Imagining the Course of Life

Imagining the Course of Life
Author: Nancy Eberhardt
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780824829193

Imagining the Course of Life offers a rich portrait of rural life in contemporary Southeast Asia and an accessible introduction to the complexities of Theravada Buddhism as it is actually lived and experienced. It is both an ethnography of indigenous views of human development and a theoretical consideration of how any ethnopsychology is embedded in society and culture. Drawing on long-term fieldwork in a Shan village in northern Thailand, Nancy Eberhardt illustrates how indigenous theories of the life course are connected to local constructions of self and personhood. In the process, she draws our attention to contrasting models in the Euro-American tradition and invites us to reconsider how we think about the trajectory of a human life. Moving beyond the entrenched categories that can hamper our understanding of other views, Imagining the Course of Life demonstrates the real-life connections between the "religious" and the "psychological." Eberhardt shows how such beliefs and practices are used, sometimes strategically, in people's constructions of themselves, in their interpretations of others' behavior, and in their attempts at social positioning. Individual chapters explore Shan ideas about the overall course of human development, from infancy to old age and beyond, and show how these ideas inform people's understanding of personhood and maturity, gender and social inequality, illness and well-being, emotions and mental health.

Sacred Rhythms

Sacred Rhythms
Author: Ruth Haley Barton
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2009-12-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830878297

Picking up on the monastic tradition of creating a "rule of life" that allows for regular space for the practice of spiritual disciplines, Ruth Haley Barton takes you more deeply into understanding seven key spiritual disciplines along with practical ideas for weaving them into everyday life.

Transformation

Transformation
Author: Murray Stein
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 204
Release: 1998
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9781585444496

In Transformation: Emergence of the Self, noted analyst and author Murray Stein explains what this process is and what it means for an individual to experience it. Transformation usually occurs at midlife but is much more complicated than what we colloquially call a midlife crisis. Consciously working through this life stage can lead people to become who they have always potentially been. Indeed, Stein suggests, transformation is the essential human task.

Community

Community
Author: Peter Block
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2009-09-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1605095362

Most of our communities are fragmented and at odds within themselves. Businesses, social services, education, and health care each live within their own worlds. The same is true of individual citizens, who long for connection but end up marginalized, their gifts overlooked, their potential contributions lost. What keeps this from changing is that we are trapped in an old and tired conversation about who we are. If this narrative does not shift, we will never truly create a common future and work toward it together. What Peter Block provides in this inspiring new book is an exploration of the exact way community can emerge from fragmentation. How is community built? How does the transformation occur? What fundamental shifts are involved? What can individuals and formal leaders do to create a place they want to inhabit? We know what healthy communities look like—there are many success stories out there. The challenge is how to create one in our own place. Block helps us see how we can change the existing context of community from one of deficiencies, interests, and entitlement to one of possibility, generosity, and gifts. Questions are more important than answers in this effort, which means leadership is not a matter of style or vision but is about getting the right people together in the right way: convening is a more critical skill than commanding. As he explores the nature of community and the dynamics of transformation, Block outlines six kinds of conversation that will create communal accountability and commitment and describes how we can design physical spaces and structures that will themselves foster a sense of belonging. In Community, Peter Block explores a way of thinking about our places that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen.

Atomic Habits

Atomic Habits
Author: James Clear
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2018-10-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0735211299

The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 15 million copies sold! Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy); overcome a lack of motivation and willpower; design your environment to make success easier; get back on track when you fall off course; ...and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.

A Twenty-First Century Approach to Community Change

A Twenty-First Century Approach to Community Change
Author: Larry M. Gant
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2017-07-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0190463325

Urban renewal has been the dominant approach to revitalizing industrialized communities that fall into decline. A national, community-based organization, the Skillman Foundation sought to engage in a joint effort with the University of Michigan's School of Social Work to bring six neighborhoods in one such declining urban center, Detroit, back to positions of strength and national leadership. A Twenty-First Century Approach to Community Change introduces readers to the basis for the Foundation's solicitation of social work expertise and the social context within which the work of technical assistance began. Building on research, the authors introduce the theory and practice knowledge of earlier scholars, including the conduct of needs assessments at multiple levels, engagement of community members in identifying problem-solving strategies, assistance in developing community goals, and implementation of social work field instruction opportunities. Lessons learned and challenges are described as they played out in the process of creating partnerships for the Foundation with community leaders, engaging and maintaining youth involvement, managing roles and relationships with multiple partners recruited by the Foundation for their specialized expertise, and ultimately conducting the work of technical assistance within a context of increasing influence of the city's surrounding systems (political, economic, educational, and social). Readers will especially note the role of technical assistance in an evolving theory of change.

The Process of Self-Transformation

The Process of Self-Transformation
Author: Vicente Hao Chin
Publisher: Quest Books
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2015-06-01
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0835631486

“From time immemorial,” says the author, “sages from diverse cultures have passed on enduring solutions to the dilemmas of living. Yet their insights are not as known to the world as they ought to be.” This deep, wise, and practical guide intends to make them more so. It is the harvest of the popular seminars developed and led by Vic Hao Chin, former president of the Theosophical Society in the Philippines and a worldwide teacher and presenter. He gives time-proven approaches for eliminating fear, resentment, worry, depression, and the stress of daily living in order to deepen spiritual practice. And he includes sections on overcoming negative conditioning, developing relationships, and optimizing physical health. To help readers in the process of self-actualization, he also provides helpful illustrations, case studies, and step-by-step instructions for meditation and breathing exercises.

The Pathwork of Self-Transformation

The Pathwork of Self-Transformation
Author: Eva Pierrakos
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2013-06-19
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0307830470

“The gift of Eva Pierrakos’s Pathwork has been with me for twenty years. It is the deepest and most effective spiritual work I have found, and it has helped me realize my dreams. Each time I read it, I am amazed at the depth and breadth of wisdom and love it teaches. It is a practical way of truth that will change your life.”—Barbara Ann Brennan, author of Hands of Light For more than twenty years, Eva Pierrakos was the channel for a spirit entity known only as the Guide. Combining rare psychological insight with an inspiring ision of human possibility, the Guide's teachings, known as the Pathwork, have influenced many key New Age thinkers who have studied at Pathwork centers in the United States and abroad. Now, the core teachings of the guide have been collected in one volume synthesizing the essential wisdom of the Pathwork. Under such headings as “The Idealized Self-Image,” “The Forces of Love, Eros, and Sex,” “Emotional Growth and Its Function,” “Real and False Needs,” and “The Spiritual Meaning of Crisis,” the Pathwork outlines the entire process of personal spiritual development. Unlike many over-idealized philosophies, the Pathwork confronts our devils as well as our anges, our all-too-human failings and petty ego concerns as well as our divine strengths. It shows us how to accept ourselves fully as we are now, and then ot move beyond the negativity, or “lower self,” that blocks our personal and spiritual evolution. It offers a practical, rational, and honest way to reach our deepest creative identity. “I would advise that this book be read with a willingness to take time to digest what the Guide says. This is not ‘light’ reading, thought it is Light reading, I assure you. I find an enormous compatibility between these lectures and Emmanuel's teachings. What a wonderful gift to a wonderful world.”—Pat Rodegast, author of Emmanuel’s Book

Out of Place

Out of Place
Author: Jione Havea
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2016-04-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1134938721

"Place" shapes human identity and community. Arguing that theologies are shaped by place so no theology can be universal, "Out of Place" assesses the ways in which theology, as a discipline and a practice, is "out of place". Departing from dominant theological discourse, the book argues that for theology to be transformative it must connect with "place" and engage with marginalised peoples and cultures. Ranging across Asian American theology to Tamils in the London diaspora, Australian Pentecostalism to HIV and AIDS sufferers, "Out of Place" will be of invaluable to scholars and students of sociology and religion interested in the intersection of theology and locality.