The award-winning author of The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters returns with a new novel about a woman who craves solitude, only to find family more fulfilling. In Buddhism, there is a place where hungry souls gather between lives awaiting rebirth so they can finally satisfy the desires that haunt them. In the San Fernando Valley, that place is Marina Lucero's house. The Realm of Hungry Spirits For Marina Lucero, whose father transformed his life through meditation and whose mother gave hers to a Carmelite convent, spirituality should come easily. It doesn't. After a devastating relationship leaves her feeling lost and alone, she opens her home to a collection of wayward souls-- the abused woman next door and her alcoholic sister, her aimless nephew and his broken-hearted best friend. Her house now full but her heart still empty, Marina then turns to the wisdom of Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, even a Santeria priest who wants to cleanse her home. As Marina struggles to balance the disappointments and delights of daily life, she'll learn that, when it comes to inner peace and those we love, a little chaos can lead to a lot of happiness.

A “thought-provoking and powerful” study that reframes everything you’ve been taught about addiction and recovery—from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Myth of Normal (Bruce Perry, author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog). A world-renowned trauma expert combines real-life stories with cutting-edge research to offer a holistic approach to understanding addiction—its origins, its place in society, and the importance of self-compassion in recovery. Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with people with addiction on Vancouver’s skid row, this #1 international bestseller radically re-envisions a much misunderstood condition by taking a compassionate approach to substance abuse and addiction recovery. In the same vein as Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts traces the root causes of addiction to childhood trauma and examines the pervasiveness of addiction in society. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout—and perhaps underpins—our society. It is not a medical “condition” distinct from the lives it affects but rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs and behaviors of addiction. Simplifying a wide array of brain and addiction research findings from around the globe, the book avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting a thorough and compassionate self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. Dr. Maté argues persuasively against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and how they perpetuate the War on Drugs. The mix of personal stories—including the author’s candid discussion of his own “high-status” addictive tendencies—and science with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers and professionals.

The world's foremost Buddhist leader offers an accessible approach to relieving suffering and achieving peace. Full of personal reflections, "Becoming Enlightened" is an empowering book for people of all faiths.

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER From renowned mental health expert and speaker Dr. Gabor Maté, this acclaimed, bestselling guide provides insight into the mind-body link between illness and health, and the critical role that stress and our emotional makeup play in an array of common diseases. In this accessible and groundbreaking book—filled with the moving stories of real people—medical doctor and bestselling author Gabor Maté shows that emotion and psychological stress play a powerful role in the onset of chronic illness, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and many others. An international bestseller translated into over thirty languages, When the Body Says No promotes learning and healing, providing transformative insights into how illlness can be the body's way of saying no to what the mind cannot or will not acknowledge. With great compassion and erudition, Dr. Maté demystifies medical science and empowers us all to be our own health advocates.

The instant New York Times bestseller By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing. In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health? Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Cowritten with his son Daniel, The Myth Of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.

A "Falling kingdoms spin-off series, which explores a whole new side of Mytica"--Dust jacket flap.

When talking about beings without bodies; angels, ascended masters and spirit guides aren't the only kids on the block. Dark Angels talks about the bad kids in town. Who are these bad kids? As a child, you might have met one at night...under your bed, in your closet or down a dark hallway. Dark Angels is an exciting exploration into the darker side of the spirit world. This isn't a dull dissertation about ghosts. It takes a fun and candid approach to addressing ghosts, attached entities and demons. Dark Angels is filled with revealing information about these dark forces and how they can influence our lives. Written in a straightforward, easy to read manner, the technical content as well as the stories shared are infused with Dr. Louise's own wit, candor and sassy style. Dark Angels delves deeply into the subject of ghosts and all those things that go "bump in the night . Dr. Louise details the differences between residual and active hauntings. She delves into the reasons why ghosts remain here on earth and explores topics including portals, ley lines, and vortexes. She also discusses how the reader can begin to detect ghostly presences intuitively, or through the use of ghost hunting equipment. In addition to ghosts, Dark Angels explores the concept of attached entities. Dr. Louise informs the reader of the true motives of these non-corporeal beings. She describes why entities attach to us, the vehicle for their attachment and the mechanism through which they are able to influence us and our lives. Dr. Louise also reveals how some mental disorders may not be psychiatric in nature, but may ultimately be caused by the presence of one of these other worldly beings influencing the sufferer. Dark Angels also provides the reader specific methodologies he or she can use to clear a location. The techniques include how to begin communicating and interacting with these beings without bodies. Strategies include how to eliminate pesky ghosts from a location as well as how to clear oneself of an attached entity. Although reader discretion is advised, the easy to understand, clear-cut energy medicine techniques described are known to produce dramatic results by both the novice and experienced practitioner alike.

Derived from a Buddhist funerary text, this famous volume's timeless wisdom includes instructions for attaining enlightenment, preparing for the process of dying, and moving through the various stages of rebirth.

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, this brilliantly reported and beautifully crafted book explores the clash between a medical center in California and a Laotian refugee family over their care of a child.