If her interview on www.NewDimensions.org and the insights on her website www.serabeak.com) are any indication, this should be a fun book on integrated spirituality :-)

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Product Description

The Red Book is nothing less than a spiritual fire starter -- a combustible cocktail of Hindu Tantra and Zen Buddhism, Rumi and Carl Jung, goddesses and psychics, shaken with cosmic nudges, meaningful subway rides, haircuts, relationships, sex, dreams, and intuition. Author Sera Beak's unique hybrid perspective, hilarious personal anecdotes, and invaluable exercises encourage her readers to live more consciously so they can start making clearer choices across the board, from careers to relationships, politics to pop culture and everything in between. For smart, gutsy, spiritually curious women whose colorful and complicated lives aren’t reflected in most spirituality books, The Red Book is an open invitation to find your true self and start sharing that delicious truth with the world.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21324 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Beak, a religious scholar and writer for the San Francisco Chronicle Web site, sfgate.com, presents a brief but potent book focused on invigorating spirituality in the 20- or 30-something American woman. She vividly criticizes the patriarchal interpretation that has dominated most belief systems for centuries, and then quickly moves on to create her own feminist one. Beak encourages her female audience to do so as well, with their own "red book" modeled after hers, which was first given her as a birthday gift by her sister after their grandfather's death. Beak initially rejected the idea of keeping a journal, but soon found herself writing down prayers, recording dreams and in essence keeping a spiritual scrapbook. Avoiding the typical sentimentality, Beak's vision is a modern, femme fatale spirituality. The book lives up to its "unorthodox" subtitle, advocating that young women search for the spiritual in all things, even sex (memorably in a chapter called "Open Up and Say Ahh"). Beak calls herself a "spiritual cowgirl," taking her readers along for the ride. Her writing is probably too brazen for more conservative spiritual readers, but she displays poignant insights throughout. (June 16)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Beak, a religious scholar and writer for the San Francisco Chronicle Web site, sfgate.com, presents a brief but potent book focused on invigorating spirituality in the 20- or 30-something American woman. She vividly criticizes the patriarchal interpretation that has dominated most belief systems for centuries, and then quickly moves on to create her own feminist one. Beak encourages her female audience to do so as well, with their own "red book" modeled after hers, which was first given her as a birthday gift by her sister after their grandfather's death. Beak initially rejected the idea of keeping a journal, but soon found herself writing down prayers, recording dreams and in essence keeping a spiritual scrapbook. Avoiding the typical sentimentality, Beak's vision is a modern, femme fatale spirituality. The book lives up to its "unorthodox" subtitle, advocating that young women search for the spiritual in all things, even sex (memorably in a chapter called "Open Up and Say Ahh"). Beak calls herself a "spiritual cowgirl," taking her readers along for the ride. Her writing is probably too brazen for more conservative spiritual readers, but she displays poignant insights throughout. (June 16) (Publishers Weekly, February 27, 2006)

Review
"GORGEOUS! . . . A deep, smart, and authentic guide to being more indelibly and powerfully yourself."
—SARK, author-artist, Succulent Wild Woman

"Every so often there comes our way a glorious chunk of life so utterly unique that even the jaded blink twice. The Red Book is just such a chunk . . . refreshing, sparkling, effervescent . . . a psychic shower for the soul."
—Neale Donald Walsch, author, Conversations with God

"If you're hungry for real magic but allergic to self-righteous jive, sit yourself down at this feast."
—Rob Brezsny, syndicated columnist, Free Will Astrology

"Smart, stylish, divine!"
—Cameron Tuttle, author, The Bad Girl's Guide to Getting What You Want

"Beak's knowledge is far-reaching. Her lightness of being is worth taking seriously."
—China Galland, professor, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California; author, The Bond Between Women

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Customer Reviews

WHAT A BLAST!!!!
Thanks, Sera, for writing this perfect book! Like one of the other reviewers I am a...bit...older than the target market, but I still loved it! At 50 I keep waiting to be grown-up and actually, I hope I DON'T! Yes, I firmly believe that our spirituality should be a FUN, VIBRANT, and ALIVE part of our lives and we should all laugh really, really hard every single day. LOVED the Dalai Lama story, I wish more people on this Earth could have a lighter approach to life. Hey, it should not be so hard and serious. If everyone just laughed a bit more and were kinder to each other...weell, problems solved.

Thanks again and for anyone debating over whether or not to buy this book...quit reading reviews and just buy it!

A Wonderful Awakening...
I'm not going to spend a lot of time reviewing this book because I want to get back to reading it! As many other reviewers, I don't fit the age range the author targets. I'm 45. I wish I had this book years ago as a resource, although I guess it was meant to be at this point in my life. Even if you're not religious, which I am not, this book is fabulous. Witty, insightful, encouraging and a fantastic resource. I looked into just one of her many recommendations (I plan to do much more) and wow. What a difference it's made. I actually think this book is better suited for a slightly more mature audience because maybe we are a bit more open minded than a younger generation. The author is clearly quite precocious which is why she speaks to women her age. Don't let that stop you from reading and rereading her wonderful book. Now, back to The Red Book!

The Title Says it All!!
Even though I am older than the target audience this book was written for, I found it to be wonderful. Never hurts to go back to the basics. I also learned a ton from this book. The information on ancient religions treatment of their goddess', and the history of Christianity was informative. It was fun to read how various religions, especially Christianity, evolved. I recently had to give a 45 minute lecture on meditation, and actually used parts from this book. As the author said herself, sometimes while trying to describe spirituality and things like meditation, the wording gets too woo-woo, and you can lose your reader and/or audience. This book was straight forward, fun to read, makes you laugh and teaches, all without condescending to the reader.

I am buying more copies to give to all the wonderful young women in my life. Additionally my older girl friends are also reading it with real interest.