The Swami Ram Dev has endorsed Jefferey Armstrong’s Spiritual Teachings of the Avatar. The New York Times calls Swami Ramdev an “Indian who built Yoga Empire….a product and symbol of the New India, a yogic fusion of Richard Simmons, Dr. Oz and Oprah Winfrey, irrepressible and bursting with Vedic wisdom.”

“…At a recent event in Ottawa Canada Swami Ramdev publicly endorsed the book and honoured Armstrong for his work on behalf of the international Hindu culture and community. In Spiritual Teachings of the Avatar Armstrong informs the reader about the greatness of India and the real meaning of Avatar. The book speaks to Hindu students and youth in a contemporary way giving them new tools to clearly explain their culture. Swami Ram Dev said: “Everyone should read this book.” Included in the book are two brief summary chapters explaining the great epics and Avatars of India: The Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also received a copy during his visit to Vancouver Canada this past week.”

~ from “Vedic Book Opens Doors in the Commercial Markets“ by Sri Nandanandana dasa – Courtesy of…www.dandavats.com

You can read more about Jeffrey meeting the Swami Ram Dev and other endorsements for Spiritual Teachings of the Avatar here.

An Intimate Evening with Two World-Renowned Spiritual Luminaries

What happens when two inspired spiritual leaders—who are also great friends—share the stage? On Friday, September 10, 2010 at 7 pm, Robert Thurman and Michael Bernard Beckwith will share an evening of lively and spontaneous conversation, spanning topics from the global to the personal.

Held at Portland’s Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and sponsored by Beyond Words Publishing and The Center for Spiritual Development, Transforming Awareness: A Dialogue with Michael Bernard Beckwith and Robert Thurman will be a conversation that explores the current chaos in the world and potential lessons we may learn. This event will also be filmed for a new documentary of the same name releasing this October.

These spiritual leaders first shared the stage in 2009 and their debut created a lasting impression and a call for more. Beckwith and Thurman are committed to illuminating how changes can happen—globally, locally, and personally—if we shift our focus from fear to hope. Reuniting these luminaries is sure to create an evening of entertainment that both informs and enlightens.

Robert Thurman is the author of Why the Dalai Lama Matters and the co-founder of Tibet House U.S. He is credited with being at the forefront of making Tibetan spirituality, philosophy, and art accessible and understandable in the West, through his writing, translation of important Buddhist texts, and activism.

Michael Bernard Beckwith is the author of Spiritual Liberation, founder of both the Agape International Spiritual Center and the Agape University of Transformational Studies and Leadership, is the co-founder and president of the Association for Global New Thought, and the leader of the Awakened World conference.

Tickets for Transforming Awareness are $25 for general admission, and $100 for VIP tickets. Visit BeckwithThurmanEvent.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

The team that brought you the film Bloodline has organized a one-in-a-lifetime tour of Renne-le-Chateau (the Church of Mary Magdalene) in France. Learn more below and click through to find out how you can be a part of it!

Rennes-le-Chateau, France
Autumn Equinox
September 19—25, 2010

A place of beauty, mystery and pilgrimage…a place of potent earth energies…a place of intrigue and questions, history and treasure. Why did Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, use the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau as the underlying basis of the bestselling novel of all time? Why does Henry Lincoln call this “The Holy Place? And why do people from around the world flock to this tiny, remote village?

What is the real secret of this magical place? Why did Abbé Sauniére leave so many clues behind in the Church of Mary Magdalene? Who was his “housekeeper” Marie Dénarnaud and what secrets of Rennes did she take to her grave?

What exists beneath this infamous hill of ancient interest? Is it healing water enhanced with special properties? Water that could lead to an alchemical process so powerful that its use was prohibited at all costs, even when the village itself was ablaze?

Is this the burial place of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, as legend holds? And if so, why there? Of all the places on earth, why is Rennes-le-Chateau considered such a strong possibility?

