644: Cool ideas in many forms: Flags, Superheroes, Faces … and Nothing

March 18, 2010 by


We started this week with a promise: Share with you “sparks of creativity that we can kindle into new life: new faith, new
compassion, new energy to connect with others and build that new world
we all hope will emerge.”
    We’ve covered a SUPER collection of cool ideas. If you’re just catching up with us—here’s a quick overview of the gems …

Colorful Children’s Book and Universal Flag:
    Monday, we recommended “The Sun and the Moon,” a playful story about an argument between the two great orbs—and, we told you about a Universal Flag that caught the eye of one reader, who told me: “I love that flag! Why can’t we celebrate all the world’s colors all the time? … I plan to hang one in my back yard this spring.” Enjoy our review of this book-and-flag concept.

Superman, Mayan Genius and Wisdom as We Age:
    Tuesday, we shared tips on 3 books you’re not likely to find without some help. Check out our reviews of “2000 Years of Mayan Literature” (that thriller “2012” fudged its Mayan facts), “Our Hero: Superman on Earth” (explore why we’re so drawn to superheroes), and “Talking with God in Old Age: Meditations and Psalms” (let’s re-focus on spiritual gifts in aging).
    Tom Walters, a teacher from Philadelphia, sent a message on the Mayan book: “There’s been too much dumbing-down of the Mayans as Hollywood Central Casting crazies … like the Egyptian mummies that made us shudder as kids. … You told us about what sounds like a good book, but you didn’t tell readers that Mayans are alive and well to this day.”
    Well, Tom, now we have. Thanks!

ANYTHING Worthwhile to Say about NOTHING?
    Of course there is! And, Joan Konner proves it in “You Don’t Have to be Buddhist to Know Nothing.” She’s a highly respected journalist and longtime colleague of Bill Moyers whose research shows us the timeless importance of “Nothing.” There’s a lot of fun in her approach to the subject, but a serious side as well: Nothing really is the space where, as Shel Silverstein told us as kids, “the sidewalk ends.”
    Meet Joan in this in-depth interview about her work on … the spiritual importance of Nothing.

Passover’s Coming. Celebrate Judaism Now:
    Thursday, we welcomed Debra Darvick, a popular writer whose byline pops up regularly in national magazines, telling us the inside story of the challenges she faced in creating “I Love Jewish Faces.”
    Once again, we recommended a so-called “children’s book” to you. And, pssst, don’t tell kids—but many of today’s children’s books are terrific for adults as well. We highlighted this new book early, because you just might want to order a copy—so it’s here for the holiday.

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623 Meet a pioneer in religious diversity, now sharing his own spiritual story

February 17, 2010 by


Suddenly, there were “vast depths of ideas and thoughts that I began to discover in Judaism and Christianity, depths that are still hidden from many people who are, as I was, unable to see beneath the surface of our culture’s religious symbols and doctrines. Even now … I see again and again, time after time, that what I have taken to be the deeper meaning of the Judaic and Christian idea of God is only another ‘surface’—however deep, relatively, it may lie—behind or beneath which, or within which, the real mystery of the meaning of God still remains hidden in all its unformed and unmanifested power.”

    You may recognize Jacob Needleman from PBS’ Bill Moyers specials. If you’re a follower of religious movements, you may have Needleman’s landmark 1970 book, “The New Religions,” on your shelf already. That book, which introduced many Americans to the seemingly exotic Eastern religions arriving on our West Coast at that time, remains so significant that the book was republished last year in a Tarcher Cornerstone Edition.
    Now, Tarcher/Penguin adds “What Is God?”—a brand new 250-page memoir-and-plea from Needleman for all of us to keep searching for God, even as that journey becomes more urgent and challenging.
    When Needleman set out to write this new book about the nature of God, he quickly decided that the most fitting format for this subject matter would be—memoir. The best way to convey the human experience of the Divine, he found, is to write honestly about the often-surprising and sometimes-frustrating human pursuit of God. Finally, he wound up telling the story of his own life-long search. In this book, you will encounter many famous names, but the nature of God in each generation ultimately depends on individual encounters, he tells us.
    That’s why it’s such a compelling book.
    All you have to do is read the first chapter, “My Father’s God,” describing his boyhood experience of sitting on the front porch late one night in Philadelphia with his father, to discover that you simply can’t put down the book. In addition to the wonderment little Jacob finds in the starry night sky, he soon begins to sift through unresolved childhood memories from the death of an aunt—and we find ourselves completely wrapped up in his spiritual journey.
    Because, of course, it is our journey, too.
    How many of us were curious children? How many of us had puzzlingly distant relatives? How many of us looked at stars? How many of us wondered about Heaven? About God?
    As a young man who migrates to California, Needleman takes us into the heart of his academic work as a fledgling college instructor. At first, he considers himself a religious skeptic but he must prepare to teach his first comparative-religion classes. At first, he has an actual revulsion toward some of the historic religious texts he is preparing to “teach” in his class.
    However, like the night on the front porch, the cosmos seem to open in unexpected ways. The italic quote above, today, is from that portion of Needleman’s memoir when these sacred texts surprise him with their timeless power. These texts, some of which he once rejected, take him farther and deeper than he ever expects.
    His book ends with a plea for the future of faith and humanity that will leave you nodding as you close the book.
    Click Here to order a copy of “What is God?” by Jacob Needleman now from Amazon.

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR CONVERSATION
WITH JACOB NEEDLEMAN on “WHAT IS GOD?”

