Book Reviews

The World Peace Way
Middletown, Calif.: Karuna, 2024. 182 pp., paper, $15.

Food for Freedom: Reclaiming Our Health and Rescuing the World
Karuna, 2024. 361 pp., paper. $18.

WILL TUTTLE

These two recent books by TSA member Will Tuttle make a passionate and convincing case for veganism, a way of plant-based living that is free from meat, dairy, and other animal products. An accomplished musician who has produced ten albums of original piano music, he has lectured extensively throughout the United States and abroad. A well-known advocate of veganism and ahimsa—dynamic harmlessness—Tuttle has received the Courage of Conscience Award and the Empty Cages Prize.

The World Peace Way is a practical workbook emphasizing that world peace begins with peace within and showing how we can integrate freedom, vitality, and joy into our daily lives. The author ably accomplishes these goals through describing six essential “keys”: healthy diet; meditation and spiritual practice; healthy relationships and communication; the healing power of movement; the healing power of nature; and the healing power of creativity.

Emphasis on a natural vegan diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts, pulses, and grains is a common theme throughout this book, along with questioning the prevailing cultural narratives about food, health, and humanity’s role in today’s world. Tuttle encourages the reader to discern truth and make one’s own personal decisions in a world where social conditioning from the media, government, and big business influences our lives more than ever.

Each section is clearly written and well-organized and is filled with practical suggestions as well as personal anecdotes and clear “how to” examples. The book includes a section of culinary guidance from Tuttle’s wife, Madeleine; a shopping list of healthy plant-based foods; and an extensive list of resources, including literature, online connections, and suggested sources of foods, household goods, and personal care products. There is even a list of animal sanctuaries.

This book is a joy to read and is recommended not only for readers who are considering a vegan lifestyle but for those who want to bring more health and harmony into their lives.

While The World Peace Way focuses on the “how” involved in achieving peace in the world, Food for Freedom focuses on the “why.” According to the author, “This book is an exploration into the underlying cultural food narratives in this society, and how they have eroded our freedom, health, spirituality and awareness.”

Food for Freedom is a complex, passionate, wide-ranging, and powerful book that is often controversial and not always a comfortable read.  The author documents the numerous benefits of a plant-based diet of natural, unprocessed foods, while challenging the reader to become aware of the forces in our society that inhibit independent thinking and limit our freedom to make personal life choices, especially regarding food and health.

In addition to presenting convincing arguments for adopting a vegan lifestyle, the author offers an in-depth analysis on the path of technology versus the path of spirituality. He explores issues such as the worship of materialism; the marriage of science, money, and narrative control; the evils of medical corruption and vaccination; and the forced mandates of lockdown and the wearing of masks during the recent Covid epidemic.

Tuttle takes aim at “herdism,” which originally stems from human control of animals used for food through “superiority, force, reductionism, disconnectedness from nature, and the routine domination of the sacred feminine.” He criticizes mainstream institutions in our society that manipulate us to accept the status quo and conform to prevailing narratives. In his view, these include mainstream and social media, government institutions, large food conglomerates, big pharma, the agrichemical industry, and other global institutions. The author takes aim at vegans’ use of heavily processed plant-based foods, which are often loaded with pesticide residues as well as sodium, sugar, fats, and other unhealthy ingredients. He also chastises the double standard of ethical vegans who were vaccinated during the recent Covid pandemic even though the vaccines had been tested on animals.

Food for Freedom is an important book, with a wealth of valuable insights into the human condition. The book challenges many accepted beliefs about diet, health, and the role of government and the media in our lives.

At the same time, some of the arguments presented in this book may be questioned as well, such as the claim on page 182ff. that “the COVID pandemic event was initiated and organized as a military operation in the USA by the CIA, the Pentagon, the Biodefense Commission, and the Department of Homeland Security in conjunction with the World Health Organization” and that wearing protective masks not only increases criminal activity but reduces intelligence levels. Although protective masks have been routinely worn in classrooms and on public transportation in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan for many years, these countries enjoy the world’s lowest crime rates, and their students boast the highest IQ scores in the world.

When I read a book, I do not expect to agree with everything the author has written, and I welcome the opportunity to consider ideas that do not initially align with my own. Food for Freedom is a sincere, well-written, and complex book that promotes a way of life based on compassion for other animals, protecting the planet, and advancing health, happiness, and personal freedom. It also inspires independent thinking. Like The World Peace Way, this book contains numerous resources for future study and activity, including a booklist, food ideas, and online connections.

