An often engaging handbook on emotional resilience and self-discovery.
Psychotherapist Cashman offers a guide to transforming inner turmoil into actionable insight.
The author draws from the rich tradition of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, and his influence by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, under whom he trained, to present a road map for navigating modern life by harnessing the power of negative emotions. His book is rooted in the “Four Karmas,” a Tibetan Buddhist practice of transformation, and features a series of engaging, anonymized case studies. The author invites readers to explore the transformative power of emotions and convert them from a source of suffering into one of wisdom and insight. By reframing the Four Karmas with his own Four Step Practice—tapping into, exploring, befriending, and ultimately liberating emotions such as anxiety, anger, and jealousy—Cashman demonstrates “how a person can discover their basic goodness or enlightened energy by learning to explore the texture of any negative emotion.” Readers will find relatable examples here—particularly those that address feelings of anxiety and inadequacy. Cashman suggests those who suffer from anxiety can train themselves to process this feeling to the point that it’s “no longer a threat but becomes information.” The chapter on inadequacy is also informative, highlighting the tendency of those who feel unworthy to neglect self-care while prioritizing others. Some readers may struggle with Cashman’s advice on anger, which suggests wrapping the feeling in “awareness and kindness instead of attacking someone else or ourselves,” which seems easier said than done. Although the prose is clear and informative throughout, the how-to of the four-step process feels too simplistic to allow readers to fully integrate the Four Steps Practice into their daily lives. Cashman concludes each chapter with practical exercises, however, enabling readers to deepen their understanding of the material—and, potentially, themselves.
An often engaging handbook on emotional resilience and self-discovery.Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2023
ISBN: 9798870601731
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 22, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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