The Hidden Power

Newt List is proud to announce its latest release, Thomas Troward's The Hidden Power and Other Essays. This is Troward's final book, released after his death, and is a compilation of several previously unpublished essays and articles.

Thomas Troward provides a "missing link" in the study and practice of spirituality. Often, we are inspired by spiritual ideas. They stir something in us that show us what is possible, how life can be. This revelation can be so exciting that we immediately dive in to the practice, only to find that, frequently, our results are not what we imagined. The missing element is our understanding of the basic principles—why and how they work.

Troward uses principles of science, math and theology to explain spiritual ideas. He believed that we need to know why they work, so that we can more effectively use them, understand them, and cause them to work with the fullest power in our lives.

Unfortunately, Troward can be difficult to read because of his use of technical jargon. Newt List goes a long way to solving this issue through intense editorial work on Troward's texts. We have updated the punctuation and idioms of the time in which Troward wrote, making these books easier for contemporary readers, without losing the distinctive voice of the author. We have also incorporated gender-neutral forms, offering greater accessibility. We think you'll find Troward much more accessible with our editions.

If you have not read Troward before, The Hidden Power and Other Essays is the perfect starting point. These essays are easily digestible and offer Troward's ideas in succinct chapters of information.

Newt List has a complete collection of updated and gender-neutral versions of all Thomas Troward's books, including The Dore Lectures on Mental Science, The Creative Process in the Individual, and Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning.

                   

Being a Contented Cat

I want to point you to a valuable blog on facing difficult issues life throws at us. It is Betti Magison Effrig's Contented Cat. Betti (full disclosure: she is my sister-in-law's sister!) writes clearly and thoughtfully about her life with muscular dystrophy. She writes about acceptance versus persistence, a concept that requires an acute sense of balance that actually applies to every one of us, whether we are dealing with large challenges or small.

Betti has taken her increasing inflexibility of body to increase the flexibility of her mind, showing us that we are not only what is "between our head and our boots," as Walt Whitman said, but spiritual, thinking beings as well. We are who we decide to be, who we choose to be, and not what our circumstances dictate.

It is not an easy road that Betti is on, but one can see by reading her blog that she has a grace and empathy that can teach each one of us not only how to appreciate our own existence, but how to thrive when we choose to accept and embody the lessons of the "contented cat" in all of us.

Guest Blog: Antonia Albany on Life After 50

You wake up one morning and all of a sudden you’re in your mid-50s and starting to think about the rest of your life. And you’re afraid it’s going to be all about soft, tasteless food and forgetfulness, hearing aids and trifocals, early-bird specials and multiple trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Try visualizing this instead: it’s the least stressful time of your life where being unburdened of a 60-hour-a-week job, a 30-year mortgage and raising children allows for a freedom never experienced before. Sure, lots of people in their 50s still have jobs and mortgages but there is a shift from the hectic mindset that often accompanies our younger years. We can be more relaxed and happier in our 50s and beyond. It’s possible for everyone, including you.

You’ve been holding in your stomach all your life, let it go. You’ve been covering that ever-widening bald spot for the last 10 years. Go ahead, show us the shine! Be proud that you’ve made it this far in life. Just think, you can let go of trying to keep up with the Jonses. You can sit back and relax and watch the next generation of people jumping through hoops to acquire the latest clothes, cars, jewelry and electronics. There’s no reason to keep up with the latest music (which I find uninspiring at best anyway) and no reason to know what all the current slang terminology means and how to use it.

Making the Most of It
Here are some ideas for insuring your life after 50 is the best it can be:

      Maintain a healthy lifestyle – this is best for ANY age

      Hang out with upbeat people 

      Share your experiences with others – teach or mentor someone

      Let go of worry – meditating works really well for learning to let go

      Make yourself a priority

      If you do feel the urge to complain, keep it to yourself

      Simplify, simplify, simplify – clean out and donate or discard

      Take time to smell the roses

I’m serious. There not only IS life after 50, but it’s a wonderful life. Personally speaking I had a job and financial obligations in my 50s and still do, to a lesser extent, now that I’m 65. But I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I have an abundant life for which I am grateful. It’s a life that isn’t extravagant by any means but it is rich in experiences, including friendships, spirituality and a continuing quest for knowledge. So, be open and embrace all the fun and new experiences of getting older.

Antonia Albany's blog, Antonia's Senior Moments, can be found here.

You may also be interested in the following related Newt List books:

     

Raves for "The Philosophy of Jesus"

Being the first book ever published under the Newt List label, The Philosophy of Jesus definitely holds a special place in my affections. The manner in which Ernest Holmes examines the historical Jesus and applies Jesus' life-affirming philosophy to today's spiritual ideas has always inspired me, so I am thrilled that the book continues to be Newt List's best selling title.

I'm equally pleased that the reviews on Amazon.com have been so favorable—a solid 5 stars! The responses that readers write about The Philosophy of Jesus are a tribute to the powerful ideas in this book and how these ideas influence others.

It frequently surprises me, though, that people seldom if ever mention that they appreciate the gender-neutral language used in all Newt List books. When I worked at Science of Mind Publishing, the most common complaint we heard from readers was Ernest Holmes' use of masculine language, for example when referring to God as "Him" or the idea of people as "man." Holmes' philosophy was so all inclusive, they said, that the use of masculine forms felt antithetical to his ideas.

But I think the reason people don't comment more on the gender-neutral language is because they don't even notice it! Though I take this as a complement to the intensive process of editing we do here at Newt List, I also believe that gender-inclusive language is actually more accurate and, when edited well, more seamless to the reader. Though "man does not live by bread alone," neither does woman! Making language apply accurately allows us the opportunity to move more deeply into the text and ideas therein, which is always a good thing and, I believe, every good author's intention.

If you'd like to see what people are saying about The Philosophy of Jesus, check out the Amazon.com page here. Plus if you scroll further down, you can see the popular passages in the book that readers highlight as they read.

Guest Blog: Edward Viljoen on The Power of Meditation - An Ancient Technique to Access your Inner Power

What is meditation?

The term meditation is as broad in definition as the term ‘art’ is. Both include a wide range of practices, styles and purposes. For instance, art can be engaged in for therapeutic reasons, or for fun and recreation, or for many other reasons. Art has different disciplines, each with its distinct schools of thought, media and tools. Accomplished artists in one discipline, may not exhibit skillfulness in another, and may not even understand the methods of a different media.

In the same way, meditation is different things to different people. There are certain meditative practices that work better for me, practices I respond to and understand better. By “practice” I mean the daily method I use to meditate. If I were a water-color artist, I might say water-color was my preferred medium and I might not care to waste my time chiseling away at a marble block to reveal a hidden statue therein. As a water colorist, when I spoke about my art and the benefits, goals and methods of its practice, I would be talking in a language that other water colorists understood. Although there would be crossover points universal to all artists, I would have found my niche, my way and my art. I may have even dabbled with other forms of art in the journey to discover what fits best, or I might have been one of those duck-to-water artists that pick it up and simply know how to do it.

A Practice the Works for You

Similarly, when I talk about meditation, I’m talking about my best practice and I tend, sometimes, to talk as if it is the only way. I know this isn't the case, and I think what is coming through is my enthusiasm for what I have developed in my understanding of what meditation can be for me. I did dabble with all kinds of practices and a little of everything I encountered along the way has lingered in what has become my practice today. I have developed a multi-faceted approach in which three distinct tools form the meditative practice I use, and that I teach to others:

• Mindfulness practices: in which we become absorbed in a purposefully chosen activity
• Sitting practices: in which we reduce the use of mental and physical resources as much as possible by sitting still and silently
• Creative practices: in which we use some device such as journaling, observing, or focusing on an inspirational passage

Finding a practice that worked for me at first seemed like a battle with an unruly mind.   Every time I sat, I lost the battle.  That is, until I learned to stop fighting.  So, I didn't try to tame my mind, instead I made friends with it.  By that I mean I dropped my mental fight with what I discovered inside.

You can purchase The Power of Meditation

From Amazon

Kindle Edition

From Barnes and Noble

Nook Edition

From Indiebound