Written during the golden age of Chinese philosophy, andcomposed partly in prose and partly in verse, the Tao TeChing is surely the most terse and economical of the world’sgreat religious texts. In a series of short, profound chapters itelucidates the idea of the Tao, or the Way–an idea that in itsethical, practical, and spiritual dimensions has become essentialto the life of China’s enormously powerful civilization. In theprocess of this elucidation, Lao-tzu both clarifies and deepensthose central religious mysteries around which our life on earthrevolves.
For the Earth to move to the next vibration, says RichardGrossinger, consciousness must change in profound ways, and theseinvolve core elements of humanity: evil, grief, bliss, andcompassion. 2013 locates these elements in often unlikely placesand seeks their nature and capacity for change. With playfulnessand precision, 2013 tackles the questions of creation and existencein their twenty-first-century incarnation. In these intellectualfield notes, the author’s absorbing style combines memoir withscientific deconstruction, metaphysical ontology, and experimentalprose that recalls the Black Mountain school to draw transcendentalinsight from the ephemeral space-time we call daily life. Movingwith equal ease between matters cosmic and earthly, Grossingerdetails existence as an exhilarating adventure always pushing ustoward a higher state in this wide-ranging, humorous, and heartfeltbook. Including an informal course in psychic development, 2013sheds light on the ephemera of planets and iPods, politics an
In an era when the relationship between Islam and the Westseems mainly defined by mistrust and misunderstanding, it isimportant to remember that for centuries Muslim civilization wasthe envy of the world. Lost History fills a significant void and isessential reading for anyone seeking to understand the major theearly Muslims played in influencing modern society. Morgan reveals how early Muslim advancements in science andculture laid the cornerstones of the European Renaissance, theEnlightenment, and modern Western society. As he chronicles theGolden Ages of Islam, beginning in A.D. 570 with the birth ofMuhammad, and resonating today, he introduces scholars like IbnAl-Haytham, Ibn Sina, Al-Tusi, Al-Khwarizmi, and Omar Khayyam,towering figures who revolutionized the mathematics, astronomy, andmedicine of their time and paved the way for Newton, Copernicus,and many others. And he reminds us that inspired leaders fromMuhammad to Suleiman the Magnificent and beyond championedreligious tolerance, encou