This Month's Book Reviews

The Rights of The Dying: A Companion for Life’s Final Moments
By David Kessler, Perenial, 1998,
204 pages, $22.00

Dying… we’re all going to face it sooner or later. This month it came into my life through several doorways. I found myself seeking answers, understanding and comfort. This book called to me from my bookshelf. Though originally published in 1997, it contains timeless, valuable and essential information that will help assist anyone going through any death or dying process, whether it concerns you directly or someone you know or love. I spent time thoroughly reading through helpful chapters learning, through David and his patients, what this final journey in life is all about. David deals eloquently and compassionately with all phases of the death and dying process from participating in decisions to the emotions, spirituality and actual physiology of death. His most poignant piece is the Epilogue where he writes two personal essays, one for the dying and one for the living. In his message for the dying he writes, “None of us know what will happen from here, but if you look deep inside, deep in your soul, you will know that birth is not a beginning and death will not be an ending… You were born for a reason and you will die for a reason. You were born whole and innocent, beautiful and worthy and you will die that way… You were carried off in the miracle of birth and so you will be carried off in the miracle of death. All that we are, all that we have felt for you, all the love that was given to you, will be your cushion on this journey.”

This book provided great comfort for me this month. I would urge all people facing or going through this period of life to pick up a copy and read it along with family and friends. This is the perfect tool to understanding this phase of life and to come through it with a lot more peace.

Reviewed by Cindy Saul

Tango Zen: Walking Dance Meditation
By Chan Park, distribution begins January 2005 by Baker & Taylor,
ISBN 0-9759630-0-7, 90 pages, $9.95 pgs.

Have you admired those who tango, as well as those who meditate, but think you’ll never understand or accomplish the beauty and bond either of these two disciplines can bring? Come and discover, first hand (and foot!) how both aesthetic experiences, done simultaneously, can be your road to inner peace through this informative, engaging and beautifully illustrated book.

Tango Zen is for beginners as well as veteran dancers, for those who are new or seasoned at meditation and for anyone who is searching for a literal step-by-step method that is both rhythmic and simple to pursue, in order to accomplish a peaceful way of being. Walking, both basic to tango and meditation, creates the basis for the practice of Tango Zen, whether done with another or on one’s own.

Easy to read, this book is not only educational and enlightening in its approach to Tango Zen, but a guidebook to the social, physical and emotional benefits of Tango Zen.

Chan Park’s instruction balances the left and right brain through his clear and concise guidance toward Tango Zen. Park introduces these two ideas to each other on the dance floor; what results is a sublime partnership – you’ll soon be walking in Park’s Tango Zen shoes. A scholar in the sciences as well as the arts, Park is an accomplished dancer, Tango teacher, martial arts devotee, and teacher of meditation, offering workshops in Europe, Asia and North and South America.

Tango is the dance of connection, relaxation and silent communication. Meditation is the art of discovering and reconciling one’s own nature. Together, in Tango Zen, they make the music of mind and body, one step at a time.

Come Tango with Buddha; come meditate through Tango! Find the joy that, together, Tango and Zen can bring!

The Art of Everyday Ecstasy
By Margot Anand, Broadway Books, 1998,
308 pages, $25.00.

Well, this one jumped straight onto my “I want everyone I love to read this book.” Right from the first few pages I started thinking about the ecstatic moments of my life – those that feel to me like “being in the flow” – and how to get more of them.

This book is filled with fun and enlightening exercises to help free the boundaries between you and ecstasy. Most of them can be done in less than an hour at a go. The chakras are used to explain the energies of our lives. The language in the book is not judgmental but gentle and reassuring. We all share so many of the same difficulties and it’s good to feel that not one of us is alone in our struggle for understanding.

I will admit that several places in this book brought me to tears, but they were tears of understanding and gratitude, not bitterness or struggle. I definitely recommend this book to any of you (or the people you love!) to shake loose some of the seriousness in which we tend to live. Go forth and play!

Reviewed by Laura Parret

Past phenomeNEWS Book Reviews