Nathaniel Altman

 

Nathaniel Altman has been a member of the TSA since 1970. He is the author of many books, including Eating for Life: A Book about Vegetarianism and Ahimsa: Dynamic Compassion, both published by Quest Books.

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Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic
Cynthia Bourgeault
Boulder, Colo.: Shambhala, 2024. 264 pp., paper, $24.95.

Father Thomas Keating (1925‒2018) is well on his way to challenging his Cistercian confrere, Thomas Merton, as the best-known Trappist monk of our time. Father Thomas (along with fellow Trappists William Meninger and Basil Pennington) was one of the three originators of Centering Prayer, a method of contemplative prayer based on the fourteenth-century mystical treatise The Cloud of Unknowing, but presented in a way accessible to modern lay practitioners. He was also the author of many books (as well as creating other media), and a noted participant in interspiritual dialogue. His work attracts an ever-growing circle of students both within and outside the Christian tradition.

Cynthia Bourgeault, Episcopal priest, teacher, and author, was a close student and friend of Father Thomas for decades, even living for a time on the property of the Snowmass, Colorado, monastery where he spent his later years. The current volume was prepared with the participation of other friends and relatives of Father Thomas. It utilizes hard to find and unpublished source material, from newsletter articles to recorded cell phone conversations. We owe the author a great debt for sharing her sources (some of which are reproduced in their entirety), as well as her considerable insight, with us.

Although she provides key reference points for Father Thomas’s life along with citations for those who wish to delve further, Bourgeault is not attempting a biography. Rather, her focus, circling in from various directions, is Father Thomas’s spiritual growth and teachings in the final years of his life, from around 2012 to 2018. During this period of “late Thomas,” he ventured beyond the map of traditional Christian mysticism as well as of his own earlier teaching.

Father Thomas was certainly steeped in the traditional path of Christian mysticism: the purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways. In his early teaching, which still provides the backbone of much training in Centering Prayer, he added a valuable awareness of contemporary psychology. God was the Divine Therapist, working through contemplative prayer to unload and heal the unconscious. With time, Ken Wilber’s model of the evolution of consciousness was added, with its understanding of ascending states and stages.

But with “late Thomas,” we have gone beyond the map, beyond the transforming union, beyond a “dark night of the self,” where the self-reflexive mechanism, which typically runs our consciousness, dissolves. We are entering a realm of Christian nondual mysticism which has rarely been committed to writing. Bourgeault mentions the late Bernadette Roberts as another example, and one might also point to the often misunderstood “celestial phase” in the Canadian mystic Marie-Paule Giguère. Father Thomas speaks of a “unity consciousness,” which Bourgeault describes as a “dynamic, flowing oneness.” Here immanence and transcendence, manifest and unmanifest, embrace in giving birth to all that is.

Bourgeault sensitively examines the question of whether, in the end, Father Thomas grew beyond Christianity. Despite his deep participation in interspiritual dialogue, his path remained marked by the kenosis or self-emptying of Christ. At the time when he was growing into a radical level of nondual awareness, he was devoted to Mary, receiving the Eucharist, and reciting Charles de Foucauld’s abandonment prayer (“Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will. Whatever you may do, I thank you: I am ready for all, I accept all”).

Hence in Father Thomas’s Western, Christian way, nonduality did not mean heading into the pure unmanifest and leaving traditional devotion behind. In fact, the two do not contradict one another at all, instead belonging together in flowing wholeness. The personal is not a regression from the transpersonal: both are always available structures of consciousness. “The personal, far better than the impersonal, is the vehicle of choice for tenderness, intimacy, and selfless devotion; for making one’s final, warm-blooded surrender.”

Father Thomas wrote, “The notion that God is absent is the fundamental illusion of the human condition.” Both he and Cynthia Bourgeault have gone a great distance in lifting that veil.

John Plummer

John Plummer is an independent theologian and TS member currently living in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Surviving Suicidal Ideation: From Therapy to Spirituality and the Lived Experience
Gina Cavalier and Amelia Kelley
West Chester, Pa.: Swedenborg Foundation, 2024; paper (274 pp.) and e-book, $19.95.

Mental health issues, including suicidal ideation, are rarely discussed in spiritual circles. Conversely, discussion of spiritual issues is often omitted when addressing mental health issues, including suicidal ideation.

Yet the literature regarding spirituality and mental health supports the need for combining the two. The website of the McLean psychiatric hospital observes: “Spirituality is a deep well upon which many people draw in times of crisis, unrest, or personal challenge. It reinforces inner peace and provides a sense of connection to a force greater than ourselves . . . Research shows that spirituality can benefit both the mind and the body.”

