News and Miscellany

I've sorted entries, not generally in alphabetic order, but in the order in which I'd like them to be seen.

I'll start with spiritual exercises and related material, for the benefit of those who don't want to get into my philosophy:

Spiritual Exercises:

Various of these works involve a lot more theory (sometimes controversial, and sometimes contradictory to other writers' theories) than practice. However, I've learned something from all of them, and quite a lot from some of them:

LeShan, Lawrence. How to Meditate. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1975.

This, together with Phillips, were, by consensus of the organizers, the two basic texts for a group which I co-led for many years. My Bantam copy has been succeeded by various subsequent editions. This is one work in this field which usually seems to be relatively easily available via bookstores.

Current general books: In August, 2003, I looked at the offerings in a big chain bookstore outlet to see what was current and could easily be found (without locating a specialty store or ordering without examining the books first). The following two looked promising:

Levey, Joel and Michelle. The Fine Arts of Relaxation, Concentration & Meditation. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003. $14.95 US.

Also covers a lot of non-spiritual material and other motives for the activities described.

Anderton, Bill. Meditation: Live Better. Vancouver BC: Raincoast Books, 2002. $16.95 Canadian.

A nicely produced little hardcover with good illustrations.

Van Over, Raymond. Total Meditation. New York: Collier Books, 1978.

This is my personally preferred basic work on meditation and other spiritual exercises. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be enough other people's favorite for it to be easily found, but I would say the effort to locate it would be worthwhile.

Naranjo, Claudio, and Ornstein, Robert E. On the Psychology of Meditation. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1976.

A nicely written scholarly examination, with some good practical material in it. Naranjo has written other works which are sometimes easier to find.

Argüelles, José and Miriam. Mandala. Berkeley and London: Shambhala, 1972.

To me, this became on publication, and remains, the definitive illustrated work on mandalas, with wide-ranging examples of many kinds, very nicely produced. I have used it many times in groups and have led exercises drawn from it.

Tucci, Giuseppe. The Theory and Practice of the Mandala. New York: Samuel Weiser, 1973.

Translated by A. H. Brodrick.

Storm, Hyemeyhohsts. Seven Arrows. New York: Ballantine, 1972.

In this beautifully illustrated work on Plains peoples' spiritual practices, you can read more about medicine shields, of which I show a very simple example on my page concerning mandalas.

Steiger, Brad. Medicine Talk. New York: Doubleday, 1975

In this volume and "Medicine Power" (Doubleday, 1974), Steiger writes about First Nations spiritual concerns and practices, including one, "The Pathway of Peace" ("Medicine Talk," chapter 8) which I have conducted several times in groups.

Phillips, Dorothy Berkley, et al. The Choice is Always Ours: an Anthology on the Religious Way. Revised and abridged. Wheaton, Illinois: Re-Quest Books, 1975.

Don't let the "Religious Way" in the title put you off; this is a marvellous collection of spiritual materials from many sources, and was paired with LeShan as basic texts for a group in which I led spiritual exercises for many years. At that time, it always seemed to be available in specialty bookstores, and may still be if you check around.

Delza, Sophia. T'ai Chi Ch'uan. New York: Cornerstone Library, 1972.

If you're willing to try to learn the complex exercise of tai chi from a book, without a teacher, this work offers straightforward and detailed instructions.

Works on Yoga: there are so many current books on this subject (an entire section in a local large bookstore) that I'd recommend just going to a store and making a critical selection. Look for illustrations and clear instructions if you intend to try any poses, and be careful not to go beyond your physical abilities and any limitations.

Science:

It would be pointless to list the books from which I gained the lay person's knowledge that let me form my world-view of the evolution of the Universe and of humanity's place in that evolution, since those particular texts are long out-of-date and I couldn't put together any organized list of the sources from which I have since updated what I learned back then.

Let me just recommend reading about physics, cosmology, geology, chemistry, biology, anatomy, physiology, embryology, history and psychology; hardly with the objective of mastering all these fields or even passing a first-term exam in any of them, but enough to be able to understand how things fit together, how they got that way and what might happen next. It's a longish list, but I don't, looking back, see where I could have stinted. I managed without post-secondary mathematics then, but the equivalent of first-year university mathematics would certainly have helped.

If I had this part of my self-education to do over, I'd begin by going to the bookstore of the nearest large university and -- probably wincing at the prices in the early 2000's -- looking for the texts recommended to undergraduates beginning in each field.

Philosophy:

While I was trying to understand how the world works, I was also trying to learn some philosophy. This is a field in which good material doesn't become dated in the same way as in the sciences. I learned from the following, among others:

Bahm, Archie J. Philosophy: an Introduction. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1953.

Mead, Hunter. Types and Problems of Philosophy: An Introduction New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1953.

Joad, C. E. M. Guide to Philosophy. London: Victor Gollancz, 1953.

Durant, Will. The Story of Philosophy. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953.

The World's Great Thinkers. Four volumes. New York: Random House, 1947.

This is an anthology of extracts from the original writers, translated into English where necessary. The volumes are "Man and Spirit: the Speculative Philosophers;" "Man and Man: the Social Philosophers;" "Man and the State: the Political Philosophers;" and "Man and the Universe: the Philosophers of Science."

Ayer, A. J. The Problem of Knowledge. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1956.

Quine, Willard Van Orman. Methods of Logic. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1960.

Strawson, P. F. Introduction to Logical Theory. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1952.

Bouquet, A. C. Comparative Religion. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1956.

Ferm, Vergilius, et al. Living Schools of Religion. Ames, Iowa: Littlefield, Adams & Co., 1956.

Rand, Ayn. For the New Intellectual: the Philosophy of Ayn Rand. New York: Random House, 1961.

In this volume of less than 250 pages, Rand collects philosophical extracts from her four novels. Of the novels themselves, "Atlas Shrugged" is both the longest and the most philosophically important, and is available in various editions, of which the latest one always seems to be available in bookstores.

Rand, Ayn. The Objectivist Ethics. New York: Nathaniel Branden Institute, 1961.

This slim pamphlet publishes a symposium paper delivered by Rand. Rand's derivation of values and ethics from human nature alone is central to my own, and it is this pamphlet which I have recommended to people who wanted to know where I was coming from in this regard.

Rand, Ayn. Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. New York and Scarborough, Ontario: New American Library, 1979.

Den Uyl, Douglas J., and Rasmussen, Douglas B. The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986.

Evolution:

This overlaps into both science and philosophy, and various works I've already listed treat evolution to some degree. When I write "evolution" here, I'm referring to evolution in general, not just biological mutation and selection. Specializing in evolutionary thought are:

Bucke, Richard Maurice. Cosmic Consciousness. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1969.

It's difficult to know where to put this strange book, copyrighted in 1901. Spiritual matters? Philosophy? Here? However, this work was one of those which led me to a crucial turning point in my own ideas: specifically, he introduced me to the concept of God as emerging from us in our own evolution. I could say that passing on this concept, in my own late-second-millennium version, is the main point of this website's existence.

Bergson, Henri. Creative Evolution. New York: The Modern Library, 1944.

Translated by Arthur Mitchell.

Bury, J. B. The Idea of Progress. New York: Dover Publications, 1955.

Childe, V. Gordon. Social Evolution. New York: Henry Schuman, 1951.

Roszak, Theodore. Unfinished Animal. New York: Harper & Row, 1977.

Simpson, George Gaylord. The Meaning of Evolution. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1952.

I welcome feedback on anything you find on my website.