Caring provides us with stable ambitions and concerns; it shapes the framework of aims and interests within which we lead our lives. The most basic and essential question for a person to raise about the conduct of his or her life is not what he or she should care about but what, in fact, he or she cannot help caring about.The most important form of caring, Frankfurt writes, is love, a nonvoluntary, disinterested concern for the flourishing of what is loved. Love is so important because meaningful practical reasoning must be grounded in ends that we do not seek only to attain other ends, and because it is in loving that we become bound to final ends desired for their own sakes.Frankfurt argues that the purest form of love is self-love. This sounds perverse, but self-love--as distinct from self-indulgence--is at heart a disinterested concern for whatever it is that the person loves. The most elementary form of self-love is nothing more than the desire of a person to love. Insofar as this is true, self-love is simply a commitment to finding meaning in our lives.

    Instead, it is about whether God is truly good. Dinesh D'Souza, in his debates with leading atheists, quickly realized that many of those debates revolved around the question of evil in this world--how God could create a world that allowed such suffering and evil. In Godforsaken, Dinesh D'Souza takes these questions head on: Does God act like a tyrant? Is God really responsible for the evil in this world? Why is there suffering in the world? For the first time ever, Dinesh D'Souza approaches this topic with historical and scientific proof and presents to the reader why God is truly worthy of our worship and love.Republished in softcover as What's So Great about God.

    A. Milne's Piglet. Piglet? Yes, Piglet. For better than impulsive Tigger... or gloomy Eeyore... or intellectual Owl... or even loveable Pooh... Piglet herein demonstrates a very important principle of Taoism: the Te - a Chinese word meaning Virtue - of the Small.In this wonderful sequel to The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff explores the Te (Virtue) of the Small - a principle embodied perfectly in Piglet, a Very Small Animal who proved to be so Useful after all.

    The nearly one hundred of his prayers gathered here from published works and private papers, not only illuminate his own life of prayer, but speak to the concerns of Christians today.The second part of the volume is a reinterpretation of the life and thought of Kierkegaard. Long regarded as primarily a poet or a philosopher, Kierkegaard is revealed as a fundamentally religious thinker whose central problem was that of becoming a Christian, of realizing personal existence. Perry D. LeFevre's penetrating analysis takes the reader to the religious center of Kierkegaard's world.

    Originally published in India in 1971, The Way to God reveals the essence of Gandhi's ideas on faith, love, meditation, service, self-control, and prayer. A simple guide to daily religious practice, it is relevant to readers of every faith.

    But very few people could say just how its seemingly disparate jumble of writings — stories, letters, poems, collections of laws, religious visions — got there. Filling this knowledge gap, How the Bible Was Built clearly tells the story of how the Bible came to be. Penned by Charles Merrill Smith in response to his teenage granddaughter’s questions, the manuscript was discovered after Smith’s death and has been reworked by his friend James Bennett for a wider audience. Free of theological or sectarian slant, this little volume provides a concise, factual overview of the Bible’s construction throughout history, outlining how its various books were written and collected and later canonized and translated. Written in an easy conversational style and enhanced by two helpful appendixes (of biblical terms and dates), How the Bible Was Built will give a more informed understanding of the Bible to people of virtually any reading level and any religious persuasion. Did you know?The word “Bible” comes from biblion, a Greek word meaning “papyrus scroll.”It took several thousand years to construct the Bible.The book we call Deuteronomy was discovered hidden away in a dark corner during the reconstruction of the temple under King Josiah.The Apocrypha contains some of the earliest “detective” stories on record.Church councils had many disagreements about which books ought to be authoritative (a book called the Shepherd of Hermas almost made the cut; the book of Revelation almost didn’t).A heretic helped form the canon.Debate over the canon didn’t really end until the Protestant Reformation and the use of the printing press.

    It is a meditation on the infinite love of God and the infinite value of the human individual. Not only are we in God's hands, says Desmond Tutu, our names are engraved on the palms of God's hands. Throughout an often turbulent life, Archbishop Tutu has fought for justice and against oppression and prejudice. As we learn in this book, what has driven him forward is an unshakeable belief that human beings are created in the image of God and are infinitely valuable. Each one of us is a God-carrier, a tabernacle, a sanctuary of the Divine Trinity. God loves us not because we are loveable but because he first loved us. And this turns our values upside down. In this sense, the Gospel is the most radical thing imaginable.It is extremely moving that in this book Archbishop Tutu returns to something so simple and so profound after a life in which he has been involved in political, social, and ethical issues that have seemed to be so very complex.

    Since his death in 1987, countless readers have been challenged to encounter DeMellos message.

    In this famous twenty-four-day teaching on the lamrim, or stages of the path, Pabongka Rinpoche weaves together lively stories and quotations with frank observations and practical advice to move readers step by step along the journey to buddhahood. When his student Trijang Rinpoche first edited and published these teachings in Tibetan, an instant classic was born. The flavor and immediacy of the original Tibetan are preserved in Michael Richards' fluid and lively translation, which is now substantially revised in this new edition.

