This book is fantastic. Stephen Levine is an amazingly gifted writer. Everything he writes has the flavor of poetry. His ability to express things which come very close, by their very nature, to being inexpressible is stunning. Like I said, his writing has the flavor of poetry. But GOOD poetry. Like Rumi. As one reviewer said, this is NOT a "new agey" book. I totally agree with that. This is a book about the Truth. Does it get "touchy-feely" at times? Yeah, but those moments are more than balanced by the overwhelming feeling that "this guy knows what he's talking about!". He's been "in the trenches" and LIVED this stuff. It's not theory to him.... it's life.
You may resonate more powerfully with this book if you have even a passing familiarity with Zen/Buddhist philosophy. But it is certainly not a prerequisite. This is a book for everyone. "Sick" or "well", "happy" or "depressed", "contented" or "fed up". It speaks to the HUMAN condition in all it's manifestations. Almost anyone would classify this book as being a "spiritually" oriented book but it is so grounded in the "suchness" (as Stephen puts it) of everyday life that it comes closer to being a nitty gritty Ultimate Guide to Living A Human Life than it does any airy, ungrounded "spiritual" read.
I'm not a big fan of guided meditations either. And I've found that all "techniques" will fail you eventually if you see them as an end in themselves. But Stephen does an EXCELLENT job of not just suggesting some things to try but explaining WHY YOU ARE DOING THEM! You understand why he is telling you to "breathe with a soft belly"... he doesn't just hit you over the head with.... "Enlightenment in 30 days through the use of the amazing Soft Belly technique" which is the take of so many books. After reading Healing into Life and Death, you will have such an expanded view of yourself and "illness" vs. "health" that you will easily be able to use whatever feels right to YOU... the things that will take you more and more deeply into yourself, where True healing lies. Yeah, he gives you some tools, but makes it clear that they are just that.... TOOLS.... like rafts you use to cross the river and then leave on the banks.
This book is filled with hope but NOT promises (just like life). It never gives the impression that if you will just do as it suggests, you will get well. But it does make it clear that to be with yourself... look deeply at your own experience... refuse to run away and actually LIVE your life are ALWAYS better than the alternatives. After all.... we've all tried the alternatives ad nauseum. If you want to see how far that has gotten us as a species..... take a look at this world.
This isn't a book about "illness", it's a book about Life. This is the book we all should've been given when we were born. The world would be a much better place for it.

I just mailed a copy of this book to a friend who is dealing with headaches caused by pressure on the brain - she isn't dying, but the pain is constant, surgery a long way away, and medication doesn't help.

Levine's book offers a refreshing way of dealing with pain caused by a variety of diseases - from cancer to the unknown. Often we turn against ourselves. We judge how well we do with 'fighting' pain or 'beating' death or even 'praying for someone to heal' by the outcome. If we fought hard enough, or bargained well enough, our prayers were answered. If we 'gave up,' that was failure. Levine's approach is different, freeing. Rather than fighting the pain, we recognize it as part of us and go with it, often learning surprising things.

Levine offers guided meditations, something I'm not particularly fond of, but for those who like to do these, these look like they would be good for people to do with an ailing family member.

He offers stories of the ways people have successfully dealt with their pain (physical and emotional). One that stands out is of a woman who had lead a fairly self-centered, bitter life (before the pain!). In the hospital, she was so hard to get along with that nurses were slow to answer her ring. She was sharp and mean-spirited to her own family, and eventually they stopped visiting her.

Her pain became so great that, quite uncharacteristically, she began envisioning other people who might have experienced the pain. The idea that her pain wasn't just hers - that it wasn't wasn't a punishment exclusively for her, but something that many others have had somehow opened her heart, and she did not die alone. This isn't written in a sappy manner - there are happy and sad endings in the book.

Levine himself suddenly came to a realization that praying for someone to get well wasn't working - what did work was praying that people be able to handle what was given to them. That takes a load of guilt and betrayal off of those whose prayers aren't answered, perhaps because they are trying to direct, not be open to, what is happening between body, mind and spirit.

Some of the people he writes about have healed into dying a more peaceful death. Some have healed back into life. This book has to be read to be appreciated, for it is really hard to explain how helpful this book is. If you or a loved one is in pain, and you are trying to find out how to alleviate it, and you are open to alternative ways (in addition to, in conjuction with traditional methods), please read this book.

This book is very moving. At least it is moving me to change my life, to be much more mindful of the present, of my body, of my emotions, of the whole package that makes up me. I think it would be a help to anyone facing serious injury, loss, or illness, or anyone who might in the future. And who does that not include?

I bought this set for myself after ordering it for my friend. I listened to these tapes in my car and then again at home. The subjects include suicide, losing loved ones and forgiveness meditation. It was especially helpful for me since I have undergone various changes in my life. The information does not all sink in at once, one has to listen at various stages to fully understand the spiritual and psychological significances. If one is seeking a viewpoint other than that found in traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs, here it is!

Although the kind of information contained in these tapes can be found elsewhere, the particular presentation given (as lecture with questions/participation from the audience) for me is quite moving. These are the kind of tapes that can make you cry, and might teach you how to drive and cry at the same time. These are the kind of tapes that you can listen to again and again, at different times and throughout the years of your life - and still get something from; that you perhaps didnt need to hear at an earlier listening. These are the kind of tapes that I'd have buried with me when I die, because wherever it is that I'd be going then, I'd want to have this information, in the way it is presented, with me. These are the kind of tapes that can change your life, or at least profoundly effect the general direction you are headed in. I think at one time I sat and typed out word for word the entire content of the first of these two tapes, because I wanted to study what is said with that degree of focus, that degree of attention. Then the kids wrecked the first tape and I have gone for several years with only the second in my audio tape collection, until a friend recently lent this set to me - and, true to form - I was still amazed at what I was able to clarify within my own personal understanding, by hearing this material again, at my present point on the path. Although the material presented is over 10 years old, it is still at the cutting-edge of where many people, bored and frustrated with "consumer" or "mass-market" level spirituality, long to be in their own personal journey. Beautiful ideas presented here can be extended beyond the specific contexts within which they are discussed; opeining myriad possibilities for application in your own way, to your own personal issues and even an approach to experience the events that comprise the living part of life itself. This reviewer clearly rates an enthusiastic "MUST have"!

A wonderful exposition that pulls together many disparate threads together into a comprehensive approach to life & death. Levine's sense of balance, life experience, depth of soul, & droll humor are a pleasure to listen to. I found the concept of "soft belly" applicable from the moment I heard it, yet it was something I never would have come up with on my own merry way. I like the way Levine presents his ideas & experiences without pushing them. The "do it this way, which is my way, or else" school doesn't work with me. Levine is a practicing Buddhist: I am a practicing Christian. Despite an acute awareness of the differences in perspective and understanding, I still find Levine's approach very helpful & complementary to my faith.

In many ways this is a helpful set of (2) tapes. There is an introduction, and three meditations following. The first meditation walks your awareness through the entire body, so that you can learn to be more aware of yourself as a physical being.The second tape is a similar meditation focusing on the pelvic region. Third,there is a loving-kindness meditation, to help you connect with all beings in need of healing, and to share your healing energy with them. I liked how Levine included this part, because it makes us aware we are not isolated in our suffering. The only problem with the tapes is that they are narrated by him, and he is a man with a man's voice. This is especially disconcerting when doing the second meditation. He mentions this issue in the introduction, and says that you can make your own tape in your own voice or a friend's. The tapes come with a transcript so you can indeed easily make your own tapes in a safe voice. However, I think it might have been better if in the first place he had had his wife and working partner Ondrea read the text on the tapes. Still, his heart is in the right place and I did find the tapes helpful.

This book presents a good approach to many good negotiating methods and practices, giving specific situational advice. The author keeps it simple, easy, and pretty potent. A good book overall, for a newbie or someone looking to brush up on their skills.

