Best of
Spirituality

1962

Teachings of Ramana Maharshi


Ramana Maharshi - 1962
    This is a comprehensive selection of dialogues with Sri Ramana Maharshi, with brief, insightful explanatory notes that clarify and simplify the practical application of his teachings.

To Know Christ Jesus


Frank Sheed - 1962
    Sheed's concern with the Gospels is to come to know Christ as he actually lived among us, interacted with all the various people he encountered from his infancy to his passion and death--the God-man who was like us in all things except sin. Sheed has tried especially to see Our Lord in his effect upon others--seeing how they saw him, trying to see why they saw him so. There is much about Mary and Joseph in their task of bringing up a baby who was literally adorable; about John the Baptist; about Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalen; about Nicodemus; about people we meet only for a moment, like the man born blind and the owners of the drowned swine; and why the Pharisees, not only the worst of them but some of the best, would not accept Christ. Faith, doctrine, prayer, worship--all the content and consequences of Christian belief--rest on the person of Christ Jesus as recorded in the Gospels. In this classic study, Frank J. Sheed employs wide learning, theological sophistication, spiritual insight, and a lucid style to bring the reader to a personal encounter with the living Lord. To Know Christ Jesus has been justly called one of the most satisfying studies of the Gospel ever made. Frank J. Sheed had a distinguished career as a publisher, lecturer, street-corner evangelist, and popular writer. He and his wife Maisie Ward were the founders of the publishing house Sheed & Ward. His many books include Christ in Eclipse, What Difference Does Jesus Make?, Theology and Sanity, and A Map of Life.

New Seeds of Contemplation


Thomas Merton - 1962
    Christians and non-Christians alike have joined in praising it as a notable successor in the meditative tradition of St. John of the Cross, The Cloud of Unknowing, and the medieval mystics, while others have compared Merton's reflections with those of Thoreau. New Seeds of Contemplation seeks to awaken the dormant inner depths of the spirit so long neglected by Western man, to nurture a deeply contemplative and mystical dimension in our lives. For Merton, "Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the soil of freedom, spontaneity and love."

Lectures from Colombo to Almora (Hard bound)


Vivekananda - 1962
    A vivid narration of events in the making of a Prophet and a World Teacher.

The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity


Catherine Ponder - 1962
    Catherine Ponder writes in such a loving gentle way. The secrets she reveals are not secrets at all but Universal truths for health, love, success and peace. As she explores these dynamic laws of prosperity she shares actual success stories to help those of us who are uncertain. Practical advice for using Divine power to overcome difficulties and achieve happiness. First published in 1962, and revised and updated by the author in 1985, THE DYNAMIC LAWS OF PROSPERITY presents basic laws of prosperity in clear language for the modern reader."During my first year in the ministry, one of the most severe business recessions since WWII hit this country. Members of my congregation began asking for lectures on ways to survive this difficult period. It was then that these dynamic laws of prosperity began to take form. And, with breathtaking rapidity, these ideas worked, for all types of people!" Catherine Ponder

The Joyous Cosmology: Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness


Alan W. Watts - 1962
    The Joyous Cosmology is Alan Watts’s exploration of the insight that the consciousness-changing drugs LSD, mescaline & psilocybin can facilitate “when accompanied with sustained philosophical reflection by a person who is in search, not of kicks, but of understanding.” More than an artifact, it is both a riveting memoir of Watts’s personal experiments & a profound meditation on our perennial questions about the nature of existence & the existence of the sacred.

The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa


Milarepa - 1962
    Milarepa was an eleventh-century Buddhist poet and saint, a cotton-clad yogi who avoided the scholarly institutions of his time and wandered from village to village, teaching enlightenment and the path to Buddhahood through his spontaneously composed songs. Wherever he went, crowds of people gathered to hear his sweet sounding voice "singing the Dharma." The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, says the book's translator, "has been read as the biography of a saint, a guide book for devotions, a manual of Buddhist yoga, a volume of songs and poems, and even a collection of Tibetan folklore, and fairy tales." With titles like "The Salvation of the Dead," "A Woman's Role in the Dharma," and "Challenge from a Wise Demoness," Milrepa's poems are filled with fascinating tales of miraculous encounters and colorful imagery, and present a valuable insight into the living quality of Tibetan Buddhism. Central as this book is to Tibetan culture, the arcane dialect and obscurity of many original passages daunted translators for centuries; this was the first complete version of the classic to appear in the West.

