Laughing All the Way to Enlightenment - A Humorous Spiritual Journey
by Charles "Chick" Balter
Formerly Titled: India on a Thousand Dollars a Day
Stillpoint Press, Copyright 1995
ISBN: 0-9646244-0-0
304 Pages
$15.95
 The spiritual path requires humor, lots of it.
The willingness to be a joke unto ourselves empowers us with the bouyancy we
need to move through the devine comi-drama of our
lives. Laughing All the Way to Enlightenment by Charles Balter celebrates
this perspective through a heartfelt and hilarious account of his wild ride
on the spiritual-seeking merry-go-round. With many cartoon illustrations
and quotes from lots of wise people, its style is light and admirably self-revealing.
A True Story of Adventure Into the Unknown.
Recovering from a failed marriage and inner and outer bankruptcy, a thirty- something
building contractor from Philadelphia stumbles into a series of mysterious, synchronistic
events that turn his body, his life (and his pockets) upside down, catapulting him into a
sometimes hilarious yet always sincere journey along the path of self-discovery.
From firewalking and sacred rituals to Indian barber shops, from cremations on the
Ganges to earthquakes and juice bars in California, this tale illuminates the challenge
of facing fear directly and the power in gratefully accepting and celebrating life as it
comes.
Highlighted with ancient teaching stories, lighthearted illustrations, jokes, and cosmic
bumper stickers, this story is one man's full-tilt exploration into himself and a lighter
(and real) look at the inner game, with all its seduction, sham, truth, fascination - and
expense.
Chapter after Chapter, we're treated to an eye-opening array of anecdotes. They are
funny, sad, shocking, and more, but they all reflect the author's honest and gritty
grappling with the suchness of his own life. Each episode, from the burning ghats on
the Ganges to the firewalks in Philadelphia, reveals the humilty of traveling the spiritual path.
So, next time you're in the mood to elevate your spirits, resist the urge to consult the
Old Testament or one of those riveting volumes of Hindu mythology and pick up a copy
of Laughing All the Way to Enlightenment. Read this in a bubble bath, not on a bed of
nails, and let truth tickle you on every page.
Charles Balter lives in New Jersey and conducts courses in meditation, self-mastery, and
firewalking throughout the United States and elsewhere in the world.
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Reviews - What some people are saying about this book:
- "The best thing since the Vedas... and you no what happened to them - they couldn't
give 'em away." ~ Dr. Jay Kreesh Nah Merty
- ".....fills the gap between shallow, materialistic how-to books and tiresome spiritual
pap. You may never want to read another personal growth book." ~ Personal Growth Gazette
- "Brilliant... Clear, exciting, well written. I think everyone should read it." ~ Gladys Balter, Author's mother
- "Couldn't put it down. This book has a sort of mesmerizing, hypnotic quality. But I was glad
to see that the guy eventually got a life."
~ Judy P Dulum, Certified Hypnotherapist
- "If I were still alive I'd sue the bastard." ~ Alan Watts, author of Cloud Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown
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Laughing All the Way to Enlightenment - Chapter Excerpts
Chapter 6 - "Classical Yoga: Corpses and Central Casting"
Chapter 8 - "Fire! The Heart of Agni Yoga"
Chapter 13 - "The Sound Celestial"
Chapter 16 - "Camp Concentration"
Chapter 27 - "Heart of the Fire"
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The Tibetan Book of the Dad - Stories of Living, Dying, and Diapering
Parenting as a Path of Awakening
by Charles "Chick" Balter
Forthcoming Book. Copyright 1997. Charles Balter
At forty eight, Charles Balter, still seeking the perfect marriage between the
spiritual and material worlds, is steeped in one of the most notorious situations
 for growth a man can choose - starting a second family and fathering
two children under the age of three. His journeys through the New Age/Eastern
spiritual circuit, chronicled on his first book, Laughing All the Way to Enlightenment,
were nothing compared to the challenges of being a full-time dad.
His primary teachers are no longer the burning bodies on cremation pyres or indian
barbers he encountered during his journeys to the East. Spiritual masters and the
high-tech toys of consciousness have given way to a fiery wife, a two-and-a-half
year-old angel named Sophia, and a hardy one-year old redheaded son, Cailean -
plus a volatile Sicilian extended family - who drive him to the edge of sanity on
a daily basis.
With humor, honesty, and compassionate insight, Balter tackles a variety of
sensitive, controversial issues in this exploration of conscious parenting - including
circumcision, vaccination and the nature of human immunity, home birth, unusual
prenatal care practices, and living with an aging, dying parent. These stories will
find a response in the heart and mind of all moms and dads - or anyone who has
survived the war and peace of family life - whether or not they consider parenting
a spiritual path.
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Excerpts from the forthcoming book entitled
"The Tibetan Book of the Dad" by Charles Balter
Overview
About The Author
Chapter Summaries
Contents
Introduction
"Sicilian Prophecy: An Offer I Could Not Refuse" ('Almost' a true story of Living, Dying and Diapering)
"Snip Me, Stamp Me! It's Official: I'm a Certified Human Being" (Circumcision and Home-Birth)
"The Eye of the Needle" (Childhood vaccination)
Bibliography
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