Showing results by publisher "Sounds True" in Biographies & Memoirs

Is there a true seeker among us who has not endured what St. John of the Cross first called the "dark night of the soul" - a crisis, a betrayal, a sadness seeming without end? In The Way of St. John of the Cross, you will meet this towering figure - mystic, poet, healer of souls, and lover of God - and hear how this great explorer of mystical experience left an unfailing map to guide us through the dark nights of our own lives, one that promises eternal joy to all with the courage to follow it.

"The Great Failure is a boundless embrace, leaving nothing out. I wanted to learn the truth, to become whole. If I could touch the dark nature in someone else, I could know it in myself." So begins Natalie Goldberg in this candid exploration of her life. Here, Goldberg makes sense of primary relationships between father and daughter, teacher and student, and exemplifies the accomplishment available when creating daily writing practices.

We all sit on the edge of a mystery. We have only known this life, so dying scares us - and we are all dying. But what if dying were perfectly safe? What if you could approach dying with curiosity and love? What if dying were the ultimate spiritual practice? Walking Each Other Home: Conversations on Loving and Dying reunites lifelong friends Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush, who speak on the spiritual opportunities in the dying process. They share intimate personal experiences and timeless practices for every aspect of this journey.

From Harvard psychology professor Richard Alpert to psychedelic and spiritual icon, Ram Dass tells here, for the first time, the full arc of his remarkable life. Populated by a cast of luminaries, this intimate memoir chronicles Ram Dass’ life across nine decades of cultural and spiritual transformation that resonate with us to this day.

In My Life as My Self, Alice Walker takes you into her private world and summons the powerful spirits and events that have shaped her life: how she learned to fight oppression through her creativity; her reconnection to ancestral roots and the natural world; and her emergence as a courageous artist, recognized for both her brilliance and her compassion.

Here is a new collector's edition of this modern classic as you have never heard it before, read by Natalie Goldberg herself and then infused with her most personal reflections about this "magic manual" for all writers. Try these ingenious, Zen-based exercises to expand your writing skills - or just for fun.

This special collector's edition offers over 7 hours of compelling stories, lectures, meditations, and actual practices from one of the 20th century's most beloved spiritual figures. For over 30 years, Ram Dass has touched thousands of seekers with his personal search for greater truth. But, in 1997, a debilitating stroke left him struggling to speak again to the generation he so inspired. Experiments in Truth preserves his teachings for his followers and for a new generation seeking the path to inner consciousness. Each of the 8 lectures in Experiments in Truth is a gem of humor, insight, and intelligence, which will bring inspiration to people of all faiths and walks of life.

Observant and relentlessly honest, Long Quiet Highway starts out as a reflection on the people, places, and experiences that helped best selling author Natalie Goldberg discover the transformational power of writing. Soon it crystallizes into a winding koan that cuts through sentiment to get at the truth of the spiritual life and the discipline needed to achieve it.

In this unabridged audiobook of Walking in Wonder, John O’Donohue’s friend and frequent collaborator John Quinn collects a series of talks and essays from the poet-philosopher on humanity’s relationship with the land, the ache of absence, our place in an often mysterious universe, and the great adventure of death itself.

“Magick saved my life,” says Damien Echols. When he was on death row for a crime he didn’t commit, Damien used the spiritual practice of magick to stave off intense pain and despair, keep hope alive - and ultimately to manifest his freedom. Now this best-selling author presents an unabridged audiobook on this misunderstood tradition, bringing listeners instruction in key meditations, insights, and practices to reshape our reality with the divine energy of creation.

This once-in-a-lifetime, 12-session recording captures one of the most unconventional and brilliant writers of this century in conversation, and makes available to Wilson's legion of fans a refreshing insider's view of this enigmatic (and often misunderstood) author. Join Wilson as he discusses such topics as futurist psychology, the paranormal, God, conspiracies real and imagined, James Joyce, guerrilla ontology, plus rare personal reflections on his extraordinary life.

With this dynamic and engaging recording, you can listen to beloved poet and philosopher John O'Donohue as he shares stories and experiences from Ireland that gave rise to his body of writing—and inspired his acclaimed book Anam Cara. Listen now to enjoy these visionary teachings that will awaken the beauty of your heart’s landscape.

In The Golden World, you are invited to join one of our wisest elders for a candid and unforgettable discussion about the experiences and spiritual epiphanies that changed his life, and how those moments inform the work that has made his legacy.Quest for the "Golden World"In this intimate audio encounter with a living legend, Robert Johnson shares his fascinating memories of the defining moments of his 86 years as a spiritual seeker.

In Quiet Thunder: The Wisdom of Crazy Horse, Lakota lineage holder Joseph Marshall III presents the first audio-learning program based entirely on the rich oral tradition of his people to share a vibrant portrait painted with the brush of reality rather than the distortion of legend.

In speed skating, a hard pivot is an aggressive shift of direction that requires courage, practice, and split-second timing. For Apolo Ohno, the most frightening hard pivot of his life didn’t happen on the ice—but rather, when he had to hang up his skates for good. “After my final Olympics, I felt confused, vulnerable, and adrift without purpose,” he says.

On the day her first book came out—a new translation of Dark Night of the Soul by Saint John of the Cross—Mirabai Starr’s daughter, Jenny, was killed in a car accident. “My spiritual life began the day my daughter died,” writes Mirabai. Even with decades of spiritual practice and a deep immersion in the greatest mystical texts, she found herself utterly unprepared for “my most powerful catalyst for transformation, my fiercest and most compassionate teacher.”

Mahatma Gandhi championed truth and nonviolence, led the struggle for India’s independence, and staunchly stood up for the marginalized. “When I despair,” he said, “I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won.” In Becoming Gandhi, veteran journalist and author Perry Garfinkel sets out on a three-year quest to examine how Gandhi’s ideals have held up in a world beset by troubling trends.

Over a decade ago, when Writing Down the Bones first appeared, Natalie Goldberg started a revolution in the way we practice writing. Now, for the first time, Goldberg reads her classic work, while offering new commentary about the creative, spiritual, and practical dimensions of writing. This collector's edition also includes an exclusive interview with the author.

Your most potent writer's tool is your own mind, Natalie Goldberg says. From there springs the detail and truth that give your written words power and authenticity. Now this best-selling author introduces you to the pleasure of creating vivid memoirs of your own with Old Friend from Far Away.

The 12th-century Christian mystic Hildegard of Bingen has been described as "...a visionary, scientist, diplomat, and poet." Created by Dr. Nancy Fierro, CSJ, Hildegard of Bingen and Her Vision of the Feminine transports us through space and time to the medieval cloisters where Hildegard struggled to express her spirituality. How she succeeded in a world open only to men holds lessons for every woman in every age.