I've Been Thinking: Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life by Maria Shriver

I’ve Been Thinking: Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life. Maria Shriver. Penguin Publishing Group. February 2018. Hb. 240 pp. ISBN #: 9780525522607.

Maria Shriver is totally correct in saying we are now living in times where more is needed.  Men, women and children across this nation and world are tired of the prevailing negativity, yearning for that which makes life “good.”  No, this is not a self-help book for Pollyanna-type persons but one in which one finds inner peace, purpose, love, and even joy.

Before each meditation in this book are quotations from notable people, those who’ve made a difference in the world but not been satisfied by external accolades.  Instead they’re centered on the inner world that fuels their thoughts, words and deeds.  For example, “Who you become as a person is up to you – up to your imagination, your will, your determination, your choices…” or “What you think you become” shared by the Buddha.  Then there are sections that we have heard before like pieces on love, honesty, forgiveness, and so on.  But what about the power within each of us for “empathy,” “losing faith,” “not caring too much for what others think,” living in a “complaint-free zone” periodically, “a culture of care,” “the process of discernment,” “grieving,” and so many more topics will catch your attention and invite you to ponder each one.

One is to consider meditating on it with prayer or just letting it be in one’s consciousness until one is ready to move on to the next one.  This is not a book to be read cover to cover quickly; it’s full of wisdom and points of view that are right at different moments in life. It has thoughts and advice that one will want to repeat reading and contemplating as well as passages that will provoke and inspire at different times.  There’s no one result or goal.  The process is to just “be” with each section or passage.

Maria Shriver comes from a family of doers but this is a book about the fire and fuel behind the doing and being!  Highly recommended, inspirational nonfiction. It could just be the best book you read right now!

The Story of Mu by James Cordova and Mark Morse

The Story of Mu.  James Cordova and Mark Morse. Wisdom Publications MA. April 2016. 64 pp.  ISBN#: 9781614292203.

This short narrative is a picture book that tells the story of the origin of life and the story of a man who lived a regular life.  He finally sat under a tree and meditated until he was One with matter, space and time. This realization is all that could free humans from endless searching and suffering.  “I am Mu.”  This is a koan (Zen riddle) that can only “be known.” It defies logic, study, etc.

The second half of the book contains beautiful illustrations of the story told in the first part, but it will strike the reader that meditating on each picture will bring one into that Oneness. 

This is not the kind of book that one rates; one may read it on several levels.  Or perhaps one may use it as a meditation book.

While those who are familiar with Buddhism will relish this book, non-Buddhist readers should also cherish its warm, inspirational qualities.

The authors are both highly trained and practitioners of their respective fields, Dharma transmission – a school of Zen Buddhism – and art.

I received this book from Netgalley for a fair and honest review.  The story and illustrations are ones I would definitely recommend to other readers to enjoy and ponder!