Customer Reviews

Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book offers a profound approach to resolving that with which we struggle inside (and outside too). I have been working with this process--so clearly explained by the author--and have found it to be extremely effective. The premise is simple: anything you fight and/or banish to your shadow will just find ways to haunt you even more, so why not find a way to provide it with the attention and compassion it really needs. This process has helped me to resolve and transform some deep-seated fears and issues. If peace begins within, this book goes a long way towards helping change what is frustrating in the world. I give it my highest recommendation.

I have found this to be a highly effective, fascinating way of working with my emotions. I don't know about you but I have some inner demons, some forces that exert power over me whether I want them to or not and lead me toward a negative place. Tsultrim Allione's method of feeding these "demons" has given me a way of contacting those places in my mind and sort of sitting down to tea with them. It's a way of making friends, of coming to understand what they are all about. The end result is that the demon is no longer an enemy but becomes an ally. Or else just goes away and leaves me alone. I love the peaceful aspect of this method, the nonviolence. It's like the Mahatma Gandhi of self help.

I found this book to be incredibly powerful and transformative. A captivating and smooth read with a great message. The technique outlined in the book is simple yet profound, and was really effective for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in shedding old patterns and becoming happier in general (and who isn't!).

Reviewed by Vicky Burkholder
on 07/08/2008

Tsultrim Allione was one of the first Western women to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. In this book, she presents an eleventh-century woman's wisdom to non-Buddhists in simple, easy to understand language that anyone can follow.

According to Tsultrim, we can all overcome whatever demons are causing chaos in our lives, whether they be weight, illness, anger, or whatever. By following her five steps, we can supposedly overcome these problems.

In the first part of the book, we are given an overview of Tultrim's life - her journeys into spiritualism, her marriages and divorces, her children, her tragedies and her triumphs. It is an interesting biography, if somewhat brief. But this book isn't supposed to be a biography - and it's not completely. The next section delineates the five-step program to overcoming whatever ails you. It is clearly written and easily understood.

The third part of the book deals with specific types of demons. Each demon - illness, fear, addiction, abuse, etc. - comes with case studies allowing you to read about people who faced these problems and overcame them. Each one is different, and interesting to read. The last section of the book gives you information on how to deepen your work.

In the grand publishing segment that encompasses self-help books, this is one of the more interesting ones I've read. It is brief, to the point, easy to understand, easy to follow and deals with problems that plague almost all of us. Does it work? I'll have to get back to you on that. But I can't see where there's any harm in trying. If nothing else, you've spent some time meditating and that's always a good thing. If you're into spiritualism, Buddhism, or any of the mediating practices, definitely pick this one up. If you're just into reading about obscure spiritual readers, this would be a good buy.

4.5 Books

Lama Tsultrim Allione has masterfully adapted the ancient Tibetan practice of chod and it's powerful gift of transformation so simply and directly that it will serve those who might be drawn to the book's evocative title, while also providing support and a fresh approach to long time spiritual practitioners. Simple, concise and carefully honed through Tsultrim's own many years of practice, this book and the practice which it transmits is a liberating gift for all those whose lives are devoted to freedom. Blessings and Gratitude...

I have found the perspective of Feeding Your Demons to be insightful and wise and the technique itself to be invaluable. Over the years I have explored and benefited from both meditation, yoga and breathing practices from the East as well as various psychological insights and practices from the West. With Feeding Your Demons, I am experiencing the result of a beautiful melding of the wisdom of both orientations.

Even before trying the process itself, I found that just reading the book brought a way of seeing myself and my life that was richly rewarding. I felt some doubt about my ability to do the technique, though, because I don't visualize easily or well (visualization being part of the process). But the good news is that even without clear visualization, I have grown to trust and feel comfortable with my own way of experiencing the technique (it is usually more a feeling sense than `seeing') because of the positive changes that have come from each session!

Thank you Tsultrim!

Since she first glimpsed Buddhist lives and practice over 40 years ago at age 19, Lama Tsultrim has devoted herself not only to her own practice but also to finding ways to bring this joy, compassion and devotion to others. In this jewel of a book she offers those experiences to benefit people who may never resonate with Buddhism or Tibet, but who do notice our lifes' continuing struggles, the world's distresses, and our deep longing for ways to nurture less conflict and more hope. The book offers a way for anyone to turn toward that distress and longing, elegantly and skillfully placing this remarkable meditation practice in a modern, Western framework. So whatever your own spiritual inclinations are, whatever form your personal 'demons' may take, however you're thinking about war and peace and disharmony in the world, you'll find an ally here - in the practice, in the stories, and in the remarkable woman who brought us this book.

In "Feeding Your Demons" Lama Tsultrim Allione presents a brilliant practice that encourages relaxation of inner or outer conflict. Other reviewers have noted how the practice brings what is in the shadow to light and compassionately provides what is needed. What they haven't highlighted is that the practice also evokes a state of physical, psychological, and spiritual relaxation and that these moments of relaxation are an ideal doorway to use to enter into the practices of your own tradition. Because the Feeding Your Demons practice is not doctrinal, it can be effectively used by anyone to release tensions, creating fruitful ground for prayer, meditation, or self-inquiry.

"Cutting Through Fear" presents an earlier version of the process that Lama Tsultrim has continued to refine in "Feeding Your Demons." In contrast to the earlier cd, in her recent book Lama Tsultrim has distilled the ancient practice into its essence, removing its Tibetan imagery. The benefit of discarding the Tibetan wrappings, though some will miss them, is that the golden essence of the practice is now easily understood by Westerners. In addition, Lama Tsultrim has added something that she did not include in "Cutting Through Fear," the empowering step of allowing or asking for an ally to emerge.

In sum, in its new Western clothing "Feeding Your Demons" offers a practice that anyone can use in the service of wholeness and holiness.

I am an avid fan of books related to the crossover of Eastern religion to Western pyschology. This book fits the bill, though more emphasis on Eastern religion.

The author details an Eastern method to resolve inner conflict and face your fears. The idea is to look inward and give your fears, demons, and insecurities a chance to tell you what they need from you in order to heal. This is accomplished through meditation and visualtion.

I found this book to be very helpful and very insightful for a new approach to therapy. Most Westeners have the idea of running from or suppressing darker emtions, when, as this book suggests, we can feed them what they need and feel 'lighter' as a result, instead of being consistantly weighed down by suppressed feelings.

The inner demons are the embodiment of emotional suffering; feeling energy frozen in place through blind identification with habitual emotional and cognitive reactions, beliefs and perceptions. It is a fact that as long as you resist or avoid these inner knots of negative energy they will poison you from the inside out. The most effective solution is to turn towards them and establish a mindful relationship with them. Give them space to change and they will respond by resolving and releasing the trapped energy, leaving you more alive in the process. The healing power of mindfulness is quite remarkable. I also recommend 'The Path of Mindfulness Meditation' available through Amazon.