting Jerusalem I make myself rise by 4:30 a.m. in order to be able to attend morning services with this minyan. For some unknown reason, I feel very much at home here. I feel that I belong. I have found my place.  It defies understanding.  There are so many reasons why I would not be comfortable attending this minyan.  This place is moldy, it is musty, it is simply a stairwell. I cannot even see the men, for they are upstairs. I can’t even see the Torah. I am a bit of a feminist, and I enjoy singing in prayer services, yet there is little or no singing here. I am not as observant as the women who frequent this minyan, yet none of this bothers me. Rather than feeling offended at being obliged to stand in the stairwell, separate from the men unable to see anything, I am actually grateful to the men for allowing me to be present in the stairwell. I even appreciate the total separation as it allows me and the women to go deeply into the prayer without the concern of being observed.
 
This minyan is to me like a rocket ship of prayer that is traveling through the dimensions of time and space to the infinite holiness of the Shechinah. I love the meditative quality of the service. The leader of the service will pause for a long time with a single word of prayer many times in the course of the service. The congregants may be doing complex meditations (kavanaot) at those times, but I am happy to just be with that word as fully as I can be. Sometimes I feel no need to pray myself. I close my eyes and only have to open my heart to receive the sweet and divine nectar and vibrations produced from the prayers of these men.  Here in this moldy and musty stairwell, I feel myself in the center of the universe. I am happy and blessed. I feel loved and fulfilled.
 
 One time, one of the male congregants in the upstairs minyan pointed out the man who had led the davening that morning. I thanked the leader profusely, for I had received so much from his davening. He immediately came over to me and put his hands over my head and blessed me. I was thrilled, for I felt as if I had been blessed by the High Priest. This gesture made me feel welcome and confirmed to me that I was in the right place. 
 
   Most of the times when the men exit through the stairs where the women are standing, I avert my eyes because I know that some of them might feel uncomfortable being seen. Other times, they drape themselves with their prayer shawls so as to not look upon the women. Having shared this awesome experience of holiness, it almost feels too intimate to actually make eye contact. In years past I might have been offended by the lack of acknowledgement of my personhood. Now, I am simply grateful to each of them for their prayers, not only for what I have received spiritually for myself but for what these prayers offer to the Jewish people and to the world. I marvel at the dedication of the people who faithfully attend this minyan daily. 
 
   Because of my powerful experiences in the cave and with this minyan, after some time in the States, I returned to Jerusalem and found a room to rent in the Old City, from where I can walk easily to attend the stairwell minyan and visit the cave daily. So far, I have been successful and blessed to be able to keep this intention. It is not easy to awaken myself so early each morning.  In the beginning, when I was still dealing with jet lag, I would often sleep when I returned in the morning, or I would need to go to bed around 8 p.m. because I am so exhausted by then that the bones in my body hurt. With time, I found that I can stay up even to 10:30 p.m. and function throughout the day. As my experience with the minyan becomes more routine, I may not always have the same ecstatic “infatuation” high that I had during my first few times, but I always feel blessed with moments of connection, insight, and joy each day. So I am grateful.
 
   Each morning I see some of the same women and some new ones at the minyan. There is a lovely elderly Ethiopian woman who is often present, who comes late, but who feels like a holy woman to me. She does not use a prayer book, but she moves her arms around as she bends her body.  I feel that I would like to hug her, for she is so loveable. I notice that the other women give up their chair for her, so I do that, too, when possible.
 
 There is another beautiful woman, who is always there early, before I come, so that must mean that she is probably there by 4:30 each morning. She is always looking beautiful, like someone out of a fashion magazine for religious women, sporting a form-fitted skirt with a lovely matching sweater, beautiful jewelry, a colorful head covering, and makeup applied appropriately. I do not recall her wearing the same outfit twice. This woman prays so deeply from her heart that I hear her gently weeping each day. I do not think that these tears are because she is sad or in need in any way; rather, they are tears of love and joy due to the close proximity of the Beloved. After the morning service, she, like many other women participating in the minyan, spend additional time around the cave reading psalms with great devotion.
 
