Over the course of the next two and a half years, an insecure, chaotic and troubled young woman was transformed into someone who inspired those with whom she shared the suffering of the transit camp at Westerbork and with whom she eventually perished at Auschwitz. Through her diary and letters, she continues to inspire those whose lives she has touched since. She was an extraordinarily alive and vivid young woman who shaped and lived a spirituality of hope in the darkest period of the twentieth century. This book explores Etty Hillesum's life and writings, seeking to understand what it was about her that was so remarkable, how her journey developed, how her spirituality was shaped, and what her profound reflections on the roots of violence and the nature of evil can teach us today.

    In conversation with a long-time member of AA meetings, Father Thomas talks insightfully about surrendering to one's Higher Power and the journey that must be undertaken for the healing of the soul to begin.

    Among the important works he authored, "On the Three Metamorphoses," from his masterpiece "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," provides the framework for this discussion of the stages of our spirituality. Using Nietzsche's parable of the camel, lion, and child, this book unfolds the process of spiritual development woven into the teachings of the Course. As these teachings demonstrate, the process is essentially a journey that proceeds in and through the world and on to spiritual maturity, this final stage marked by the ease of being in the world but not of it, seeing everything through the eyes of forgiveness.

    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

    W. Tozer, but few living today were blessed to sit under his weekly teaching from the pulpit. In this never-before published collection of teachings on 1 Peter, adapted from sermons given to his parishioners, Tozer examines what it means to call oneself a “Christian.” In his view, to be a recipient of God’s salvation is to become “the pride of all heaven,” indestructible and able to withstand anything and everything that seeks to undermine one’s faith. The epistle of 1 Peter was written to a group of just such Christians, to encourage them to live in the center of God’s redeeming love. Through Tozer’s incomparable teaching and commentary, this ancient letter becomes a fresh and life-infusing admonition for today’s Christian!

    . . . And there is only one way of preparing the new age, by living it even now in our hearts."Like Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum (1914-1943) was a young Dutch Jewish woman who would perish as so many did in the Auschwitz death camp. Forty years after her death at the age of 29 the publication of her diaries, An Interrupted life, revealed to the world her remarkable voice. In the last two years of her life, Etty expressed a deeply ecumenical mysticism, drawing on scripture, literature, and Christian sources. As the noose of repression grew tighter, she faced up to her fate with extraordinary grace and courage, determined to affirm the goodness and beauty of life, and to make of her soul a haven for God. As she surrendered herself to the Westerbork Transit Camp she expressed her desire to serve as the "thinking heart of the barracks."This volume, drawn from her letters and diaries, lays out the themes of her distinctive and inspiring spiritual vision, startling in its relevance and moving in its openness to the possibilities for hope in a world of brutal violence.

    1111) was one of the most influential theologians and philosophers of Islam and has been considered an authority in both Western and Islamic philosophical traditions. Born in northeastern Iran, he held the most prestigious academic post in Islamic theology in Baghdad, only to renounce the position and teach at small schools in the provinces for no money. His contributions to Islamic scholarship range from responding to the challenges of Aristotelian philosophy to creating a new type of Islamic mysticism and integrating both these traditions-falsafa and Sufism-into the Sunni mainstream.This book offers a comprehensive study of al-Ghazali's life and his understanding of cosmology-how God creates things and events in the world, how human acts relate to God's power, and how the universe is structured. Frank Griffel presents a serious revision of traditional views on al-Ghazali, showing that his most important achievement was the creation of a new rationalist theology in which he transformed the Aristotelian views of thinkers such as Avicenna to accord with intellectual currents that were well-established within Muslim theological discourse. Using the most authoritative sources, including reports from al-Ghazali's students, his contemporaries, and his own letters, Griffel reconstructs every stage in a turbulent career. The al-Ghazali that emerges offers many surprises, particularly on his motives for leaving Baghdad and the nature of his seclusion afterwards. Griffel demonstrates that al-Ghazali intended to create a new cosmology that moved away from concerns held earlier by Muslim theologians and Arab philosophers. This new theology aimed to provide a framework for the pursuit of the natural sciences and a basis for Islamic science and philosophy to flourish beyond the 12th century.Al-Ghazali's Philosophical Theology is the most thorough examination to date of this important thinker.

    Some mestizos have migrated to Amazon towns and cities, such as Iquitos and Pucallpa; most remain in small villages. They have retained features of a folk Catholicism and traditional Hispanic medicine, and have incorporated much of the religious tradition of the Amazon, especially its healing, sorcery, shamanism, and the use of potent plant hallucinogens, including ayahuasca. The result is a uniquely eclectic shamanist culture that continues to fascinate outsiders with its brilliant visionary art. Ayahuasca shamanism is now part of global culture. Once the terrain of anthropologists, it is now the subject of novels and spiritual memoirs, while ayahuasca shamans perform their healing rituals in Ontario and Wisconsin. "Singing to the Plants" sets forth just what this shamanism is about--what happens at an ayahuasca healing ceremony, how the apprentice shaman forms a spiritual relationship with the healing plant spirits, how sorcerers inflict the harm that the shaman heals, and the ways that plants are used in healing, love magic, and sorcery.

