Gilda Cordero-Fernando: Lady who launches books

Gilda is a wonderfully bright and vivacious artist who is always up to something different. She was behind Jamming the Saya at the Cultural Center, Luna Aswang at the AFP Theater, the books Ladies who Lunch, Burgis and many more uniquely creative events. How she, a literary and theater icon, met inventive fashion retailer Ben Chan may not be for the books but somewhere along the way, the two agreed to publish one: Pinoy Pop Culture, a fun and funky look at Pinoy Pop culture, "a Pinoy’s Guide to himself," as the book itself puts it. Gilda shares authorship with book designer Manuel Chaves while Ben is the publisher. "Ben and I didn’t know each other," Gilda relates. "One day, out of the blue, I got this phone call from his right-hand person, Jojo. He said Bench (Chan’s biggest chain of stores) wanted to do a book. I said, "If it’s about the corporation or some family history I was not the right person to do it. Jojo said, ‘You have the choice of topic.’ I almost fell off my seat."

And so yesterday, the two launched Pinoy Pop Culture in a theatrical extravaganza at The NBC Tent called "Pinoy Pop Showtime!" which gathered onstage Pinoy pop icons from Sylvia La Torre to Yoyoy Villame to Nora Aunor to Aegis, from Kenkoy to Darna and Valentina, and many more. It should be exciting to see what the two will cook up again: Gilda, eccentric, New Age fan, book author and publisher; and Chan businessman, the big man behind Bench, Herbench, Human and Dimensione, a fan of fashion and modern architecture and design.

GILDA CORDERO-FERNANDO’S BOOK LIST

1. THE TIBETAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING by Sogyal Rinpoche:This classic of Tibetan wisdom is not only a guide to dying (which can only be prepared for by living well). Like most books on spirituality it is about the veneration and development of the inner life.

2. BUDDHISM WITHOUT BELIEF by Stephen Batchelor: A lucid study of what stripped down Buddhism was before it got elevated by its later practitioners into something awesome. (This fine book was borrowed from Girlie A by Ning T who lent it to me on her way to a Zen sit.)

3.KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT by Rudolf Steiner: I took up this (and other Steiner books – Theosophy, Christianity as Mythical Fact, An Outline of Occult Science etc. etc.) with the first study group of Nicky Perlas and got hooked on Steiner.

Higher Worlds says that scientific fact never contradicts spiritual science. Whoever wishes to observe this can follow a spiritual path (not religious, actually just being one’s best self!) and acquire the ability to enter the supersensible.

Written in the early 1900s Steiner’s books are devoted to human ennoblement and tackle the profound riddles of life. They are always a dense and difficult read but if you are patient, it can give you an unbeatable framework for living.

4. A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYTHING by Ken Wilber: Definitely not bedside reading. I got introduced to Wilber because Maricel F lent me GRACE AND GRIT and I thought, what a breeze, because it was about his wife. But then we took up the really tough nuts, the above, and now INTEGRAL PSYCHOLOGY. ( I really don’t know why I keep getting mixed up with egghead friends.)

Wilber examines the course of world evolution as the unfolding manifestation of Spirit. In the stages of spiritual development there are recurring patterns and the patterns make clear why we have so many predicaments (gender wars, environmental ethics, culture battles and modern liberation movements).

For people like me, plowing through this wonderful study needs assistance. Study groups have many perks though, such as Jenny J’s cooking.

5. EXPLORING REINCARNATION by Hans Ten Dam: A basic book on successive lives and experiences from all over the world. (This is my special interest. I don’t like to rely on manghuhula. I like to do the hunt for my past life relatives myself.)

6. THE ENNEAGRAM by Frank Riso: Originated in Afghanistan 2,000 years ago the enneagram was a secret oral tradition of the Sufis. It later took the form of nine personality types to one of which each of us belongs. The enneagram enables us to examine ourselves and our shadows and to understand people we have to interact with so that we don’t get upset enough to beat the hell out of them.

7. CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD I-V by Neale Donald Walsch: Yes, you can converse with Her too, Walsch says. About sex, Hitler, dreams, wealth, justice, joy and everything else. And She can solve all your problems too.

Jim Paredes has an enthusiastic Conversations with God study gang in Chacra although the series is friendly enough to tackle by oneself.

8. FROM MEDICATION TO MEDITATION by Osho: This Indian guru is fun because in all his books he posits that the path of indulgence also leads to God. The illnesses of our body are due to our addictions to certain ways and to material things and therefore cannot be cured by meditation. Only by the art of listening (or awareness) and therefore meditation, can we become healthy human beings. (Actually all spiritual books point to the same but some writers are just better teachers.)

9. TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom: This is a very popular book about a dying teacher who, every Tuesday the rest of his life, bequeathed his insights to a journalist. "Not particularly deep. I don’t really like this book but it helped me go to sleep for two weeks."

10. ATENEO, LA SALLE AND UP ESOTERIC PUBLICATIONS ON ANTHROPOLOGY. ALSO LITERATURE, POP CULTURE, VOCABULARY. (Cristina Hidalgo, Neil Garcia, Beni Santos, Doreen Fernandez, F. Landa Jocano, Patrick Flores and all those scholars.)

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Book of the Week: A PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham – I love autobiographies because it gives me a sense of history through the eyes of real people. It gives perspective to historical events from a human reality. The book is daunting with 625 pages in its paperback edition. Available at Powerbooks and National Book Stores.

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Magazine of the Week: VANITY FAIR’s November issue, or is it October? It has a whole section on Harry Potter. Available for subscription from Emerald Headway.

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I appreciate your comments and suggestions at readclub@aol.com.