    DAVID: You’re 75 and still teaching.
   
JACOB: Yes, that’s correct.
   
DAVID: Tell us a bit about where you live and what you’re teaching these days.
   
JACOB: I live in the San Francisco Bay area, but now I live in Oakland, across the bay from where I lived for about 40 years. I just became “emeritus” at San Francisco State University, but I am still teaching as Professor of Philosophy.
   
DAVID: It’s important to explain to readers, I think, that you’re not a researcher isolated from students. Your new book talks about how important preparing for these classes—and interacting with students—has been in your own spiritual awakening.
   
JACOB: Yes, for almost 50 years I’ve been in the classroom. I usually teach three courses. Now, I’ve cut back a little bit and I teach one course this term. I’ve taught History of Philosophy, looking at philosophers and philosophical issues. And I teach Comparative Religion, looking at questions in religions. So, those are my two areas: philosophy and religion. I don’t teach Philosophy of Religion, which usually implies an outside stance about religion that suggests you don’t take it that seriously on its own terms.
   
I try to teach about religion as religion understands itself.
   
DAVID: This is important background, because this new book is mainly a memoir. You answer the question “What Is God?” and a whole series of other questions, as well, by telling the moving story of how religion seemed to surface—to break through almost unexpectedly—at various points in your life.
   
This is a memoir of a life unexpectedly encountering the timeless power of religion to awaken new insights. Am I describing that correctly?
   
JACOB: I’m absolutely delighted that’s the way you see this book. That’s absolutely what I hoped—that the narrative would be the strongest way to convey what I’m writing about here. That’s the reason I chose this particular form for this book.
   
This is my narrative of how I encountered these ideas. I started teaching in the field of religious studies almost reluctantly, but the more I taught, the more I came to see how deeply I did not understand the religious traditions of my own culture and also of the East.
   
As I taught for many years in this area, I got more and more interested in religious thought. As my interest grew, I saw a dynamic convergence in the teachings of all the great traditions. There was a common, universal vision of the central questions, such as: What is humanity? And: What should we be doing with our lives?
   
When new religious movements began entering into the San Francisco area in the 1960s, I decided I wanted to write not so much for the academic specialists but for the general public. I wanted to see how this convergence of humanity in the light of the world might provide answers for the problems we all face.
   
In working on this new book, it was very clear to me that the question, “What Is God?” is a burning question—and also a very necessary question—in our time. So, I rolled up my sleeves and tackled this impossible question: “What Is God?” I found myself from the very first line of the book almost jerked by the back of my neck telling me: This is going to be personal.

    DAVID: Let’s step back for a moment to one of your most famous books—and it’s a book now available in a brand-new paperback edition: “The New Religions,” first published in 1970.
   
I remember that book when it was new. I was one of those readers who was amazed to flip through the pages and read about these “exotic” religions now blossoming on our own American soil. I wanted to know more. But you didn’t reveal much, in writing that book, about what was going on in your own life.
   
Now, in this new book, we learn that “The New Religions” was written in this very era when you were undergoing a personal transformation in your approach to the subject of religion. You didn’t disclose that in your 1970 book, I’m assuming because it was such a fresh part of your life.
   
But that 1970 book, on its own, I think really has stood the test of time. I just pulled it off the shelf and read most of it again. In that era, it was this startling new book about these “new” religions from Asia that were making a strong foothold on the West Coast.
   
JACOB: When you write a book, then many years later you decide to look back into what you wrote—you often want to sit down with a strong drink next to you because you expect to wince as you read it.
   
But, as I re-read that book recently, I actually didn’t wince when I read it. It turned out to be better, after all those years, than I expected.
   
The stance it took is exactly what you say: The main aim of that book was not so much to make a philosophically sophisticated report, but a means of opening up ideas and deepening questions for general readers.

    DAVID: One of my favorite sections in that 1970 book is titled, “What Is California?” You play with the question of why California attracted so many seemingly strange innovations in that era.
   
Is California still so different in this regard? What would you say?
   
JACOB: (chuckles) Yes, it’s still different. It’s still Californialand. What started here, however, has spread all over, not only all over the coasts—but all across the country and around the world. It’s worldwide at least in the Western world, these new religious movements, this emphasis on spirituality, fragments of religious traditions reshaping themselves into whole new religions, the psychological use of religion. Things that were weird and odd that first came through California are now everywhere. These ideas show up now from perfumes to business logos.
   
DAVID: From herbal teas to yoga gear in Target stores.
   
JACOB: Right. In many of these forms, the ideas are cheapened and reduced—but you see this evidence everywhere.
   
And California still is probably the place where these things appear first, for better or worse. People still seem to arrive in California, throw off their overcoats and try to find themselves here. What we called the New Age is now a negative phrase—in many ways justifiably and some things are bad and weird about it—but all of this does reflect a real and deep yearning in the culture for something meaningful in life. This is especially true among young people.

    DAVID: What I find so moving in this new book is that it starts with this childhood scene of you and your father on the porch—then you go through a top-notch education and you wind up with no use for religion at all. You’re essentially an atheist at that point.
   
Then you land this job teaching about religion in San Francisco. And, while encountering these ancient texts—some powerful doors open up.
   
JACOB: Just as you’ve said, I was well educated in some of the best universities in the country. But, when I had to teach in this area, I had to roll up my sleeves and start reading all of this material about religion. I didn’t think I’d find it very congenial.
I began reading about Jewish mysticism and reading the actual text of what most people call the Old Testament, which is something I had only encountered in bits and pieces in my background growing up.
   
