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3.20.2007

Essential Reading

1. The Gospel in Brief (Tolstoy, Translated by Isabel Hapgood); Created Gandhi, may have Created Dr. King. Online Translation (not as good as the paper version)

1. The Kingdom of God is Within You (Tolstoy); LAST 2 CHAP. 1ST. Online. What I Believe, Leo Tolstoy.

2. Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler; a non-mystical, psychological, mainstream way of seeing what Jesus died to show us - evil is clinically madness - selfishness. To be selfish is clinically to be out of your mind. Probably the most difficult read of my life. Skip it unless you want to save the world. Online

3. Four Gospels and the Appostolic Letters- New American Bible, St. Joseph Version; to my shock I find not only the Gospels but the letters enormously helpful in moving from Flesh/Death to Spirit/Life within myself. Now Jesus said in Johh, "If you love me you will do greater things than these." Jesus either didn't know the psychology of what he was on to, or he figured out that those he was preaching to couldn't understand it 2000 years ago. Either way, you've got to see that these folks were using mysitcism where today it doesn't belong. Be careful, I wish I had more time to explain, but now I don't. Use your heads. And, they were human! The got the woman thing, subservience, all wrong except for the extreme modesty part which is absolutely correct. Too frequently they justify going to the cross for an afterlife. No! Going to the cross to save your brothers and sisters IS heaven on earth, and it is clear that those writing and being persecuted experienced it that way. To my shock I found it enormously in sych with the contents of this site. Profoundly so. James and 2nd ? were utterly awesome.

4. The People's History of the United States (Zinn); If you read this book you will have the same Truth experience that Neo had when he took the pill in The Matrix. You cannot be ALIVE in the US culture without reading this book. You will stay in The Matrix - screwed in, all nice and save, sound, and Dead.

5. Voices of a People's History of the United States (Zinn)

6. From Yale to Jail & Revolutionary Nonviolence (Dellenger); total of 3 years in prison for his nonviolent war for civil rights, stopping the Vietnam War, and other causes. See this site: David Dellinger Quotations

7. Peace and Nonviolence (Guinan); well this is an indespensible gem of a book. A collection of writings unlike anything I've seen before on the great nonviolent warriors of our time. Inexplicably brillient and useful collection if you want to Save the world. Online excerpts.

8. Courage & Compassion (Fogelman); Heroes of the holocaust. What to see what going to the Cross looks like? Online excerpts. Online excerpts.

9. The Cost of Descipleship (Bonhoeffer); This man walked the walk - to the Cross, with Life - Joy and Love. Online

10. All Men are Brothers (Gandhi); Online

BE EXTREMELY CARFUL OF:

Walter Wink. Through a tragic blindness he perverts Jesus' teachings of "Saving" the Heart of the other into slick power moves. Tragically evil.

Gene Sharpe: His Politics of Nonviolent Action. He is a mechanic! He shows a profound lack of grasp of the Spiritual battle. STAY AWAY!

ANYONE AND ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT HAVE A HEROIC TRACKRECORD. Spirit is everything - including Wisdom and Insight! If they do not have a Heart for Heroism, they don't have a Heart / Spirit that knows nonviolent revolution. Learn from Heroes or figure it out yourself. BE CAREFUL.

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OTHER GREAT STUFF: [sorry about the formatting. no time to fix it now.]
for now a cleaner version of what follows is at the Chester PA site: Suggested Readings


