Shantigar Retreat, Theater Meditation Healing Workshops Jean Claude Van Itallie

Books

Some of the books below are only available through Shantigar. Please contact us if you have any questions about the availability of any book. If you would like to purchase any of the books click on a title.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead for Reading Aloud, by Jean-Claude van Itallie, based on traditional Tibetan texts (North Atlantic Books, San Francisco, I998) includes the text for Jean-Claude's play The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which premiered in 1983 at LaMama ETC in NYC, photos of the production by Gerry Vezzuso, and Tibetan illustrations chosen by Professor Deborah Klimburg-Slater. This book is meant to be read aloud, like poems, by anyone in crisis, to oneself or to a friend.

The Playwright's Workbook, a play writing textbook (Applause, 1997) by Jean-Claude van Itallie. On the cover, Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America calls Jean-Claude "My only teacher."In the book Jean-Claude offers techniques he's invented for writing plays.

America Hurrah and Other Plays, by Jean-Claude van Itallie (re-published by Grove Atlantic, NYC, 2001)
From Bill Coco’s introduction: “This collection of Jean-Claude’s plays represents a generous overview of a twenty-five-year span in the career of one of the foremost and most original American playwrights of the last half century.”

Chekhov: The Major Plays, by Jean-Claude van Itallie. Despite the abundant variety of Chekhov translations available in bookstores and libraries, American directors and actors have sought out these versions by Jean-Claude van Itallie to make them the most often performed renditions on the American stage today. This edition includes "The Seagull," "Uncle Vanya," "Three Sisters," and "The Cherry Orchard."

Shards, a grief journal of drawings by Deborah Katz, to be published in 2008.

Boundless Healing: Meditation Exercises to Enlighten the Mind and Heal the Body by Tulku Thondup (Shambhala, 2000) This book offers simple meditation techniques to awaken energies in the body and mind. Using Buddhist principles as a basis, Tulku Thondup Rinpoche has created a universal guide that anyone can use. It will benefit those who want to preserve good health as well as those who need comfort and relief from illness or mental distress.

The Healing Power of Mind (Buddhayana Series, VII)- by Tulku Thondup (Shambhala, 2000) Master of Tibetan Buddhism, gifted scholar, and renowned translator Tulku Thondup invites readers to awaken the healing power of the mind through images and sounds, mindful movements, positive perceptions, soothing feeling, trusting confidence, and the realization of openness. Foreword by Daniel Goleman.

The Path Is the Goal- A Basic Handbook of Buddhist Meditation - By Chogyam Trungpa (Shambhala, 1995) Taken from two seminars delivered in 1974, these talks focus on shamatha or calm abiding meditation and vipassana or insight meditation. Trungpa's incisive and clear teaching style opens up the secrets and possibilities of these powerful forms of Buddhist meditation. "The Buddha pictured on the cover is in Jean-Claude's shrine room at Shantigar."

Life on Land: The Story of Continuum, The World-Renowned Self-Discovery and Movement Method - by Emilie Conrad (North Atlantic Books, 2007) Emilie Conrad’s approach to movement education, health, and healing is as varied and deeply textured as her life story. In Life on Land, she interweaves the story of her Brooklyn childhood and discovery of dance with the psychic and physical collapse that led to the development of Continuum, her groundbreaking movement and self-realization ...

The Modern Book of Feng Shui: Vitality and Harmony for the Home and Office - by Steven Post (Dell, 1998) This is the ultimate tool for employing Feng Shui, or the ancient Chinese art of placement, to enrich your life. Whether in the workplace or in the home, this guide is the perfect first step in establishing harmony with the energy, or chi, through additions and awareness of your surroundings. Put the secrets of Feng Shui to work for you!"

Acting Teachers of America: A Vital Tradition - by Ronald Rand (Allworth Press, 2007) Acting Teachers of America provides access to fifty of the most influential acting teachers in the United States. Through Ronald Rand’s probing interviews, leading coaches and educators reveal their beliefs, passions, and wisdom, as well as their approaches to teaching the craft

The Mother's Signature: A Journal of Dreams - by Dr. Bernard Bail (The Masters Publishing Company, LLC,2007) In The Mother’s Signature, I describe my discovery, gleaned through fifty years as a psychoanalyst, of how our unconscious through our dreams reveals the process by which we become who we are. During these years I was amazed to find the spiritual emerging with increasing importance in my patients’ dreams as they became more evolved individuals. "Dr. Bail is one of Jean-Claude's teachers."

We Want to Live - by Aajonus von der Plonitz. We Want to Live, the primal diet by Aajonus von der Plonitz (Bookmasters -- can be purchased at www.wewantolive.com or 800 244 6553) is by another of Jean-Claude's own teachers, a nutritionist and a highly original thinker. It's both movingly autobiographical and tells how to eat and live healthfully, without disease.

Miracles at Work: Building Your Business From The Soul Up - by John Adams Discover the 10 Principles of Upside-Down Thinking and 10 Practices of Business Success that are transforming the way we do business. John Adams was fired during the Air Traffic Controllers strike of 1981. But for years he had been nurturing the dream of starting his own business. By 1992, John was awarded the Hartford, CT Chamber of Commerce Small Business Leader of the Year Award. By 1996, Adams and Adams Building Services had grown to $3.5 million in annual sales employing 350 members. That is when John sold his company to share with others the unique Principles of Upside-Down Thinking and Practices of Business Success you will discover in this book.

The Arhats

Shantigar is blessed by many ancient Chinese artifacts, indoors and outdoors, in stone, wood, and metal, imported from China by Shantigar’s curator, John Meyer, owner of Liasia Antiques in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
    A magnificent full set of eighteen Chinese five hundred-year-old iron arhats (wise men) currently preside over Jean-Claude’s art studio.
    They’ll either grace Shantigar’s new Cloud Mountain community building, or they’ll help build it.
    Each arhat weighs weigh about seventy pounds, and is about three feet tall. These statues were originally in the garden of a Buddhist temple. They represent Buddha’s disciples, or different ways of achieving enlightenment.
    If you’re interested in purchasing the arhats, please contact Shantigar. (No, we won’t break up the set – they’ve been together five hundred years and have a powerful effect as a group.)