I was stunned by the depths and the metaphysics and the questions within this tradition. It touched me in a way I had not expected.
   
Of course, I was always searching. I was interested very much in Zen Buddhism in my senior year in college. I regarded the idea that there was an inner life as a sophisticated science of inner awakening. I found this in the Zen writings I read in my own college studies.
   
When I saw that Judaism had very much a similar system of practices, I began to follow that further and began to understand the allegorical and symbolical meanings of scripture—and in works like Maimonides.
   
Next, I had to read Christianity, which I not only didn’t really understand but also feared. In my family, Christianity was like an enemy because of all the anti-Semitism we had experienced. Then, I found Augustine deeply fascinating. The early Christian theologians were so interesting!
   
Reading about the early Christian fathers in the deserts of Africa and their depth in what we might call Eastern traditions, I was blown away.
   
I discovered I’d had a false picture growing up of the depth and complexity of these religions.

    DAVID: Today, you’re continuing to call on readers to engage in their own quests—and, in this new book, you argue that it may wind up being religion that helps humanity save the planet.
   
If we rediscover the unifying depths of religion, the deeper values that can bring people together, then we might possibly survive the monumental crises we’re facing.
   
JACOB: I’m optimistic without being gullible or foolish. I’m optimistic when I see that people are breaking through of the crust into yearning—and are thinking about the changes we need to make. I’m not entirely optimistic that we can make all the changes we really need, now.
   
DAVID: You write that you feel the world’s time is short. Here’s a brief passage near the end of your book. You plead with readers to enable “doors to be open to those who are touched by the great wish that leads to the personal search for God, whether that search takes place in the hidden heart of our own ancient teachings; or in the still living practical mysticism of Eastern teachings; or in the rediscovered path leading to the awakening of Conscious Atttention; or in ways still, for all we know, hidden and waiting to be ‘switched on’ in our civilization.
   
“Both in our Earth and in our personal lives—we are perhaps at an unimaginably critical juncture in the life of man on Earth.
   
“We cannot wait for very long. The time remaining is very short, is it not?”

PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOU THINK:

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goes out each week to readers who want more of an “inside track” on
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    Not only do we welcome your notes—but our readers enjoy them as well. You can do this
anytime by clicking on the “Comment” links at the end of each story.
You also can Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm. We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, YouTube and other social-networking sites as well.
    (Originally published at https://readthespirit.com/)

604: Strong leadership begins in the humility of prayer and meditation

January 20, 2010 by


“If you have a spirit, lose it,
loose it to return where with one word,
we came from.
Now, thousands of words,
and we refuse to leave.“
RUMI

Our headline today is timeless spiritual wisdom and—after our provocative portrait of mega-best-selling preacher Rick Warren yesterday—we want to return for a day to this timeless inspirational power that most of our readers share in some form.
    You may call it meditation. Prayer. Reflection. Centering.
    In the traditions of India, including Hinduism and Buddhism, a string of 108 beads called “mala” is a widespread practice for centering meditation. (To read more, here’s Wikipedia on these strings of beads and there also are instructive Web sites like this one that focus more on Buddhist practice.)
    Catholic and Muslim readers will instantly recognize the spiritual value of this concept from their own traditions of using beads in prayer. Protestants are less likely to have tried beads, although a small-and-growing number of creative evangelists are touching on this idea.
    In a moment, we’re going to tell you about a great new book that provides 108 mala reflections in a single small volume. It’s callled, “Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems.” The Rumi poem in blue, above, is the first prayer in this new book from the New World Library.
    ReadTheSpirit offers this same kind of daily discipline of reflective reading. Right now, for example, you might find your mind, heart and spirit recharged by reading Dr. Wayne Baker’s reflections on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—or, if your mind is on Haiti this week, take a look at Rodney Curtis’ moving story of his own journey to Haiti for National Geographic some years ago.

    CLICK HERE to order “Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems” from Amazon now.

    I love small prayer books like this. It’s a pleasant volume to hold with its soft, matte dust cover and creamy pages. The book is comprised mainly of 108 prayer-poems—or perhaps we might call them “moments of meditation” penned by more than 30 poets. The number of pieces chosen by the editors matches a string of mala beads, a practice familiar to Hindus and Buddhists—and a first cousin to Catholic and Muslim prayer beads.
    The editors of this volume teach Hindu practices ranging from Vedic studies to Yoga. The foreword is from Buddhist scholar Jack Kornfield. But the poets in the volume form the actual community of teachers here and they stem from a broad array of traditions.
    You’ll find the extremely popular Rumi here along with the universally celebrated St. Francis of Assisi and William Blake. But you’ll also find Navajo wisdom. And, you’ll hear from Dante Alighieri (of “The Divine Comedy”) and the Sufi poet Hafiz and the legendary Kabir, who mingled Indian traditions (and who we profiled in “Interfaith Heroes”).
    If you’re like me, you’ve got a shelf (or perhaps shelves) somewhere in your home with well-thumbed prayer books you pull down occasionally and integrate into your life for a season. This new collection will carry you well through a day, a month, a season. You may have read some of these lines before in other collections—but these beads are arranged in a beautiful and spirit-provoking new way.
    Enjoy.

