Are those engaged in these arguments even talking about the same thing? In a wide-ranging response to this confusion, esteemed scholar David Bentley Hart pursues a clarification of how the word “God” functions in the world’s great theistic faiths.Ranging broadly across Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Vedantic and Bhaktic Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, Hart explores how these great intellectual traditions treat humanity’s knowledge of the divine mysteries. Constructing his argument around three principal metaphysical “moments”—being, consciousness, and bliss—the author demonstrates an essential continuity between our fundamental experience of reality and the ultimate reality to which that experience inevitably points.Thoroughly dismissing such blatant misconceptions as the deists' concept of God, as well as the fundamentalist view of the Bible as an objective historical record, Hart provides a welcome antidote to simplistic manifestoes. In doing so, he plumbs the depths of humanity’s experience of the world as powerful evidence for the reality of God and captures the beauty and poetry of traditional reflection upon the divine.

    These beliefs are an essential part of a shared identity. They have a unique power to define - and to divide - us, and are a driving force in the politics of much of the world today. Throughout history they have most often been, in the widest sense, religious.Yet this book is not a history of religion, nor an argument in favour of faith. It is about the stories which give shape to our lives, and the different ways in which societies imagine their place in the world. Looking across history and around the globe, it interrogates objects, places and human activities to try to understand what shared beliefs can mean in the public life of a community or a nation, how they shape the relationship between the individual and the state, and how they help give us our sense of who we are.For in deciding how we live with our gods, we also decide how to live with each other.

    . . the list goes on. Still, we believe the Bible has something important to say. How can we read it in a contemplative and intelligent way?

    Shoba Narayan travels across some of the most prominent places of worship in India and presents to her readers the mythologies, histories and contemporary relevance of these sites.

    With text, translation, and Sri Aurobindo's commentary, this is probably the finest translation and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita that we have seen.

    In Anam Cara, Gaelic for soul friend, the ancient teachings, stories, and blessings of Celtic wisdom provide such profound insights on the universal themes of friendship, solitude, love, and death as: Light is generous The human heart is never completely born Love as ancient recognitionThe body is the angel of the soul Solitude is luminous Beauty likes neglected places The passionate heart never ages To benatural is to be holy Silence is the sister of the divine Death as an invitation to freedom

    Today, the United States is home to approximately one million Hindus.If you've heard of this ancient religion and are looking for a reference that explains the intricacies of the customs, practices, and teachings of this ancient spiritual system, Hinduism For Dummies is for you!Provides a thorough introduction to this earliest and popular world belief system Information on the rites, rituals, deities, and teachings associated with the practice of Hinduism Explores the history and teachings of the Vedas, Brahmans, and Upanishads Offers insight into the modern daily practice of Hinduism around the world Continuing the Dummies tradition of making the world's religions engaging and accessible to everyone, Hinduism For Dummies is your hands-on, friendly guide to this fascinating religion.

    In The Sabbats, Edain McCoy reveals the eight major holidays of this faith and the many ways in which they are celebrated.There are two basic types of holidays. The first come at the Solstices and Equinoxes. The others divide the time between those dates in two, resulting in eight major holidays or Sabbats with approximately the same amount of days between them. The balance, here, gives the appearance of spokes in a wheel, so this cycle is commonly called the Wheel of the Year.The holidays represent two things. First, the harvest cycle. Each holiday represents a time in the growth of crops. From planting to growth, from harvesting to letting the lands lie fallow in the cold winter, the festivals follow the agricultural cycles of ancient times. However, they also represent the eternal love of the God and Goddess, following the God's birth from the Goddess and his death before she gives birth to him again. This also follows the pattern of the Sun which moves from warm and high in the sky to cold and low in the sky.The book is filled with ways you can follow the Wheel of the Year, whether you work with a coven, with your family, or by yourself. You will learn the secrets of ritual construction and handicrafts appropriate to each of the festivals. You will also learn recipes for traditional foods for each holiday and even songs appropriate to the Sabbats.This is a wonderful, joyous book filled with color, information, and wisdom. If you are involved with Paganism in any way, this book is a must for your studies and practices. This book functions as both a resource and as a practical manual for the celebration of the holidays. Get your copy today.