This is an autobiography of the author's spiritual journey to enlightenment - in the end it is not clear to me whether he ever became fully enlightened. He has certainly recounted numerous experiences that naturally lead to enlightenment. I found this book interesting in parts, but not consistently so. I did not like the writing style which seemed disjointed, and so the story did not flow for me. The book is OK, but now that I have read it, I feel my time would have been more productively employed reading something else.

What a delight to read and to savor the messages in this writing. The author clearly reveals his own journey through the somewhat messy process of becoming more fully human and holy. These revelations are minor compared to the wisdom that is distilled in wonderful reflective statements about the entire process of growth. Reading this book is a most useful and prayerful exercise

Levine makes a statement about a third of the way through the book that we have to distinguish between the "action," and the "person." Indeed we have to see "pain" as not personal, but as impersonal so that we don't associate pain with our own little ego struggle, which is filled with fickle judgements, moral values, and fears -- all of which do not qualify as "universal." If pain is "our" pain, then we can't open to the wider Pain and hence cannot feel empathy for the world - which is the ultimate "goal." Our struggle is the world's struggle and our pain can parodoxically open us to the world. James Hillman, in Soul's Code and other writings comes to this through philosophical roots (phomenological) and wrote bestsellars - so there is something striking a chord here.
This is essential mid-life stuff, and I recommend it hardily. Think about someone in your life you have trouble forgiving. Then ask if you want to go to your grave not forgiving? I don't, but I can't guarantee I won't - or that it will make a difference. But somehow at the stage in my life ( I am 56) I recognize this struggle to forgive as not a moral issue ("should" message), but a basic "life" issue. It isn't about thinking thoughts, but feeling deeply. Levine lays bare the essential stuff that is being indirectly and obscurely and misguidedly being talked about today in the frame of "personal relationships." This is not the place to uncover these issues because, again, personal relationships are small and impoverished if they don't move to the the big relationship between you and the world. Sounds like mumbo-jumbo? The book isn't. This really is essential reading, particularly for those in mid-life who stand at the mid-point between looking back and looking forward. How do we do this? Levine's book demonstrates how.

In contrast to the previous rather bitter review, I think this is a very good book and a lot better than the the racism masquerading as science that is the Bell Curve - which Gould has read and demolished.
In terms of factor analysis, I used the Urchin in the Storm to teach factor analysis it's that clear and concise. Stuff the political viewpoint just read some very good essays.

An Urchin in the Storm by Stephen Jay Gould is about books and ideas, but more so about writing, thinking and study in method.

An Urchin in the Storm is divided into five different sections. The first two sections of this book group reviews that discuss the irreductibility of history, along the way the pleasures and challenges of contingency, in its two principle domains of life and the earth. The first section on evolution focuses upon structuralist and hisoricist alternatives. While the second, explains nature's complexity, (Evolutionary Theory, Time and Geology).

The third section of this book explores the theory and consequences, both political and intellectual, of biological determinism. The fourth section deals with "Four Biologists." While the fifth works with "In Praise of Reason." As we read on throughout this book, Gould makes his point and scores, as he exposes fallacies, expands on geology, give thought to biological determinism, and gives the reader a clearer picture of evolutionary theory.

This is a fascinating little book, as Gould works through this little tome, like the urchin, always presenting a tough exterior and continues to prickle the enemy.

For a collection of disparate essays this hangs together in the classic Steve Gould style. If you're a 'fan', this is a book you may have missed, but its definitely a 'must have'

...there comes a sheaf of 400 pages of nauseating corporate doublespeak diligently arranged as a collection of unlikely situational progressions. Here's how you go about "Correcting a Client's Behavior", you start by saying: "I need your help in restrategizing the way we approach this whole negotiation..." Er... restrate-what?

What a joke. If you ever speak to anyone in that dry and phony, clicheistic language you're going to succeed only in making a fool of yourself; and I'm not even mentioning any of the offered logical progressions, that can only have emerged from a sterile mind of a lethargically lucubrating lawyer in process of being frozen so as to save himself for posterity. My counter-advice would be to remain straight and honest when dealing with people, to speak simply, and above all, to avoid at all costs the stolid, inhumanely politically-correct, excessively roundabout and formulaic droning that Mr Pollan recommends in his book as the acme of human communication.