  I have so far only exchanged gentle smiles with the women of the minyan. Being in the cave or the stairwell is not a place for conversation. Yet I feel myself acknowledged and cared for by the group of holy women who frequent the minyan and the cave faithfully each day before sunrise. I feel each of them to be such gentle loving souls that I feel close to them even though we have not exchanged a word.
 
   I love the minyan, and I love praying by the cave each day. This experience has been the highlight of this trip to Israel. Everything outside of the cave and the minyan feels a little like the diaspora to me. Being at the cave has given me a little taste of the holiness of the Holy Temple. When the Jewish people had the Holy Temple, the Shechinah was revealed to them. Now we have only a wall of a cave. It is true that Her wall is moldy. She has been hidden for thousands of years, yet She is still so beautiful and loving. Everyday, I stand enveloped in Her presence, I feel Her and receive Her blessing and am filled with visions of when the Holy Temple will be restored, She will be revealed and there will be true peace.

Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Prophecies

Reviewed by Molly Wingate, www.wingate-consulting.com 

Rullah has been listening to Mother Mary for several years,

and he’s decided to tell us what she’s been saying to him. 

This book, available as a free ebook at

http://mothermaryprophecies.com/,

begins with a bit of Rullah’s story and how he came to hear Mother Mary.  He knows it seems improbable that the patron saint of Mexico would choose him, but there you have it.  She did.  Her messages and modes of communication make for unusual and exciting reading.

Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, became known in the world when she appeared to a Mexican peasant, Juan Diego, in the 1531 on Tepeyac hill near Hildalgo.  She told him to build a church.  The local clergy said they needed more verification before they would consider such a thing.  Then Mary appeared again to Juan Diego and made roses from Spain bloom out of season in Mexico.  Juan Diego met again with the local clergy and when he opened his cloak, many, many roses fell out and the image of Our Lady was on the inside of his cloak.   The bishop took it as a sign that Juan Diego was right, and they built a church.

Rullah recounts the ways that Mother Mary has appeared to him and what her messages have been.  He tells of Mother Mary’s messages to him about Revelations around the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks. She encourages humankind to see our connectedness and says we waste much time with war.  She sees that we all have a higher, angelic side and that our purpose is to develop that side. 

When Rullah first communicated with Mother May, he was an investment advisor.  She urged him to write four articles about the then current and future economic situations, and she foretold economic hardship because, in our world, profits trump the earth. Those four articles are included in this book.

Through Rullah, Mother Mary communicates about war, about religious unity, about the words we use, about Paradise, Service, about the Divine Feminine and about our own exquisite natures. She also tells us “The Way Out,” as the thirteenth chapter is titled.

Mother Mary isn’t done with Rullah.  She continues to appear and to communicate, and Rullah continues to add chapters to the Prophecies.  I find hope in this book, not only for our world, but for each person’s ability to nurture a connection to the Divine.

Reviewed by Molly Wingate, www.wingate-consulting.com

Link to Free E-book   http://mothermaryprophecies.com

“Waiting for Autumn,” the new hardcover book by DailyOM co-founder Scott Blum, debuted at #6 on Barnes & Noble and #9 on Amazon’s bestselling charts on it’s release earlier this week. The charts represent all books sold from the retailers’ websites in the United States. Released on April 7 by Hay House, “Waiting for Autumn” also topped several other of Amazon’s genre specific charts including #1 on New Thought, #1 on New Age, #1 on Metaphysical Fiction, #1 on World Literature, #2 on Religion & Spirituality, #2 on Health, Mind & Body and #3 on overall Hot New Releases. In addition to United States based charts, the book topped Amazon sales charts in other countries including Canada and United Kingdom.

