Book Review: Embracing the Beloved: Relationship as a Path of Awakening

This book review is part of a series that covers the topic of Marriage. A marriage is an interpersonal relationship with governmental, social, or religious recognition, usually intimate, and often created as a contract. Margaret Paul is the Official Guide to Marriage. Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is an expert on marriage and relationships, and the co-creator of Inner Bonding, a transformational six-step spiritual healing process.nnEmbracing the Beloved: Relationship as a Path of Awakening, by Stephen Levine and Ondrea Levine, is a valuable resource for people interested in Marriage, and it is available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

nFrom Publishers WeeklynIn today's climate of individual achievement and independence, it is refreshing that the Levines (Who Dies?) have parlayed their 17 years of spiritual work with the dying into a poetic and compassionate book about the healing potential of love and familial relationships. Deeply personal anecdotes and experiences with spiritual leaders, such as Ram Dass, are interwoven with free-form poetry and practical meditation techniques-to be done with one's partner-to help readers "go beyond safe territory... to let go into the vastness" of relationships. The authors comprehensively cover the healing power of relationships, including those with aging parents. Not just another pop-psychology book, this should find its way onto the bookshelves of all who strive for greater insight into their own-and their partners'-deeper natures. Author tour. nCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. nnFrom Library JournalnDrawing on spiritual insights from Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and C.G. Jung, the Levines, meditation teachers and counselors, suggest that the path to spiritual awakening is one with the journey to the Beloved in relationship. Mindfulness, forgiveness, and loving kindness characterize the relationship with the Beloved as it moves from the mere convergence of bodies to the mystical union of souls and beyond. Such fluffy pop spirituality as the Levines here practice is already readily available in the works of Matthew Fox and Joseph Campbell. Not recommended.nCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. nnFrom the PublishernIn almost two decades of work on the mind/body relationship and our knowledge both of healing and dying, the Levines have become world-renowned, earning the praise of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and many other experts in the field. Here they explore the challenges and comforts of relationships to show how commitment and communication serve as nourishing wellsprings of spiritual renewal. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.