According to various traditional and New Age esoteric teachings, the self is comprised of several psycho-spiritual "subtle bodies." In this inter-disciplinary exploration drawing on Eastern philosophies, Western mysticism, theories of aesthetics, ethics, Gilles Deleuze's cinematic "time-image," and French feminist Luce Irigaray's writings, Johnston (studies in religion, U. of Sydney) re-conceptualizes the dualisms of Western discourse in terms of an inter-subjective matter-consciousness that can be cultivated. The volume includes images by performance artist Marina Abramovic. Distributed in North America by the David Brown Book Co. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)