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Almaas, AH, Brilliancy: The Essence of Intelligence (Diamond Body) (2006)

Almaas describes how intelligence is not a product of brain function but is a quality of consciousness.
The book includes in-depth dialogues with his ‘Diamond Approach’ students on the barriers to recognising and embodying the essential quality of Brilliancy. He helps students work through their defences and conflicts around this issue and then rediscover their own Brilliancy.

“A. H. Almaas is one of the foremost spiritual teachers of our time. His methodology for realising true nature is precise, teachable and clear’ – Dr Joan Borysenko, founder member of the Integral Institute.

Almaas, AH, Diamond Heart Book 1: Elements of the Real in Man (2000)

Ken Wilber calls Almaas’ Diamond Approach: “a superb therapeutic/transformative discipline” and “a superb combination of some of the best of modern Western psychology with ancient (and spiritual) wisdom. It is one type of a more integral approach, uniting Ascending and Descending, spiritual and psychological, into an effective form of inner work.”

“[T]he fact that such a therapeutic/growth system can gain a strong and respected foothold in the culture – [is] a sign of the post-conventional waves that are very slowly but very surely washing upon our collective shores,” writes Wilber.

Almaas, AH, Diamond Heart Book 2: The Freedom to Be (2000)

More from “the finest metapsychologist writing today” (writes Ken Wilber) – synthesizing Sufism, Zen, Vajrayana Buddhism, Gurdjieff and depth psychology into the ‘Diamond Approach’.

Don Riso and Russ Hudson, authors of The Wisdom of the Enneagram, write: “We can think of no more significant voice in the transpersonal field than A. H. Almaas. His work is a seamless integration of cutting edge psychology and profound spirituality that addresses the concerns and hopes of contemporary people.”

Almaas, AH, Diamond Heart Book 3: Being and the Meaning of Life (2000)

More on Almaas’ ‘Diamond Approach’ to self-transformation.

Almaas, AH, Diamond Heart Book 4: Indestructible Innocence (2000)

Almaas’ ‘Diamond Approach’ to self-transformation – includes chapters on topics including ‘The Integrated Human Being’ and ‘Bare Bottoms on Ice’.

From the introduction: “Many spiritual teachers describe their experience of realization as if they suddenly became realized and the personality just died, or fell away. So it is understandable that you might fantasize that one day you will finish your meditation and there will be no personality left. This idea of enlightenment or self-realisation is misguided, although it is true that you can experience sudden revelations or insights that can change the rest of your life. My perception of what happens with people who claim to have lost their personality totally and spontaneously is that there remains a split-off or suppressed part which will manifest as a distortion or lack of integration”.

Almaas, AH Essence with The Elixir of Enlightenment - The Diamond Approach to Inner Realization (1998)

Two books in one where Almaas describes his sophisticated blending of wisdom traditions like Buddhism and Sufism with modern psychology. A good introductory book.

Almaas, AH, Facets of Unity - The Enneagram of Holy Ideas (2000)

Helen Palmer, author of The Enneagram - Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life, writes: “Lucid, precise and infinitely helpful to seekers everywhere. I heartily recommend Facets of Unity to Enneagram enthusiasts, to my own students of inner knowing, and to followers of every spiritual tradition.”

Almaas describes ‘the Holy Ideas’ that are the spiritual realities of the nine personality types described in the Enneagram, along with their accompanying fixations. And how to work oneself free of them...

Includes foreword by the Enneagram pioneer Oscar Ichazo.

Almaas, AH, Spacecruiser Inquiry: True Guidance for the Inner Journey (Diamond Body Series, 1) (2002)

More of Almaas’ insights, drawn from Buddhism, Sufism, Gurdjieff, and other wisdom traditions, along with modern psychology.

This book focuses on a central practice of the Diamond Approach: Inquiry – “a dynamic, exciting, open-ended exploration into the immediacy of our experience.”

“The practice of inquiry is based on a simple but profound principle: that Being freely reveals itself to anyone who loves to know the truth of reality and is willing to wholeheartedly surrender to not-knowing and remain open and curious about that truth is,” writes Byron Brown, in the editor’s preface.

“Almaas is one of the most significant voices for a new and remarkably integrated spiritual vision”, says Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart.

“His work connects the personal, the universal, the psychological, and the spiritual not as pieces to put together, but as the inseparable mandala of the sacred that we are.”

