The Way of the Lover

Subtitled 'Sufism, Shamanism and the Spiritual Art of Love', this book takes the reader on a profound journey drawing on a wide variety of sources to deepen our capacity to love, a central theme in Sufism and in its mystics such as Rumi. The author uses the medicine wheel with its four directions as a map as we journey towards the centre, learning in the process to respond from love rather than react from fear - he has a very helpful chart in this respect (p. 61). In the process of seeking the beloved, readers answer various questions as they move through and play various roles. The lessons are nicely illustrated in the number of parables. I particularly enjoyed the one about God's two-coloured hat and the arguments between people who only see one side and therefore one colour. In the chapter on staying awake on the path, he advises us to keep death as an adviser to retain perspective on our lives. Love and fear also present in our relationships, and it is here that a shared vision can be critical. At the end, after a beautiful story about the wise king, the author advises us not only to throw away books and start a revolution, but also to burn the very book we have just read!