This represents the second book in Scott Blum’s series of visionary fiction to reach bestseller status, as the E-book prequel “Summer’s Path” debuted at #1 on Amazon’s Kindle chart earlier this year.

In the tradition of the bestseller ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and spiritual classics such as ‘The Alchemist,’ ‘Way of the Peaceful Warrior,’ and ‘The Celestine Prophecy,’ “Waiting for Autumn” is an enchanting semiautobiographical parable that reveals a deep and powerful message. This book follows Scott, an inquisitive seeker who meets a mysterious cardboard-sign-toting homeless man named Robert who has a sleepy puppy at his side and a penchant for changing lives. This metaphysical page-turner is a fascinating exploration of one humble soul’s profound awakening–with a surprise ending that will warm your heart.

Scott Blum is a bestselling author and co-founder of the popular inspirational website DailyOM. He is also a successful multimedia artist who has collaborated with several popular authors, musicians, and visual artists and has produced many critically acclaimed works, including a series featuring ancient meditation music from around the world. Scott lives in the mountains of Ashland, Oregon, with Madisyn Taylor–his wife, business partner, and soul mate. Visit his website at www.scottblum.net

by Martin Boroson

“After reading One-Moment Meditation, no one will be able to say, ‘I don’t have time to meditate. This gem of a book is a marvelous launching pad for anyone who wants to rest in the now, the only time there is.”—Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Reinventing Medicine

PORT JEFFERSON STATION, NY (March 31, 2009) – Even with the well-known and highly touted benefits of meditation—lower blood pressure, reduced stress and anxiety, mental clarity—many people say they just can’t find time for it.
         In ONE-MOMENT MEDITATION: Stillness for People on the Go (Winter Road Publishing, May 1, 2009 /$13.99), Martin Boroson distils the practice of meditation into an exercise that does not require hours of training or severe spiritual discipline, and fits within our fast-paced lifestyles. His radical approach starts with an exercise that takes just one minute a day. With practice, this takes less and less time … until you can do it in just a moment.  

Boroson, who has an MBA from Yale, combines his Zen training and psychotherapy background in ONE-MOMENT MEDITATION to present a self-paced, realistic and effective program—perfect for active people leading hectic lives.

This simple and direct approach to meditation was born when I realized that what matters most in meditation is not the quantity of time but the quality of our attention. With the right outlook and tools, we can meditate in a very short amount of time.  We can tap into deep peace whenever we have a free moment,” states Boroson.
The book presents a step-by-step program of exercises that will enable you to notice the moment, be in the moment, and tap into the enormous potential of each moment. So wherever you are—waiting in traffic, changing a diaper, standing in a long line at the bank—you can grab a moment of meditation. No matter how hectic life seems, you can stop, refresh yourself, and become present—transforming a life that feels crowded and rushed to one that feels spacious and full of opportunity. You realize that every moment offers a chance—no matter how harried or anxious you feel—to experience deep peace.
Says Boroson, “Inner peace does not have to be a distant goal reserved for saints and sages; it does not require trips to the Himalayas or years and years to master. Meditation should be available to everyone, even 21st century Westerners, as part of everyday life. It’s something that we can do one moment at a time.” 
Boroson believes that one-moment meditation also offers us an opportunity to alter the course of our lives. Those who are truly open to the moment know that dramatic change and creative breakthroughs don’t necessarily take a lot of time: each moment has enormous potential.
ONE-MOMENT MEDITATION is not intended to replace other types of meditation. Boroson’s playful and practical techniques can be incorporated into any lifestyle and can enhance any spiritual practice. They remind us that peace is available and is accessible right now, in this very moment. And if not now, when?

