Jessica Maxwell’s Roll Around Heaven: An All-True Accidental Spiritual Adventure has won the Gold Award for Best Memoir in the 2010 Nautilus Book Awards!

Nautilus’ motto is “Changing the World One Book at a Time,” and fellow Gold winners include William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer’s marvelous The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind about an African boy who makes a windmill out of scraps and “brings electricity and a future” to his village, Pierre Pradervand’s beautiful The Gentle Art of Blessing, and Elizabeth Grossman’s powerful ode to green chemistry, Chasing Molecules. Previous Nautilus Gold Medal winners include the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Deepak Chopra, so Jessica is in excellent “and humbling!” company. 

Spiritual Media Blog interviewed Jessica about her memoir, Roll Around Heaven, and how anyone can have an authentic spiritual experience. You can listen to that interview by clicking the button below or purchase the book by clicking here.

Tomorrow, Tuesday on June 1, Intent.com is launching their second incarnation of 30 Days of Intentions for 2010. Everyone in the Intent community is planning on posting at least one new intent a day for 30 days straight. This is their way of getting more people into the habit of posting positive intentions for themselves, their community and the planet as a whole on a daily basis. The more people who make the effort to share their intents with others AND make the effort to support other people’s intents, the more good can get done in this world. If you would like to join in on the 30 Days of Intentions, please visit www.Intent.com

Mythic Journeys is a fusion of documentary and animation about the power of myth and story to change the world. It features three of Hollywood’s most acclaimed actors.

Tim Curry is a noble king whose life or death depends on delivering a hanging corpse to a mysterious sorcerer. Lance Henriksen is a necromancer who gives him the strange assignment and may or may not be trustworthy. Mark Hamill is just your regular dead body come to life with a cutting with and a Scheherazade – like skill for storytelling and riddles.

In the between this imaginative narrative are interviews with some of the world’s leading mythologists, psychologists and spiritual leaders including Deepak Chopra, Michael Beckwith and Honora Foah. It also features the paintings of Jerry Wennstrom

In 2006, filmmakers Steve and Whitney Boe attended the MYTHIC JOURNEYS conference and performance festival in Atlanta and found their lives transformed when confronted with the question:

“Will you know who you are when you die or will death have to tell you?”

MYTHIC JOURNEYS, the movie, is their celebration of that extraordinary experience, an exploration of what myth and story can teach us about our own lives and how mythology can be used to spark creativity and bridge communities, generations and cultures.

For more information on how you can purchase the film please click here.

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Jane Bernhardt, author of We Are Here: Love Never Dies about her book, communicating with loved ones after they die and how her message can help people heal.

On the morning of November 5, 2006 Jane’s father Harry Lee Smith passed away. It was never his intention to abandon Angelika, his bed-bound wife of forty years. So, shortly after his death, he began an amazing series of communications through his daughter Jane, to comfort and inspire Angelika as she transitioned out of her body. What Harry and his spiritual helpers have expressed are extraordinary illuminations of the beauties of the after-life as well as precious lessons in living and letting go.

In our conversation, Jane shares with me how we can communicate with loved ones who have passed away, how she responds to people who don’t believe we can communicate with loved ones after they have died and how her message can be healing and empowering.

She made a few remarks that really helped me see a bigger picture such as,

“When I can work for the things that are eternally important, then there’s no end to the fruitfulness of my life.”

“Whenever I felt lost or discouraged, I’ve gone deep inside to ask: ‘Are you still here?’ I speak with the lover of my soul. This conversation has taken me to amazing places.”

You can listen to our entire 30 minute conversation by pressing the play button below.

For more information on Jane Bernhardt and how to purchase We Are Here: Love Never Dies, please Click Here

Michael Bernard Beckwith: Spiritual Liberation – Fulfilling Your Soul’s Potential follows Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith (founder of Agape International Spiritual Center) for an actual day of his life. We come along with him as he shops for groceries, walks his dogs with his wife, Rickie, and shares a meal at his home with friends and family.

The beauty of this film is that we see how our daily routines can become fulfilling, meaningful and joyful in their own right simply because they give us an opportunity to share our self with others and to experience the Divine in the middle of the ordinary. Or as Michael Beckwith says at the beginning of the movie,

“We’re not trying to fit mediation into our busy life, with our ‘to-do’ list, with all the things that need to be done. No. Little by little, we make a discovery that our life begins to revolve around our meditation.”