You will follow Ben Hammott as he takes you through the Church of Mary Magdalene and explains how he found and deciphered clues left by the Abbé a hundred years ago. These coded clues led to more messages buried in bottles in key locations in the countryside and ultimately pointed to a buried chest containing 1st Century Jerusalemite articles as described in the final bottle clue: “The cup of Jesus and Mary, the anointing jar, and the parchment of Bigou.” What was the priest Sauniére trying to tell us? Was this, as purported Priory of Sion representative Nicolas Haywood said, evidence of the marriage?

Finally, what role does Rennes-le-Chateau play in the current shift in consciousness? Some say this special place is connected to Roslin (Scotland) through the Rose Line. But what does that mean? And how does that play into the myth and legends of the area?

Come join us for a week of exploration into the past, present and future as we walk the lands in and around Rennes le Chateau, touch and drink the waters in Rennes and Alet-les-Bains, and connect with the highly charged earth energies during this special time of the Autumn Equinox.

This insider journey is hosted by NightVision Radio host, television and filmmaker René Barnett along with author and intuitive Gloria Amendola. There will be special guest appearances by members of the Bloodline team, including English adventurer, author and discoverer of the Bloodline tomb, Ben Hammott. In addition, attendees will each receive special gifts and meet some noted surprise guests along the way.

Learn more here.

Roll Around Heaven is an all-true accidental spiritual adventure that led one nonbeliever to lunch with Deepak Chopra, dance with Stephen Hawking, heal animals with Yogananda, sing Christmas carols with an enlightened rabbi, banish evil spirits with a Himalayan Rinpoche, talk all night with the daughters of Islam, find true love in a Presbyterian choir, share Celtic visions on the isle of Iona, and learn an abiding respect for all paths to God.

Jessica has received some terrific reviews for her book. More magazine wrote:

If you want laughs, you don’t usually turn to spiritual memoirs. But Jessica Maxwell’s Roll Around Heaven is so full of LOL moments, it fits the bill…. Maxwell is exuberant, grumpy, skewering, wise and so gosh-darn good-hearted in her quest to understand the universe, I couldn’t help wanting to tag along for the ride—er, roll.

To hear more from the author who the great Tom Robbins once described as “Empress Tizzie Izzie of adventure writing,” click here to listen to the Coast to Coast episode.

In the shamanic teaching (and it really isn’t a solely shamanic teaching as it has echoes in many other areas, I find), I am to be aware of how I am being at all times, of what energy I am putting out at all times. It is an awareness of how I am affecting others, life, my energetic environment. I am to take a step back and see how I may need to alter my behavior, my energy, my intention, how I respond versus how I react.

This is an awareness I have learned in many different aspects all my life. And I believe it was a message I needed to hear again.

With Pierre’s visit, I was reminded again of this powerful awareness. He teaches that blessing is a lifestyle — and you bless those who anger you, upset you, wrong you. Because when you bless someone, you take away all material appearances and you are left with one’s soul, one’s divinity.

I actually tried this out. One morning, my daughter and I were having a tough time. When I noticed myself getting upset, I started to bless her. In her wholeness, her independence, her kindness, her peace, her beauty. Within five minutes, my anger had gone, and I was left with a love for her that touched me deeply. She had become once more my beloved daughter, not some problem. And also within those five minutes, she told me that she loved me, and that she could feel my love coming to her.

I tried this with drivers on the road, co-workers, people in the store. The more I change my own energy, my own attitude, the more my environment changes around me in positive ways. The more I relate to others as spiritual human beings rather than a series of surface behaviors that I may find irritating. And as I respond instead of react, I am keeping my lower vibrational emotions — anger, worry, jealousy, judgment — from being dumped all over someone else. These lower vibrations are raised. Which in turn raises those around me.

I am reminded to walk the good red road. I am reminded to bless others. I am reminded that my energy is my responsibility. And that as a shaman — as a person — I have a responsibility to sustain as much balance and harmony in this world as I can.

May rainwater blessings shower down upon you.

Whitney and I followed the tour every step of the way, and in each city, the Mike Dooley magic happened. Each event seemed to build on the other, ending in over 400 enthralled attendees in both Portland and Seattle.  Mike was as gracious as could be at each venue and showed up ready to spread the message he is well-known for, “Thoughts Become Things.”

What stands out to me, a person who works very hard at promoting the fine books that we publish, is that when you think it will be effortless, it IS effortless. Mike certainly brought that attitude to the party and I will be using that lesson learned for the rest of my life. Thanks, Mike, for that gift, and to all of our readers for their support of Infinite Possibilities.

Check out some pics from the tour below, and visit our Facebook page for the full photo album, and plenty more!

Backstage at AM Northwest

Mike outside Bagdad Theater, Portland OR

Thumbs-up at the interview taping for Writers Dojo

And of course, become our Fan on Facebook and check out more of our Photo Albums!

Pierre Pradervand has worked for decades in personal development and social justice across the world, and currently lives in Switzerland so it is a real treat to have such a beautiful and inspiring gentleman with us in Portland. I have watched a video of one of his talks and it was incredibly moving and profoundly inspiring.

In his wonderful book, The Gentle Art of Blessing, described blessings in these simple but eloquent terms:

“To bless means to wish, unconditionally and from the deepest chamber of your heart, unrestricted good for others and events; it means to hallow, to hold in reverence, to behold with awe that which is always a gift from the Creator. He who is hallowed by your blessing is set aside, consecrated, holy, whole. To bless is to invoke divine care upon, to speak or think gratefully for, to confer happiness upon, although we ourselves are never the bestower, but simply the joyful witnesses of life’s abundance.

For you Portlanders, don’t miss Pierre’s exclusive event, one-night only, at New Renaissance Bookstore.

Even better, join us at Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, Portland, OR, on Friday, November 13 at 7:30 PM where Jessica will be reading from Roll Around Heaven and encouraging a passionate and fun discourse!

Mike Dooley in Times Square, NY

I like how Mike describes his format here on his website (reprinted below)

As a guest of several premier book stores in the US, the Celebration is hitting the road! At each location I’ll speak for about 45 minutes before turning the microphone over to you for “Questions & Answers.”

I’ll be sharing the major tenants of Infinite Possibilities, each of which reveal our true spiritual nature and our profound power to shape the life of our dreams. I’ll talk about exactly what it takes to find happiness and fulfillment during the “metamorphosis of consciousness” that’s now taking place on our planet where the old is giving way to the new, naivety is giving way to truth, and spirituality is about to take on an entirely new meaning. Of course I’ll also read some of my favorite, and, I believe, most impactful selections from the book that explain “what” the Universe is and how you were born to thrive! There could be no better time, at this crossroads in history, to learn the truth about who we really are and all we’re capable of doing, being, and having — let’s get this party started!

We’d love to see you at one of these events. Follow any of the links above and join Mike on a night of a lifetime!

Mike in a snowstorm, Denver

]]> http://blog.beyondword.com/2009/11/a-inspired-tour/feed/ 0 http://blog.beyondword.com/2009/10/the-possibilities-are-infinite/ http://blog.beyondword.com/2009/10/the-possibilities-are-infinite/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:12:52 +0000 emma http://blog.beyondword.com/?p=270 “It’s got nothing to do with being a perfect, goody-goody, selfless, sacrificing, spiritual saint, Blah! That whole characterization was meant for a different audience at a different time, and they really had issues.It’s got everything to do with being yourself, trusting the magic, following your heart, dreaming big, and having fun. Hosanna in the highest.” The Universe

I do adore getting my “Note from the Universe” everyday in my inbox. I have just quoted today’s little above.

Mike Dooley is the author of several volumes of Notes From the Universe, but he has also been working on his BIG book for years, the one that was released six weeks ago, and went straight to the NYT bestseller list, so you might have heard of it. It’s called Infinite Possibilities, and is more like a manifesto of how to live your dreams. His 7-City Book Tour starts on Sunday and we have been amping up publicity wherever we can to make sure as many people come to see him as possible.

If you want to see Mike’s tour schedule you can click here: bit.ly/DooleyTour

And if you buy Mike’s book, be sure to enter the Infinite Possibilities Sweepstakes. bit.ly/DooleyPrizes The prizes are AMAZING!

Oh hosanna. or as The Universe puts it: “Hosanna,” Emma, as in “Rock On.”