There are books that inspire, books that enthral and books that shake our perceptions of the world. Here’s our Autumn selection of amazing, life-changing reads. It’s time to curl up by the fire, or take in the last warm rays of late summer sunshine under a tree, and let these authors take you on journey where you may even begin to question your own core beliefs.
1. The Bhagvard Ghita
The Bhagavad Gita, “The Song of the Lord,” is probably the best known of all the Indian scriptures, and Easwaran’s clear, accessible translation is the best-selling edition. The Gita opens dramatically, with prince Arjuna collapsing in anguish on the brink of a war that he doesn’t want to fight. Arjuna has lost his way on the battlefield of life, and turns to his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna, the Lord himself. Krishna replies in 700 verses of sublime instruction on living and dying, loving and working, and the nature of the soul.
2. Healing Developmental Trauma by Laurence Heller
Written for those working to heal developmental trauma and seeking new tools for self-awareness and growth, this book focuses on conflicts surrounding the capacity for connection. Explaining that an impaired capacity for connection to self and to others and the ensuing diminished aliveness are the hidden dimensions that underlie most psychological and many physiological problems, clinicians Laurence Heller and Aline LaPierre introduce the NeuroAffective Relational Model® (NARM), a unified approach to developmental, attachment, and shock trauma that, while not ignoring a person’s past, emphasizes working in the present moment. NARM is a somatically based psychotherapy that helps bring into awareness the parts of self that are disorganized and dysfunctional without making the regressed, dysfunctional elements the primary theme of the therapy. It emphasizes a person’s strengths, capacities, resources, and resiliency and is a powerful tool for working with both nervous system regulation and distortions of identity such as low self-esteem, shame, and chronic self-judgment.
3. A Course in Miracles Made Easy: Mastering the Journey from Fear to Love
A Course in Miracles (ACIM) – the self-study spiritual-thought system that teaches the way to love and forgiveness – has captivated the minds and captured the hearts of millions of people. Delivering inner peace where fear and pain once prevailed, its universal message is unsurpassed in its power to heal. Yet many students report that they have difficulty grasping the principles or keeping up with the lessons. So even while they yearn for the spiritual freedom the Course offers, they put the book aside, hoping to get to it one day.
4. Power vs Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behaviour by David Hawkins
David R. Hawkins details how anyone may resolve the most crucial of all human dilemmas: how to instantly determine the truth or falsehood of any statement or supposed fact. Dr. Hawkins, who worked as a ” healing psychiatrist” during his long and distinguished career, uses theoretical concepts from particle physics, nonlinear dynamics, and chaos theory to support his study of human behavior. This is a fascinating work that will intrigue readers from all walks of life!
5. The Cupid & The Psyche by Marie Charlotte Craft
The story of Cupid and Psyche is part of The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses, a Latin novel by Apuleius (second century A.D.). It is both a charming fairytale and an allegory of the search of the Soul for happiness and fulfillment. This edition, the first with a full commentary in English to appear for eighty years, comprises a Latin text with facing translation, making the edition more accessible to students of comparative literature. An introduction and a commentary provide help with interpretation and up-to-date guidance to scholarship in the field.