Title: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
Author: Chögyam Trungpa
Publisher: Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boston
Tradition/Influence(s): Tibetan slant, but general enough in tone and content that it applies to any spiritual path
Overview of Content: Recognize how content-centered we are.
Strengths: really drives this one point home constantly
Weaknesses: due to its narrow focus, can leave the reader wondering, "yeah, I see, but what can I actually do about this"
Overall, is it practical, open, straightforward and usable? Yes, definitely. The chapters are fairly self-contained, i.e. can be read out of sequence. Trungpa himself was a controversial figure, and this fact is a great backdrop to reading the book, as it encourages an attitude of critical examination.
Link: First two chapters are online atThe Internet Sacred Text Archive and at Google Books