Spiritual Books for Fall

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Like Walsch's earlier bestsellers, this New Age volume purports to be a record of a conversation with, and revelation from, God. The overarching argument is simple, indeed a bit tautological: humanity has reached a turning point. As evidenced by September 11, something about our world isn't working. We do not, however, need to tinker with our economics or politics; rather, we need to retool our beliefs about those systems that govern society. This is key, Walsch insists, because "beliefs create behaviors." Fond of numbered lists, Walsch gives us "Five Steps to Peace," which include our admitting that there is something we don't understand about "God and... Life, the understanding of which could change everything." Walsch also offers Nine New Revelations, some of which don't seem all that new, including the idea that God has always communicated directly with people, or that God would never punish us with eternal damnation. The Steps to Peace and the New Revelations all point toward the peaceful, humane spirituality that Walsch wants readers to cultivate, a spirituality that focuses not on morals but on "functionality." Because Walsch is ecumenical, drawing on Robert Schuller, Harold Kushner, the Bhagavad Gita and Shakespeare, seekers from many spiritual backgrounds will find his book inviting, and the dialogue format makes for easy reading. For those who are interested in a spiritual approach to global upheaval, these "New Revelations" will prove inspiring and companionable.

Were this book a parody of chicken-soupish inspirational titles, it would be a scream. Unfortunately, it's not a parody. This self-styled girls' guide to spirituality is stuffed with familiar self-help pabulum. We determine our own happiness. "We're all spiritual beings, because we're all Spirit." Spirituality isn't limited to prayer and meditation; even flossing one's teeth can be spiritual. Coyne and Weissman structure the book around 60 questions, such as whether God loves fat people (a reassuring yes); how busy people can make time for being spiritual (since everything is spiritual, one doesn't need to set aside time for spirituality); and whether one need be a vegetarian or keep kosher. (Feel free to, but it won't help you reach nirvana since "we're already there.") Concerning the intriguing possibility of sex after death, the authors teach that since there is no death, the question is moot. Scattered among the 60 questions are first-person musings by Coyne and Weissman. We learn, for example, that anger is Coyne's "portal to enlightenment." It's hard to take these authors seriously on the first page, they explain that a Mallomar brought them together, and it's downhill from there. The tone is glib and irksome rather than friendly and hip. The best parts of the book are the insightful aphorisms sprinkled throughout, including provocative quotations from Pindar, Swedenborg, C. S. Lewis and Gloria Steinem. On the whole, however, this attempt at Ya-Ya-meets-Deepak falls flat.

As Tibetan Buddhism matures in the West, the release of more substantive and esoteric literature becomes timely. With this intermediate audience in mind, and with the hope that "even a few people for a short period could have some internal peace," the Dalai Lama here offers two of his original writings alongside two ancient texts. His works "The Buddhism of Tibet" and "The Key to the Middle Way" comprise roughly half of the book. They reveal some of the secondary and more cerebral layers of Tibetan Buddhist study, going well beyond the primary embrace of the Four Noble Truths. Emptiness, "the final mode of being of all phenomena," is a recurring motif throughout the volume. The second half includes "Precious Garland of Advice for the King," 500 quatrains written by Nagarjuna, who lived 400 years after the Buddha. Written to advise the Indian king Satavahana, it has specific counsel on ruling, plus more general material on emptiness and compassion. Although theoretically softened by a caveat of application to both sexes, the prohibition against desiring women, who are partially described as "a source of excrement, urine and vomit," among other similar vitriolic phrases, will be hard to stomach for many. The book concludes with an exposition of a relatively short poem, "Song of the Four Mindfulnesses" by Kaysang Gyatso, the Seventh Dalai Lama. No doubt a book of merit, this volume is most appropriate for serious students who are ready to wade through fairly heavy intellectual currents.

Former Bishop of Edinburgh and a divinity professor in the City of London, Holloway offers deceptively simple reflections on the always compelling, ever-relevant subject of forgiveness. Refreshingly free from the extremes of rant and piety, the cosmopolitan cleric instead summons an eclectic and humanistic range of provocative thinkers, from Derrida to Nietzsche, and a generous sampling of contemporary British poetry. The prolific author of "Godless Morality" and 23 other books is fond of attention-grabbing Derridan paradox: Unforgivability is necessary in order to make forgiveness possible. We can practice religion what it signifies without the form of religion, yielding "religion without religion," which can also be seen in the phenomenon of people who are "spiritual but not religious." Although the book originated as lectures at Glasgow University, Holloway's point is hardly academic. He always applies his reasoning to real and historical examples: the Middle East, Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Holloway offers subtle guidance, the kind that is easiest to accept and therefore most effective. He is not imperative: forgiveness is a choice so hard that there is room for the unforgiving, and magnanimity and generosity may work as substitutes for forgiveness in the political arena. This slender book is a reminder that if enormous error is all too human, so too must be the capacity to forgive it and thereby transcend it and, as the author puts it, "reclaim the future." This is an estimable contribution to the growing current literature on forgiveness.

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