Phillip Moffitt's book Emotional Chaos to Clarity is subtitled "How to Live More Skillfully, Make Better Decisions, and Find Purpose in Life". Perhaps that's too ambitious a set of goals. Moffitt's first-person prose addresses the reader directly ("You may be ...", "You will ...", etc.). It leans heavily on anecdotes from his students or others who came for counseling at his Life Balance Institute and meditation retreats. His language rarely sparkles, and often crawls.

But there are helpful ideas and exceptional insights, e.g., the "Softening into Experience" mantra excerpted in Inquiring Mind magazine last year. Likewise the wise suggestion in Chapter 20 ("Practicing Forgiveness and Reconciliation") quoted from an unnamed meditation teacher (who was it?):

Further thoughts to follow ...

^z - 2013-07-06