Books
PLACEBO by Dylan Thomas
THE MAGNUS OF JAVA by Kosta Danaos
NEI KUNG by Kosta Danaos
SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET by Heinrich Harrer
TALES FROM THE TAO by Solala Towler
THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coelho
DAOIST NEI GONG - THE PHILOSOPHICAL ART OF CHANGE by Damo Mitchell
NEI GONG - DAOIST PROCESS OF INTERNAL CHANGE By Damo Mitchell
QUIET FOOD - ARECIPE FOR SANITY By John Et Al Stydrom
DVDs
Baraka -
Amazon.co.uk Review
Baraka is a non-narrative visual poem addressing, according to director Ron Fricke, "humanity's relationship with the eternal." The title means "breath of life" or "a blessing" and the film unfolds into a tapestry of global images shot over 13 months in 24 countries, comparable to, but far more ambitious than Koyaanisqatsi (1983) which Fricke also wrote, edited and photographed. Like Bernardo Bertolucci's similarly meditative Little Buddha (1993), Baraka was designed as a powerful audio-visual experience, one of a handful of films made in the 1990s to revive the immensely cinematic 70mm process.
Filled with staggeringly beautiful vistas which are striking, rich in detail and immaculately composed, the screen is complemented by an immersive Dolby Digital soundtrack fusing natural sounds with a haunting world music score. (At one point composer Michael Stearns combines Japan's Kodo Drummers, a Scottish bagpipe ensemble and a Tibetan water music orchestra.) Baraka encourages the audience to think or be entranced, and depending on mood and circumstance it can enthral or bore. With its epic, trans-human scale, vast formal grandeur, depersonalised abstraction, startling juxtapositions and avowed ambition to be the ultimate non-verbal film, Fricke has created a visionary experience akin to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Eat Pray Love -
Amazon.co.uk Review
Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir of enlightenment gets the deluxe treatment at the hands of Glee creator Ryan Murphy, who bathes every scene in a golden glow. Unaccustomed to being alone, Liz (Julia Roberts) exits her marriage to Stephen (Billy Crudup, quite good) only to enter into an affair with an actor (James Franco, curiously uncomfortable), who introduces her to meditation. Just as her editor, Delia (Doubt's Viola Davis, making the most of a small role), longed to have a baby, Liz has longed to see the world. Delia persuades her to seize the day (plus, money presents no obstacle). First, she travels to Italy, where she noshes from Rome to Naples, making new friends along the way. Then, she heads to an ashram in India, where she meets a bride-to-be and a remorseful man (Richard Jenkins, heartbreaking), who nurture her altruistic side. Her sojourn ends in Bali, where she reunites with Ketut (Hadi Subiyanto, hilarious), the healer who first encouraged her to reassess her situation. While there, she befriends a single mother and a single father (No Country for Old Men's Javier Bardem) who falls for her charms. In an improvement over his version of Running with Scissors, Murphy combines two Oscar winners, two Oscar nominees, and four countries to follow one woman's path to fulfillment. Like Julie and Julia and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Liz's story becomes more involving as she lets go of the superficial, but Murphy's movie still represents a triumph of escapism over spirituality. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Papers
(some these files are quite big so please be patient when opening them, you may also want to double check before you print them as some of them are the size of books!)
Eight Extraordinary Meridians Qigong by James MacRitchie
Vital Breath of the Dao by Master Wu
Tao Te Ching by Gia Fu Feng & Jane English
You Tube Vids worth a look
Meditation (suggested by Linda Grieve from Pakefield)
Music
Windhorse - Spirit of Tibet by Solala Towler
A mystic blend of recordings made in the sacred city of Lhasa and the Tibet-inspired music of Solala. The haunting sounds of the monks and nuns of the Jokang Temple are joined with flute, overtone singing, throat singing, tabla and other instruments along with vocal chant by Solala and friends.
Sacred Soundings by Solala Towler
Sacred Soundings takes on a lush journey to the Sacred Mountain with chant, throat singing, harmonic overtone singing and Native American as well as Chinese xiao and dizi flutes. File under New Age, Relaxation or World.
Mountain Gate by Solala Towler
Mountain Gate contains the soothing sounds of Tibetan singing bowls, along with nature sounds and Native American flute. Great for meditation, qigong, tai chi, yoga, massage or relaxation. File under New Age, Relaxation or World.
Tao of Healing by Dean Evenson with Li XiangtingPart of the "Sound Healing" series from Soundings of the Planet, Tao of Healing teams flautist Dean Evenson with Li Xiangting (Lee Shawn-TING), a professor from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and an authority on the guqin, an ancient seven-string zither from China. Their collaboration, with barely perceptible support from keyboards, acoustic guitar (Scott Huckabay) and percussion, is a hushed, serene and inviting experience--as soft as the faintest breeze felt on a peaceful, sun-warmed afternoon. Evenson's meditative flute, which rarely strays from the instrument's comfortable low and middle ranges, is the disc's prevailing voice, with Xiangting's guqin discreetly supplying tasteful, angular accents to complement the Western vibe of Evanson's reflective improvisations. At times, in fact, this calming, slow-go disc (60 minutes in length) briefly conveys traces of jazz-like harmonics (largely Huckabay's contribution) that flavours the blissful proceedings with a nice touch of musicality. A slight soundalike quality might be detected in some tracks, but this is a minor quibble. This is Evenson's first recording where natural sounds are not included, though the liner notes assert the mix makes use of "earth resonance frequency" (7.8 hertz), all to enhance a listener's attainment of an alpha state. Actually, Evenson, Xiangting and company do a commendable job of that on their own. A strong choice for supplementing massage or meditation. --Terry Wood
Additional useful websites
This website is excellent for lots of free audio to listen to. It also has a couple of 'Bells for Meditation' options which is great for timing your mediations and your qigong practice without having to keep clock watching, thus allowing you to emmerse yourself in your practise. Give me a shout if you need a hand to get started.... http://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/
Additional useful websites
This website is excellent for lots of free audio to listen to. It also has a couple of 'Bells for Meditation' options which is great for timing your mediations and your qigong practice without having to keep clock watching, thus allowing you to emmerse yourself in your practise. Give me a shout if you need a hand to get started.... http://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/
