James A. Pike, the fifth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese ofCalifornia, was a man of many faces. To some he was an iconoclast,a man decades ahead of his time who modernized the Church andrendered it more progressive and open to inquiry. To others he wasa heretic, who polarized and desecrated the Church. Alwayscontroversial and charismatic, he took America by storm in the1960s with his best-selling books, and his weekly television talkshow, Dean Pike, which won him a cover story in Time . APassionate Pilgrim is an illuminating biography of Pike, and anexamination of the tragedies, triumphs, and difficulties thatshaped his spectacular rise to fame and his mysterious death in theIsraeli desert.
WITH MORE THAN 100 BLACK-AND-WHITE ILLUSTRATIONSTHROUGHOUT Who are “the Jews”? Scattered over much of the world throughoutmost of their three-thousand-year-old history, are they one peopleor many? How do they resemble and how do they differ from Jews inother places and times? What have their relationships been to thecultures of their neighbors? To address these and similar questions, twenty-three of thefinest scholars of our day—archaeologists, cultural historians,literary critics, art historians , folklorists, and historians ofrelation, all affiliated with major academic institutions in theUnited States, Israel, and France—have contributed their insight toCultures of the Jews. The premise of their endeavor is thatalthough Jews have always had their own autonomous traditions,Jewish identity cannot be considered immutable, the fixed productof either ancient ethnic or religious origins. Rather, it hasshifted and assumed new forms in response to the culturalenvironment in
The Zen school of Mahayana Buddhism contends that each one ofus is already a Buddha — the enlightenment we seek is always withinus, waiting to be realized through mindfulness and concertedspiritual work. This truth pushes us toward practice, in the hopesthat we may awaken our potential and live up to what is insideus.?This is a?notion taught widely by ninth century Zen Master LinChi, and in his tradition Thich Nhat Hanh employs the teachings andwritings of Mahayana Buddhism to discuss specific topics inBuddhist study and practice. With these teachings, readers have thetools to awaken the Buddha within.
The Little Book of Changes is a fresh interpretation of the I Ching, one of the oldest books in the world-recognized by both Confucians and Taoists as a fundamental work. Author Peter Crisp's perceptive and poetic rendition reimagines the ancient philosophical text as a friendly, accessible, and modern companion.
In this provocative must-read, the preeminent scientist—andworld’s most prominent atheist—Richard Dawkins asserts theirrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion hasinflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. The God Delusionmakes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong, butpotentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight on theadvantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the leastof which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe’s wondersthan any faith could ever muster. With rigor and wit, Dawkinseviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates thesupreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religionfuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing hispoints with historical and contemporary evidence. This is a bookthat challenges all of us to test our beliefs, no matter whatbeliefs we hold.
The first edition, released in 1995, was lauded by seasonedpractitioners and beginners alike. And no wonder. While most of theearly English-language books on feng shui were dauntingly mysticalor relied on complex calculations or culturally specific designpractices, Feng Shui Made Easy took a more holistic approach,clearly explaining the fundamentals while guiding readers on aninner journey of understanding. Thoughtfully written and beautifully illustrated, the book isstructured around an “architecture of consciousness” that is reallythe inner landscape. The book explores each “house” of thebagua—the chart representing one’s journey through life;relationships with parents, loved ones, and community; creativity;spirituality; and connectedness to the source of life—and thesymbolism of the corresponding I Ching trigram. Feng Shui Made Easyhelps readers discover the nature of these connections, as well aslearn what obstructions must be removed to change fixed patterns ofbehavior and rest
The author of the runaway bestseller How the Irish SavedCivilization has done it again. In The Gifts of the Jews ThomasCahill takes us on another enchanting journey into history, onceagain recreating a time when the actions of a small band of peoplehad repercussions that are still felt today. The Gifts of the Jews reveals the critical change that madewestern civilization possible. Within the matrix of ancientreligions and philosophies, life was seen as part of an endlesscycle of birth and death; time was like a wheel, spinningceaselessly. Yet somehow, the ancient Jews began to see timedifferently. For them, time had a beginning and an end; it was anarrative, whose triumphant conclusion would come in the future.From this insight came a new conception of men and women asindividuals with unique destinies--a conception that would informthe Declaration of Independence--and our hopeful belief in progressand the sense that tomorrow can be better than today. As ThomasCahill narrates this momentous shift,
While Chinese acupuncture and herbalism enjoy widespreadpopularity in the West, traditional Chinese exercisetechniques—with the exception of qi gong—have rarely been taughtoutside China. This book is designed to change that. Written by JunWang, a doctor of Chinese medicine, Cultivating Qi draws on classicChinese texts to introduce these body-mind healing exercises toWestern readers. In simple, accessible language, Wang presents three specific qiexercises: the Yijin Jing, a popular form of calisthenicsassociated with both Chinese Buddhist and Daoist traditions; TaijiNeigong, a series of 34 movements adapted from the Wu-Hao style ofTaiji Quan; and the “Six Healing Breaths,” which combines spokensounds with movements associated with the six major vital organs ofChinese medicine. Written for beginning students of Chinese medicine as well aslaypersons, healthcare practitioners, and martial artists,Cultivating Qi includes clear explanations of Chinese medicalterminology—and provides the
The second book in the Sirian Revelations Trilogy explores the wisdom ancient Atlantis can offer contemporaryseekers. The lost continent of Atlantis has existed in the collectiveconsciousness of humankind for eons—contemplated as early as 355 BCby Plato and echoing in the modern mind. In this controversialbook, author Patricia Cori provides compelling, often startlinginsights into this lost culture and the lessons it holds for us asboth a high civilization and a metaphor for our current worldsituation, earth changes, growing extraterrestrial phenomena, andgovernment conspiracy theories. Only by embracing and recognizingwhat Atlantis can teach us, says Cori, can we expect to heal anduplift our own increasingly threatened civilization.
A modern translation of an ancient book of magic by thecontemporary Italian spiritual leader Oberto Airaudi, The Book ofSynchronicity taps into the “Synchronic Lines”–rivers of spiritualenergy that flow through the universe. These lines link the variouscelestial bodies and the intelligences that can access them. Thelines’ path on Earth, according to the book, takes the form ofeighteen Major Lines through which pour ideas, dreams, thoughts,and information. Whenever a reader consults The Book ofSynchronicity, he or she is in effect accessing this flow ofknowledge. Easy to understand and use, the book can be consulted immediatelyfor quick answers as well as longer divination processes, with nofurther study or outside knowledge of other divination traditionsnecessary. The technique is simple: readers ask a question and thenthrow a die, while concentrating on the question. Each answer isgained by throwing the die four times, with more than 2 millionpossible synchronistic combinations for each
After the Reformation, England's Catholics were marginalised andexcluded from using printed media for propagandist ends. Instead,they turned to oral media, such as ballads and stories, to pleadtheir case and maintain contact with their community. Building onthe growing interest in Catholic literature which has developed inearly modern studies, Alison Shell examines the relationshipbetween Catholicism and oral culture from the mid-sixteenth to theeighteenth centuries. In order to recover the textual traces ofthis minority culture, she expands canonical boundaries, looking atanecdotes, spells and popular verse alongside more conventionallyliterary material. In her archival research she uncovers manyimportant manu* sources. This book is an importantcontribution to the rediscovery of the writings and culture of theCatholic community and will be of great interest to scholars ofearly modern literature, history and theology.