Book Description
As nurses face the ongoing challenges of an increasing need for their services combined with economic pressures, members of the largest profession in health care must become more visible, vocal, and influential. The first communication guidebook designed expressly for nurses, From Silence to Voice helps nurses understand and overcome the self-silencing that often leads RNs to downplay their own expertise and their contributions to the care of the sick and the health of the public. Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon teach nurses, nurse educators, and nurse researchers critical skills they can use to explain their work to other health-care professionals, journalists, policymakers, and political representatives.
From Silence to Voice features stories about nurses who ensure that patients receive appropriate, timely, and even life-saving care, nurses who make all the difference while crises are underway but whose contributions are neglected in medical charts and thank-you notes, nurses who are left out altogether or obscured by the generic "nurse." However, the book also provides detailed accounts of nurses who do make their voices heard, who do make their concerns public— and it shows how those successes can be duplicated. Buresh and Gordon draw on real-world examples that will help nurses to
- gain respect for themselves as professionals,
- communicate well with both patients and health-care colleagues,
- understand how the news media work,
- collaborate with public relations professionals,
- write effective letters to the editor and publish op-ed pieces,
- appear on television and radio, and
- promote research on nursing.
Customer Reviews:
A Must-Read for All Nurses.......2007-05-09
I recommend this book to any nurse out there that wants a better understanding of why we as a group take the BS we take in our profession. This book is a rally cry for nurses to get out there and speak up about what we see in the workplace, and to get up the gumption to do something about it. Nurses: Read this book, and give a copy to your friends.
Good and bad.......2006-11-10
The item is a very good book to read. Easy reading. The only problem was purchasing this item from a 3rd party company which caused a 2-3 wks delay. If I knew after purchasing how long it would take, I would have just spent the $3 I was saving. Not worth the few $ savings if you need it at a certain time. This was a book I needed for school. Very disappointing.
A must read.......2006-11-10
This is a wonderful book which every nurse should read. The authors show how we can explain to the public what nurses really do and how technical, skillful and complicated nursing care can be. Once the public better understands the role of the nurse (it isn't what you see on ER or Grey's Anatomy for sure) it would follow that nurses would receive the respect they deserve.
A "must" read for Nurses!!!.......2004-11-08
This book is like a bible to me. I have read the book several times, picking it up, reading parts...and always being empowered by it. I would highly recommend this book for nurses of all walks. Authors, Buresh & Gordon help nurses understand the deliberate dimantling of their profession/healthcare and give them clear tools (with examples) on how to reclaim their most valued existance. Nurses and their patients have a symbiotic relationship...if nursing is lost...so are their patients. From Silence to Voice will teach the reader how to enlist the public for survival. Thank you to Ms. Buresh & Ms. Gordon. The reader won't be disappointed!
Finding Voice.......2001-02-24
From Silence to Voice by Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon is a must-read for all nurses. The message of the book is one nurses need to hear: talk about your work, show the world what you do, communicate the fact that nursing is skilled, responsible and interesting work. Buresh and Gordon make clear that much of the devaluing of nursing arises out of the fact that nurses avoid the limelight. Like the ubiquitous 'good woman' behind every successful man, nurses let their work be the backdrop for medical care, and for patients managing their own care. The consequences of downplaying the contribution of nursing to patient care is that our work is not noticed, our profession is not valued, and fewer and fewer people want to become nurses. Buresh and Gordon not only argue convincingly that nurses can be their own worst enemies in this respect, they provide a comprehensive range of strategies to teach nurses how to talk about their work, and (vitally) how to make people interested in hearing about it. These strategies range from ways of talking about nursing work to friends and family, to running a media campaign to support a union action, to writing oped pieces for major newspapers. I learnt a great deal from reading and re-reading From Silence to Voice and I recommend that it be part of curriculum for nursing students, be used for professional development sessions for working nurses, and adopted as a tool kit for union activists, professional officers and nursing leaders. Whether you are a student starting out in the nursing profession, a bedside clinican, a manager, organizer or educator, Buresh and Gordon's text is an eye-opener. Nurses as individuals and as a profession need to develop the communication skills and political savvy this book offers. And we need to do it right now! Sioban Nelson, RN, PhD, BA(Hons), School of Postgraduate Nursing, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Editor, Nursing Inquiry.
Book Description
The partition of India into two countries, India and Pakistan, caused one of the most massive human convulsions in history. Within the space of two months in 1947 more than twelve million people were displaced. A million died. More than seventy-five thousand women were abducted and raped. Countless children disappeared. Homes, villages, communities, families, and relationships were destroyed. Yet, more than half a century later, little is known of the human dimensions of this event. In The Other Side of Silence , Urvashi Butalia fills this gap by placing peopleâtheir individual experiences, their private painâat the center of this epochal event.
Through interviews conducted over a ten-year period and an examination of diaries, letters, memoirs, and parliamentary documents, Butalia asks how people on the margins of historyâchildren, women, ordinary people, the lower castes, the untouchablesâhave been affected by this upheaval. To understand how and why certain events become shrouded in silence, she traces facets of her own poignant and partition-scarred family history before investigating the stories of other people and their experiences of the effects of this violent disruption. Those whom she interviews reveal that, at least in private, the voices of partition have not been stilled and the bitterness remains. Throughout, Butalia reflects on difficult questions: what did community, caste, and gender have to do with the violence that accompanied partition? What was partition meant to achieve and what did it actually achieve? How, through unspeakable horrors, did the survivors go on? Believing that only by remembering and telling their stories can those affected begin the process of healing and forgetting, Butalia presents a sensitive and moving account of her quest to hear the painful truth behind the silence.
Customer Reviews:
the only book of its kind.......2007-09-17
a lot of the criticism regarding repetition is fair, yes. But it misses the point. Ms. Butalia has done something that really no other author has: record first-person accounts of the partition violence, from a population that is rapidly dwindling due to age. It is regrettable that more of such work has not been done. Of course she has her own agenda-- she is angry, and especially towards the violence visited on women-- but at no point does she make an attempt to HIDE this bias. You've got to be blind not to know that there is a personal pain and anger driving all this, and what is the matter with that. Stop criticizing her for tangential stuff and focus on the unique scholarship here.
Cheap sensationalism.......2006-07-09
This book reads like the sensationalist columns of a cheap eveninger. The authoress has listed a number of supposed to be eye witness accounts of mass murders and other brutalities and passed it off as an intellectual work of great merit. I totally agree with many other reviewers view that the book is extremely repetitive. The current trend in the world of arts and literature especially in south Asia appears to be one of playing to the galleries of the west. Shock their ( west ) sensibilities about what is happening in the east and good readership and fame and name is assured .The book lacks any kind of depth and analysis. The work is shoddy at its best.
One important criticism about this work stands out: The author repeatedly blasts the mass suicides of the desperate victims of these riots. Does she mean to say that the invading armies of the rioters are nobleness and kindness incarnate ?
The hapless victims in the face of imminent slavery in the hands of the satanical mobs have little choice. Though unfortunate , suicide appears to be the only alternative. This practice has stood the test of time. From the times when the marauding armies of Mahmud of Ghazni swept the plains of Punjab, the helpless civilian populace knows what to expect and what fate awaits them in the hands of their brutal conquerors.
And this author has the cheek to question and criticize these practices...The author has chosen to turn a blind eye to these pages in history books. Or is it mere ignorance ? With this the author has hurt the sentiments of the victims of these riots. She has desecrated the memories of these victims and insulted the history of partition. This book is of little literary value and lacks penetrative opinion.
This book ought to be avoided like the plague. It gives a skewed understanding of the history of partition.
Unfortunately there is no way to give 0 or negative stars or I would have certainly given negative stars.
Book in need of an editor!.......2006-03-26
I ordered this book because I am extremely interested in the
untold stories of the Partition of India even though the
reviews told me not to. I wished I had heeded the advice. The book is incredibly repetitive--to the point of being unreadable. I learned very little. Not worth the time to read or money to purchase.
The other side of silence..........2004-05-06
I have read this book, Mr. Moon's "Divide and Quit", Mr. Khosla's work, "Stern Reckoning" amongst others on the subject of the Partition. Ms. Butalia's work is so saturated with her personal opinions and idealogy, that it almost ceases to be a work on history than the airing of one's thoughts and mindset. Almost a diatribe, if I may. I will agree with what john_galt_who has written. I think he has hit the nail on the head. I did not consider this book worth either the money or the time.
A waste of your time and money.......2004-02-23
The amount of matter which the author has repeated again and again if you minus all that repeated matter, the book would hardly be of about a 100 pages .. Don't even borrow to read it ..
Book Description
Born in France to Algerian immigrant parents, Fadela Amara is a human rights activist who speaks with both a personal and collective voice. This book is a passionate account of her struggle to found the movement called "Ni putes ni soumises" (Neither whores nor doormats) aimed at shattering the law of silence about violence against women within the Muslim community. The questions Amara raises are part of a broader agenda that seeks to integrate French Muslims into contemporary French society. These issues also pose major political problems of national identity and the defense of a secular state.
As France increasingly confronts ethnic tensions and the emergence of Muslim fundamentalism, French cities face problems of unemployment, racial discrimination, and violence. Amara's eloquent call for social and gender equality underscores a host of interconnected issues, including France's colonial past and a degradation of the suburbs that has progressively marginalized immigrant communities. Focusing on the repressive code of clothing and gender behavior imposed on young women by a minority of Islamic fundamentalist men, Amara challenges supporters of those wearing the "veil," or Islamic headscarf, in French schools, analyzes the motives behind such actions, and offers her own opinions as to its meanings. Moving, candid, and extremely timely, Breaking the Silence created a sensation when it was published in France, where it went on to win a number of awards.
Average customer rating:
- poor statistical research
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Between Voice And Silence: Women and Girls, Race and Relationship
Jill M. Taylor
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
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ASIN: 0674068807 |
Book Description
More than any other psychologist, Carol Gilligan has helped us to hear girls' voices just when they seem to be blurring and fading or becoming disruptive during the passage into womanhood. When adolescent girls--once assured and resilient--silence or censor themselves to maintain relationships, they often become depressed, and develop eating disorders or other psychological problems. But when adolescent girls remain outspoken it is often difficult for others to stay in relationship with them, leading girls to be excluded or labeled as troublemakers. If this is true in an affluent suburban setting, where much of the groundbreaking research took place, what of girls from poor and working-class families, what of fading womanhood amid issues of class and race? And how might these issues affect the researchers themselves? In Between Voice and Silence Taylor, Gilligan, and Sullivan grapple with these questions. The result is a deeper and richer appreciation of girls' development and women's psychological health.
In an urban public school, among girls from diverse cultural backgrounds--African American, Hispanic, Portuguese, and white--and poor and working-class families, the authors sought a key to the relationship between risk, resistance, and girls' psychological development and health. Specifically, they found cultural differences that affect girls' coming of age in this country. In Between Voice and Silence, the story of the study parallels another, that of African American, Hispanic, and white women who gathered to examine their own differences and to learn how to avoid perpetuating past divisions among women. Together, these two stories reveal an intergenerational struggle to develop relationships between and among women and to hold and respect difference.
Customer Reviews:
poor statistical research.......2006-03-07
What perplexes this Amazon.com reviewer is the very shoddy work by this feminist and the amazing effect it has had on the American education school system.
First, the methodology is not a true random samples of the female population. Thus the results are skewed. In business or science this would make the book untouchable by any serious reader. Indeed, it a perfect world it could cost the writer her chairs on various academic boards.
This Amazon.com reviewer was a teacher in the Columbus, Ohio intercity school system. Now, America's intercity schools are some of the poorer schools in Western civilization. However, because of the vast pro-girl and pro-women infrastructure these schools at least gave women of color a fighting chance of getting a good education and going to college. The fact of life is African-American males do considerably poorer in academics than African-American women. African-American women do a better job of sticking together as a cohesive group than a similar group of males. These girls and future women can band together to meet future challenges. Think of it. Because of feminist writers, like Carol Gilligan, the number of women attending college is now over sixty percent at many colleges. However, you don't see Ms. Gilligan write about the vastly successful pro-girl education system in America. Why? She makes money saying things for girls are bad.
Historically, I must give Author Carol Gilligan her due. Her writings are treated as gospel by the academic and media communities. It's puzzling to an informed educator of how her grossly incorrect conclusions have had such a massive impact upon the public mind.
Join in.......2001-06-08
lifes lessons and hard courses and choices are in this book. this book shows us how to deal with them all.
Book Description
"Here is the real Mahayana Buddhism" -- D. T. Suzuki
"I believe that this book has strongly influenced many sincere seekers and aspirants to the wisdom and compassion of the Bodhisattva Path." -- 14th Dalai Lama
Translated from the Book of the Golden Precepts, which shares a common origin with the Stanzas of Dzyan of The Secret Doctrine, the rules and ethics presented in the Voice contrast the two paths of spiritual attainment: the one pursued by those seeking knowledge for their own enlightenment; the other chosen by those whose aspirations are prompted by compassion for all.
Customer Reviews:
The 2 Paths: Nirvana or Bodhisattva.......2007-04-20
This book was first published 1889 by H. P. Blavatsky (1831-1891). As stated it contains chosen fragments formulated so as to become a daily meditation book. A small book comprising 97 pages, 72 pages for the main body of the book and the remaining 25 pages being for the glossary. But for the eastern terminologies, this is an easy book to read and can be quickly read. This book is available as a PDF download via Google.
Essentially this book deals with the two paths that one can choose to take on the path to higher spirituality, the path of Nirvana or the path of the Bodhisattva I.e. returning to help a suffering humanity, the latter being the superior of the two.
I personally would recommend the movie 'The circle of iron', a martial arts/spiritual film by Bruce Lee. This movie reveals the path of the initiate and the choice to be made regarding Nirvana or the Bodhisattva path. Just a small tid bit, there are many levels beyond both these paths and the path of Nirvana is a downward spiral that draws on ones dharma; better to take the Bodhisattva/Christic path of sacrifice, depending if one is able.
To that which spoke to me:
"The "Soundless Voice," or the "Voice of the Silence." Literally perhaps this would read "Voice in the Spiritual Sound," as Nada is the equivalent word in Sanskrit, for the Sen-sar term." Pg 73
"Tanha - "the will to live," the fear of death and the love for life, that force or energy which causes the rebirths." Pg 78
and to the study of the ego:
"Deva Egos" (The reincarnating ego) pg 29 which pointed the way to the book 'THE CAUSAL BODY AND THE EGO' by Arthur E. Powell.
"Manas rupa. The first refers to the astral or personal Self; the second to the individuality or the reincarnating Ego whose consciousness on our plane or the lower Manas - has to be paralysed." Pg 77
"Antaskarana is the lower Manas, the Path of communication or communion between the personality and the higher Manas or human Soul. At death it is destroyed as a Path or medium of communication, and its remains survive in a form as the Kamarupa - the "Shell"." Pg 89
Dedicated to the Few........2004-11-01
After Madam Blavatsky reintroduced the esoteric, perennial, spiritual wisdom back into mainstream western consciousness, she realized that there were two very different types of seekers who would make use of such knowledge. There were those who would seek it for personal power and selfish benefit, and those who would seek it to attempt to educate and liberate all of humanity. The difference between these paths was transcendence of the personal ego to reach the realm of the Higher Self. This book was an attempt to see that her gift of esoteric knowledge would not be passed unquestioned and unchallenged to those who were not fit to receive it.
The first thing that strikes the reader familiar with _Isis Unveiled_ and _The Secret Doctrine_ is the Buddhist emphasis of this volume. While it is based on the same archaic sources as the other works (some of which are pre-Buddhist in origin) it is the true Buddhist path of the heart that clearly shines through again and again. In fact, you have the admonishment: "But even ignorance is better than Head-learning, with no Soul-wisdom to illuminate and guide it." The Soul-wisdom is clearly present here on every page. This depth of understanding of the highest form of Buddhist thought is indeed remarkable for a book written in the 1880's by a westerner. In writing this book the Madam ensured that the spirit of true enlightenment would forever be welded to the Theosophical movement.
This particular edition is a verbatim copy of the original of 1889. As carefully as Madam Blavatsky chose her words, it would be unthinkable to edit them to be more "accessible" to a modern audience. If the reader has difficulty with the technical Sanskrit terms there are detailed glossaries included for all three sections.
Book Description
For centuries, the story of the Atlantic slave trade has been filtered through the eyes and records of white Europeans. In this watershed book, historian Anne C. Bailey focuses on memories of the trade from the African perspective. African chiefs and other elders in an area of southeastern Ghana-once famously called "the Old Slave Coast"-share stories that reveal that Africans were traders as well as victims of the trade. Bailey argues that, like victims of trauma, many African societies now experience a fragmented view of their past that partially explains the blanket of silence and shame around the slave trade. Capturing scores of oral histories that were handed down through generations, Bailey finds that, although Africans were not equal partners with Europeans, even their partial involvement in the slave trade had devastating consequences on their history and identity. In this unprecedented and revelatory book, Bailey explores the delicate and fragmented nature of historical memory.
Customer Reviews:
Absolutely great book........2007-04-12
African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame
Fascinating material, but flawed writing style........2006-02-09
This book is quite enlightening in the history of the African slave trade. Contrary to what one might expect from the title and reviews, the author does not solely rely on oral stories from African elders. The stories that the author quotes, though, are always interesting. Especially, the Africans involvement with the slavery.