The value of a spiritual connection cannot be understated when addressing mental health. Surviving Suicidal Ideation weaves mental health and spirituality in a manner that is both supportive and surprisingly engaging, given the seriousness of the topic. The book is written collaboratively by Gina Cavalier, who shares her personal experiences with suicidal ideation, and Dr. Amelia Kelley, who shares strong clinical perspectives on the topic. The book is clearly written and easily understood. Cavalier’s drawings illustrate the book’s topics and share her own journey from suicidal ideation to strength and resilience. Cavalier also addresses her own spiritual growth based on her understanding of the teachings of the eighteenth-century visionary Emanuel Swedenborg, and she shares quotes from his work throughout.

The book provides encouragement, understanding, and awareness for those who are struggling with suicidal ideation and those whose loved ones are struggling with this problem. It includes exercises, journal prompts, and meditations focused toward healing and resilience, incorporating an opportunity for personal reflection and practice.

The book focuses on three main components: the five phases of suicidal ideation; the five phases of healing from suicidality; and the five phases of forgiveness. Each section delves into both the personal and the clinical, juxtaposing Cavalier’s story and Kelley’s clinical perspectives. Swedenborg quotes, journal prompts, exercises, and meditations facilitate the exploration of each phase. The book also includes a personalized safety plan for individuals experiencing suicidal ideation.

The five phases of suicidal ideation, according to the authors, include contemplation, hopelessness, despair, intent, and action. Each phase is discussed both from Cavalier’s personal experience and Kelley’s clinical perspective. The authors address topics such as the myths that surround suicidal thoughts, self-injury and its relationship to suicide, trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder, addiction, depression, poverty, men and suicide, and soldier suicide.

While readers may feel overwhelmed with the somber weightiness of these topics, Cavalier and Kelley find a balance between addressing them appropriately and focusing on the hope and resilience that develop through the healing process. They normalize the feelings and thoughts one might experience in each of these areas.

The authors skillfully guide the reader from an understanding of suicidal ideation to the healing portion of the journey. As in the other chapters, Cavalier’s personal experience blended with Kelley’s professional knowledge lay the foundation for the discussion. The five phases of healing include realization, clarity, motivation, resilience, and confidence. Each section is discussed in detail and, as in the previous chapter, allows for personal exploration and practice.

This chapter is followed by one entitled “Trailheads for Healing,” focusing on finding a “trailhead”: the beginning of a path toward healing. Kelley discusses three-evidenced based therapeutic modalities: dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and internal family systems therapy. Noting that healing looks different for every individual, she honors alternative methods: “Complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) are methods Gina used when overcoming trauma and suicidal ideation, including massage, cold plunges, breathwork, acupuncture, tai chi, and even something as simple as drinking green tea. If something is complementary, it is done in conjunction with other care (such as psychotherapy), whereas if it is alternative, it is in lieu of it.”

The chapter continues by highlighting several CAMs. Kelley also addresses the issues experienced by an empath or highly sensitive person who is healing from suicidal ideation, citing the need for setting boundaries.

The authors include a chapter exploring the spiritual principles that were essential for Cavalier as she walked her healing path. These principles include the connection between the soul and the body and all that it entails (including an afterlife) as well as the energetic component of the physical body and chakra balancing to overcome suicidal ideation. The discussion emphasizes that the individual is much more than the physical body.

Cavalier and Kelley usher the reader from healing toward forgiveness, a topic with which many individuals struggle. The authors cite a Berkeley study saying, “Forgiveness is a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they deserve your forgiveness.”

Kelley reminds us that the path of forgiveness is not a linear one, but movement on this path is positive and helpful. She describes the five phases of forgiveness—recognition, deeper awareness, personal choice, the work phase, and release—and their value for the healing journey. Cavalier identifies forgiveness as her “superpower.” This chapter provides the reader with both a metta (compassion) meditation and a ho’oponopono forgiveness practice inspired by the Hawaiian Huna tradition.

Interestingly, the book ends with a “forward” from both authors as they encourage the reader to continue the healing journey, recognizing that movement forward is a new beginning for one who has experienced suicidal ideation. Cavalier discusses finding Swedenborg and the messages that sustained her throughout her journey. She writes, “My desire to live a whole life became more substantial than my desire to die.”

Surviving Suicidal Ideation is a wonderful book for both professionals and nonprofessionals who wish to combine spirituality with a strong clinical perspective.

Barbara Hebert

Barbara Hebert, former president of the TSA, is a licensed mental health professional.

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Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 4: Philosophical Topics
Conceived and Introduced by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Edited by Thupten Jinpa
Somerville, Mass.: Wisdom. 617 pp., hardcover, $29.95.