    This biography, a true folk tale from a culture now in crisis, can be read on several levels: a personal and moving introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, it is also a profoundly detailed guidebook in the search for consciousness. It presents the quest for spiritual perfection, tracing the path of a great sinner who became a great saint. But it is also a powerful and graphic folk tale, full of magic, disaster, feuds, deceptions, and humor. This definitive translation, originally published in 1977, was the first to appear in any Western language in half a century and renders this classic of spiritual literature into a simple modern English that reflects the direct power of the original.

    Editorial reviews: "Swami Bhaskarananda has written a compact, yet amazingly comprehensive treatment of the essentials of the Hindu view of life, emphasizing the very things one wishes most to know about when first approaching this complicated, and many-sided subject. While there is no lack of books on Hinduism, many are ill-suited to beginners because they do not adequately explain basic concepts. Swamiji's stlye is remarkable for its directness and lucidity, fresh and devoid of cliches to an extent that is truly rare nowadays." Walter Maurer, Professor of Sanskrit, University of Hawaii. "While I have taught an introductory Asian Religions course for some twenty years, I have never been able to find such a helpful work. I shall recommend it enthusiastically for use by our college students." Rev James Roberts, Catholic priest and professor, Religious Studies, Vancouver.

    Written by four major saints, the greatest exponents of this poetic form, between the tenth and twelfth centuries, they are passionate lyrical expressions of the search for an unpredictable and spontaneous spiritual vision of 'now'. Here, yogic and tantric symbols, riddles and enigmas subvert the language of ordinary experience, as references to night and day, sex and family relationships take on new mystical meanings. These intense poems of personal devotion to a single deity also question traditional belief systems, customs, superstitions, image worship and even moral strictures, in verse that speaks to all men and women regardless of class and caste.

    . .* there were absolutely no evidence for the existence of a historical Jesus?* for thousands of years Pagans had also followed a Son of God?* this Pagan savior was also born of a virgin on the twenty-fifth of December before three shepherds, turned water into wine at a wedding, died and was resurrected, and offered his body and blood as a Holy Communion?* these Pagan myths had been rewritten as the gospel of Jesus Christ?* the earliest Gnostic Christians knew that the Jesus story was a myth?* Christianity turned out to be a continuation of Paganism by another name?

    In a short life of thirty-two years, Shankaracharya not only revived Hinduism, but also created the organisational structure for its perpetuation through the mathas he established in Sringeri, Dwaraka, Puri and Jyotir Mathas.Adi Shankaracharaya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker is a meticulously researched and comprehensive account of his life and philosophy. Highly readable, and including a select anthology of Shankaracharya’s seminal writing, the book also examines the startling endorsement that contemporary science is giving to his ideas today. A must read for people across the ideological spectrum, this book reminds readers about the remarkable philosophical underpinning of Hinduism, making it one of the most vibrant religions in the world.

    The original manuscript of The Book of the Law was re-scanned for this edition, using the latest technology, for the clearest facsimile possible.Aleister Crowley devoted twenty-five years to writing and producing the four parts of this book. It is his magnum opus, in which he systematically expounds the mystical and magical theories and techniques taught in his magical orders, the A∴A∴ and the O.T.O.This profusely illustrated new edition brings together the complete texts of all four parts of Liber ABA (Book 4) in one volume under the overall title Magick. This edition incorporates Crowley`s own additions, corrections, and annotations, and restores dozens of passages omitted from all earlier editions.Magick is the fundamental textbook of modern magick in the New Æon. It also has invaluable teachings for students of Yoga and meditation. Crowley mastered the practices of Yoga during his studies in the East, and writes about them lucidly, without recourse to the imprecise language of mysticism.Beginning with a discussion of the universal origin of world religions in mystical revelation, Magick then explores the theory and practice of mysticism and magick in the light of modern scientific thought. Crowley`s own revelation, The Book of the Law, is then treated as a case study, with an autobiographical study of events leading to its reception.Extensively cross-referenced and annotated, this edition features over 100 diagrams and photographs, as well as a glossary, bibliography, and detailed index.

    "In this remarkable book, Ajahn Buddhadasa teaches us beautifully, profoundly, and simply the meaning of sunnata, or voidness, which is a thread that links every great school of Buddhism....He teaches us the truth of this voidness with the same directness and simplicity with which he invites us into his forest."-- from the foreword by Jack Kornfield