This is an excellent book to keep in your collection for reference. You never know what difficult situations may arise, and this book gives example conversations for how to handle those situations.

I wish I'd read this book long before I had. The authors present you with some of life's stickiest situations and then tell you exactly how to handle it with words. What makes this book so invaluable is that the authors don't assume that the situation always involves bitterness--for example, their suggestions for leaving a job actually admit that it could just be a peaceful exit.

If you want to know how to disentangle yourself from an employer you're sure is going to hold a grudge, they give you elegant ways of telling your future employer about it. Use their method, and you won't sound whiny, belligerent, or even disgruntled! If anything, their methods make the former employer's words about you look questionable and stilted. I did use their ideas on this, and THEY WORKED.

To be brutally honest, this book is all about spin and the power it holds. So often in communication with one another, we forget that what we say is just as important as how we say it. In the age of emails and faxes, we're losing our manners and making unintentional enemies in the process. This book will re-educate you on the finer points of being nice and, dare I say it, being emotionally neutral.

The authors clearly illustrate that our emotions keep us from being objective about a situation, and this is why Lifescripts is so helpful. They teach you how to distance yourself just enough to see the whole picture and then give you the words/actions necessary to properly deal with the problem. They also teach about a long-forgotten nuance of communication--take a pause and think before you say it/do it/write it.

It's an excellent book that any manager, employee, or senior executive could easily benefit from, and I think it's even appropriate reading for high school age. Knowing when to say what can save you a lot of trouble...

Good, but a lot of reading with some material not useful.

I have read half a dozen books on Estate Planning and this one makes more sense than all of them. This is more of a "why to" book rather than a "how to" book but if you want to avoid: probate, contested wills, arbitrary waiting periods, expensive trusts and siblings who squabble over who is to get what upon your death then read this book.

I don't agree with everything the author proposes but the concept of giving away assets now while you are alive beats anything that the "death industry" offers.

A worse textbook I have not seen. It's riddled with mistakes and misprints. The authors should be ashamed. The examples are virtually impossible to follow. Unfortunately, most students don't have a choice but if you do go with Statistical Techniques in Business and Economics (Mason, Lind & Marchal).

There is a newer edition out. However, the good thing about this one is the fact that they got a good Excel Section.

Don't let the title mislead you: Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel (Student Solutions Manual) has almost nothing to do with Microsoft Excel. This book is useful IF and only if you are using it as a companion to the Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel text book in a statistics class.

The book provides ANSWERS. It does not provide any how-to; it does not provide any Excel formulas/etc. But is does provide the answers to all of the even-numbers problems in the companion text book. That's the only reason it got as much as a "3 stars" rating from me -- it was helpful for feedback.

I think Pollan and Levine have definitely tried to differentiate themselves. Like many authors and writers trying to separate from the pack, the aforementioned authors seem to clearly overemphasize their differences and underemphasize their similarities to the current self-help/enlightenment zeitgeist. This book seems to be the antithesis of "Do what you love and the money will follow," and other books of the like. The authors implore us to "Make Money" and be free-agent employees. And if you are working according to their model, you shouldn't have time to chat with your wife (husband) or other ancillary parties.

It's not that I don't agree with the authors on numerous points, I just feel that their idea of all work and then play is not realistic or the most productive. Bottom line, any cursory read of the work-curve literature, or a limited understanding of attention spans and our memory faculties, would reveal a different picture than what they try to paint. Witness the knowledge worker and their work environment for sustainable and creative growth.

Another one of their major points is the idea of "Don't grow, change." In today's dynamic work environment, and real-time learning necessities, I think this is a valuable idea. I think the idea of NOT becoming occupationally and intellectually stagnant is a valuable goal.

Part II of the book is an alphabetical examination (a page or so of writing) of ninety-one different topics related to earning money and entrepreneurship. As stated in my title for the review, the authors are quite direct in their opinions on the chosen topics (and throughout the book). This is not good or bad in its own right; it just comes across as somewhat know-it-all-ish and arrogant. Again, the authors are not coddling their readers, like many self-help books are purported to do. All in all, the book has some interesting points, and some good advice on employment contracts and other legal matters (Pollan has a law degree). My suggestion is to browse through the book at the library, and see if you want to pursue it further.

This book's first couple of chapters is basically the meat of the book. Part II had some interesting points but not worth going through in depth. One person would be able to relate at most to a dozen points. I found the Salary Review information extremely interesting and pertinent.

His advice is pretty cold-hearted but realistic in many ways, but I have to agree with another reviewer who said that if you're going to spend 50 hours a week doing work, you're going to need more than money to make it worthwhile. Some heart and satisfaction need to be part of the equation.

More useful than the money advice is the Don't Grow, Change advice, meaning you should learn new skills whereever/whenever possible (and something I already strive to do) and avoid taking on responsibilities. However, you're going to have to establish roots somewhere, and that ultimately will require you to take more responsibility on the job. Becoming a mercenary also seems relevant advice.

Overall, I found his advice rather good b/c I'm in the computer field and you have to adjust quickly or you're obsolete and job-hopping is not an uncommon practice in this field.

This book in a sense is the opposite of that book called "Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow" which was published several years ago. I really liked that book, and I like this one too. So many different ideas, and yet we can pick and choose what we want from them and use them for our benefit.

Make no mistake about it, this book is about money. That's perfectly okay. If money doesn't interest you, don't read it. Above all else, this book is about putting what you do for a living in its proper perspective. As a society we've come to the point where our jobs are an extension of our family. When we introduce ourselves we state what we do for a living. We're not people, we're schoolteachers, police officers, lawyers, mechanics, etc. This is what sets this book apart and makes it worth reading. If you want to live a rich and satisfying life, your work is for money. If you're looking for love, get it from your family.

Here is my favorite passage from the book:

"My clients have been taught that their value as human beings has nothing to do with their salaries. And yet if they're offered less than they expected as a salary or in payment for their services they take it as a personal affront to their worth as a human being. They say they think it's what's inside that counts and yet they - and everyone else - respond, positively or negatively, to how people look. Someone who's dressed in expensive clothes, driving an expensive car, gets treated better than someone who isn't. Perhaps most damaging of all, my clients have been taught they should pay more attention to the emotional and psychological elements of work than to the money. They money, they were told, would take care of itself. They'd automatically be rewarded for their hard work. They thought that if they did what they loved, the money would follow. Their pay would magically match their education, their emotional gratification, and their perception of their own worth. They were told to ignore money. In this case ignorance clearly was not bliss."

In one sense this book is an all out "look out for number one." We're told that there is no job security and that money is the sole focus of work. I agree, sort of. It's not about selfishness and obsession with money as much as it is putting perspective in our lives. Human beings have a real hangup with money. A person will move across the country for a better paying job, yet we claim "the money really isn't that important." It's the "job satisfaction" "the benefits" "the positive work environment." The author asserts that work is for money. He further claims there's nothing wrong with thinking like that. If work isn't for earning a living, then what is it for? Good question.

Should you buy this book? Well that depends. If you like your work because of the great people there and the company softball team, this book will certainly open your eyes. I found this book to be more eye opening and thought provoking than anything else. It claims to be a "how to" book of sorts, and there is a lot of "how to" in here. I would have to say that this book is to employees what "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber is to business owners. We're too tied up in what we do for a living to separate that from our personal identities. We define ourselves by what we do for a living.

I'm giving this book 4 stars. I think it's an important book and a good sequel to the author's previous book "Die Broke." The format of the book is the same as "Die Broke" in that part II is an alphabetical glossary of various subjects. I found this book's part II to be a big improvement over the part II in "Die Broke." I don't know, maybe I paid more attention this time. It's a good book, one that definitely puts things in their proper perspective. If you find yourself "overworked and underpaid" then perhaps you should read this book. There's some great advice in here.