The London Integral Circle found some of the Diamond Approach’s deceptively simple practices very powerful, when a US-based Diamond Approach teacher gave us an introductory workshop.

Almaas, AH, The Diamond Mind, Volume I: The Void: Inner Spaciousness and Ego Structure (2000)

Review to come

Almaas, AH, The Diamond Mind, Volume II: The Pearl Beyond Price - Integration of Personality into Being: an Object Relations Approach (2000)

A favourite book with Ken Wilber, who calls it: “One of the truly great and pioneering books of the East/West dialogue”.

And in the same vein adds: “One of the genuinely superb contributions to East/West psychology and psychotherapy”.

Here Almaas integrates a post-Freudian Object Relations approach with his spiritual work on Essence/Being.

Almaas, AH, The Diamond Mind, Volume III: The Point of Existence: Transformations of Narcissism into Self-Realization (2000)

In this 600+page work Almaas reformulates the definition of narcissism, describing it as the major barrier to self-realisation.

Sherry Ruth Anderson, author of The Feminine Face of God, writes: “The sophistication of The Point of Existence is stunning and the views stimulating to our sense of what human identity is and what we can be”.

Almaas, AH, The Inner Journey Home: Soul’s Realization of the Unity of Reality (2004)

Ken Wilber writes: “I myself can recommend the Diamond Approach as probably the most balanced of the widely available spiritual psychologies/therapies.”

A comprehensive, major work (640 pages) by Almaas on the Diamond Approach to self-realisation – specifically the Soul’s journey home.

Includes appendices where the author compares his developmental model to those of the key transpersonalists Ken Wilber, Stanislav Grof and Michael Washburn.

Amodeo, John and Wentworth, Kris, Being Intimate: A Guide to Successful Relationships (1986)

Ken Wilber writes: “This is a sane, sound, readable, and eminently useful book. It is a carefully guided sequence of exercises, guidelines, explanations, and case examples all thoughtfully geared to facilitate the two-fold movement of befriending others, particularly intimates.”

Jack Kornfield (A Path With Heart) writes: “John and Kris’ book is a fine blend of the tools of modern psychotherapy and spiritual understanding. It will be helpful to those who wish to learn about these paths of growth.”

Ardagh, Arjuna Nick, Relaxing into Clear Seeing: Interactive Tools in the Service of Self-Awakening (1998)

Ken Wilber writes: “An excellent introduction to the brilliant clarity of ever-present awareness, the nature of the already enlightened mind.”

Practical tools and guidance from a journey that combines the teachings of non-duality (eg Ramana, Papaji) with a path of personal healing.

Ardagh, Arjuna, The Translucent Revolution: how people just like you are waking up and changing the world (2005)

From the foreword by Ken Wilber: a “book of wonder and relish, radiance and release.”

Based on a survey of 13,000 people and in-depth interviews with over 170 thought-leaders, including: Integral Institute founder members Michael Murphy, Fred Kofman and Frances Vaughn, and Paul Ray, Lama Surya Das, Ram Dass, Neale Donald Walsch, David Deida, Christopher Titmuss, Peter Russell, Jean Houston, Andrew Cohen, Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, Duane Elgin et al.

Armour, Michael and Browning, Don, Systems-sensitive Leadership: empowering diversity without polarising the Church (1995, 2000)

Though aimed at leaders of Christian organisations where (just like almost everywhere else) different value/thinking systems are often at loggerheads, this book turns out to be a very clear text for everyone on how to lead, to teach and to nourish the various value systems that can exist in any organisation.

It also briefly covers some suggestive research findings on how certain Myers-Briggs personality types feel more at home in certain thinking systems/value systems.

Overall, it’s more or less the same approach as Spiral Dynamics, derived from the values research of the late Professor Clare Graves – but, for some at least, a clearer and more practical read than the book Spiral Dynamics itself.

Barrett, Richard, Liberating the Corporate Soul: building a visionary organisation (1998)

How to build a better world by evolving to a new paradigm in business. Barrett also outlines the use of Maslow-influenced values audit assessment tools to determine personal and organisational values – what they are now, and what we might like them to be. Also helps us to spot any lack of balance in personal values sperad and the gaps between personal and organisational values.

See Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’

Barrett, Richard, Building a Values-Driven Organisation – A Whole System Approach to Cultural Transformation (2006)

A very engaging overview of Barrett’s system of organisational transformation – inspired by Wilber’s ‘All Quadrants’ approach, Spiral Dynamics, Abraham Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ etc and by now used in hundreds of organisations worldwide.

Barrett explains the use of powerful assessments and tools to assist the shift to ‘full spectrum’ organisations and ‘full spectrum’ leaders.

Longer review by me appears in Integral Leadership Review (October 2006).

See Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’.

Barnes, Michael Horace, In the Presence of Mystery: An Introduction to the Story of Human Religiousness (2003)

Barnes guides us through archaic religion, animism etc up to modern religiousness in this work, which is influenced by James Fowler’s developmental Stages of Faith model (which is regularly recommended by Ken Wilber).

“This book is a stunning achievement and is must reading. Barnes knows his stuff – analysis of religion by sociology, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and the history of religions. A clear and helpful introducion for the non-technical reader.” Donald G Luck, Trinity Seminary Review.

Barnes, Michael Horace, Stages of Thought: The co-evolution of religious thought and science (2000)

Fascinating, scholarly and impressive historical examination of the evidence that religion and science develop through the same sequence of cultural stages, which are somewhat analogous to those that Jean Piaget’s research found in individual development (includes up to the ‘late formal operations’ level of the present day).

Barnes also aims to answer the same big questions that Wilber must inevitably face – over whether there can be parallels between individual and cultural development, whether it’s all merely a ‘Western hegemonic discourse’ etc. And Barnes, of course, soon experiences the stony faces, the accusations of colonialism, even at one conference the exclamation ‘For shame, Michael!” when he dares to argue for the reality of cross-cultural development – in the face of the disdain of today’s (almost) all-pervading PC postmodern relativism.

Barnes also coolly dissects some of the academic critics of Piaget who are more inclined towards relativism (eg Richard Shweder). Though the postmodern relativists’ motives in refusing to acknowledge similar developmental stage in various cultural histories are good, Barnes seeks to show that their conclusions were not.

This award-winning book is reminiscent of Wilber’s enthralling and expansive early work Up from Eden - A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution.

Barnes’ approach was developed completely independently of Wilber’s work – prompted by postmodern relativist academic culture that saw his belief in 'development' as outmoded: “I got into an argumentative mood that I didn’t get out of until 20 years had passed”, he says.

Basseches, Michael, Dialectial Thinking and Adult Development (1984)

A leading figure in adult development research. Interestingly, his model is not (explicitly) a stage sequence, as Wilber’s is. Basseches organises dialectical thought into a total of 24 ‘cognitive schemas’ or ‘moves of thought’.

Beck, Don, Spiral Dynamics Integral – Learn to Master the Memetic Codes of Human Behaviour (2006) 6 CDs

Review to come.

Beck, Don and Linnscott, Graham, The Crucible – Forging South Africa’s Future in Search of a Template for the World (1991, 2006)

Ken Wilber writes: “An excellent discussion of the role of evolutionary thinking for defusing social tension.”

An application of the Spiral Dynamics developmental model to troubled South Africa, circa the last days of apartheid. For some, a more practical book than the full Spiral Dynamics: mastering values, leadership and change work itself.

The book promises to take readers “beyond the artificial ego-centric, ethno-centric and world-centric categories to describe a universal values-centric (or meme-centric) or spiral-centric perspective on human emergence.”

It also offers “a transpartisan perspective on political problem-solving, based on the natural design of decision-making structures and actual field studies (South Africa) in the application of the technology. This will provide an alternative to the current ‘Us vs Them’ in American and other societies.”

“This new knowledge could be used by the United Nations, other global entities, or regional alliances, to deal with tribes, empires, nation states, multinational enterprises, and other such stakeholders.”

“A focus on defusing the great global divides that threaten human existence in the 21st century. This will include such matters as conflicts over religion, economic models, sustainability concerns, and other matters.”

Now available in a new edition – after a team effort by ‘a cast of thousands’ from the Spiral Dynamics-Integral milieu to bring it back into print.

Belenky, Mary Field, Clinchy, Blythe McVicker, Goldberger, Nancy Rule and Tarule, Jill Mattuck, Women’s Ways of Knowing – The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind (1986, 1996)

Integral Institute founder member and leading Integral/transpersonal therapist John Rowan, the author of The Transpersonal: Spirituality in Psychotherapy and Counselling, writes: “This is an extraordinarily good book”.

Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice - Psychological Theory and Women’s Development, writes: “This important book… encourages one to think in new ways about what constitutes knowledge and therefore about the aims of education for both women and men.

Evelyn Fox Keller writes: “A wonderful book that succeeds in demystifying the alienation and mistrust so many women feel in relation to the world of words, abstract ideas, logic.”

An important and influential book that looks at how women’s ‘neglected and denigrated’ ‘ways of knowing’ move through five stages – from ‘silence’ and ‘received knowledge’ through ‘subjective knowledge’ to ‘procedural knowledge’ and finally ‘constructed knowledge’.

The authors themselves would probably reject the notion of stages, due to potential inegalitarian overtones (they choose to call them ‘different perspectives’) – but the reality of development is there for all to see.

Indeed the authors themselves state: “We leave it to future work to determine whether these perspectives have stage-like qualities”! (Prof Robert Kegan tells us that, from his conversations with the four authors, he found that they do not even agree with eachother over whether theirs is a developmental approach or not, perhaps unsurprising given common concerns over judgmentalism, use of such a theory as an 'ideology of a ruling group' et al).

Their research was informed by the work of William Perry and Carol Gilligan.

Bennett, Bija, Emotional Yoga: How the Body Can Heal the Mind (2002)

Ken Wilber writes: “Emotional Yoga… helps you unlock your deepest potential and takes you to higher states of health and well-being.”

A manual to help you move past emotional blocks and reach higher states – for beginners and advanced students.

Bourgeault, Cynthia, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (2004)

Ken Wilber writes:“Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening is a superb book – a wonderfully accessible introduction to Centering Prayer and the role it can play in your own ‘salvation unto eternity’. Highly recommended for all who are on a spiritual path of any sort”.

This book offers a history of (and a psychology of) Centering – or Contemplative – Prayer, with a focus on the contemporary Centering Prayer movement of the last three decades, led by Fr. Thomas Keating (a founder member of Wilber’s Integral Spiritual Center).

Burroughs, Kendra Crossen (annotation by) and Swami, Shri Purohit (translation), Bhagavad Gita: Annotated & Explained (2001)

Ken Wilber writes: “This simple, beautiful translation by Shri Purohit Swami and the wonderful notations by Kendra Crossen Burroughs make this the very best Gita for first-time readers as well as any who want to absorb its extraordinary message: taste the divine waters herein, and you might never thirst again.”

A ancient Hindu classic, the Bhagavad Gita (‘Song of the Lord’) was written in Sanskrit verse thousands of years ago.

Campbell, Joseph, Creative Mythology: The Masks of God, Volume IV (2001)

Campbell’s classic ‘Masks of God’ collection.

Campbell, Joseph, Occidental Mythology: The Masks of God, Volume III (2001)

Review to come.

Campbell, Joseph, Oriental Mythology: The Masks of God, Volume II (2000)

Review to come.

Campbell, Joseph, Primitive Mythology: The Masks of God, Volume I (1959, 1991)

Review to come.

Campbell, Joseph, Myths to Live By - How we re-create ancient legends in our daily lives to release human potential (1972, 1993)

Essays and talks by the great mythologist Prof. Joseph Campbell, 1961-1971. Campbell explores the universal meanings within myths, and the hold they have had over humanity throughout history.

Includes chapters on: ‘The Separation of East and West’ and ‘Zen’.

Village Voice: “There is no-one quite like Joseph Campbell. He knows the vast sweep of man’s panoramic past as few men have ever known it.”

Campbell, Joseph, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1972)

A hugely influential work, written in the 40s and mined for inspiration by George Lucas for Star Wars’ myth-based plot. Campbell explores the mythology, folklore and religions of the world – with a focus on the ‘Hero’s journey’.

Chalmers, David (ed.), Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings (2002)

A “favourite author” of the Integral Institute, says Ken Wilber, “who is admirably (and absolutely brilliantly) fighting the widespread attempts to reduce 1st-person consciousness/mind (Upper Left) to 3rd-person brain/body (Upper Right)”.

Chalmers is a leading contemporary philosopher of mind – and selects a range of important competing views for this Wilber-recommended collection.

Chippendale, Paul and Collins, Clare, New Wisdom II – Values-based Development (1991, 2002)

Leadership, management, personal development – informed by Brian Hall’s research and the 125 core values and 7 levels it uncovered (and developed an assessment system for).