    

    As crystal water takes the form of the cup in which it is poured, angels can take the form of any creation which they visit. They do not retain their full original form of light when they are sent to human beings: "Say: If there were in the earth angels walking secure, We had sent down for them from heaven an angel [without change] as messenger" (17:95). Angels can come as birds, as human beings, or as a form of light like a rainbow adorning the sky. They have a mind and a heart, but no will and no desire other than to serve and obey God. They are never too proud to obey Him. Angels worship day and night without fatigue. They do not need to sleep, as their eyes never tire. They know no heedlessness. Their attention never wavers. Their food is glorification of God, their drink is to sanctify and to magnify Him. Their intimacy is in calling their Lord through hymning and singing His praise. Their enjoyment is to serve Him. They are devoid of any and all physiological restraints. They suffer no mood-changes. Angels inhabit Paradise and the seven heavens. They worship more than human beings because they came before them and they have greater and more powerful faculties than they. They are more pious than human beings because they are innocent and unable to fall into mistakes or wrongdoings. They never ask forgiveness for themselves but always for human beings. This shows us how much they care for us and to what extent God created them to look after us. God made them our guardians because a guardian is more perfect than the one he guards. Angels are more knowledgeable than human beings. The teacher, again, is better than the student. Their knowledge is of two kinds: intellectual and traditional. "Intellectual" means here: "of the essence of reality" or "of the heart." "Traditional" means: "revealed and translated down from above."

    Julian’s miraculous recovery from that illness then led to twenty more years of reflection and contemplation on those revelations and finally to her writing a detailed account of her mystical experience. Her work – in the same Middle English as her contemporary Geoffrey Chaucer – is dense, deeply intuitive, and theologically complex. The Complete Julian is the first book to offer a modern translation of all of Julian’s writings (including her complete Revelations), a complete analysis of her work, as well as original historical, religious, and personal background material that helps the reader comprehend the depth and profundity of her life and work. “[Julian’s Revelations] may well be the most important work of Christian reflection in the English language.” — Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury

    The doctrine codified in The Book of the Law and the numerous other Holy Books known as Thelema revealed Aleister Crowley as the Prophet of the new Aeon.In this ground-breaking book, author J. Daniel Gunther provides a penetrating and cohesive analysis of the spiritual doctrine underlying and informing the Aeon of the Child, and the sublime formulas of Initiation encountered by those who would probe its mysteries. Drawing on more than 30 years of experiences as a student and teacher within the Order of the A.·.A.·., the author examines the doctrinal thread of Thelema in its historical, religious, and practical context. This book is written in clear, precise language that will aid those students who seek to navigate the difficult terrain of the spiritual quest. More advanced students will find tantalizing clues to serve as guideposts and eventual confirmation of direct experience. With numerous diagrams and detailed references encompassing ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts, the Apocrypha, the Old and New Testaments, alchemy, hermetic Qabalah, and tarot, as well as the writings of Carl Jung and Aleister Crowley.

    Outlining "all that a modern monarch needs to know," the text emphasizes rigorous self-cultivation and mental discipline, brilliantly synthesizing for readers past and present the full spectrum of early Chinese thought."The Huainanzi" locates the key to successful rule in a balance of broad knowledge, diligent application, and the penetrating wisdom of a sage. It is a unique and creative synthesis of Daoist classics, such as the "Laozi" and the "Zhuangzi"; works associated with the Confucian tradition, such as the "Changes," the "Odes," and the "Documents"; and a wide range of other foundational philosophical and literary texts from the "Mozi" to the "Hanfeizi."The product of twelve years of scholarship, this remarkable translation preserves "The Huainanzi"'s special rhetorical features, such as parallel prose and verse, and showcases a compositional technique that conveys the work's powerful philosophical appeal. This path-breaking volume will have a transformative impact on the field of early Chinese intellectual history and will be of great interest to scholars and students alike.

    Although the writings of the Sufi mystics (Rumi and Hafez) and the Indian mystics (Mirabai and Kabir) have reached a wide audience in recent years, the poetry of the Christian mystics has yet to be discovered by a general audience. For Lovers of God Everywhere, a collection of nearly 100 poems from both historic and contemporary writers,  heralds the reemergence of the great spiritual voices of the Christian tradition—a tradition with its own love songs to God, cries of longing, and bliss of union.                In this collection, Roger introduces us to some of the foremost poets of both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions. He takes us from the wisdom of the Desert Fathers to the passion of St. Augustine, through the medieval ecstasies of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Catherine of Siena, to the subtleties of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila; and on to contemporary voices such as Rainer Maria Rilke, T.S. Eliot, and Mary Oliver. Roger’s insightful commentary on each poem inspires us to take its words more deeply into our souls and shows how the mystical tradition transcends sectarian divides and speaks to the heart of humanity.

    Finally, a book has come along that may help to dispel some of the more persistent myths surrounding Enlightenment and Enlightened people! With his typical good humor, Wayne shines a bright, clear light on the subject, helping us to understand not only what Enlightenment isn't but encouraging us to realize directly and intuitively the Truth of Enlightenment itself. This is an important book. With Grace, it could be the last one in your spiritual library.

    Tozer, saw a dangerous trend gaining momentum even before his death---a trend that has become commonplace now in the twenty-first century. In this never-before-published book, Tozer sounds his alarm for the modern Church: We must stop parroting words carelessly, and instead allow the meaning that these words convey to empower, shape and direct the work of the Church. Yet Reclaiming Christianity is not just a warning; it is a spiritual guidebook for reconnecting to the deepest meaning of Christianity's sacred messages.

    Sustaining belief without any doubts for one’s entire life is a very rare accomplishment. Indeed, many would say that examining one’s faith at least once is a central part of the Christian condition. In this landmark work, esteemed theologian Paul Knitter explains the unique path that he took to overcome his doubts, becoming a stronger Christian in the process.Honest and unflinching, Without Buddha I Could not be a Christian narrates each common spiritual dilemma that Knitter has struggled with and explains how a Buddhist worldview has allowed him to resolve each one. From the ‘petitioning’ nature of Christian prayer to how Christianity views life after death, Knitter argues that a Buddhist standpoint can help inspire a more person-centred conception of Christianity, where individual religious experience comes first, and liturgy and tradition second. Moving and revolutionary, this book will inspire Christians everywhere.

    Largely made up of actual research trance transcripts from her spirit guides, this book is a must-read for those who suffer from chronic physical problems but can’t seem to find relief from conventional medicine. (However, this work is not meant to replace medical treatment, but rather to augment it.) Sylvia also shares her innovative and proven methods of healing using cell memory and morphic resonance.Sylvia is one of the few deep-trance mediums in the world today, and the information that comes from her guides not only gives us the tools to cure ourselves and become more spiritual, but also delivers insights into preventive methods that ensure health and happiness so that we can enjoy optimal wellness—both inside and out!

    By showing how to work with the Higher Self to send Reiki treatments across many lifetimes, Bevell provides the tools for clearing karmic and spiritual blocks at the moment they were created. Through the introduction of new Reiki symbols and techniques for forgiveness, accessing the angelic realm, and more, seekers will be able to take ownership of their connection to the Divine and engage in real change in their lives.

    An interlinear edition of the spiritual classic that provides devanagari, transliterated Sanskrit, and English versions of the Gita.

    Known for his discourses on the intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy of the modern world, symbolism, tradition, and the inner or spiritual dimension of religion, this book is a compilation of his most important writings. A key component of his thought was the assertion that universal truths manifest themselves in various forms in the world's religions and his writings on Hinduism, Taoism, and Sufism are particularly illuminating in this regard.

    Translations and commentary by the author of the best selling book, "The Lost Book of Enoch," Joseph B. Lumpkin. - Section One: Lost Scriptures of the Old Testament- First Book of Adam and Eve, Second Book of Adam and Eve, First Book of Enoch, Second Book of Enoch (Secrets of Enoch), Jubilees, Jasher, The Story of Ahikar- Section Two: Apocalyptic Writings and the End of Days- Apocalypse of Abraham, Apocalypse of Thomas 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, War Scroll (Sons of Dark vs. Sons of Light)- Section Three: Lost Scriptures of the New Testament- Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Apocryphon of John, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Judas, Acts Chapter 29

    Paul Nwyia came from a generation of scholars who subscribed to the notion that all the text in a manuscript, including Qur'anic passages, should match the manuscript text exactly. The majority of modern scholars in the field, however, no longer hold this view; rather, they believe that tafsir scholars would not have objected to the later addition of diacritical marks to the Qur'anic text as necessary, and in fact, would have expected this to be done. This is because they did not consider the Qur'anic passages as part of their own work; these passages could then be altered according to the received text of the Qur'an. The evidence for this view can be found in a number of texts on manuscript editing.

    A multi-layered odyssey of transition based on the mystical Four Worlds of kabbalah - Intuition, Intellect, Emotion and Action - animating the Mystic, the Student, the Dreamer and the Humanitarian within.

    This new translation of selected letters and essays traces the life and thoughts of this extraordinary writer. Hölderlin's letters to friends and fellow writers such as Hegel, Schiller and Goethe describe his development as a poet, while those written to his family speak with great passion of his beliefs and aspirations, as well as revealing money worries and, finally, the tragic unravelling of his sanity. These works examine Hölderlin's great preoccupations - the unity of existence, the relationship between art and nature and, above all, the spirit of the writer.

    But one thing is increasingly certain: The eyes of the nations are riveted upon Israel and her neighbors, the epicenter of the momentous events shaking our world and shaping our future. What does the future hold? How will it affect your world? The Epicenter Study Guide can be used along with Joel Rosenberg's best-selling book Epicenter as well as the Epicenter DVD to help de mystify the events happening around the world. This study guide is designed to facilitate group discussion but can also be used for individual study. The study guide is divided into chapters to correlate with the chapters in Epicenter. You'll find helpful excerpts and Scripture references. The guide provides an easy-to-use workbook format that allows you to write directly in the book plus offers additional space for study notes.