Active Awareness Meditation Studio

Written by: Brad Warner

Publisher: Wisdom Publications (June 10, 2005)

Written by: Gay Hendricks

Publisher: HarperOne; 1st edition

 

The most amazing thing I found about “The Big Leap” was the simplicity of the suggested program, and that is what makes this more than a self help book. Hendricks, a PhD in Counseling Psychology from Stanford, and then a Professor at the University of Colorado for 21 years, manages to talk us through our most common fears with an ease and calm I find admirable. The principle surrounds the idea of the “upper limit” as a form of self sabotage. This book deals heavily with what he called the Four Fundamental Flaws, which are as follows:
Feeling Fundamentally Flawed
Disloyalty and Abandonment
Believing that More Success Brings a Bigger Burden
The Crime of Outshining
But the idea which makes this particular book stand out is the solution to all of the things which make us a feel small: abundance. Hendricks suggests that we are whole and complete as we are and that abundance is simply a patterns of thinking.

Written By:  Robert Greene

Publisher: Penguin Books; 1 edition (September 1, 2000)

 

The 48 Laws of Power is billed as a ruthless manual for those seeking to gain power in the world around them. Rather than viewing this as a sort of “Players Handbook” I find it to be a very self aware and compelling look into some very clever people in a historical context. There a moments in reading this where one becomes hyper aware of the laws they are currently using in ones own life or those which are being used against them, and I find that to be the most fascinating aspect of this book. Reading this is an exercise in shifting perspectives and a vital addition to anyone curious about that which motivates and drives part of our psychology.
And while I am not someone who subscribes to the idea of treating life or people like a game,( Interestingly enough Greene has a lovely insight on people such as myself who claim this perspective) this is one of the most captivating and raw depictions of human nature. No matter your philosophy I think there is something valuable to be considered here.