It also integrates the Myers-Briggs-like personality/brain preferences model of Walter Lowen, finding certain correlations between (horizontal) personality development and vertical development – contra Wilber and Beck.

See Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’.

Chopra, Deepak, How to Know God: The Soul’s Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries (2001)

Ken Wilber: “This book, which unfolds the knowledge of God-consciousness, is at once a map of Spirit and a map of your own deepest Self.”

In this synthesis of Eastern and Western wisdom and science, Chopra draws on neuroscience to argue that the brain is hard-wired to know God – with a nervous system that has seven biological responses that correspond to seven levels of divine experience.

Chopra assures us: “You don’t have to believe in God in order to experience God.”

Chopra, Deepak, The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life (2004, 2005)

Ken Wilber: “The Book of Secrets is the finest and most profound of Deepak Chopra’s books to date. Want the answers to the secrets of life? Let me recommend you start right here.”

To help transcend one’s egocentric view, Chopra helps unlock secrets such as ‘the world is in you’, and ‘what you seek, you already are’.

Every chapter includes exercises to help apply the secrets towards personal change.
Chopra has been interviewed on Ken Wilber’s Integral Naked website.

Combs, Alan, The Radiance of Being - Understanding the Grand Integral Vision; Living the Integral Life (1995, 2002)

Ken Wilber writes: “The Radiance of Being is a very exciting book, reflecting a very exciting time in the exploration of consciousness and evolution… It is a wonderful guide to the very best of the integral approaches that cover not just theory but also practice – not merely ways to think about this vast potential, but ways to actualise it, realise it, live it and breathe it as part of one’s own extraordinary birthright, even here and now.”

An important book dealing with the full spectrum of human consciousness. Includes both a foreword by Ken Wilber as well as a conversation with him (on ‘States, Structures and Lines’) as an appendix.

Commons, Michael, Richards Francis and Armon, Cheryl, Beyond Formal Operations: Vol 1 Late Adolescent and Adult Cognitive Development (1984)

A ground-breaking and important collection by leading theorists/researchers – taking adult development to higher stages, beyond those described by the great pioneer Jean Piaget.

Includes chapters by Kohlberg, Sternberg, Commons, Basseches, Labouvie-Vief et al, covering topics such as the growth of empathy, stage models, ethical reasoning, ‘The Emergence of a Sense of Purpose: A Cognitive Case Study of Young Darwin’ etc.

Commons, M, Armon, C, Kohlberg, L, Richards, F, Grotzer, T, and Sinnott, J (eds.) Adult Development Vol. 2 Models and Methods in the Study of Adolescent and Adult Thought (1990)

A major collection from a wide range of distinguished scholars, which highlights the major issues and controversies in the field of adult development.

Includes Integral Institute founder member Susanne Cook-Greuter on “Maps for Living: Ego-Development Stages from Symbiosis to Conscious Universal Embeddedness”, and Koplowitz on “Unitary Consciousness and the Highest Development of Mind: The Relation Between Spiritual Development and Cognitive Development” along with topics such as Kohlberg’s Stage 6, the Reflective Judgement Model etc.

Cook-Greuter, Susanne and Miller, Melvin (eds.), Creativity, Spirituality, and Transcendence: Paths to Integrity and Wisdom in the Mature Self (2000)

Co-edited by leading Integral Institute figure Dr Susanne Cook-Greuter, this collection looks at creativity from theoretical, empirical and clinical perspectives – and aims to counter the reductionistic approach that prevails.

Crittenden, Jack, Beyond Individualism - Reconstituting the Liberal Self (1992)

This academic work – dedicated to Ken Wilber – discusses the big issues around communitarianism, liberalism, individualism and autonomy in relation to the self. It also seeks to develop a ‘New Liberal Psychology’, drawing on developmentalists including Lawrence Kohlberg and William Perry.

Includes a chapter on ‘The Theory of Compound Individuality’ drawing on such theorists (plus Piaget, Kegan, Broughton). Also a section of Kohlbergian analysis of the differing moral levels in soldiers involved – or refusing to get involved! – in the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

Crittenden also wrote the foreword (‘What Is the Meaning of “Integral”) to Ken Wilber’s book The Eye of Spirit - An Integral Vision for a World Gone Slightly Mad.

Dalai, Lama, HH the, Stages of Meditation - Training the Mind for Wisdom (2003)

Ken Wilber writes: “A wise, wonderful, and profound book.”

The hows and whys of meditation, explained through a commentary on the classic meditation handbook by Kamalashila, which the Dalai Lama calls “a key that opens the door to all other major Buddhist scriptures.”

Covers compassion, loving-kindness, calm-abiding, emptiness etc.

Dalal, A.S. (ed), Sri Aurobindo A Greater Psychology - An Introduction to Sri Aurobindo’s Psychological Thought (2001)

Ken Wilber writes in the foreword: “Aurobindo… stands as one of the great founders of integral spirituality and integral practice”.

“This book is the finest overview of Aurobindo’s psychological thought now available and it will likely remain a classic reference for the foreseeable future.”

This book provides a sampling of the work of the great Indian philosopher-sage Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950). Wilber calls him “India’s greatest modern philosopher-sage”.

Hard to miss the parallels between Aurobindo’s ‘integral knowledge’ and Wilber’s approach: “The integral knowledge admits the valid truths of all views of existence, valid in their own fields, but it seeks to get rid of their limitations and negations and to harmonise and reconcile these partial truths in a larger truth which fulfils all the many sides of our being in the one omnipresent Existence”, writes Aurobindo.

Davis, John, The Diamond Approach - An Introduction to the Teachings of A. H. Almaas (1999)

Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart - A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life writes: “The work of Hameed Ali (aka A. H. Almaas) places him among the greatest psychologists alive today. Ali’s brilliant vision of the human psyche embraces our Being from early development to the highest realms of spirit. From this he then offers a new language and direct approach for awakening to this manifold nature.

"This excellent book gives the first overall view of the major dimensions of the Diamond Approach. In it John Davis does true credit to the importance of this work.”

An easy-to-read overview of the Diamond Approach, by a senior student.

Deida, David, Dear Lover: A Woman’s Guide to Enjoying Love’s Deepest Bliss (2005)

Deida helps us re-own our lost healthy masculine/feminine identities.

Genpo Roshi writes: “David Deida’s teachings on this central human concern, sexuality, emanate from a deeply trustworthy source. He has undergone his own rigorous training and practice. And like Zen, the fruition of David’s work is openness, compassion, and love.”

David Deida is a founder Member of the Integral Institute and has been a guest on Ken Wilber’s Integral Naked.

Deida, David, Finding God through Sex: Awakening the One of Spirit through the Two of Flesh (2005)

From Ken Wilber’s foreword: “Beyond post-modern irony is sex, ecstasy, and David Deida. Trust me.”

Deida’s guide to balanced, spiritual intimacy.

Deida, David, Function, Flow, & Glow: the Art of Sexual Yoga (2005) - DVD

Deida’s first DVD – recorded live at Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute in February 2005.

Includes: the meaning of sexuality as a living art and practical yoga; the relation of masculine and feminine (as David uses the terms) to Ken Wilber’s Integral model; how to skilfully channel bodily pleasure, in yourself and your partner; the yogic art of courtship – authentic relating to a new romantic partner etc.

Deida, David, Intimate Communion – Awakening Your Sexual Essence (1995)

Ken Wilber: “We all taste God, taste Goddess, taste pure Spirit in those moments of sexual rapture, and wise men and women have always used that rapture to reveal spirit’s innermost secrets. David Deida is such a wise one.”

The three stages of intimacy, the search for love and freedom, and more – from this spiritual/relationships guru.

Includes Deida’s Sexual Essence Quiz. Disentangle the layers of mistrust, fear and denial and find your true sexual essence. What must you risk in order to experience deep sexual union and emotional communion?

Deida also guides us beyond the stalemate of today’s typical modern 50/50 relationship – by re-owning our uniquely masculine or feminine sexual essence.

“In a well-intentioned effort to achieve inner balance and 50/50 Relationships, we have inadvertently neutralised our intimacies,” writes Deida.

Deida, David, The Enlightened Sex Manual: Sexual Skills for the Superior Lover (book and CD edition, 2004)

Ken Wilber describes this as the only sex manual you will ever need.

“The secret to enlightenment and great sex is revealed to be one and the same in this groundbreaking manual for lovers” – which draws on Deida’s work with hatha yoga, pranayama, Tai Chi and Tantra.

Includes CD with guided exercises.

