Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life (IONS/ New Harbinger) (co-published with the Institute of Noetic Sciences) [Paperback]

Marilyn Mandala Schlitz (Author), Cassandra Vieten (Author), Tina Amorok (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1572245336 | ISBN-13: 978-1572245334 | Edition: 1

Living Deeply transcends any one approach by focusing on common elements of transformation across a variety of traditions, while affirming and supporting the diversity of approaches across religious, spiritual, scientific, academic, and cultural backgrounds. Each chapter in the book ends with Experiences of Transformation, exercises drawn from wisdom traditions or scientific investigations meant to enhance your direct experience of the material.

Opportunities to actively engage in your own transformation and that of our world are woven into the fabric of your everyday life. Learning more about the terrain of consciousness transformation can not only give you a map, but can help you become the cartographer of your own transformative journey. Research over the last decade at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) has systematically surveyed hundreds of people's stories of their own transformations, as well as conducting over 50 in-depth interviews with teachers and masters of the world's spiritual, religious, and transformative traditions.

No matter who you are,where you come from, or what your current path is - whether you seek to transform your life completely or simply make adjustments that will add a layer of richness and depth to your life - exploring the many ways that transformation is stimulated and sustained can hold great power. Weaving together cutting-edge science with wisdom from teachers of the world's transformative traditions this book explores how people experience deep shifts in their consciousness, and how those shifts can lead to healing and wholeness.

Research over the last decade at the Institute of Noetic Sciences has explored in depth the phenomenon by which people make significant shifts in the way they experience and view the world. Focusing in particular on positive transformations in consciousness, or those that result in improved health, well-being, and sense of meaning, purpose,and belonging, hundreds of people's stories of their own transformations were included in the research, as well as in-depth interviews with over 50 teachers and masters of the world's spiritual, religious, and transformative traditions.

Authors Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Ph.D., Cassandra Vieten, Ph.D., and Tina Amorok, Psy.D. - will begin conducting workshops based on the information they have gathered for this book. These workshops will blend the rigors of science with the deep wisdom of the world’s spiritual traditions. Drs. Schlitz, Vieten, and Amorok will offer key insights from the decade-long qualitative and quantitative research study, of how people transform their lives. The workshops will include rigorous inquiry, group dialogue, and direct experience about the kinds of transformations in consciousness that change a person’s worldview to one that is more connected to others.

For more information about the Signature Education Workshops, please visit www.livingdeeply.org

Also available is a companion DVD.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Living Deeply is the accumulated wisdom of many of our greatest living teachers, all adepts in the goal of personal transformation. This is one of the finest collections of gentle, penetrating insights available. Highly recommended.
—Larry Dossey, MD, author of The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things

Living Deeply provides us with some of the most significant insights into spiritual transformation that I have ever read. Based on interviews with spiritual teachers, leading scientific researchers, religion scholars, important public intellectuals, and major writers, this volume is a remarkable example of an integrative approach to a topic of immense importance. It is marvelous to look through the different windows of transformation that are so richly described and interpreted both spiritually and scientifically. Living Deeply is a major accomplishment that will hopefully become a classic in an emerging field. It is truly a brilliant synthesis. I think Living Deeply will change lives and change the world for the better.
—Stephen G. Post, Ph.D., professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

From the Publisher

The book Living Deeply is the product of the Institute of Noetic Sciences' decade-long investigation into transformations in human consciousness. It transcends any one approach by focusing on common elements of transformation across a variety of traditions, affirming and supporting the diversity of approaches across religious, spiritual, scientific, academic, or cultural backgrounds. Living Deeply makes these teachings accessible without diminishing their complexity, empowering readers to become their own scientists, develop and test their own hypotheses, and reach their own conclusions.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Noetic Book / New Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (January 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572245336
• ISBN-13: 978-1572245334
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Feed Your Hungry Heart March 18, 2008

By Jerry Katz

Format:Paperback

This book will nourish and guide the hungry heart. It is a diverse, balanced, full consideration of the art and science of transformation.

The editors explain their goal: "Our single-minded focus was on the phenomenon of experiences people have, and practices they engage in, that stimulate and sustain a new worldview that may best be described as positive consciousness transformation."

Theme - Find your own way:

The editors try very hard to be diverse and balanced while requiring the reader to be responsible rather than providing a program for transformation: "Ultimately, you need to find your own balance between convention and innovation, between the tried and true and the emerging forms of transformative practice."

The editors encourage you to discover ways to enrich, deepen, and find joy in each moment. Quoting George Leonard: "I can't live the life of some teacher. I'm never going to get there the way somebody else did."

Theme - Balance:

Balance is addressed in different modes.

Throughout the book there is attentiveness to the balance "between courage, determination, discipline, and choice on the one hand, and letting go, acceptance, and surrendering to the mystery of transformation on the other."

The editors recognize that transformation can be painful, and they balance it by sharing the joy and liberation that come out of the transformative journey.

Medicine woman Tela Star Hawk Lake: "...we have to keep everything in balance. Everything has to be in harmony. Not just for the human beings, but for the animals, for the birds, for the plants, for the fish, for the rocks, for everything."

Theme - Compassion:

Active compassion is part of transformative worldview. Psychologist Stanley Krippner says in this book that it requires "a love that actually gives people something to eat, something to wear, a place to live, self-esteem, self-empowerment."

Using the best description of tonglen I have ever read, you are invited to practice this technique and journal your experience.

Exercises:

The exercises at the end of each chapter require you to write in a journal. You will investigate your life from all angles: your experiences, perceptions, practices, how they interconnect, and how all things in existence interconnect.

Last chapters:

The last chapter summarizes the whole book with the intention of getting the teachings to stick and grow and evolve. It is followed by a resource guide which provides detailed information about The Institute of Noetic Sciences, and how to get involved in it, which would be a very worthwhile way of continuing your work and education in transformation. There is also information about the companion DVD for this book and e-courses you may take.

No index:

This book is limited as serious research tool by the absence of an index. Even only a name index would be useful. I was wondering if Ken Wilber was included in this book, but had to read every page to find out.

Jerry Katz

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Something of Real Substance. February 29, 2008

By Eldon K. Van Vliet

Format:Paperback

This is a book about the human potential to experience an enlightened state through the careful application of conscious intent. It is the product of three diligent researchers working for ten years to collect and analyze subjective accounts of transformation, and to distill and record the meaning thereof.

The stated purpose of the book is contained in this excerpt. "Throughout all of our research, our goal has been to learn more about the phenomenon of transformation, whereby people's lives are changed for the better in profound and long-lasting ways." To some, this statement may contain a religious ring, but the book carefully avoids the promotion of any particular religion. It does contain many places where the idea of sacredness is honored.

The concept of a person adopting a serious daily practice is described as a crucial pathway in the search for enlightenment. This comes from the observation that practice acquaints us with those things in life that bring meaning, the numinous things, so that we can recognize and honor them when they appear in ordinary life experience.

The book is full of rich quotes, artfully arranged where they will be the most effective. It is full of the words of great teachers, sometimes quoting their own teachers, so that the wisdom comes to the reader in successive layers. One feature seems to lead to the conclusion that it will prove to be an extremely influential force in its field. This is that the book slowly and carefully builds a rational for seriously choosing to lead a good life.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Path to Success Beyond Success January 21, 2008

By Mariana Bozesan

Format:Paperback

In sharing the results of more than a decade of research, Living Deeply is truly a brilliant synthesis between the science of achievement and the art of fulfillment.

It goes beyond conventional wisdom and provides hands on advice on how to connect with your deepest knowing so you can begin to live a life of meaning, purpose, and contribution to yourself and others. It facilitates this journey by sharing the most hidden secrets of all wisdom traditions worldwide.

This book is a must read for everyone who wants advice from the world's most remarkable sages.