Transformational Books
These books are close to our hearts. They shift perspective, give skills for resilience, and provide maps for growth and transformation.
Kali Rising by Rudolph Balentine
Rudolph Balentine (now Rudiji) has been a spiritual teacher to both Amelia and Erik. This is a valuable introduction to the principles of Tantra and the dance of the masculine and feminine in each of us.
Prosper by Chris Martenson
This book is written by Erik’s ‘brother’ Chris Martenson, who has been part of his men's group for the past 12 years. This book explores the challenges of our current era in terms of the economy, ecology, and peak oil. It provides clear skills and areas of focus using the eight forms of capital. It is one of our most important resources for identifying and practicing ways to be resilient.
Respectful Confrontation by Joe Weston
Amelia and Erik met Joe Weston through a workshop series called “Power vs Violence” at Shalom Mountain. Given our climate of violent communication in so many forms, Joe’s work provides a clear pathway towards handling various forms of difficult communication from a heart-centered perspective. Joe teaches people to be genuinely connected to their hearts and their own power. He does this with a highly embodied curriculum influenced by Buddhism, Taoism and martial arts. Erik and Amelia use his work -- with great effectiveness -- with couples.
Integral Relationships: a Manual for Men by Martin Ucik
Martin Ucik is both a lover and a scientist. He has taken Ken Wilber’s integral theory to new levels within the context of intimate relationships. After reading this book, Amelia and Erik immediately began to apply his work around values, success object / sex object, psychosexual development, anima/animas development, and levels of consciousness. Martin believes that “integral relationships” are the pathway to a healthier evolution of human consciousness on the planet.
The Metrics of Human Consciousness by Richard Barrett
Over the last ten years, Richard Barrett has written many books on the importance of human values in the integration of ego and soul. In this short book, Richard describes his most recent and evolved thinking and mapping of human consciousness. Richard maps human values on the seven chakras. In doing so, he reveals how a focus on values helps a person to evolve their unique self or integrate ego and soul. If you are going to read any of Richard’s books, which we highly recommend, this is the best one to start with.
Wild Mind: a field guide to the human psyche by Bill Plotkin
Bill Plotkin is one of Erik’s heroes. He combines depth psychology with emersion in the natural world. This is his most accessible book, which provides beautiful maps to evolve consciousness.
Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
"Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. The last of human freedoms -- the ability to chose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.
When we are no longer able to change a situation -- we are challenged to change ourselves.
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."