    NEXT WEEK, we plan to continue our series of interviews with men and women from our “10 Spiritual Sages to Watch in 2010.” We will bring you a special “Conversation With Barbara Brown Taylor.” Her book, “An Altar in the World,” is about to be released in a new paperback edition
and also celebrates spiritual disciplines.
    Finally, here’s one more sampling from “Mala” to help enlighten your journey through this week.

From St. Francis of Assisi:
“I think God might be a little prejudiced.
For once He asked me to join Him
on a walk through this world,
and we gazed into every heart on this earth,
and I noticed He lingered a bit longer
before any face that was weeping,
and before any eyes that were laughing.
And sometimes when we passed
a soul in worship
God too would kneel down.
I have come to learn:
God adores His creation.”

PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOU THINK:

    This is a good time to sign up for our Monday-morning ReadTheSpirit Planner by Email—it’s
free and you can cancel it any time you’d like to do so. The Planner
goes out each week to readers who want more of an “inside track” on
what we’re seeing on the horizon, plus it’s got a popular “holidays”
section.

    Not only do we welcome your notes—but our readers enjoy them as well. You can do this
anytime by clicking on the “Comment” links at the end of each story.
You also can Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm. We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, YouTube and other social-networking sites as well.
    (Originally published at https://readthespirit.com/)

168: Planting Seeds; Reflecting on Rocks — Buddhists and Catholics Converge

May 14, 2008 by

     “Seeds and seedlings grow into forests step by step.
     “In this growing they have the capacity to support societies where every single person is honored. All you and I need to do is start planting the seeds. This is a small doing. One simple act followed by the next simple act, resting when we need to rest, admiring what we need to admire.
    “Seeds to gardens, gardens to forests, forests to seeds to gardens, in an exquisite dance.”
    from the Buddhist writer Geri Larkin’s new “Plant Seed, Pull Weed”

    That exquisite dance is going on everywhere in hopeful nooks, crannies and communities all around the world. For most of this week, we’ve been celebrating hopeful new insights into the natural world — but we don’t want to leave you with the impression that this is an exclusively Christian pilgrimage.

    The popular Buddhist writer Geri Larkin is back in bookstores right now with a brand-new book, which she says may be her very last one, “Plant Seed, Pull Weed: Nurturing the Garden of Your Life.”
    You know what that means? Listen up, Geri Larkin fans! You know precisely what you have to do! Go out and buy this book for yourself, your friend, your neighbor, your co-worker, your grandma and your grandchild! You do that and she’ll have to come back in another year or two and send us another packet of eye-opening wisdom like this new book.

    AND, TODAY, we’re also going to debut the third video produced with the IHM Sisters from their sturdy new booklet, “Nature Stations,” a prayerful guide to reflections in the natural world. We’ll show you that video and turn this into an interfaith reflection in just a moment.

    But, first, what readers love about Geri is her overflowing spiritual energy.
    I mean, get this: Her new book is about Zen and gardening. But it’s also about how vulnerable teen-aged girls can deal with the mean girls at school, how over-stressed sales people can deal with crabby customers — and how to cook up stir-fried dandelions after weeding your lawn!
    “I can’t believe how much stuff you packed into this book — I mean, recipes, too!” I told Geri when I reached her on the telephone.
    She laughed! “What I am trying to share is that life is everything! Life is, like, every aspect! Every part of your life counts, you know — your cooking, your having to deal with that nasty girl who, for most of us, now is 60 years old and she’s still driving you nuts! It’s all that stuff.
    “In any sincere spiritual practice, you have to deal with all of life — with everything.”
    She laughed again. Geri laughs a lot. “You know, David, the editor actually took a lot of stuff out of the book, saying I was all over the map. And I kept saying right back: ‘Hey, that’s the point! We have to be all over the map in our lives.'”

    One goal of Zen is to be fully present in each moment. After spending time around Geri over many years, I can tell you this: Geri’s full presence spills over into an infectious — often funny — energy that enfolds everyone around her, even readers who get to meet her only through the pages of her books.

    Around the time her previous book, “The Chocolate Cake Sutra,” was published, I invited a group of high school students to spend time interviewing Geri for a documentary film on prayer and meditation. Geri was heading back to southeast Michigan for a few days from her new home in the Pacific Northwest, and I told the students that the cost of a seat with Geri was reading her book.
    If you know anything about the busy lives of teenagers, the idea of reading a book on Buddhism sounds like an impossible challenge. But, on the day of the interview, an eager little crowd of students pulled couches up around Geri’s own easy chair. They pulled out these beautifully well-thumbed copies of her book — their pages sprouting bookmarks, sticky notes and slips of paper with questions scribbled to ask Geri.
    That’s the best way I can convey the excitement of her spiritual voice. It can hook and hold a busy teenager — or a busy middle-aged writer like myself.

    When I first reached Geri on the telephone to talk about “Plant Seed,” she started the conversation by eagerly sharing her impressions of the new movie, “Iron Man.” Then, when we got back to contemplating her new book, she warned me that her emotions for the natural world are at a fever pitch at the moment. She has just completed a 90-day retreat.
    “And, after this retreat, I’m filled with gratitude for everything in the world. I see a ladybug on a leaf — and I tear up right away. Everything is so sweet in life for me right now,” she said.
    Meeting someone like this, even across a long-distance telephone line from her home in Eugene, Oregon, is an electric experience.

    “Why do you insist on calling this your last book, Geri?” I asked her.
    “Oh, David, gosh, it’s because my own kids now are mating and starting to have babies and I want to start focusing on the babies, the children you know,” she said. “I’ve written enough for adults now. You know, there just aren’t enough good Zen books for babies! Have you ever looked for a good Zen picture book for babies?”
    “No, I guess I haven’t,” I said.
    “Well, I decided that I need to write some,” she said.
    (Note to our Readers: This is an excellent opportunity to click the “Comment” link at the end of today’s story — or Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm with any Zen children’s books you can recommend.)

    Oh, and by the way, Geri also recommends that you think about plowing up your front yard and planting a garden out there — complete with flowers and plants for food as well.

    “In this little place I have out here, now, I’m gardening all the time,” she said. “I’m determined to keep the crab grass away from my front yard, because I want to plant vegetables there. You know, I’m thinking now that for the most part those grassy yards need to be a thing of the past. It’s better to plant flowers and vegetables.”
    When she started talking about this, my mind immediately flashed to the recent news photographs of the Buddhist monks in Myanmar, who are responding to the devastating, deadly cyclone by heading out into the worst of it — with hand tools! They’ve started cutting up the fallen trees that are blocking roads, repairing things, rebuilding, replanting.
    In the spring, when even the hardest of our hearts can blossom, pluck up a copy of Geri’s new book and you’ll be smiling — and planning your next garden — from cover to cover.

    Now, we promised you a third video from the IHM Sisters.
    And, appropriately, today’s video is a contemplation of rocks — produced by ReadTheSpirit publisher with a gorgeous backdrop of flowering trees at the Sisters’ Motherhouse facility.
    Click on the Video screen below to watch the video. If there’s no video screen visible in your version of this story, then Visit YouTube directly to see the Sisters’ “Nature Stations” reflection on rocks.

    Let’s close today with a few more words from “Plant Seed, Pull Weed”:
    “In our gardens there will be constant weeds. Okay. In our heads there will be weeds, as well. Okay again. We pull them once, twice, ten thousand times — because we can. Because we must. Get out there and get dirty, my friend. Nothing matters more.
    “May you be fearless. May you make your life breathtakingly beautiful through your acts of generosity and compassion. May these same acts make the world a cleaner and safer place for the children of our children.
    “Small acts writ large change history.”

119: Judging Books by Their Covers — Some Surprising Spiritual Responses

March 6, 2008 by


OurLent inspirational stories are over here. ON THIS PAGE
you’ll find our daily ReadTheSpirit stories.


    I know! I know!

    The last thing a book reviewer should do is: judge a book by its cover.
    BUT, let’s be honest! The truth is that this is pretty much how most people purchase books, especially spiritual books — unless we’re talking about blockbusters like Deepak Chopra or “The Lord of the Rings.”
    In fact, a longtime religious publisher has told me more than once: “You know what the data show? Out of the Top 10 reasons that people choose to buy spiritual books — 9 of the top 10 amount to: ‘I saw it on the shelf.’ All the other reasons are 10 or below. Browsing through book covers is that important!”
    I agree. All my life, I’ve been drawn to libraries and bookstores — and most of my own best “finds” were based on covers that caught my eye.
    Taking the challenge of that kind of marketing seriously, I packed up a huge box of 30 recent books that were sent to me because they have spiritual themes. I carried them to Ann Arbor, where I work with a group of high school students who produce documentary films under the title: “Divine Light Media.” I asked these young filmmakers to spend a little while browsing through these 30 books — and selecting the ones they would be most likely to read.

    The truth is that I was not surprised by the first book grabbed off the table by a young woman. It’s a children’s book, “Big Yellow Sunflower.” You can click on the cover or the title to read my review of the book — but the point here is to see this young woman’s enthusiastic and spontaneous response to the book.
    She loved it!
    And she loved it as an immediate response to the look and the unusual shape of the cover. She soon was hooked, once she began to open up the book’s unusually designed pages.

    To watch a young woman demonstrate why she loves the creative idea behind this “flowering” book — CLICK on the video screen that appears
below. (If you don’t see a
screen, go directly to YouTube to view this video on spiritual reading.)

.

      A clever cover-design strategy to catch the eye and engage the mind works well — even for heavy-duty spiritual subjects!
    One teen-ager snapped up a bright-red hardback book with the word “POWER” leaping off the cover in bold white type. What was surprising to me was that the young man was not choosing this book because of its famous author: Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese-Buddhist scholar who has lived for many years in France and has built a loyal following all around the world.
    In the video below, you’ll see that the young reader doesn’t even know the author’s name. But the cover design is attractive and the title is clever! And, while exploring the book a little more, the young reader does spot a familiar name on the back cover endorsing the book.
    Thich Nhat Hanh has become popular because his voice, in his various books, is so down to earth in the way it describes his life and his approach to spiritual questions. On one level, he’s a high-brow writer for people already dabbling in diverse religious movements. But, on another level, he’s got strong cross-over appeal in the way he can talk to virtually anyone through his writings.
    I would guess that, if this young man continued reading this book — and wound up discovering that the author really wants us to redefine our whole approach to power — then, this young reader might get hooked on these compassionate teachings by this Buddhist master.
    All in all, this book is a great opportunity for cross-over readership on spiritual themes — no matter what your age might be!
    To see this young reader’s reactions — CLICK on the video screen that appears below. (If you don’t see a screen, go directly to YouTube to view this video on spiritual reading.)

    “Manga can consume your life,” a teen-age girl told me as she flipped through the pages of “Hell Girl, No. 1,” the first volume in a new English edition of a Japanese comic series. “For a while, I was spending all the money I got on different series I was following — but, then, I didn’t have money for anything else. So, I stopped buying so many each month.
    “Some series are really good. Some aren’t so good,” she said. “But it is pretty addictive.”
    I can confirm that as a life-long fan of comics and graphic novels myself. Plus, I’ve recently made a point of visiting comic shops — and the new manga aisles in Borders stores as spiritual themes have begun to crop up more regularly in these genres.
    Here’s a striking fact: In other sections of a big bookstore, you might find customers holding one or two books they’re planning to purchase. In the manga aisle, it’s nothing to see a reader struggling to grip six or seven of these thick, paperback titles!
    Having read “Hell Girl, No. 1,” myself — I wouldn’t recommend it either as terrific comic artistry or as having a promising spiritual theme. But — if you’re new to the growing world of manga — this is a solid example of typical manga. It’s basically a mishmash of pot-boiler themes, Gothic chills and both religious and mythic imagery that puts the super-powered punch in the plot-line.
    CLICK on any of the book covers or titles today to jump to my own fuller reviews of these books — and you can buy copies via Amazon, if you wish. If you click on the “Hell Girl” cover, for example, you’ll find yourself in the Comics section of our ReadTheSpirit bookstore — and you can browse through a couple of pages of recommended titles in this genre.
    To hear more from the young woman who picked up “Hell Girl,” based on the boook’s cover — CLICK on the video screen that appears below. (If you don’t see a
screen, go directly to YouTube to view this video on spiritual reading.)

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    Finally, we wound up wet!
    Who says we don’t work hard to bring you great spiritual stories, hmmm?

    Or, to be entirely accurate, several of us wound up splashing in water up to our wrists with a new style of Bible published on supposedly waterproof paper — designed for hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts.
    Personally, I like the idea so that I can feel confident leaving a devotional Bible on the deck behind our house, where I enjoy reading — despite the occasional threat of rain.
    As I turned loose the young filmmakers to select their favorites from among the 30 titles spread out on a long table — a young woman grabbed “The Outdoor Bible” within the first few moments. She said she chose it because of the packaging that shoppers will see before they actually reach the olive-green cover of the book. The photo of the book at left (which you can click on to jump to my review) doesn’t show the outer packaging. But you can see this cleverly designed outer box in the video below.
    It’s a white box with a gorgeous scene of a waterfall — and a die-cut silhouette of a frog crouching in the middle of the woodland scene. It’s the claim on the back cover of this box that this is “The World’s First Amphibious Bible” that caught young people’s imaginations.
    And — with that kind of claim — it led us into the water ourselves. So, please, take a look!
    To see our road test of the “Outdoor Bible,” CLICK on the video screen that appears
below. (If you don’t see a
screen, go directly to YouTube to view this video on spiritual reading.)

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    That’s it for this edition of “Judging Books by Their Covers” — but come back next week for a fascinating look at the world of Orthodox Christianity, where hundreds of millions of men, women and children will be joining the Lenten season on Monday!

    And, PLEASE, Tell Us What You Think!
    Share your thoughts on any of these titles we’ve described today — or about anything else that has caught your eye recently with a spiritual theme. Our readers love to hear from other readers — and that’s you, of course.
    Click on the “Comment” link at the end of the online versions of our stories — or Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm.

    OR, click on the “Digg” link below and add a very brief “digg” comment — even a phrase — to this story’s listing on Digg-It, which will tell even more folks worldwide that it’s worth reading:

097: Asia: A Colorful, Singaporean Model of Religious Harmony

February 6, 2008 by

This week, we’re in the midst of a special ASIA SERIES: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7. Here’s today’s Part 6 …

One amazing night in Singapore, I looked into the faces of many gods — and, even more importantly, into the faces of thousands of people celebrating their widely diverse faiths on a single narrow street in the heart of this island-nation’s famous Chinatown district.
    In that moment, I wished that I somehow could have packed all of our ReadTheSpirit readers onto airplanes and ushered all of you into this vibrant corner of Singapore — because this is a glimpse of what spiritual globalization could become if people welcome and carefully plan for this inevitable cultural wave.
    These thousands of people who had immigrated to Singapore from dozens of countries around the world had converged peacefully and joyously on this street where an immense mosque, a vast Hindu temple and a huge Buddhist shrine all thrive shoulder to shoulder amidst shops, restaurants and apartments.
    The night I visited this corner of the globe, the celebrations spilled into the streets. Hindu and Muslim pairs of shoes, left behind as worshipers stepped into their sacred precincts, were piled up along the sidewalk within sight of the brightly lit Chinese New Year’s decorations spread out along the same street by Buddhists.

    WANT TO SEE what I’m talking about? The video clip below is just one tiny moment in one house of worship: the towering Sri Mariamman Temple, a Hindu landmark in Singapore for nearly two centuries. The temple is the oldest of the Hindu temples in Singapore and is the spiritual home to immigrant families from India.
    In the online version of this story, CLICK on the video screen that appears below to watch a small portion of a procession that evening. (OR, if you’re reading this story via Email, CLICK HERE, and you’ll jump to YouTube, where you can view the video clip on that page.)

 

 

    THEN, in the next clip, you’ll glimpse just a few moments of a lengthy Buddhist service that evening. This gorgeously decorated Buddhist temple in Chinatown is fascinating because it’s so new. While the Hindu temple and the mosque are historic landmarks, the Buddhists felt sufficiently at home in Sinagpore’s diverse religious environment to build their own major new facility on the same narrow street.
    Because Singapore officially encourages religious and cultural diversity — from the government to the grassroots of the country — the opening of the temple last May included an elaborately decorated processional route through the streets. More than 100 brightly lit dragons were positioned along the two-kilometer-long route.