The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas


Mahatma Gandhi - 1962
    Gandhi, called Mahatma (“great soul”), was the father of modern India, but his influence has spread well beyond the subcontinent, and is as important today as it was in the first part of the twentieth century, and during this nation’s own civil rights movement. Taken from Gandhi’s writings throughout his life. The Essential Gandhi introduces us to his thoughts on politics, spirituality, poverty, suffering, love, non-violence, civil disobedience, and his own life. The pieces collected here, with explanatory head-notes by Gandhi biographer Louis Fischer, offer the clearest, most thorough portrait of one of the greatest spiritual leaders the world has known.“Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable... We may ignore him at our own risk.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.With a new Preface drawn from the writings of Eknath EaswaranIn the annals of spirituality certain books stand out both for their historical importance and for their continued relevance. The Vintage Spiritual Classics series offers the greatest of these works in authoritative new editions, with specially commissioned essays by noted contemporary commentators. Filled with eloquence and fresh insight, encouragement and solace, Vintage Spiritual Classics are incomparable resources for all readers, who seek a more substantive understanding of mankind's relation to the divine.

Initiation Into Hermetics


Franz Bardon - 1962
    Part I - Theory: / establishes the foundation of physical existence as explained through the elements / the secret of the Tetragrammaton / the YOD-HE-VAU-HE / Karma, the Law of Cause and Effect / the significance of the physical, astral and spiritual planes / opening the door to initiation without the aid of a teacher.Part II - Practice: (divided into 10 progressive steps) / self thought control / introspection / conscious eating and breathing / controlling the elements / the practice of mental travel / transformation of character and temperament / astral body projection / loading of tallsmans, amulets and gems / elevation of the spirit to higher spheres including conscious communion with God.

Defeated Enemies


Corrie ten Boom - 1962
    Out of the depth of her own spiritual experiences, world Christian Corrie ten Boom shares with her Christian readers that the victory has been already won and the enemy of our souls defeated in God's timeless eternity.

Life and Holiness


Thomas Merton - 1962
    The text is Merton's classic work on incorporating spirituality into everyday life.

Where Witchcraft Lives


Doreen Valiente - 1962
    In this book, a re-visit of her first literary outing of 1962, she examines Witchcraft in Sussex, the role of the Horned God, hares and the Moon, folk-rites and the powers of Witchcraft. She is hereby laying the foundations of the modern day Witchcraft movement. As Gerald Gardner is now commonly thought of as the 'Father' of contemporary Witchcraft, so Doreen is known affectionately as the 'Mother of Modern Witchcraft'.

The Spiritual Heritage of India


Prabhavananda - 1962
    This selection gives excerpts from the scriptures that best explain the philosophy. Included are discussions on The Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God, How To Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali, The Upanishads: Breath of the Eternal. There are also chapters on the Vedas, Tantras, and other scriptures and famous teachers of India.

The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life


Lü Dongbin - 1962
    The ancient Taoist text that forms the central part of this book was discovered by Wilhelm, who recognized it as essentially a practical guide to the integration of personality.

Kingdom of Love


Hannah Hurnard - 1962
    By practicing the three principles of holy love studied here, we can turn control of our mind and heart over to God and experience the love, glory, and joy of his kingdom here on earth.

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans


Oliver B. Greene - 1962
    

Celestial Song of Creation


Annalee Skarin - 1962
    

Religious Vocation: An Unnecessary Mystery


Richard Butler - 1962
    A solid Thomist, who wrote this book in 1961, Father Butler shows that this type of question shows a totally wrong approach to a religious vocation - an approach that began with misguided theology in the 20th century, which then trickled down to the popular level, confusing both aspirants and spiritual directors. Though Fr. Butler deals primarily with vocations to the religious life, he also gives the classic guidelines on priestly vocations. The author states, based on the tradition of the Church, that religious vocation is not uncommon, rare or extraordinary and that it does not require an introspective search for some special voice or attraction. This book provides welcome, intelligent guidance both for spiritual directors and for those considering the religious life or that of the priesthood!

Selected Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality)


Augustine of Hippo - 1962
    Augustine of Hippo: Selected WritingsTranslated and introduced by Mary T. Clark Augustine of Hippo (354-430), bishop, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church whose thought molded the Western theological tradition, is clearly one of the most influential figures in the history of the Church. At the heart of his brilliant philosophical and theological speculation is his spirituality-a spirituality founded on the reality of the soul's experience of the Trinity in the depths of its interiority.This book is a collection of his writings, which in every sense must be considered true classics of spirituality in the West. Included are excerpts from Confessions, On the Trinity, The City of God, and Homilies on the Psalms along with the complete texts of the Rule of St. Augustine, On Seeing God, and On the Presence of God.In speaking of Augustine's relevance for our time, Paul VI said: If St. Augustine were alive today, he would speak as he spoke a thousand and more years ago. Why? Because he really personifies a humanity that believes, that loves Christ and our beloved God.

Dreams and Fancies


H.P. Lovecraft - 1962
    Moe, Alfred Galpin, Bernard Austin Dwyer, Donald Wandrei, Clark Ashton Smith, Duane W. Rimel, R.H. Barlow, William Lumley, Willis Connover, Jr. and Virgil Finlay)3."Memory"4."The Statement of Randolph Carter"5."Celephais"6."The Doom That Came to Sarnath"7."Nyarlathotep"8."The Evil Clergyman"9."The Thing in the Moonlight"10."The Shadow Out of Time"Cover Illustration: Richard Taylor