About the Author
Martin Boroson is emerging as an original and imaginative teacher of meditation and spirituality. With a background that includes management, psychology, and Zen practice, he distils knowledge from many wisdom traditions into simple powerful techniques for transformation. As an author, speaker, facilitator and consultant, he presents a modern, multicultural understanding of spirituality that is playful, profound, and always practical. His light-hearted radio campaign “Take a MOO-ment,” devised for the Federation of Organic Milk Groups was heard on BBC radio throughout the United Kingdom.  He also created the “National Moment of Stillness” on national radio in Ireland, in which tens of thousands of listeners stopped work (and stopped driving) to be in silence together. One-Moment Meditation has been published in Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish, with other editions coming soon.  It was first published in 2007 in the United Kingdom by Random House under the title: The One-Moment Master:  Stillness for People on the Go. He is also the author of the acclaimed interfaith creation story, Becoming Me (Chosen at “Best Children’s Religion Book” by Publishers Weekly). www.martinboroson.info

from book by same name by Patricia Lynn Reilly

Imagine a Woman who believes it is right and good she is woman.  A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.  Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who has acknowledged the past’s influence on the present.  A woman who has walked through her past.  Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman in love with her own body.  A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.  Who celebrates her body’s rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who embraces her sexuality as her own.  A woman who delights in pleasuring herself.  Who experiences her erotic sensations without shame or guilt.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.  A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.  Who refuses to use her precious life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who has access to the full range of human emotion.  A woman who expresses her feelings clearly and directly.  Who allows them to pass through her as gracefully as a breath.

Imagine a woman who tells the truth.  A woman who trusts her experience of the world and expresses it.  Who refuses to defer to the thoughts, perceptions, and responses of others.

Imagine a woman who follows her creative impulses.  A woman who produces original creations.  Who refuses to color inside someone else’s lines.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.  A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.  Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman who refuses to surrender to gods, gurus, and higher powers.  A woman who has descended into her own inner life.  Who asserts her will in harmony with its impulses and instincts.

Imagine a woman who is interested in her own life.  A woman who embraces her life as teacher, healer, and challenge.  Who is grateful for the ordinary moments of beauty and grace.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.  A woman who trusts her inner sense of what is right for her.  Who refuses to twist her life out of shape to meet the expectations of others. 

Imagine a woman who participates in her own life.A woman who meets each challenge with creativity.  Who takes action on her own behalf with clarity and strength. 

Imagine a woman who has crafted a fully formed solitude.  A woman who is available to herself.  Who chooses friends and lovers with the capacity to respect her solitude.

Imagine a woman who refuses to diminish her life so others will feel better.  A woman who brings the fullness of her years, experience, and wisdom into each relationship. 

Who expects others to be challenged and blessed by her presence in their lives.

Imagine a woman who assumes equality in her relationships.  A woman who no longer believes she is inferior to men and in need of their salvation.  Who has taken her rightful place beside them in the human community.

Imagine a woman who refuses to use her precious life-energy managing crisis and conflict.  A woman whose relationships deepen in satisfaction and contentment without depleting her.  Who chooses friends and lovers with the necessary skills to navigate thorough the challenges of life.

Imagine a woman who values the women in her life.  A woman who sits in circles of women.  Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.

Imagine a woman who has relinquished the desire for intellectual safety and approval.  A woman who makes a powerful statement with every word she speaks, every action she takes.  Who asserts to herself the right to reorder the world. Imagine a woman who has grown in knowledge and love of herself.

A woman who has vowed faithfulness to her own life and capacities. Who remains loyal to herself.

Regardless, .Imagine yourself as this woman.

 A Time for Reflection along the Camino Portugués

This ancient pilgrim path known as the Way of St. James meanders up through the incomparable beauty of the landscape temple of northern Portugal. It follows ‘the road less traveled’, part of which is along the original Roman roads Via XVI from Lisbon to Porto and the Via XIX from Porto to Valença. For over a thousand years pilgrims have taken ‘time out’ to walk its solid surface to reflect on life and its deeper purpose. It is beginning to awaken from centuries of slumber to offer us, again, a time to pause and to re-orientate ourselves in this time of unprecedented change. It provides an antidote to burnout and a vision of a brighter more sustainable future.