    FOR A GLIMPSE inside the Buddhist temple, CLICK on the video screen that appears below. (Or, if you can’t see the screen in your version of this story, CLICK HERE, and you’ll jump to YouTube to view it.)

 

    Now, if you know much about the island-nation of Singapore, you’re probably already saying to yourself: Yes, this may seem wonderful, BUT this kind of colorful community only exists because Singapore is virtually a dictatorship run by a one-party political system with strict government controls that Americans would never accept!
    That is one critique that observers have voiced about Singapore’s system. This isn’t the place to argue, in detail, about the island-nation’s political system — except to say that, yes, Singapore’s constitution allows far more top-down social-engineering by the government than would ever be allowed in the U.S.

 

    For example: The vast majority of families live in government-owned apartment complexes (like the one shown at right that’s decorated for the Chinese New Year). In these complexes, families purchase their flats from the government in an arrangement similar to American condominiums. However, there’s one big social-engineering exception in Singapore’s housing developments: The total number of flats in each apartment complex must be sold proportionate to the country’s ethnic mix. So, ethnic-Chinese families many of whom have Buddhist or Taoist traditions are required, by law, to live next to Indian-Hindu families and Muslim families who migrated from countries like Malaysia.
    In other words, by law, every neighborhood becomes a mini-United Nations.

    In addition, acts of ethnic bias are strictly discouraged, mainly by Singapore’s news media, where journalists are infamous for splashing violators’ names and photos across the front page. Plus, there’s more to fear than public embarrassment. Hate speech is illegal and is vigorously prosecuted.

    Official encouragement of cultural and religious diversity doesn’t stop there. Well-heeled government ministries produce countless programs to encourage diversity — including helping with the dragon-lantern launch of the new Buddhist temple last year. Beyond that, ministries produce gorgeously designed, full-color booklets that guide first-time visitors through various houses of worship. Performances and exhibitions are sponsored. And there’s even official funding to help groups that, in the U.S., would limp along with nonprofit status. For instance, there’s a growing “kindness” movement in Singapore that encourages this kind of diversity and is fueled in its efforts by government-funded publication of its inspirational paperback books.

    Obviously, the Singaporean system would never even be considered in the United States, where our constitutional protections prevent government meddling in religious issues. But, around the world, people are searching for new models of religious diversity and Singapore presents an example that appears more healthy than, say, military enforcement of religious segregation as happens in some countries.

 

    One remarkable result of the Singaporean involvement in religious life is that the government, while notoriously strict, takes a novel approach toward any religious zealots who may be convicted of crimes as serious as encouraging terrorism. In the U.S., anyone convicted of such a crime seems to be regarded as beyond rehabilitation. Our legal system tends to regard such people as so badly twisted in their outlook on life that there is little chance of reformation.
    In Singapore, the greater attention to religious social engineering has led the government to fund an extensive rehabilitation program, even for people convicted of encouraging terrorism. In Singapore, such a conviction now may be followed by a years-long process of counseling by religious scholars who work with both the inmate and the inmate’s family to try to turn around the twisted religious assumptions.

    While in Singapore, the small group of journalists traveling with the East-West Center had a chance to discuss these matters with George Yeo, Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs — the equivalent to  America’s Secretary of State. Yeo granted us a lengthy audience and was eager to talk about these experiments. Originally, our meeting was “off the record,” as most such high-level briefings are for journalists. But, by the end of our long conversation, Yeo said that these issues were so important that we could quote him from the notes we had jotted during our meeting.
    Regarding the pioneering program of trying to rehabilitate convicted terrorist sympathizers and their families, Yeo said this idea arose because Muslim scholars argued persuasively to government officials that “these men had a very perverted sense of what Islam is.” That means they possibly can be turned around, Yeo argued. He declined to discuss specific cases, but he said these teams of Muslim scholars are “succeeding in only a few cases, not in all cases.”

    Nevertheless, the experiment is extremely important, Yeo said. “We could see that these were men possessed, so what should we do with them? … We recognize that this is a struggle for the hearts, minds and souls of individuals. We cannot reach every one, but if we can turn one around — he is worth more than a whole police department.”
    Yeo said Singapore’s governmental attention to diversity reflects a sophisticated vision of the social pressures building around the world as countries become more culturally diverse.
    “The kind of harmony we are talking about is not a natural state,” Yeo said. “It is something we must work on—on a daily basis, every day. … All the time, in everything we do, we worry about this concern. Any committee you form, any board you form, we pay attention to these issues.”

    At ReadTheSpirit, the 10th of our 10 founding principles is: “Peace is possible,” which means that we encourage the search for models that will foster peace in diverse communities. We believe that, eventually, it is possible for people to find models that will produce healthy, strong, peaceful communities with richly diverse religious cultures.
    Singapore’s model won’t work in the U.S., obviously, but at this point it’s an intriguing model whose many individual elements are worth exploring further!

USE THE LINKS AT TOP TO NAVIGATE THROUGH PARTS OF THIS 2008 SERIES.

NOTE: This series was published in early 2008 and continues to draw readers, years later. ReadTheSpirit online magazine has moved through several redesigns and expansions, in those years. Some of the typography and page design of this series may appear slightly askew, due to changes in online templates. However, the entire text of the series remains as published. Please email us at [email protected] with questions or comments.