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, the monumental series conceived by the Dalai Lama, concludes with the publication of volume 4: Philosophical Topics. The first two volumes are dedicated to science, while the next two volumes are dedicated to philosophy. (Volume 1 was reviewed in Quest, summer 2018; volume 2, in Quest, summer 2021; volume 3 in Quest, fall 2023.)

An integral part of any teaching is, in addition to study, how to integrate it into our lives. The understanding gained through study must translate into guiding our actions by that understanding. This fourth volume has selected key topics with that goal in mind. Many topics could have been included, but this volume focuses on six vital aspects.

The first part, “The Two Truths,” deals with reality, indicating that the way things appear to us is not the way things truly are. The second part addresses the important debate about the concepts of self and no-self.

The next two parts are titled “The Yogacara Explanation of Ultimate Reality” and “Emptiness according to the Madhyamaka Tradition.” These discuss the two major strains of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. The Yogacara (or Yogachara) school belonged to the Buddhist masters Asanga and Vasubandhu; it focused on understanding the nature, structure, and functions of consciousness, while the Madhyamaka was driven by Nagarjuna and his philosophical heirs. It emphasizes the Buddha’s teaching of the “middle way,” which, according to this school, entails a denial that things have any inherent nature at all.

Part 5, titled “Buddhist Logic and Epistemology,” discusses questions on nature and the limits of knowledge. The final part, titled “Denotation and the Exclusion Theory of Meaning,” looks at the philosophy of language, specifically how language relates to the world. For example, when we say “cow,” what does that actually mean? Is there a real cow, an image, or some “universal cow that is instantiated in all particular cows”?

Buddhist philosophy primarily engages in a search for the way things are in the ultimate sense. What is the motivation for this activity? It is to free ourselves from suffering (dukkha) and help others to do the same using meditative concentration and contemplation. It delves into the causes of suffering, examination of mental afflictions and their rising, and what causes “contaminated actions.” Ignorance arises because we don’t clearly understand the difference between conventional reality and ultimate reality.

This volume explores this issue in great detail. Vasubandhu states in his Treasury of Knowledge:

If something is no longer cognized
When it is broken or mentally separated apart,
Like a pot or water, then it is conventionally existent
What other than that is ultimately existent

What does this mean? Conventional truth relates to phenomena that, if broken or split up, are no longer cognized as such by the mind that apprehended it. The important point is that when an object such as a pot is broken, the mind that perceives it as a pot is broken as well. The same is true if a pot is analyzed cognitively, into the phenomena of touch, taste, smell, and so on.

By contrast, ultimate truth refers to a phenomenon that, if broken or mentally split up, continues to be cognized as such by the mind that apprehended it. Examples here are “directionally partless particles” and unconditioned space. Furthermore, the Sautrantika school defines “ultimate truth” as relating to “that which is ultimately able to perform a function” as opposed to that which is “ultimately unable to perform a function.” This is merely a miniscule glimpse into the depth of discussion of this topic from different schools and scriptures in this volume.

The volume also discusses the issue of “self” versus “no-self.” The non-Buddhist schools postulate a Self—atman—that has three characteristics: it is eternal, unitary, and indivisible. Buddhist schools reject such a notion.

The chapter on “Non-Buddhist Assertions of the Self” discusses various justifications for existence of self. For example, the Vedanta school teaches: “The essential nature of the self, or Brahman, is posited to be eternal, unitary, consciousness, the source of elements such as earth, the basis of the first arising and of the final dissolution of the world and its inhabitants, omnipresent and nondual.”

The Buddhists refute this idea from three levels: (1) refutation of a permanent, unitary, autonomous self; (2) refutation of a substantially existent, self-sufficient self, and (3) refutation of an inherently existent self. The first two points appear in Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Knowledge and its commentaries, and the third appears in Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Treatise on the Middle Way.

The argument goes this way: if the self were permanent and not dependent on conditions, then who creates karma and who experiences results of the karma? Since the self cannot be seen apart from its aggregates (mental factors), it cannot be unitary. To say that the chapters on “Buddhist Proofs of Selflessness” and “Repelling Objections to No-Self” are compelling and exhaustive is an understatement!

A section on sources and additional notes is a pathway to further investigations into these profound selections. My Zen teacher used to urge us to assimilate teachings into our blood. The Marathi commentary on the Bhagavad Gita contains 9,000 verses, and it is said that experiencing just one of these is enough. Volume 4 of this series provides ample opportunities to take such a journey.

Dhananjay Joshi

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