Every one of us is affected by the current global turmoil that threatens our social, economic, climatic and ecological systems. However, the current chaos offers a wonderful opportunity to reappraise our lives. It is futile to try and maintain a bubble that has become so inflated that its very fabric is stretched so thin that it can no longer survive in its present form. We can bury our heads in the sand and deny that exponential growth can continue forever – but if left unchecked it must inevitably collapse under its own weight. We have reached that point and the problem of our collective unsustainable way of life can no longer be left for the next generation to solve. We are living beyond the capacity of the earth to sustain us and we need to act now in a concerted global re-envisioning.

 In a sense Portugal was the birthplace of Globalism. The Portuguese ‘discoveries’ of the 15th and 16th centuries extended the known world to encompass the entire planet for the first time. The Portuguese explorers like Vasco de Gama and Magellan gave rise to international trade and the unbridled expansion that has now, finally, come to an end. But this is also a time of unprecedented opportunity. The solutions to all our problems are available to us, now. The global energy ‘crisis’ is one of the many illusory tricks that are being played out by the big energy companies who control so much of the global economy. Enough solar energy hits the earth each day sufficient to fuel the entire global energy needs for one year? All we need do is to wake up and change the way we think so that we can start to breakdown the monopolies of the energy giants and harness this unlimited sustainable source of power.

 With our noses pressed ever more firmly to a grindstone that is spinning ever faster how can we make the necessary changes. Einstein famously remarked, ‘we cannot solve a problem with the same mindset that gave rises to it’ – when all is said and done we need a more evolved consciousness. Barack Obama’s democratic platform was built on the slogan ‘we need change.’

 This is where the Camino Português comes in so beautifully. Most of us are familiar with the bussiness of life that seems to trap us in its complexities so that we never have ‘time’ to reflect on our lives and its direction. To bring about the required change in mindset we need to take time out from all the activity, away from the familiar and allow some spaciousness into our lives. What better place to achieve this than to walk the Way of St. James otherwise known as the Camino Portugués. All you need is a ‘pilgrim passport’ or credential a light backpack and pair of walking shoes but don’t delay – the future of the world may depend on it! The pilgrim infrastructure has improved greatly during the past few years and hostels are now available all along the route from Porto. If you don’t fancy sleeping in a pilgrim dormitory you can always stay in one of the magnificent quintas that line the route. These quintas, along with other alternative accommodation are all listed in A Pilgrims Guide to the Camino Portugués, which also has maps detailing the distances between hostels, quintas, bars and cafés.

The Camino has become the second most popular route to Santiago but it is still relatively uncluttered despite the fact that pilgrims from a staggering 156 different nationalities walked the route last year. The most popular starting point is Porto but the route is now way marked all the way from Lisbon. The first 3 days of which are shared with the route to Fatima along the Camino do Tejo but the historic route then branches off at Santarém to the delightful town of Tomar, which has been associated with the pilgrim route to Santiago since the 10th century. The knights Templar occupied the town as their Portuguese headquarters to look after the welfare and safety of wayfarers. Prince Henry ‘the Navigator’ was a Grand Master and the great explorers such as Columbus were almost certainly entertained in its illustrious court, which is now protected as a World Heritage site.
From here the route winds its way through the best preserved Roman ruins in Portugal at Conimbriga before entering the ancient capital of Coimbra. Porto is the next stop, which we reach 2 weeks from setting out from Lisbon. Another week will bring us to Valença on the river Minho before we enter Spain for the final few days to Santiago. The route is very eclectic and is open and waiting for every one of every religion or none to walk its pathways as a way of reawakening to a future quite unlike the past. You can choose to go on this route today – now. Who, me? – Yes! And it may prove to be the pivotal turning point in your life when you experience the long lost art of spacious living – uncluttered from all the paraphernalia of our chaotic way of life. What are you waiting for?

John Brierley. Author of A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino Portugués published by Findhorn Press.