TITLE
AUTHOR
RELEVANCE
What Life Could Mean to You
Alfred Adler
Considered by some the comprehensive foreseer and pioneer of today's emerging, theoretical, directions in psychology.
Their are only 2 possible overarching goals and humans organize their entire lives around one OR the other: 1) Survival, 2) Happiness (which is achieved only by bettering the future of mankind). It is only the latter, that is "healthy".
This book may be the single most illuminating, important guide book to "health" in living ever written. (Jay's opinion). Read it, and be alive!
The Evolving Self
Flow
Findiing Flow
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
University of Chicago Cognitive Psychology Dept. Foremost authority on "happiness" or "optimal experience".
If you exhaustively study all people world wide you will find that "optimal experience" (joy, bliss) comes from: 1) absorption in a high skill; 2) high challenge; 3) high human MEANING pursuit.
Said differently: the human organism is rewarded with the feeling of joy when he/she is totally immersed in the task of bettering mankind... that is, working against the relentless force of entropy, that works against the success of the "species"; that is, being "loving".
How can I help?
Ram Dass
Stamford University, psychology
Exraodinary insights on how the psychology of the helper, if understood, can enable helpers to avoid burnout, and progress rapidly along a path toward limitless bounty of compassion, joy, peace and love for themselves, the helpers.
The Words of Gandhi
All Men are Brothers
Mahatma Gandhi (by Richard Attenboro)
'The golden rule... is resolutely to refuse to have what millions cannot.'
'Full effort is full success.'
'Be the change you want to see'
'I will admit but one tyrant in my life... the still, small voice within'
Lost Boys
Dr. James Garbarino
Cornell University: World recognized expert on adolescent male break down and violence.
If you take any 100 people like me and you and keep them in "war conditions", ALL of us will BREAK DOWN emotionally within 2 months! Same for ANY AND ALL minority males born and raised in an environment like Chester, studies conclusively show.
"It's the "diet" (environment) stupid" [play on President Clinton's saying]
Autobiography of Dr. King
Clayborne Carson (using the archived words of Dr. King)
'Spirit, not material things, ultimately shapes history'
'Human rights (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness) are won ONLY at an enormous price.'
'Rights are ALWAYS won by the oppressed. [Jay - So, what is to become of the Children of Chester? Herein lies the profound challenge ahead to liberate the Youth of Chester from oppression.]
'The great obstacle is the "moderate" '
'I am disturbed to find that all too often the Church is the 'opiate of the people... a social club with the thin veneer of religiosity."
'Church is a place where people go out from. Let us go out!'
'Human health for any individual can be ascertained by measuring three axis: 1) healthy love for self; 2) love for humanity; 3) love for God (and all of his creation).'
"Love is gladly giving one's life for the wellbeing of another'
'Peace is not the absence of injustice, but the presence of justice.'
'Freedom is achieved at the point that you are not afraid to die.'
'A man is fit to live when he knows what he will gladly give his life for.'
'The ends are preexistant in the means"
Long Walk to Freedom
Nelson Mandella
Leader of the South African freedom struggle.
It is nurture, not nature that shapes the individual.
The battle is for the heart and the mind. The prize is worth any price that is required of the warrior.
The pursuit of Happiness
David Myers
Hope College
Extensive meta surveny of the research on happiness by this author of the world's most widely used basic psychology text.
What No School Can Do
NY Times
'Researchers and educators have known for decades that it is the environment of the child before they enter school, and when school in not in session that determines success in school... and life.
'The amount of social and intellectual capital a child brings to school, more than the school itself, determines the outcomes.
'As with any capital, social and intellectual capital can be given only by one who 'received' them in the first place.'
"It's the "diet" (environment) stupid" [play on President Clinton's saying]
Vouchers for summer school could help halt the learning slide.
NY Times
"A child living in an inner city is in school for only so many hours. It's the rest of the day -- as well as the rest of the neighborhood -- that's the big influence, and the problem."
"It's the "diet" (environment) stupid" [play on President Clinton's saying]
Bible
St. Paul
'Owe no man anything, except to love one another.'
The supreme value is Charity... an awareness of God in oneself and in the other. [Clearly our children are starving to death in Chester due to extreme poverty of charity in the Delaware Valley. What other explanation? This is to be expected. The way we amass personal, material wealth is by allowing our charity to atrophy. This is our supreme, enabling technology of the west. No? - Jay]
Spirit is everything... material things are nothing.