Deida, David, The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Woman, Work, and Sexual Desire (2004)

Ken Wilber: “The Way of the Superior Man is quite wonderful. Finally, a guide for the non-castrated male. This book will offend and infuriate some, inspire and test others, but challenge virtually everybody. I found it wise, insightful, occasionally brilliant, and always resourceful. To transcend the bodymind means to transcend and include its sexuality, not transcend and evaporate it. Few are the books that discuss strong sexuality within strong spirituality, instead of tepid sexuality diluted by a mediocre spiritual stance. This book steps straightforwardly into the challenge. Love it or loathe it, it is a shout from the heart of one perspective of the eternal masculine.”

Relationships guru Deida encourages men to live a full, authentic life and follow their passion and true purpose, so that they can give their deepest gifts to the world – and combine spirituality and sexuality. Stop apologising for who we are.

Chapters include ‘Stop Hoping for Your Woman to Get Easier’.

Includes foreword by Ken Wilber.

Deida, David, Wild Nights (2005)

Spiritual teacher and Integral Institute founder member David Deida exhorts us to stay “open as love, or close and suffer” via the crazy wisdom of the teacher Mykonos.

Includes yogic sexual techniques such as circular breathing and expanding feeling beyond the self and into the heart of a lover.

Demick, Jack and Andreoletti, Carrie (eds), Handbook of Adult Development (2003)

A fantastic collection which represents “the state-of-the-art theory, research, and practice on adult development”.

Contributors include Michael Lamport Commons (on ‘Four Postformal Stages’), Michael Basseches (‘Adult Development and the Practice of Psychotherapy’), Deirdre Kramer, Robert Sternberg, Jan Sinnott, Cheryl Armon, Theo Linda Dawson, Otto Laske (‘Executive Development as Adult Development’, drawing of the work of Kegan, Basseches and others).

Other topics include an integrative approach to the study of Wisdom, the stages of reflective judgement etc.

Demick, Jack and Miller, P, Development in the Workplace (1993)

Review to come.

Demmin, Herbert, The Ghosts of Consciousness: Thought and the Spiritual Path (2003)

Ken Wilber writes: “A serious book that deserves a wide audience”.

Clinical psychologist Demmin presents a new theory of the micro-dyamics of thinking and self-awareness – how some thoughts engender the experience of a separate self.

“Meticulously detailed phenomenology of thinking”, writes Kaisa Puhakka.

Deol, Surinder, The Summit: A Fable About Integral Transformation (2006)

Inspired by Ken Wilber’s approach, this book begins with an allegorical story (of friendship between a monkey and a crocodile) about integral transformation. It then moves into an explicit discussion of the role of evolving consciousness in development – an ‘Integral Transformation Practitioners Guide’.

Includes a chapter on ‘Tools for Luminous Living - A Compendium of Daily Integral Practices’ – maps, integral practices, practical exercises, meditations, affirmations and other tools.

Claims to answer the question ‘What integral practices are helpful in moving us from one level to the next?’ and ‘What happens when we reach the highest level of consciousness?’

DiZerega, Gus, Pagans and Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience (2001)

Ken Wilber writes: “Pagans and Christians is a brilliant and provocative, yet gentle and caring, defense of Paganism in the face of those forces, principally Christian, that have historically misunderstood and misinterpreted it, often with horrific and murderous consequences. But more to the point, this wonderful book is a rich dialogue between the Pagan and the Christian approaches to the Sacred, pointing out, quite rightly I believe, that neither has the single correct approach to the Divine, but that both can be, and are, legitimate expressions of that ever-present Spirit which is the fountain of all genuine devotion, release, harmony, and fufilment. Written in a popular language for both Pagans and Christians, this book is highly recommended for all spiritual seekers, or those who would find the Divine in the very midst of the here and now, present as that Open Secret to which the world has always aspired.”

Dossey, Larry, Healing beyond the Body - Medicine and the Infinite Reach of the Mind (2001)

Ken Wilber writes: “The essays in Healing the Body are wide-ranging and exciting – from dreams of creativity to prayer and immortality – but they all explore the nature of consciousness and its role in healing. Larry Dossey reminds us that ultimately healing is about self-discovery, self-discovery is about spirit, and spirit is about consciousness.”

Topics covered include consciousness, prayer, love, job stress, laughter, war, creativity, dreams and immortality.