Of course, a story is just that, a story. As with many long told stories, there will be many aspects of truth and nontruth. That is not to say that any of the legends told were lies. They will contain versions of events as told by people who were not witness to the event. It is like the child's party game of "telephone." You start with a story at one end of the line and watch how it changes by the time it reaches the last person. Changes are inevitable, although, the basic premise may be intact.
Still, the author provides a useful addition to the literature. So often, the African slave trade discussion is limited to what occurred in America. This book provides stories and facts of the rudimentary aspects of the slave trade such as the problems with shippers obtaining insurance, and the changes in ships designs.
The book informed me on other aspects of the slave trade that I had not known. For example, the international outlawing of the slave transportation did not result in a lessening, but a sharp increase in Atlantic transportation of slaves. Also, the profits arising from slave trading after abolishing were far above what I would have expected. The author too was clearly stunned. That said, the major flaw in this book is that it is so dryly written. Her method of presenting the material is as if one were listening to a dictation. An odd presentation for such an emotional and significant topic.
A hard-hitting alternative history.......2005-07-04
There has long been silence on the issue of slavery and the Atlantic Slave trade: author Anne Bailey experienced this silence growing up in Jamaica, and as an adult became determined to break this silence, first researching the topic, than interviewing chiefs and elders in Ghana. African Voices Of The Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond The Silence And The Shame focuses on the Anlo Ewe community in Ghana to examine the impact of slavery and slave traders, showing how the trade became unpredictable and moved from the control of Africans to the control of outsiders. Oral narratives reveal why Africans began selling others into transatlantic slavery, providing a hard-hitting alternative history.
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Silence and Voice in the Study of Contentious Politics (Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics)
Ronald R. Aminzade ,
Jack A. Goldstone ,
Doug McAdam ,
Elizabeth J. Perry ,
William H. Jr Sewell ,
Sidney Tarrow ,
Douglas McAdam , and
Charles Tilly
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521001552 |
Book Description
The aim of the book is to highlight and begin to give "voice" to some of the notable "silences" evident in recent years in the study of contentious politics. The coauthors hope to redress the present topical imbalance in the field. In particular, the authors take up seven specific topics in the volume: the relationship between emotions and contention; temporality in the study of contention; the spatial dimensions of contention; leadership in contention; the role of threat in contention; religion and contention; and contention in the context of demographic and life-course processes.
Book Description
A Voice at the Borders of Silence is the story of a life of passion lived at the forefront of intersecting avant-garde movements and spent in the unyielding pursuit of the ultimate self-understanding and awareness. In a lifetime that nearly coincided with the 20th century, William Segal left a legacy of insight, compassion, and intelligence-as a businessman and publisher, an artist, and as a seeker.
Segal was a disciple and interpreter of some of the most influential spiritual masters of the twentieth century; and above all, G. I. Gurdjieff, whose writings on self-realization formed the basis of his philosophy. This foundation in spiritual training enabled him to survive a near-fatal car crash and then to make a full recovery and renew his life's work with even greater vigor.
The many dimensions of Segal's life are explored through his own writings and art, and through interviews with those whose lives he influenced. With dozens of full-color reproductions of Segal's paintings and contributions by Ken Burns (who made Segal the subject of three documentaries), Robert Thurman, and Peter Brook, is an unforgettable memoir that will serve as a guidebook for anyone pursuing his or her own search for self-realization and understanding.
Customer Reviews:
Candid Camera.......2006-06-10
Perhaps when Peter Brook celebrates his hundredth birthday we may anticipate a retrospect with some revelatory twist, stylistic shimmer, or special insight into this bafflingly complex character.
Meantime we have Michael Kustow's Peter Brook: A Biography, a well-meant journalistic reprise with all the poetry of "the time sponsored by Accurist". We are reminded that Brook's `white box' production of `A Midsummer Night's Dream' was a succès fou; that his book The Empty Space re-energised theatre; and that he discreetly resonates to the spiritual teaching of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff.
During his long life Brook has met many people with interests similar to his own: and certainly many with magnetic readership pull - Castro, Grotowski, Hitchcock, Capote, Aleister Crowley, and Jean
Genet (whom he alarmingly wanted to be Godfather to his daughter). Yet significantly A.W.O.L from Kustow's text and ten-page index is William Segal, hero of A Voice at the Borders of Silence.
