In SEEKERS: FINDING OUR WAY HOME, Paul Dunion, a psychological healer and philosopher, addresses those who feel called to seek something new in their lives: a view of the world, a reshaping of self, or an important philosophical discovery. He guides the reader through topics like spiritual homelessness and how one can build “a place to linger,” how to be truly present to someone else, how to find balance among the elemental energies, how to create and find enchantment in one’s life, and how to age well and wisely as a seeker.
Good counsel, sense, and compassionate wisdom abound in this book. Dunion’s advice on “contracted presence”—being there for people in need or distress without intruding one’s own needs or agenda on them—is priceless. Quotes, references, and advice from well-known figures, ranging from Einstein to the Dalai Lama, and anecdotes from friends, family, and clients (appropriately changed for confidentiality) are heavily sprinkled throughout the book. All are relevant, well-placed, and generally quite useful for illustrating his points.
Dunion’s writing style is gentle and friendly, although he sometimes gets caught up in rather florid language; people in the book do not “say” things so much as “share,” “express,” or “offer” them. At times, he ventures a little too far into New Age fluffiness, as when he says he “periodically remind[s] myself that one of my ancestors was the saber-toothed tiger”—which is unlikely, unless he’s actually a housecat in a very clever disguise. Dunion’s advice on how to deal with conflict leans toward the nonconfrontational, a useful method for many but counterproductive for those, particularly women, who have historically been conditioned toward nonconfrontational approaches to an unhealthy degree. For example, his advice on how not to get caught up in a right-wrong dynamic can be useful, but he illustrates what to do by describing a disagreement he had with someone on a relatively trivial matter. Unfortunately, this example may not be helpful when the matter being discussed has actual, profound effects on, say, a marriage, a friendship, even a person’s civil rights.
On the whole, SEEKERS is a thoughtful, warm, and benevolent guide for those who find, or want, their lives to be a continual quest for spiritual and emotional growth.
~Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader