Banyen Books ~ Branches of Wisdom

Russ Hudson is one of the world's foremost Enneagram scholars today. He is the co-founder of the Enneagram Institute, as well as a founding director and former vice-president of the International Enneagram Association. He has coauthored several international bestselling books, including The Wisdom of the Enneagram and Personality Types. Russ is a popular speaker at conferences and retreat centres worldwide including the Esalen Institute, the Wisdom 2.0 Conference, and the Science and Non-Duality Conference. Here he discusses Russ Hudson discusses The Enneagram: Nine Gateways to Presence.

Anita Moorjani, New York Times bestselling author of Dying to Be Me, speaks about her new book Sensitive is the New Strong: The Power of Empaths in an Increasingly Harsh World. Moorjani offers inspiration and guidance for sensitive people looking to fully harness their gifts of intuition and empathy in today’s harsh world.

Elizabeth Lesser discusses her new book, Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes. What story would Eve have told about picking the apple? Why is Pandora blamed for opening the box? And what about the fate of Cassandra, who was blessed with knowing the future but cursed so that no one believed her? What if women had also told our guiding origin tales, spiritual parables, and hero myths? Elizabeth Lesser is the co-founder of Omega Institute, the renowned conference and retreat center in Rhinebeck, New York. She is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including Marrow, The Seeker's Guide, and Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow, which has been translated into more than 20 languages. Elizabeth Lesser has given two popular TED talks, and is one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100, a collection of a hundred leaders who are using their voices and talent to elevate humanity.

Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith & Max Wilbert discuss Bright Green Lies: How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do About It. "Bright Green Lies exposes the hypocrisy of leading environmental groups. It asks the questions most refuse to ask, and in that questioning, uncovers profound truths.” ―Chris Hedges "This disturbing but very important book makes clear we must dig deeper than the normal solutions we are offered." ―Yvon Chouinard “Derrick Jensen is a rare and original voice of sanity in a chaotic world. ”⁠ ―Howard Zinn Derrick Jensen is an American author, ecophilosopher and radical environmentalist living in Crescent City, California. Democracy Now! has described him as the "poet-philosopher of the ecological movement." He is the author of more than 25 acclaimed books, including A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, and Endgame. Lierre Keith is a writer, small farmer, and radical feminist activist. She is the author of six books, including The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability, which has been called “the most important ecological book of this generation.” She is also coauthor of Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet. Max Wilbert is an author, organizer, and wilderness guide. A third-generation dissident, Max has been part of grassroots political work for nearly 20 years. Max serves on the Board of Directors of Deep Green Resistance and Fertile Ground Institute for Social and Ecological Justice.

Bill Plotkin, author of Soulcraft, discusses The Journey of Soul Initiation. In this conversation, Plotkin provides guidance for the descent to soul - the dissolution of current identity; the encounter with the mythopoetic mysteries of soul; and the metamorphosis of the ego into a cocreator of life-enhancing culture. He illustrates each phase of this riveting and sometimes hazardous odyssey and speaks about his innovative exploration of Carl Jung's Red Book. Bill Plotkin, PhD, is a depth psychologist, wilderness guide, and agent of cultural evolution. As founder of western Colorado’s Animas Valley Institute in 1981, he has guided thousands of seekers through nature-based initiatory passages, including a contemporary, Western adaptation of the pan-cultural vision quest. Previously, he has been a research psychologist (studying non-ordinary states of consciousness), professor of psychology, psychotherapist, rock musician, and whitewater river guide. Bill has a doctorate in psychology from the University of Colorado. He is the author of Soulcraft, Wild Mind, Nature and the Human Soul, and the new release, The Journey of Soul Initiation.

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way, discusses The Listening Path: The Creative Art of Attention. Julia Cameron is credited with starting a movement that has brought creativity into the mainstream. She is the bestselling author of more than fourty books of fiction and nonfiction; a poet, songwriter, filmmaker, and playwright. The Artist's Way has been translated into fourty languages and has sold over five million copies to date. Her new book is The Listening Path: The Creative Art of Attention. In this conversation with her longtime publisher and friend Joel Fontinos, Julia Cameron discusses morning pages, artist dates, the path of deep listening, and more.

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, renowned Buddhist teacher, shares wisdom for the cultivation of patience and an open heart. In the Buddhist tradition, “patience” is our mind’s ability to work positively with anything that bothers us. In his new book Peaceful Heart: The Buddhist Practice of Patience, Dzigar Kongtrul expands on ancient teachings that contain powerful methods for preventing our minds from becoming consumed and overwhelmed.

Red Hawk discusses his latest book of poems, The Law of the Land, which is a heartfelt cry to humanity to reconnect with our sacred Mother Earth through three moral codes of life. He also touches on themes from his classic books on spiritual practice, Self Observation and Self Remembering. In the course of the conversation, Red Hawk describes how he received his Earth name, and shares about his own spiritual influences. Red Hawk was the Hodder Fellow in the Humanities at Princeton University in 1991-92, and is currently professor at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He is an award-winning author of eight poetry collections and two nonfiction spiritual books. His poems have also appeared in The Atlantic, Kenyon Review, Shenandoah, Tampa Review, and many others.

Award-winning writer Michael Posner speaks with Banyen Books & Sound about his new biography, Leonard Cohen: Untold Stories. From his groundbreaking and bestselling novels, The Favourite Game and Beautiful Losers, to timeless songs such as “Suzanne,” “Dance Me to the End of Love,” and “Hallelujah,” Leonard Cohen is a cherished artist. Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories draws on hundreds of interviews to reach beyond the Cohen of myth and reveal the unique, complex, and compelling figure of the real man. Michael Posner is a writer, playwright, journalist, and the author of seven books. These include the Mordecai Richler biography, The Last Honest Man, and the Anne Murray biography, All of Me, both of which were national bestsellers. He was Washington Bureau Chief for Maclean’s magazine, and later served as its national, foreign, and assistant managing editor. He was also managing editor of the Financial Times of Canada for three years. He later spent sixteen years as a senior writer with The Globe and Mail.

Thomas Hübl, spiritual teacher and Sounds True author, shares wisdom for healing individual and personal trauma. His new book is Healing Collective Trauma: A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds.