Phil Cousineau

THE ART OF PILGRIMAGE:
More than 100,000 copies sold!

“Thinking of those who intend to embark on a journey with a deep purpose, Cousineau explores why travelers plan trips and then, upon getting to their destination, have a sense of unfulfilled expectation. Cousineau suggests that this disappointment results from the way travelers engage with the place, not the site itself. Stories, anecdotes, quotes, vignettes, and practical suggestions from travelers and pilgrims throughout history create a guide to building a personal journey by learning to slow down and linger, savor, and absorb each stage from the first strands of desire to travel through the journey to the return. To help the reader get involved, Cousineau includes a series of meditations and imagination exercises.” --Library Journal

“Cousineau shares details of his inspirational vision of travel, which is that every trip should be thought of as a pilgrimage, or "soulful travel." [He says] it is possible to "transform even the most ordinary trip into a sacred journey"; and by "sacred," he means a personal value or ideal that is held close to one's heart and mind and thus elevates the consciousness. . . . Cousineau describes the "common rites" of a classic pilgrimage as adhered to through the ages, and in the process he suggests ways in which a contemporary traveler can ensure that a trip is a pilgrimage, a life-changing ritual that entails "a deepening of focus, keen preparation, attention to the path below our feet, and respect for the destination at hand." Seeking answers to one's own existence? Cousineau guarantees that the pilgrimage approach is the right path for obtaining those answers.” --Brad Hooper, Booklist

"If Joseph Campbell, the Dalai Lama, and Bill Moyers were to have collaborated on a book about journeys...I suspect it would look very much like THE ART OF PILGRIMAGE." --Austin American Statesman

"Centuries of travel lore suggest that when we no longer know where to turn our real journey has begun," writes author Phil Cousineau. "At that crossroads moment, a voice calls to our pilgrim soul." Many have embarked upon a pilgrimage, but few have understood its mysteries and possibilities as well as Phil Cousineau does. On one level this is a highly useful guidebook packed with great ideas for enlightened traveling--tape recording local voices, music, and sounds; asking contemplative questions to waitresses and bookstore owners; lighting a traveling candle every morning; making an offering to the local deity. But most compelling is Cousineau's ability to expertly map the interior landscape of a pilgrimage--the sights that lead to insights and the borders that lead to breakthroughs as we trek the exterior landscape of our planet. --Gail Hudson, Amazon.com

Geared toward modern-day pilgrims looking for inspiration and a few spiritual tools for the road, this book combines stories, myths, parables and quotes from famous travelers of the past to help them focus on the purpose and intention at every stage of their journey.

~Benjamin Franklin Award Winner

(Published by Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari; Audio by Dove Audio)

NIGHT TRAIN
An unflinching collection of narrative poems ranging from the humorous to the spiritual, the philosophical to the historical.

A SEAT AT THE TABLE:
In this collection of illuminating conversations, renowned historian of world religions Huston Smith invites ten influential American Indian spiritual and political leaders to talk about their five-hundred-year struggle for religious freedom.

"A valuable and insightful book about a too long overlooked topic - the right of Native American people to have their sacred sites and practices honored and protected. Let's hope it gets read far and wide, enough to bring about a real shift in policy and consciousness."
--Bonnie Raitt

"Phil Cousineau has created a fine companion book to accompany the important film he and Gary Rhine have made in defense of the religious traditions of Native Americans. [Native Americans] are recognized the world over as keepers of a vital piece of the Creator's original orders, and yet they are regarded as little more than squatters at home. This book features impressive interviews, beautiful illustrations, and gives a voice to the voiceless."--Peter Coyote
(University of California Press, Edited and with a Preface by Phil Cousineau, with assistance from Gary Rhine)

THE BLUE MUSEUM
The author's collected poetry, prose poems and found poems from 1978 to 2004.

"Phil Cousineau has long been a powerful presence in the Bay Area literary scene ... whose influence has been noted by a great many other major poets of his generation, including Antler and Jane Hirshfield. THE BLUE MUSEUM comprising poems from his entire life's work, is a book readers will be unlikely to forget. [It] contains the whole story of one man's life, the way poets seldom do it any more — the way Wordsworth or Whitman did it, say, or William Carlos Williams, or even, more recently Charles Olson ... At times [his] epiphanies are dazzling... [He] is equally adept at the sort of short-lined, concise, clear-eyed appreciations of nature perfected by Gary Snyder ... exquisite lyrics about the harmony between man, woman, and unborn child ... and the most beautiful ode to Van Gogh I have ever read..."
— San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"THE BLUE MUSEUM is like a trumpet sounding to restore our sense of wonder, and it costs nothing less than your soul..." --R.B. Morris
(Sisyphus Press)

THE OLYMPIC ODYSSEY:
Invoking the original spirit of the Olympics, Cousineau writes about the passionate display of excellence in mind, body, and soul all in one spectacular festival. Despite corruption, this ideal is as vital today as it was when the Games began nearly 3,000 years ago. Cousineau weaves together myths and fables with modern anecdotes to emphasize the transcendent element that uplifts athlete, trainer, and spectator alike. Themes include the philosopher coach, the festival dramas of ceremony and ritual, and the curious devotion of fans and fanatics.

"THE OLYMPIC ODYSSEY is a passionate study of the ecstatic dimension of the ancient and modern Games and a fiery synthesis of mythology, religion, and sports history. In this timely book, Cousineau issues a bold challenge to athletes, coaches, and fans to revive the transformative vision at the heart of the Olympic ideal—the celebration and exercise of body, mind, and spirit alike." —Michael Murphy, Chairman and Co-founder, Esalen Institute, author of Golf in the Kingdom

~Selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee in 2004.
(Quest)

THE WAY THINGS ARE:
"Readers will find themselves ravenously eavesdropping on captivating discussions...dialogues that are timeless. Cousineau's stunning preface is worth the price of admission alone." --Publishers Weekly

The 23 interviews and essays in this volume offer a uniquely personal perspective on Huston Smith's own spiritual journey and a window into his wide-ranging reflections on the nature and importance of the religious quest. Readers will find eminent and beloved religion scholar Smith conversing with some of the world's most influential personalities and religious thinkers, from journalist Bill Moyers to religion scholar Philip Novak, and recounting his personal experiences with such luminaries as Joseph Campbell, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, Daisetz Suzuki, Ram Dass, and the Dalai Lama.
(University of California Press)

THE HERO'S JOURNEY:
The man behind the myth is lovingly revealed in this collection of interviews with the late Joseph Campbell. Using Campbell's format for the "hero's journey," Phil Cousineau organized these interviews so that they reflect Campbell's own chronological life quest. He begins with "The Call to Adventure," in which Campbell speaks to his fascination with Native American myth as a child, and moves through "The Road of Trials" (his years in college and as a young professor at Sarah Lawrence) and the "Meeting with the Goddess" (referring to meeting his wife of 50 years, the modern dancer Jean Erdman).

"For Campbell fans, THE HERO'S JOURNEY will provide hours of amusement and edification. For those who have heard of Campbell and wonder what all the fuss is about, there's no better introduction to the man and his ideas." --San Francisco Chronicle

(Harper & Row 1990; U.S. & U.K., Element Books editions, 1999; Hardcover with New Preface, New World Library, 2003)

ONCE AND FUTURE MYTHS:
"A fascinating introduction to the power of myth." --Library Journal

ONCE AND FUTURE MYTHS draws on history, movies, pop culture, and Phil Cousineau's own life experience -- as he shows how myths are timeless stories that continue to shape and affect our lives. By taking us on a unique path to personal growth through a deep examination of our lives, Cousineau shows how we are all living out the myths that have been a part of humanity through the ages.
(Conari Press)

SOUL: An Archaeology
A captivating, multidimensional collection of writings on the soul--from creation myths to beat poetry, religion to rock-n-roll.

"An audacious but rewarding anthology of poetry, song, fairy tale, meditation, reminiscence, disputation and confession....inspiring, often mind-blowing and sometimes even a little scary....Cousineau offers a bracing and yet somehow intoxicating brew intended to revive us and fortify us." --Los Angeles Times

"A treasure trove of writings on 'the language, lore and imagery of the soul.'" --Publishers Weekly

"Few writers approach the problem of soul with anything close to nuance. But Phil Cousineau's SOUL: An Archaeology deserves honorable mention... the book is charming for its intelligence and playful eclecticism." --Utne Reader
(HarperSanFrancisco Publishers)

THE BOOK OF ROADS:
This long-awaited book of Cousineau’s travel stories and reflections illuminates 25 years of adventures on the road.

"Cousineau surges from place to place like a happy corpuscle in the world's bloodstream. No road escapes him, whether spiritual, virtual or real, and he describes scenery along the way with wisdom, humor and undimmed enthusiasm going back to childhood wonder. Read this book." --Mort Rosenblum
(Sisyphus Press)

DEADLINES:
Fallot Literary Award Winner

"DEADLINES comes as a surprise....superb: a new genre, in fact, combining the pleasures of list-making with that of last-minute eaves-dropping." --Alberto Manguel

"In the manner of Rilke, Cousineau's poem, Deadlines, plumbs verbal depths for the magic of words to heal the heart." --Jung Institute Journal

"A hauntingly beautiful book that escapes all the categories; a prayer binding together the life and death of a father and son..." --Sam Keen
(Sisyphus Press)

COINCIDENCE OR DESTINY?
The prickling anticipation of a call seconds before the phone rings, the chance meeting that opens a career path, the eerie realization of a loved one's death half a world away...Across the boundaries of time and culture, people have experienced synchronicities that can reveal a hidden order to seemingy randam events and offer a glimpse of their destiny. Cousineau shares more than 80 stories of coincidence --from ordinary individuals as well as well-known scholars such as Larry Dossey and Huston Smith--each story demonstrates how meaningful coincidence can profoundly change and guide our lives.

"See with the 'eyes of the heart,' as the Sufis would say, rather than dissect it. Cousineau has put together a collection that does just that." --Common Boundary Magazine

"Cousineau defines synchronicity as "an inexplicable but profoundly meaningful coincidence that stirs the soul and offers a guiding glimpse of one's destiny." ...[His] poetic and profound reveries between each of the chapters honor the sweet anarchy of the moment, the sly winks of fate, the sudden discovery of meaning, and the shiver that runs through the soul when the world "strangifies." --Spirituality and Health
(Conari Press, Foreword by Robert A. Johnson; Previously published as SOUL MOMENTS)

THE SOUL OF THE WORLD:
This little book, a "pocket cathedral," is filled with inspiring passages and evocative photography by Eric Lawton.

"Books like this could revive the art of prayer in this secular age." --The Express

"What Cousineau's work ultimately does is create a new awareness of time, as well as document our fascination with its passing... Each day becomes a universe in itself... this small gem of a book is like a week in another world.." --The Palm Beach Post
(HarperSanFrancisco Publishers)