If Kustow's is a dutiful exhumation, the Segal item (fulsomely prefaced by Brook) is an unindexed and undisciplined scrapbook, thrown together like a rich plum pudding by its subject's widow Marielle Bancou-Segal. So blatantly does it sacrifice critical vigilance on the altar of conjugal love that it bids to give hagiography a bad name. Everyone gets swept away in a Tsunami of mutual admiration: Segal thinks gods to Brook, while Brook recklessly asserts that Segal's "innermost core was an opening to eternity".
Thirty evocative photographs redeem Kustow's biography (not least David Farrell's trapeze-lofted Oberon and Puck in the fairy realm above Bottom and Titania) and Brook himself is modestly presented...Segal was anything but camera-shy, blatantly viewing his entire existence as a serial photo-opportunity. When young he was photogenic in All-American mode: in old age, following a drastic car accident, he deployed a monocle and piratical black eye patch. He was an artist too. "William Segal the painter", explains Brook, "looks at the outside world and leads us into William Segal the man." He certainly does. Most of his paintings are self-portraits; his motive being analytical - and apropos he nods kindly to Rembrandt.
Brook has powered forward from Doctor Faustus in 1943 to Tierno Bokar in 2004, like a self-fulfilling prophecy - "a man who has guided his own profusion to a rich simplicity" claims Kustow, in his best sentence. By contrast, the young New York sophomore William Segal, heralded as the speediest left halfback of a decade and sentenced to "a brilliant gridiron future", quickly swerved vocationally. Of Romanian Jewish ancestry and entrepreneurial flair, he somehow broke into fashion publishing and became emancipatingly rich. Looking down from his elegant office in Empire State Building, he would sometimes ruminate on profit margins, sometimes on difficulties facing "the average person", and sometimes on Meister Eckhart.
Aptly enough, in the early 1940s, aged about thirty-eight, Segal chanced to fall in with the author of Tertium Organum Piotr Demianovich Ouspensky ("a regular fellow in many ways"); in 1947, the year Ouspensky died, Segal met the prolix Zen theoretician Daisetzu Teitaro Suzuki - cultivating him and even taking him to meet Madame Ouspensky and watch sacred dances at Mendham, New Jersey; in 1948 and 1949 Segal won sporadic contact with Gurdjieff himself, teacher both of Ouspensky and of the avant-garde lesbian Jane Heap. By 1951 Brook, aged twenty-six, had become a pupil of Heap in London, and Segal had launched the bon ton journal Gentry ("It truly had a superior audience")...Curious lines were now converging.
It is Brook's endorsement of Kustov's biography which dignifies it; here then is the memorial or C.V. favoured by a first-rank cultural icon...Arguably more oblique is the American book's significance. The wearisome extolling and self-extolling of Segal ranks for nothing historically compared with the en passant disclosure of how traditional Gurdjieffian praxis was radically modulated by a hitherto unsuspected coterie; those photographs alone are as revealing as a C.C.T.V. camera.
Gurdjieff, who died in 1949, never went to Japan but Segal did - and became entranced. Arriving in a B-24 bomber carrying introductory letters from D.T.S. ("I could see I was on the beam with Suzuki right from the start") he hit the Zen Buddhist trail. As year followed year, Segal captured the interest of Madame Jeanne de Salzmann, Gurdjieff's de facto successor, and her son Michel the heir apparent. Respectively at Kita Kamakura and Ryutaku-ji monasteries Segal introduced the de Salzmanns to Suzuki and Soen Nakagawa Roshi (superb calligraphist, haiku composer, and innovatory celebrant of the tea ceremony using instant coffee and polystyrene cups).
The striking Sacred Dances which climax Peter Brook's film Meetings with Remarkable Men are supremely ranked in the portfolio of Gurdjieffian praxis, and no-one has prospered them more than Jeanne de Salzmann. In Japan she nevertheless allowed herself to be persuaded by an insistent Segal and Nakagawa that they needed buttressing by Zen-like meditation `sits'. Difficult to guess the critical moment when Madame de Salzmann acceded. Perhaps it was in cherry blossom time in 1966 when Suzuki, crying "Here, Mr Segal!", threw a startled cat at him. Certainly the grand policy shift delighted Segal: "Because you can sit for 100 years and still say, oh yeah, I feel good."
