A lively and intensely readable story of one man’s use of a variety of spiritual practices to reveal the nature of reality.
A debut spiritual book examines a lifelong practice of meditation and the winding road to enlightenment.
Sambalino centers his highly detailed and intensely personal account on his longtime exploration of the world of Eastern meditation in search of answers to questions he’d been asking from a very young age: “Was I really this person trapped in a small body, just waiting to grow old and die?” In 36 fast-paced and very engaging chapters, the author takes readers from his boyhood in New York and New Jersey during the 1950s to his years studying engineering at North Carolina State University, where he read a book on karate and discovered the broader world of Eastern philosophy. He then started pursuing an informal study of Zen Buddhism and the concept of enlightenment. The narrative moves on to his law school years at the University of Florida, where he met his future wife, Niki, and first encountered transcendental meditation. At first he found the technique something of a chore until he began to learn its finer points. His studies in meditation broadened to include yogic breathing practices and further dimensions of transcendence. He bounced from one master to another, always delving into new applications for his knowledge, often journeying to far-off places like Egypt and the Himalayas. Most of these applications are inward and personal, although some take the form of startling real-world anecdotes, as when Sambalino used intense meditation techniques to help him cope with the pain of a rattlesnake bite. The latter portions of the book incorporate the author’s spiritual readings as well, and the resulting narrative is both an accessible overview of various enlightenment practices and an invitingly personal search for the meaning of life. Sambalino advises his readers: “Don’t concern yourself with when you’re going to get there; just enjoy the path.” Those readers should certainly enjoy this absorbing book.
A lively and intensely readable story of one man’s use of a variety of spiritual practices to reveal the nature of reality.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73265-781-6
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Vanishing Circle Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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