092: What are you reading ONLINE from Asia?

January 30, 2008 by

ASIA SERIES: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.

 

Traveling in Asia this month, the vibrancy of new media is nearly overwhelming. I traveled with a small group of senior U.S. journalists from Taiwan to Thailand to Singapore, inlcuding a 4-day Asian-Pacific media conference in Bangkok where we served as speakers as well as careful listeners, sharing with more than 150 participants from 23 countries. The most striking discovery was all of the exciting new ways that professionals here are using newspapers, magazines, books and emerging Web projects to explore a whole host of issues — including fascinating new approaches to spirituality and religious diversity.

Asian media professionals are well aware that a tidal wave of cultural and technological change is transforming traditional media around the world — and they are eagerly developing strategies to speak with eloquent voices in the new chorus of media that is forming in the 21st-Century. Not every strategy that’s emerging from Asia will work — but the electric crackling of this creative energy is in sharp contrast to the somber voices among the titans of American media, decrying the shrinkage in everything from traditional newspapers to TV networks.

What’s most fascinating for ReadTheSpirit is that many of these new voices deliberately call themselves “bridge builders.” They’re trying very hard (and even making a few mistakes of eager enthusiasm along the way) in their desire to jump into this complex sphere of spiritual-cultural diversity. Until now, American news media’s coverage of Asia has tended to focus on businesses, political upheavals, natural disasters and cultural conflicts. It can be quite a shock to meet many of the mid-career media professionals in Asia who talk about establishing strong, peaceful cross-cultural and interfaith linkages as absolutely indispensable bridges into this new century.

Starting Monday, February 3, on ReadTheSpirit, we will run a 5-day series on this amazing, emerging mix of issues we explored in Asia. But, let’s start today and Friday with some tantalizing tastes of these emerging spiritual voices.

One example is LAW, a Thai-based magazine and Web site that may — or may not — succeed in creating a global network of readers to explore timeless values concerning legal issues. The beautifully designed first issue of the full-color magazine is sprinkled with evocative spiritual images like the Buddha-and-rainbow picture above. In fact, on the cover of the debut issue (at left) is a photographic detail of the face of Bangkok’s famous gold-leaf-covered Reclining Buddha. LAW’s first collection of articles is published both in Thai and English, deliberately designed to make an international impact, if possible.

The magazine’s main focus is exploring timeless, global principles that can undergird legal systems in Asia. So, the bulk of contributors are legal scholars. But the first issue is sprinkled with brightly colored pages headlined: “Famous Words.” What’s amazing about this in an Asian context is the interfaith array of voices quoted. Martin Niemöller, a German pastor who opposed the Nazis, is quoted here along with the Prophet Muhammad and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (shown in the photo at right).

BUT, here is the pitfall in such an approach: Religious diversity is extremely difficult to cover. The LAW editors committed one unfortunate mistake in trying to publish photos or sketches of all of the dozens of spiritual sages they quote in this issue. Every other quotation among these “Famous Words” is accompanied by some image, so the magazine’s graphic artist included a sketch of a wise-looking, bearded man to represent the Prophet Muhammad — an offensive mistake. Even though the image of the Prophet is noble — even handsome — Islam forbids any images of the Prophet. However, I met the Editor in Chief of LAW, Panjarat “Pamela” Hongsakul, at the Bangkok conference and I could tell instantly that this was an error made in the midst of well-meaning enthusiasm mingled with cultural ignorance on the part of the production staff.

Despite that one embarrassing mistake, these are good-hearted people who, among other things, are trying to speak in a sophisticated way to political leaders, providing them with spiritual tools — like notes on the universal values that can undergird legal systems — to help readers reduce ethnic, cultural and religious conflict.

For example, one of the major pieces in the debut issue is by the famous Thai Buddhist human-rights activisit Sulak Sivaraksa. Given his brave record since the 1960s, I would argue that Sulak ranks as a living Interfaith Hero — and LAW gives him a good deal of space in the debut issue to write about the “Buddhist Concept of Law.”

Will LAW succeed? Will we pick up future issues in Borders’ magazine racks in the U.S.? Probably not. Publication of a second issue already is overdue and, while the unfortunately placed image of the Prophet might be graciously overlooked in the first issue, such mistakes cannot continue if LAW hopes to become a global voice.

BUT — given the tensions in Thailand between the wealthier, heavily Buddhist north of the country and the poorer, heavily Muslim south — the ambitious motivation behind LAW appears to be refreshing and healthy. What’s more, despite the initial flaws, there’s a noble eagerness here to export this overall message of interfaith cooperation to a global audience. These media professionals truly want to be part of the global chorus in the years ahead. Their approach is 180 degrees from the images of Asian cultural-religious groups in conflict that are most commonly glimpsed in the United States.

Maybe the professionals behind LAW won’t succeed with this magazine about legal issues. Maybe their LAW Web site will fail. But, if they do fail, these professionals seems equally eager to regroup and try the next media strategy — and, if necessary, the next strategy after that. And, overall, that’s a sign of health and hope.

Originally published in readthespirit.com

NOTE: This series was published in early 2008 and continues to draw readers, years later. ReadTheSpirit online magazine has moved through several redesigns and expansions, in those years. Some of the typography and page design of this series may appear slightly askew, due to changes in online templates. However, the entire text of the series remains as published. Please email us at [email protected] with questions or comments.