Adults know what kids need; we just don't do it
Search-Institute.org
We better get on with "feeding" our Chester children what every child needs.
"It's the "diet" (environment) stupid"
Identity and the Life Cycle
Erik Erikson
Harvard Psychiatrist. Author of the predominant theory of human psychological development.
"Healthy" human development takes place through 7-8 stages.
The 6th stage is reached by "healthy", 'species normal' [vs culturally normal - Jay's note] people in their early 20's and lived until the onset of old age.
The 6th stage is "Generativity"... being consumed, gladly, with the task of advancing the wellbeing of humanity through insuring the success of the next generation.
Man's Search for Meaning
Victor Frankle
Among the most widely translated and published books in the world. This psychologist jew survived the holocaust and in the process discovered that "meaning" in life may be the most important determinant of mental health and wellbeing.
The Meaning and Measurement of Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg
Harvard professor. Author of the predominant theory in psychology of "moral development".
Also: See basic Psychology texts and research articles.
'Species normal" adult moral development is BEYOND, social reference, or observance of law.
Healthy moral development is Stage 5-6, where an individual acts based on the developed capacity to experience "interchangeably, and indistinguishably' the human impact on the "others" in a situation, and on the "self".
Less than 1 in 10,000 reach this 'species normal' health in our US culture (Scientific American, 2000)
Toward a Psychology of Being
Abraham Maslow
President Am. Psych. Assn. late 1960's. 'Measured' IQ 190+. Hugely misrepresented in popular literature.
Fewer that 1 in 150 people reach 'species normal' healthy adulthood - 'self-actualization'.
Contrary to almost universal misrepresentation, "self actualization" ALWAYS means becomming totally absorbed in, and utilized by the the task of advancing the future wellbeing of all humanity.
Speech in the Middle East
His Holiness Pope John Paul
An address shortly after September 11, 2001
[If mankind is to survive] 'it is time to usher in a new "civilization of love".
The Power of Assets
Search-Institute.org
'For a child to be healthy they need to see that there are 3 adult in their life that think the world revolves around them' [most of our children in Chester have ZERO - Jay]
Take away 75% of the "asset rich diet" needed by children and you are CERTAIN to see increasing drug use 40X, decreasing school performance 7X, increasing violence 10X....
"It's the "diet" (environment) stupid"
TheWays and Power of Love Note: Available in many, substantial libraries
Social and Cultural Dynamics
The Crisis of Our Age
Pitirim Sorokin
Founder at Harvard University of the Department of Sociology. Founder of the Eli Lilly funded Harvard Center for Creative Altruism
If we do not develop our 'technology' and technique for producing massive quantities of altruistic love there is no future for mankind.
Contrary to popular wisdom, highly altruistic people have much higher quality and length of life than non altruistic people throughout recorded history!
The number one factor that explains where "Saints" ('heroes of compassion', 'heroes of altruism and love') come from is - particularly loving adults who are a child's 'family'.
A Dry White Season
Video
Donnald Sutherland
If you want to see how brilliantly, and skillfully "blind" the "kindest" of we, of the privileged "classes" can be watch this video. Prepare to learn much that is terrifying about 'nice, middle class, Americans' through seeing this story of middle class awakening in South Africa.
The Kingdom of God is Within You
Leo Tolstoy
Dr. King and Gandhi each independently credit much of their 'rebirth', to become the world forces that they each became, to the reading of this book.
'The world will start to heal when Christians [and presumably the followers of all religions - Jay] admit to themselves that they are NOT following Christ' [or the founder of their non-Christian religion - Jay].
Cry Freedom
Video
Danzel Washington
If you want to see how brilliantly, and skillfully "blind" the "kindest" of we, of the privileged "classes" can be watch this video. Prepare to learn much that is terrifying about 'nice, middle class, Americans' through seeing this story of middle class awakening in South Africa.
Conscilience
E. O. Wilson
Particularly in the last chapters this Nobel prize winning biologist / zoologist from Harvard reviews the research asserting that "ethics" and compasion have genetic basis; we are predisposed to get joy from taking care of the tribe.
The Triumphs of Joseph
Robert Woodson
Woodson's life has been spent finding, understanding and supporting ministries that are transformational to those in need.
Transforming ministries, those that demonstrate extraordinary impact on many lives: - never start with funding, - don't accept traditional funding, - don't start with a "rational" plan.... Transformation starts and sustains with an enormous wealth of "irrational" (unconditional) love.

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