    One of our most popular religion and history titles - updated and reivsed.This guide contains a complete, authoritative account of the Jewish people - including profiles of Biblical and political leaders - and focuses on understanding the Jewish influence on American and world culture, offering insights into the Yiddish and Hebrew languages, theater, art, literature, comedy, film, television, and more.

    Covering a wide span of topics—from life and death to courage and winning—the practical information and encouragement are ideal for those seeking to find a deeper understanding of this ancient philosophy.

    In the first of three volumes spanning the entire Hebrew Bible, David Bokovoy dives into the Penateuch, showing how and why textual criticism has led biblical scholars today to understand the first five books of the Bible as an amalgamation of multiple texts into a single, though often complicated narrative; and he discusses what implications those have for Latter-day Saint understandings of the Bible and modern scripture.

    The "knowing heart" is the sacred place where these two dimensions meet and are integrated. In Sufi teaching the human heart is not a fanciful metaphor but an objective organ of intuition and perception. It is able to perceive all that is beautiful, lovely, and meaningful in life—and to reflect these spiritual qualities in the world, for the benefit of others. Every human heart has the capacity and the destiny to bring that world of divine reality into this world of appearances. The Sufis, mystics of Islam, have been educators of the heart for some fourteen centuries. Their teachings and methods are designed to help us awaken and purify the heart, to learn to listen to our deepest knowing. In The Knowing Heart, Kabir Helminski presents the Sufi way as a practical spirituality suitable for all cultures and times—and offers insights that are especially valuable for our life in today's world. In cultivating a knowing heart, we learn to experience a new sense of self, transform our relationships, and enhance our creative capacities. Most important, we learn how to meet the spiritual challenge of our time: to realize our sacred humanness.

    Seldom has such a small handful of words provided a teaching as rich as has this famous opening line. In a single stroke, the simple sentence cuts through the pervasive tendency students have of getting so close to Zen as to completely miss what it’s all about. An instant teaching on the first page. And that’s just the beginning.In the forty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind has become one of the great modern Zen classics, much beloved, much reread, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. Suzuki Roshi presents the basics—from the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nonduality—in a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page. It’s a book to come back to time and time again as an inspiration to practice, and it is now available to a new generation of seekers in this fortieth anniversary edition, with a new afterword by Shunryu Suzuki’s biographer, David Chadwick.

    However, Sylvia does, and in this fascinating book, she shares her 40 years of investigation into these issues. Drawing from thousands of research sessions with Francine, her spirit guide, along with her own understanding of a number of riveting topics that are pertinent to humanity as a whole, you will have access to information that is mentally profound, spiritually moving, and eminently logical.Francine, who resides on the Other Side, lives within the presence of God and has access to a wealth of knowledge about the nature of creation. Sylvia, then, becomes the human voice for Francine and is able to share the fruits of her wisdom. We are assured that God will respond to all questions-our job is to ask the right questions and be receptive to the answers we receive. In so doing, we gain valuable tools for life!Book 2Soul's PerfectionSylvia and her guides help solve a great mystery in this fascinating book-namely, what is the meaning of life? Most human beings-and many teachers and great scholars- have pondered this question over the years, but there has never been a truly definitive answer. This leaves most of us with a feeling of being incomplete in some way. Here, Sylvia and her guides take you to that place within you where you can achieve a sense of intellectual and spiritual fulfillment. They explain that we are here to perfect our souls by absorbing God's knowledge. We are the experiencing side of God, where God is the primary intellect of creation. Soul's Perfection takes you through the complete scope of your soul's journey, from planning each incarnation on the Other Side to making life meaningful here on Earth. If you wish to stand proudly before God some day, then the concepts discussed here will bring you wisdom, depth, and spiritual insight.Book 3The Nature of Good and EvilWe constantly see the "senseless violence" in our world, and it begs the question: "How can an all-loving God allow this to exist?" Indeed, many people simply reject any notion of God for this very reason. This third book in Sylvia's Journey of the Soul series gives you the philosophical framework to understand the nature of good and evil-and the role of God in the big picture. When you see how evil originated and why it thrives in our world, you're more prepared to face it and overcome it. Sylvia points out that you need not fear "evil spirits" or "curses"-which are merely stories bred from ignorance. And how would you like to serve as one of God's warriors of Light? Sylvia explains how to enlist!By combining her philosophical and theological views, Sylvia creates a spiritual umbrella that rises above traditional religion. All paths that lead to knowing God have merit-Sylvia simply invites you to know Him/Her in your own way, free of dogma and fear.Millions of people have witnessed Sylvia Browne's incredible psychic powers on TV shows such as Montel, Larry King Live, Entertainment Tonight, and Unsolved Mysteries; and she has been profiled in Cosmopolitan, People magazine, and other national media. Her on-target psychic readings have helped police solve crimes, and she astounds audiences wherever she appears. Sylvia is the author of numerous books and audios; is the president of the Sylvia Browne Corporation; and is the founder of her church, the Society of Novus Spiritus, located in Campbell, California.