As we walk with Michael throughout his day and listen in on his conversations with friends, family and associates, we hear light-hearted jokes, profound insights and genuine solutions to the challenges of our time. Michael also talks about how a lucid dream inspired him to unconditionally say Yes to the Divine, after he had previously outwitted It’s attempts. That moment Michael said Yes, his life was forever changed.

This is a powerful message for all of us. Everyday, no matter how glamorous, mundane, or difficult our circumstances might be, we have the free choice to say Yes to the Divine. And, when we say Yes to It, we can awaken to our life purpose and a field of possibility that is often far greater than anything we can imagine for ourself.

Other bonus features on the DVD include interviews with USC head football coach, Pete Carroll, producer of Crash, Mark Harris, international speaker Lisa Nichols, the premiere performance of “You Can Dream’ by APL.DE.AP of Black Eyed Peas, 8 performances by Rickie Byars Beckwith and the Agape International Choir, supplemental interviews about love, forgiveness, living on purpose and meditation, and a talk with Michael Beckwith and the filmmaker Mikki Willis on the genesis of Spiritual Liberation.

After taking this intimate look at Rev. Michael Beckwith’s daily life, you will see firsthand why his teachings have empowered thousands of spiritual seekers for more than two decades and also gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for your own life purpose.

Spiritual Liberation DVD and the book it is based on Spiritual Liberation: Fulfilling Your Soul’s Potential is available for purchase on Amazon by Clicking Here

This article is a guest post written by Tina Turbin.

My most inspiring movie to this day has been Papillion. It touched my heart as a book first and then as a movie. It was not at all a spiritual movie per se’, but oh my did it leave an impact on me as a child up to this day. I opened my eyes to the little intricacies of life such as ants. Who would have known that such a movie would get me to observe trailing ants and see they to have a world of their own and a mission in life- not unlike us. Life is all around and the respect it showed me was profound.This amazing man,convicted felon and fugitive, Nehri Cherriere told his story in detail and those details convey not “victim and pain” but life and what living can and does encompass. It has its challenges no matter where life may take you. It is exciting and it encompasses so much, yes even ants. So not a “spiritual” movie to comment upon- it conveyed beautifully and was not only well written in pages but the drama and communication artistically was spot on in the movie as well”.

This article was written by Tina Turbin. For more information, please visit her web sites at www.TinaTurbin.com and www.DannyTheDragon.com

Letters from the Dhamma Brothers: Meditation Behind Bars is a documentary about an overcrowded maximum-security prison in Alabama that offers an ancient meditation retreat to its prisoners as part of their rehabilitation.

The film features inmates who are serving life sentences without parole at the Donaldson Correctional Facility. They are given the option of participating in an emotionally and physically demanding course of silent meditation lasting 10 days. The participants are some of the state’s most dangerous criminals battling life-long demons. Most of them are highly skeptical of the meditation retreat. Additionally, many of guards question why the controversial retreat should be allowed for such violent offenders in the first place.

Scott Harshbarger, former Attorney General of Massachusetts, gave his thoughts about the movie when he said, “Through the film we realize that inmates can accept responsiblity for serious crimes, and attempt to engage in personal change even though it will not enable them to be released.”

You can purchase the book it is based on Amazon by Clicking Here.

This post is a guest post about Babies movie written by Adelaide Zindler with Home Office Mommy

I got a request from the Associated Press for the Junior Apprentice and I to give our review of the new movie “Babies”. So we went to check it out. I really had to revisit my own attachment to civilization, and I’m so grateful to AP for inviting us to take their challenge! Here are some of the questions I got from my 5-year old, as well as a few observations of my own.

Junior Apprentice’s Observations

Junior Apprentice: I wish I was the boy with my hair sticking out!

Mommy: Why?

Junior Apprentice: I could play more. She (the mom) wouldn’t be like you and I could just walk around, and where she couldn’t see me. I could still be with my daddy or my brother.

Why did he leave the baby right there with the cows? Don’t let the dog lick the baby’s face because the dogs licks their butt and other dogs butts but cats do not. Why do babies crawl? That’s disgusting! (baby discovering their body parts). She’s like Pharaoh. She’s making them work! (baby peeling banana and giving each piece to parent to discard for her) Why do they let their baby go naked? Why are they all poor? Somebody can’t handle this movie. (a young employee who came in the middle of the film walks out of the theater) They are forming a circle around him. (calves surround baby). He needs milk. (mom leans down to sooth baby with milk then sings him into walking beside her. No yelling or threats. Wow)

Home Office’s Observations

It seemed the more civilized the culture the less moms and infants touched each other, and the more they leaned toward formulas, diapers, and equipment. Indigenous mom was seen rocking her baby to sleep by carrying them while she did chores. Tribal moms appear to understand that babies can be given clear direction and have the ability to obey. Civilized parents often believe their young are still developing brains with comments like, “There’s finally starting to become a little person.” Tribal moms recognized the healing power of breast milk on wounds, and for maintaining healthy skin. In the film the modern moms puts her emphasis on either delegating themselves from child rearing or on controlling it. I observed far more of a need to resolve maternal and child conflict. From a distance what seemed like a modern mom nurturing her baby, at a closer glance turned out be more resembled a classroom setting for babies, only without the desks and chalk board. Even the more affluent Asian mother began her baby on the development of fine motor skills using miniature circles that the baby was being asked to stick to paper.

Yet research confirms that there is an equal ratio of retarded vs. mentally handicapped in every tribe on Earth. Although more highly educated, the civilized moms in the video spent massive amounts of time engaging in school readiness behavior beginning in infancy, where the African tribal moms were focusing on nurturing their babies and building relationships with each other. This is a family excursion that I highly recommend!

If this topic got you thinking about how to your young thought leaders, I invite you to claim your copy of my latest book, 30 Days to Home Office and Parenting Success.

This post is a guest post about Babies movie written by Adelaide Zindle. For more information, please visit her web site at http://www.HomeOfficeMommyMagazine.com

Crazy Heart is the story of Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges), a fifty-seven year old chain-smoking alcoholic, country music singer trying to overcome his personal demons and find some sort of redemption in his life. On the surface, this plot sounds like a cliche country music song with a predictable ending. However, the movie has its own unique twists and turns that left me surprised and deeply moved.

Bad is informed by a doctor that his self-destructive lifestyle will lead to an early death. His lifetime of poor choices has caused several failed marriages, terrible decisions while drinking, and deteriorating health. Still, Bad has a big enough heart that he makes you and his fans care about him.

While performing at a small bar in Santa Fe, Bad meets newspaper journalist Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who wants to interview him for a local newspaper. Despite Bad’s reckless behavior, Jean and Bad begin a relationship. Bad’s professional career also takes a turn for the better when he reconnects with a former touring partner (Colin Farrel) who wants Bad to write songs for him. Bad has been given a second chance in his life and we watch wondering if he is going to take advantage of it and turn his life around or if he is going to blow it and continue with his self-destructive behavior…

This is why Crazy Heart really makes you think and prompts you to ask some tough questions about decisions you’ve made in the past, choices you can make in the future and second chances. We can never know if or when we might be given a second chance. Crazy Heart encourages us to be prepared and ready for it when the time comes.

Additionally, most of us have reached a point in life where either through bad luck or poor choices, we’ve experienced some significant hardship. However, I believe we are also given second chances. Crazy Heart asks us what are you going to do when you are given your second chance in life. You can either choose to let it slip away or “pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try” as the title song of the movie suggests.

You can purchase Crazy Heart on DVD on Amazon by Clicking Here

…Also, if you like country music, the soundtrack to Crazy Heart is great….

“A woman dreams her horse is dying. She wakes to find him dead. Then she dreams this year will be her last.”

-

This is the synopsis for The Edge of Dreaming, a documentary that tells the story of a rational, skeptical woman, a mother and wife, who must confront her mortality after having a dream that tells her she would die in a year at the age of 48. The Edge of Dreaming uses a meditative cinematography to visually explore the emotional states, spiritual insights and daily journey of that year. The film also mixes humor, science and married life as Amy tries to understand what is happening to her by seeking out possible answers from a neuroscientist, shaman, Carl Jung’s teachings and her own family.

The Edge of Dreaming prompts viewers to ask some big questions such as:

What would I worry about if I was going to die in a year?
How would I spend my time?
What would I place my thoughts and attention on?
Where am I going after I die?

The Edge of Dreaming does a good job of raising these questions by following Amy’s journey without telling you exactly how to answer them.

For more information on The Edge of Dreaming you can visit it’s website at http://www.edgeofdreaming.co.uk