Segal died in 2000, aged ninety-six. And had he actually met Brook? Oh indeed, time after time (and sports ten photos to clinch it). As for his `enlightenment', one only wishes it were susceptible of forensic proof. Yet if this self-fixated pilgrim inspired just one "average person", let alone Peter Brook, that must suffice.
James Moore is author of `Gurdjieff:
the Anatomy of a Myth' (1991) and of
the Gurdjieff module in `Dictionary of
Gnosis and Western Esotericism' (2005).
The Sounds of Silence.......2004-03-16
What are we to make of William Segal? Born in 1904 to parents of modest means, his early life followed the classic trajectory of the self made American man. After attending college in New York on a football scholarship, he went into the magazine business and quickly became a successful entrepreneur, amassing a stable of design and lifestyle magazines. Business wealth brought him material rewards, the Park Avenue apartment, the country place in New Jersey, the house on Fire Island.
So far, a typical American success story. But there were other facets to William Segal. He was a painter of some talent who kept at it for over 60 years. He focused mainly on self portraits, part of his life's real work, which was looking for answers to the two big questions: who am I, and why am I here? His search led him to Ouspensky and eventually to Gurdjieff, and he stayed involved with the movement that grew up around Gurdjieff's teaching for over half a century. He also met and maintained friendships with several Buddhist scholars and spirtual leaders, from TD Suzuki to the Dalai Lama.
Throughout his long life (he lived to 96) he remained "the man in the marketplace" living fully in this world while seeking ways to transcend it. In one remarkable passage he talks about visiting and practicing at zen monasteries in Japan and then racing back to his day job as a business consultant to a Japanese conglomerate. He never ducked the hard question of how a material man engages in yet moves past the snares and delusions of everyday life. Indeed, one wishes the book talked in more depth about how he reconciled the grasping, sharp-elbowed world of American business with the state of non-grasping, timeless awaress he sought in his zen practice.
The secret to a rich life, this wise man tells us, is paying attention. Being fully engaged with your surroundings means you're always sitting down to a sensory banquet that nourishes your soul. Live in the world, says Segal, but learn to be still and to be receptive.
The book tells Segal's story through mix of photos, interviews, paintings, and reminiscences by the author and his distinguished friends. Reading it is like being led deeper into the woods until you come to a empty meadow, utterly still. In that stillness you can learn something truly important.
An Invaluable Addition to texts on the Gurdjieff Work.......2004-01-07
There is a wide variety of material in this book which consists of autobiographical fragments by William Segal, photographs, transcripts of interviews, previously published materials and exchanges between Mr. Segal and others who have spent decades seriously practicing Gurdjieff's Teaching. Of particular interest to those who have an interest in these ideas might be the exchanges on the future of the Gurdjieff Teaching and some of the "meditative practices". An inspiring book on many levels.
Priceless.......2003-12-03
This book is a priceless gift to humanity.
Average customer rating:
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Shattered!: 50 Years of Silence : History and Voices of the Tragedy in Romania and Transnistria
Felicia (Steigman) Carmelly
Manufacturer: Abbyfield Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Book Description
the fist expose in English about the Romanian and Transnistrian tragedy and the post-war cover-up. Over 500000 Jews were killed in the Romanian Holocaust and their story has been one of obscurity in the history of World War II. This book fills a major historical gap in holocaust studies. the historical section of this book is based on research done by Jean Ancel and Dora Litani pioneers in the history of the Romanian Holocaust. Includes survivors' personal testimonies which demonstrate the annihilation suffering and unspeakably traumatic experiences in Romania and Transnistria but also allows us to witness their courage faith and hope for the future. This book contains new revelations from recently released Soviet documents and eyewitness testimonies
Book Description
A blend of case history, anecdote, history, and spiritual quest, this intimate and fascinating look at the world's oldest and most reclusive monastic order provides a rare understanding of day-to-day Trappist existence.
Customer Reviews:
An View of Trappist Life.......2005-07-02
VOICES OF SILENCE: THE LIVES OF TRAPPISTS TODAY could best be described as three stories melding into one. It tells the story of Trappist monks and gives a brief history of the order. It deals specifically with the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky and the people who inhabit this fascinating place. The third strain of the story is that of the author Frank Bianco, a journalist struggling with faith after a major tragedy in his life and how his personal contact with the Trappists in general and the monks of Gethsemani in particular helped him begin to cope with the enormity of loss in his life and the importance of faith.
Bianco does give us a history per se, but intersperses his observations of the monks as well as his personal feelings throughout the book. It's an easy read with short penetrating chapters. At some points it reads like a novel, particularly when he writes about the monks who had the greatest impact on his life: Brother Gabriel, the young monk who is in the process of discerning, Dom Timothy MacDonald, or Mac as he is called in the book, the lovable Brother Saul, and perhaps the monk who challenged and inspired him most, the irascible Fr. Bede.
The book is both unapologetic and reverential. We see the monks as people striving to grow closer to God who are also people with flaws and idiosyncrasies. We do not meet "cute" monks who are a caricature of religious life. Rather we meet people who live a vastly different life than most people in our modern world, yet have the ability to speak to the core of our humanity.
Perhaps the reason this book was enjoyable to me was due to the fact I recently returned from a visit to Gethsemani Abbey where many of the monks in this book live (or at least once lived). I saw the monks "up close and personal" so to speak, and had the opportunity to observe the monks in action. In many ways this book confirmed what I saw upon visiting and serves as a reminder of the powerful spiritual witness of Trappist monks in our world today.
Real View of Trappist Life ?.......2003-10-21
If one wants a balanced and realistic view of monastic life and history, three recent books are highly recommended- "Cloister Walk" by Kathleen Norris, "Grace is Everywhere" by James Behrens, and, "Trappist: Living in the Land of Desire" - the companion book to the PBS documentary "Trappist" (WVTI Charlotte Public Television, 1997.
I've been regularly going on retreats to a Trappist monastery since 1988, - I purchased Mr. Bianco's book when it first came out, ( at the Abbey gift shop as a matter of fact ), and was rather surprised and perplexed by his tone and view throughout.
If you want the straight story with no spin, look at the above selections.
Very Fine Book.......2003-08-06
This was a very fine book, very moving. It was sad, actually, to have finished reading the book as I thought I was putting away a good friend. The book was informative enough in teaching readers about the Trappist way of life---yet revealed the Trappists to be very real individuals. For those looking for scandal, they are in for disappointment. The humanity of these fine men is amazing. And, do not forget to read Mr. Bianco's introduction as it reveals the heart and soul of the man and what he learns about God and himself in his time with the Trappists.
One of the better studies of contemporary monasticism.......2001-02-09
The author, a semi-practicing Catholic dealing with the death of his youngest son, entered into the life of the Trappist monks in several monasteries. From that experience, he gives us a mixture of monastic history, of lives of selected (composite) monks discerning their calling and growth, and a picture of the issues confronting the religious community as they grapple with the issues raised by Vatican II.
The resulting book stresses several points:
Monk are human with the same foibles as the non-vowed Catholic population.
That a major component of what sets monks apart is the stability of their lives and the community in which those lives are lived; this results in an environment where confronting oneself and one's masks is inevitable.
That balance of work, play and prayer is essential to fostering wholeness.
That the monk's life is nearly a universal human activity and that much of what formerly distinguished the professed religious life is now adopted/adapted by dedicated laity.
That God truly works in mysterious ways - exemplified by the author's changed understanding of God as he finally confronts his son's death.
The genius of the book is that it achieves the list given above primarily through the narrative of human experience within the monastic community. Where more abstract theology/history is provided, it is generally within the context of conversation with individual monks presenting their individual experience and belief.
With the narrative, there are individuals that the reader comes to care about - the crusty, rigid Br. Bede, the Texas ranch boy Mac, the novice Gabriel ... Through these and many others, the reader catches glimpses of themselves and their own needs. In this sense, the lives of the monks as presented, serve as a mirror nudging the reader to examine themselves as the monks are examining themselves.
Food for the Journey.......2001-01-03
I recommend this book to those who find themselves on a spiritual journey. Having glanced at other reviews of the text, I agree that it is less a general introduction to the Trappist way of life and more of a documentary of the author's personal exploration of their spirituality. This exploration is in the context of the loss of his son; the tragedy is actually the impetus for his spiritual quest. In that sense, I believe readers that are similarly engaged will find the book much, much more meaningful and accessable than those who may be reading out of detached academic interest.
More than anything, I think the book provides a great insight into the charism of the Trappists Mr. Bianco lived with, and for anyone considering spending some time "off grid", it sheds a lot of light on the potential experience. If you are on the journey, or perhaps more accurately, engaged in the battle, I think this book will help.
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- Ghettonation: A Journey Into the Land of Bling and Home of the Shameless
- GOAT: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali
- God's Long Summer
- Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation
- Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field
- Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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