The Zen of Hollywood: Using the Ancient Wisdom in Modern Movies to Create a Life Worthy of the Big Screen. Karma, Giving, and Non-Attachment.

Irrespective of our individual life goals, we all just want to be happy. But how can we get there? Fortunately, life contains inherent intelligence designed to guide us to our very dreams. This intelligence has been expressed by the world's wisdom traditions as a series of truths which David calls "universal life principles." He has assembled what he considers to be the most important life principles—in a series of books called A Manual for Life—which serve as a foundation for the life of greater meaning, joy, and happiness which we all desire and deserve. Truth can be found anywhere, including Hollywood. What makes some of the films out of Hollywood so magical is that they contain these fundamental life principles. We are basically seeing the truth of ourselves on the big screen being reflected back to us, and then we become inspired—sometimes enough to change our lives for the better. Drawing on his background in psychology and spirituality, David analyzes some of Hollywood's most beloved and popular films, extracting the wisdom contained within as it applies to these critical life principles, and explaining it all in an easy-to-understand manner. He then gives exercises so that we can internalize these truths, put them into practice, and make real strides in improving our lives. In this fifth book titled Karma, Giving, and Non-Attachment, David examines three critical life principles as reflected in three more excellent Hollywood films. In chapter one, he dives into the poignant movie Pay It Forward (2000) in order to help us understand a universal law that is often misunderstood: karma. Instead of being reward and punishment doled out by a demanding deity, karma is nothing other than the cause-and-effect dynamic built into the universe designed to reflect back to us all that is and is not working in our lives in terms of our evolutinary path to self-realization. To this end, giving generously and living from our inherent innocence become paramount because this life approach ensures that what comes back to us is our heart's desires. This is the Law of Circulation in action and it is beautifully demonstrated by the main characters in the endearing film It Could Happen to You (1994) featured in chapter two. But without the Law of Non-attachment, which is explored in chapter three in connection to the dark film House of Sand and Fog (2003), anything we gain through the first two laws is meaningless. Join David on a memorable journey that will help you achieve greater levels of joy and happiness by following these three laws. Life is ultimately about learning, growing, and evolving. Why not do it in a fun, entertaining, and inspiring way?