Customer Reviews:
 Great and uplifting spiritual book December 22, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a very good book to read, reread and ruminate.
Easy reading, practical for the everyday life and spiritual in a very positive and non sectarian way.
I bought a copy for my youngest son (a businessman age 37) and he has enjoyed it.
Highly recommended, Pietro Tomassi
Finding sanctuary August 7, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book for those who are looking for healing from the modern lifestyle.
finding monastic peace for lay persons January 2, 2007
23 out of 26 found this review helpful
Jamison is Abbot of the Benedictine monastery outside London that was the location for the surprisingly popular BBC TV series titled "The Monastery." He imparts commentary on the seven virtues the monastery's spiritual regimen centers on. "Before we can take the step into the sanctuary [of the peacefulness coming with higher spirituality], we have to find the doorway and that doorway is virtue," writes Jamison. The prized virtues are silence, contemplation, obedience, humility, community, spirituality, and hope. The daily regimen of the regular monks involves practicing them and seeking them to attain increasing levels of spirituality. The TV series followed five lay persons temporarily taking part in this regimen to gain better understanding of the spiritual life and how to grow in spirituality themselves.
An instruction book for mindful living in the benedictine tradition. December 26, 2006
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
This is a wonderful book on the rule of Benedict. Abbot Jamison does an excellent job in conveying a simple message of the realistic application of Benedictine spirituality in everday life. I finished the book in about 4 days, and I intend to re-read it again. A very thoughtful, peaceful and inspiring read. I highly recommend this book along with Mertons "New seeds of Contemplation."
Absorbing Benedict's Insights November 28, 2006
53 out of 55 found this review helpful
In this work, Christopher Jamison, abbot of a Benedictine monastery near London and host of the acclaimed BBC documentary series The Monastery, offers monastic steps for "people of all religious beliefs and those with none." Few will be able to simply read this book, but instead will find themselves absorbing it.
Jamison explains that the Rule of Benedict is not a rule book at all, but "a book of insights about Christian living, with some practical suggestions (rules) about how to put those insights into practice." Jamison's book is organized into seven steps for overcoming the busyness of modern life in favor of finding sanctuary: silence, contemplation, obedience, humility, community, spirituality, and hope. In each chapter, he compares current cultural attitudes to Benedict's views on the topic, gives examples in monastic life, and suggests applications for the larger world.
In the chapter on humility, the abbot explains the discipline involved in separating our desires from our actions. If, when I am hungry, I wait before eating, he writes, the link between desire and action is slowed, and I learn to be more reflective in my response to desire and to contain my desire.
In the section on sacred reading (lectio divina), Jamison provides a model that is much more personal and less technique-based than that often used in groups. He defines lectio simply as God's speaking to the reader as "you," and your being moved to address God in response. At the end of the book he shares a personal lectio divina example based on the parable of the prodigal son.
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