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Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times: Powerful Tools to Cultivate Calm, Clarity, and Courage
A master teacher combines deep wisdom with accessible tools, exercises, and more in this practical guide to staying spiritually sane in our mad, mad world.
In challenging times (like the ones we're living in right now), spiritual practice isn't a luxury, it's an absolute necessity. Now, expert teacher Philip Goldberg offers a hands-on guide based on his decades of scholarship and practical experience, giving readers a wide range of tools and techniques--from meditation to cognitive reframing to "spiritual space management"--to relieve their minds and refresh their souls.
Thorough, nuanced, and substantive, and at the same time concise, breezy, and easy to digest, Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times is chock full of instructions, guidelines, exercises, and recommendations. But no one-size-fits-all formulas. The book respects spiritual independence and aims to help readers make discerning choices when navigating the spiritual marketplace. It draws from authoritative texts and teachers from every spiritual tradition, especially the empirical methods of the yoga tradition. It also brings in contemporary experience, psychological insights, and scientific research.
Effective spiritual practices provide not only refuge and healing in crazy times, Phil explains. They also give us a solid foundation for robust action to manage--and combat--the madness. At the moment this book hits the shelves in the summer of 2020, many readers may feel an acute, specific need for the relief it brings. But the resources it offers will sustain us long past that, through all the crazy times to come.
In challenging times (like the ones we're living in right now), spiritual practice isn't a luxury, it's an absolute necessity. Now, expert teacher Philip Goldberg offers a hands-on guide based on his decades of scholarship and practical experience, giving readers a wide range of tools and techniques--from meditation to cognitive reframing to "spiritual space management"--to relieve their minds and refresh their souls.
Thorough, nuanced, and substantive, and at the same time concise, breezy, and easy to digest, Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times is chock full of instructions, guidelines, exercises, and recommendations. But no one-size-fits-all formulas. The book respects spiritual independence and aims to help readers make discerning choices when navigating the spiritual marketplace. It draws from authoritative texts and teachers from every spiritual tradition, especially the empirical methods of the yoga tradition. It also brings in contemporary experience, psychological insights, and scientific research.
Effective spiritual practices provide not only refuge and healing in crazy times, Phil explains. They also give us a solid foundation for robust action to manage--and combat--the madness. At the moment this book hits the shelves in the summer of 2020, many readers may feel an acute, specific need for the relief it brings. But the resources it offers will sustain us long past that, through all the crazy times to come.
232 pages, Hardcover
Published August 4, 2020
137 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 22, 2024
3.5 stars.
It is difficult to judge the advice before trying it out, but it is written clearly, effectively and simply. I enjoyed the approach to spirituality presented here.
A special credit to how disinterested the author was in making this advice seem 'business-like'. I believe the topics of self-betterment and spirituality have seen more than its fair share of hacks and quacks, and Goldberg seems genuinely very far from that world. I implicitly trust the advice given here to be shared in good faith.
What I struggled with (just a little) (as an atheist) was the reliance of religion and religious thinking. Goldberg makes a sincere and excellent effort to make most of this book secular, and while he largely succeed, there is something about spirituality that still requires working with the Divine or its Substitutes (tm). I continue to be on the lookout for a robust alternative.
It is difficult to judge the advice before trying it out, but it is written clearly, effectively and simply. I enjoyed the approach to spirituality presented here.
A special credit to how disinterested the author was in making this advice seem 'business-like'. I believe the topics of self-betterment and spirituality have seen more than its fair share of hacks and quacks, and Goldberg seems genuinely very far from that world. I implicitly trust the advice given here to be shared in good faith.
What I struggled with (just a little) (as an atheist) was the reliance of religion and religious thinking. Goldberg makes a sincere and excellent effort to make most of this book secular, and while he largely succeed, there is something about spirituality that still requires working with the Divine or its Substitutes (tm). I continue to be on the lookout for a robust alternative.
January 22, 2021
I’ve been skimming it, but there are some very insightful passages among the fluff.
February 4, 2021
This insightful book came to me at a perfect moment. I had many questions about meditation practices and found most of the answers in this tiny book.
Everybody can learn to meditate. And every learning experience is progressing better with a useful guide. This book is an excellent guidance on how to meditate and stay calm and peaceful during uncertain times.
Everybody can learn to meditate. And every learning experience is progressing better with a useful guide. This book is an excellent guidance on how to meditate and stay calm and peaceful during uncertain times.
July 19, 2021
Wonderfully thought provoking!
I felt as though a dear friend was speaking with me, not to me, about ideas and feelings I wanted to explore. I am more hopeful about surviving these crazy times.
I felt as though a dear friend was speaking with me, not to me, about ideas and feelings I wanted to explore. I am more hopeful about surviving these crazy times.
March 28, 2023
This book is outstanding. I used it as one of my Lenten readings and it lifted me up every time I read it. I will keep it to read again next Lenten season. I especially liked it for the practical techniques to calm oneself and the focus on meditation.
Highly recommended
Highly recommended
April 20, 2022
If you're someone who is already on spiritual journey, there's not much this book can give you. But I think there are a few things to learn and practice about spirituality for absolute beginners.
May 22, 2022
This was exactly what I needed
December 26, 2025
Really helpful, loved it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews