Product Description

I have heard it all my life,
A voice calling a name I recognized as my own.
Sometimes it comes as a soft-bellied whisper.
Sometimes it holds an edge of urgency.
But always it says: Wake up my love.
You are walking asleep.
There's no safety in that!

In The Invitation, visionary writer and teacher Oriah Mountain Dreamer wrote about what we long for. In The Dance, she explored how to live this longing to the fullest. Now, in The Call, she completes the trilogy, showing us why we are here and why we must each undertake that journey from longing to living fully and deeply in the world. Each of us, Oriah believes, has our own call, our own way to discover and live fully our true selves and our heart's desires. But the call cannot be found in the expectations of others or in the outside world; it can only be found within ourselves. And heeding it is not a matter of doing, but of accepting, "not doing."

With her trademark practical style, Oriah gently guides us through her journey to find and heed her own call. What she discovered is that to be fully human is consciously to be who we truly are. By joining Oriah on this path, we may find the way to live, awake to our distinct essence. The key is to give up striving to become who we think we should be and to embrace our true self, imperfections and all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #723632 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The author, a workshop and retreat leader, follows up her two earlier bestsellers (The Invitation and The Dance) with the spiritual search that is at the center of all our lives. On a 40-day vision quest that ended abruptly when she became ill, Mountain Dreamer heeded an inner voice that instructed her to go home; once there, she continued her contemplative retreat, and through meditative practices (which she shares here), she comes to acknowledge the difficulty she has with overcoming ego demands, such as her strong drive to achieve. Although Mountain Dreamer is sincere in her wish to be of help to others, her writing lacks clarity and a strong structure. She recounts how she came to a decision to turn down an opportunity to study shamanism in the Amazon. When she prayed for guidance, she understood that, although she might make the trip someday, what she needed to learn then was to live in the moment. And that moment was one of flux, when she moved to a new home with her husband and did not see her grown sons as frequently. She digresses here on the fact that change is ongoing in every life, and on her discovery that the word at the center of her particular existence is "rest." The author's message is delivered by way of her deep spiritual convictions and New Age orientation.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"This book will answer many prayers and cure our absence of light." (Daniel Ladinsky, best-selling author of The Gift: Poems by Hafiz )

"Fiercely, corageously, honestly, The Call reaches down to the tender heart of what it means to be human." (Roger Housden, author of 10 Poems to Change Your Life and 10 Poems to Open Your Heart )

"The Call is a gift of healing and renewal. Enjoy it!" (John O'Donohue, author of international bestsellers Anam Cara and Eternal Echoes )

About the Author
Oriah Mountain Dreamer is a visionary writer and author of the bestselling The Invitation and The Dance. She leads workshops and is a guest speaker at various ceremonies and retreats throughout the United States and Canada. She lives outside of Toronto.

Customer Reviews

Call to be at peace
I have read two of Oriah's earlier books, the invitation and the dance, and the third in the trilogy i like even better than the other two. Oriah speaks to the reader with absolute honesty - on her relationships, her family, work, fears and hopes of everyday life - and how she deals with it. I particularly liked what she said about finding your 'word' or the one word around which inner dynamics evolve. And her clarity/differentiation between ego and essence is incredible, a noteworthy approach to practical spirituality needed for modern times.
This is definitely not for the average self help person or someone who just wants to 'make it work' with ten points on how-to- it is more for those of us who struggle with finding inner peace and authenticity in all that we do. Also the author has a very verbose style of writing that may not appeal to many - particularly those who are not very word-oriented and that might be something to watch for.

The Call: Discovering Why You Are Here
Stunned by two negative reviews, I feel compelled to add my thoughts about this book--a book which I have heavily highligthted and found to be thoroughly honest. The author deals with the not-so-easy aspects of the spiritual journey with a direct 21st century awareness, using her own life as example. Anyone on a genuine spiritual journey of their own will understand what she means when she writes: "Create a gap in your story and sit within the gap, sit in the emptiness of not knowing who or what you are until an awareness of your essential nature fills you." This is one more book to add to my library of hundreds of volumes of spiritual literature, many of which I gathered while in seminary working towards a master's degree in Spritual Direction. Along with The Cloud of Unknowing, works by the Desert Fathers, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Evelyn Underhill, Joseph Campbell and others I add Oriah Mountain Dreamer for speaking bravely to our time and, more specifically, to my life.

A Spiritual Workbook
Even more than its two excellent predecessors ("The Invitation" and "The Dance") the third book of Oriah's trilogy is a handbook on how to live. While influences of both the Sufis and Lao-Tze (Taoist) are present, the voice is clearly unique and powerfully original. Grounding her teachings in stories from her life, Oriah marshalls a persuasive argument that the core issue in our lives and our relation to Spirit is not that we need to do more, but that we need to accept who we are. The meditations offer clear and practical steps towards accomplishing that.

This is a practical book, that can be enjoyed whatever the reader's religious views are. Highly recommended!