New Self, New World Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-First Century

by Shepherd, Philip; Harvey, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9781556439117
• ISBN10: 1556439113
• Edition: Original
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-10
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Summary

New Self, New Worldchallenges the primary story of what it means to be human, the random and materialistic lifestyle that author Philip Shepherd calls our "shattered reality." This reality encourages us to live in our heads, self-absorbed in our own anxieties. Drawing on diverse sources and inspiration,New Self, New Worldreveals that our state of head-consciousness falsely teaches us to see the body as something we possess and to try to take care of it without ever really learning how to inhabit it. Shepherd articulates his vision of a world in which each of us enjoys a direct, unmediated experience of being alive. He petitions against the futile pursuit of the "known self" and instead reveals the simple grace of just being present. In compelling prose, Shepherd asks us to surrender to the reality of "what is" that enables us to reunite with our own being. Each chapter is accompanied by exercises meant to bring Shepherdrs"s vision into daily life, what the author calls a practice that "facilitates the voluntary sabotage of long-standing patterns."New Self, New Worldis at once a philosophical primer, a spiritual handbook, and a roaming inquiry into human history.

Author Biography

Philip Shepherd trained extensively with energy-work pioneer Denis Chagnon. He is the author of two internationally produced plays and a documentary for CBC television. The editor of The Compleat Art Critic, he lives in Toronto.

Foreword contributor Andrew Harvey is a renowned mystical scholar and founder of the Institute for Sacred Activism. He lives in Chicago.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Do Be Do Be Do
The Elements of Myth	p. 11
The Universal Law	p. 36
Our Axial Consciousness	p. 67
Divided Self, Divided World	p. 114
Two Axes, One Purpose
A Perspective on Perspective	p. 163
The Journey Home	p. 192
The Corational Corridor	p. 214
The Exchanges of Being
The Heart's Compass	p. 249
Becoming Conscious of Consciousness	p. 281
The Body as History
Leaving the Hub	p. 321
Horse and Rider	p. 338
Recovering Our Senses
Our Elemental Sensitivity	p. 367
So as to Remain in Harmony	p. 409
Appendix	p. 437
Acknowledgments	p. 449
Endnotes	p. 453
Credits	p. 471
Index	p. 473
About the Author	p. 495
Exercises
Listen to the Beat	p. 35
Wakame	p. 65
Floor Yourself	p. 112
Ordinary Heroism	p. 158
The Naked Tyrant	p. 189
The Elevator Shaft	p. 211
The Flower and the Cello String	p. 243
Just Receive	p. 279
The Milk Jug	p. 317
Figure Eights	p. 337
The Horse	p. 363
The Hourglass	p. 407
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