Paul Wilson is an Australian meditation teacher, columnist,[1] and author of two novels[2][3] and 19 self-help and spiritually-oriented books, including The Calm Technique, Instant Calm, The Little Book of Calm, Calm at Work, The Little Book of Calm at Work, Calm for Life, The Complete Book of Calm, Perfect Balance, The Quiet, A Piece of the Quiet and "Calm, No Matter What" – mostly around the topic of finding peace of mind in everyday life. Because so many of these books had 'calm' in the title, the Times (UK) nicknamed him The Guru of Calm.[4][5][6][7]
| Paul Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Paul Wilson at 'Mind and its Potential' Conference. | |
| Born | Outback, Australia |
| Medium | Author, meditation teacher, businessman |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Subject(s) | Calm, peace of mind, meditation, spiritual growth |
| Notable works and roles | The Calm Technique, Instant Calm, Little Book of Calm, Perfect Balance, The Quiet, A Piece of the Quiet, numerous musical albums, mass 'learn to meditate' programs |
| Website | http://www.calmcentre.com/ http://www.millionmeditators.org/ |
It has been estimated that he has taught over a million people to meditate,[8][9] and he was listed as one of the 100 people who make Britain a happier place.[8]
Books edit
Calm, No Matter What edit
Calm No Matter What (ISBN 978-1-40503934-5 was published by Pan MacMillan.
The Calm Technique edit
Wilson's book The Calm Technique (ISBN 978-0-7607-1524-6) was one of the first mass-market books on meditation.[citation needed] First published in the Eighties by Greenhouse in Australia and Bantam in the USA, it attracted a wide audience in Europe, USA and South East Asia. It has been translated into several languages.[10][11][12][13]
The Quiet edit
The Quiet (ISBN 978-1-40503766-2) was published by Pan MacMillan in the UK and Australia and by Tarcher/Penguin in the USA.
The Little Book of Calm edit
The Little Book of Calm (ISBN 0-14028526-1) was published by Penguin Books in 1997. It distills Wilson's larger books Instant Calm, and was written during a Zen seminar in Japan.[14] One review described it as "the first and still one of the best books aimed at counteracting stress".[15] The book has been translated into 24 languages[13] including Italian,[16] French,[17] and Mandarin Chinese.[18]
Wilson followed up the book with titles including The Little Book of Calm at Work in 1998, The Little Book of Sleep and The Little Book of Hope in 1999, The Life Priorities Calculator in 2000, and A Piece of the Quiet in 2007.[19][20]
References in popular culture edit
The Little Book of Calm featured in numerous satires and parodies in the late 1990s, with cartoons[21][22] regularly appearing in UK daily newspapers. The book was featured in the first episode of the British comedy Black Books, when Manny Bianco accidentally swallowed a copy of it. The book is later absorbed into his body, and he is able to dole out helpful calm-inviting comments to passersby, such as "When you're feeling under pressure, do something different. Roll up your sleeves, or eat an orange".[23]
Footnotes edit
- ^ "Inner peace outer glow", News, AU, 3 June 2007.
- ^ Once a Perfect Woman, Hodder & Stoughton, 1996, ISBN 0-340-56687-6.
- ^ Aark, Greenhouse, 1988, ISBN 0-86436-120-3.
- ^ Compass, AU: ABC.
- ^ Scoop News, NZ.
- ^ "This Britain", The Independent (newspaper), UK, 27 April 2008
- ^ Burkeman (19 March 2011), "Life & style", The Guardian, UK.
- ^ a b "This Britain", The Independent, UK, 27 April 2008.
- ^ "Paul Wilson", Klimaatverandering, NL: Adviesklimaat.
- ^ De techniek van de Rust (in Dutch), NL: Bol.
- ^ Le principe du calme (in French), Psychologies.
- ^ "Paul Wilson", Contributors, AU: Penguin.
- ^ a b Spirit of things (radio), AU: ABC, 2007
- ^ "Mindfulness", Spirit of things (radio), AU: ABC.
- ^ Quilliam, Susan, "The Top Ten Self-Help Books", iVillage, UK, retrieved 3 December 2007.
- ^ Wilson, Paul (1998), Il picolo libro della calma (in Italian), ISBN 9788804450832, retrieved 3 December 2007.
- ^ Shrem, Yitsḥaḳ (1986), Le petit livre du calme au travail (in French), retrieved 3 December 2007.
- ^ Wilson, Paul Anthony (2000), Ping jing xiao shu (in Chinese), ISBN 9789574691609, retrieved 3 December 2007.
- ^ Books on calm, University of East Anglia, retrieved 3 December 2007.
- ^ Wilson, Paul, Little Books, retrieved 3 December 2007.
- ^ CartoonStock (JPEG).
- ^ Cartoon stock (JPEG).
- ^ Cooking the Books (episode summary), TV.com, retrieved 3 December 2007.
