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.

    An inspiring exploration of the beliefs and commitment of a unique religious group, it was an instant sell-out when it first appeared in 2011. Geoffrey Durham has now revised and updated the book for its second edition, incorporating new developments and fresh thinking. With its well-judged balance of personal experience, spiritual guidance and practical advice, this book explains how Quaker meetings can change people, and then goes on to show the nature of the change. Quakers insist on working for peace, equality, simplicity and truth in their everyday lives and find themselves nourished and enriched by the experience. Being a Quaker: A Guide for Newcomers includes extracts from the testimony of Quakers of all backgrounds and beliefs, talking about the ways in which they put their religion into practice. It is a warm and incisive first book for all readers interested in Quakers, and an exhilarating read for anyone absorbed by the life of the Spirit.‘This book contains everything you always wanted to know about Quakerism but were afraid to ask. It is an ideal gift to give to newcomers who want to understand what ‘the Quaker way’ is all about.’ The Friend About the Author Geoffrey Durham became a Quaker in 1999. He was a contributor to the successful Twelve Quakers and … series of books, has compiled an anthology, The Spirit of the Quakers, and is a regular speaker at Quaker events. He has worked professionally in the performing arts for over forty years.

    

    Collins speaks of what remains to be the most amazing thing that he or anyone else has encountered in a full lifetime. The fact that God would save wicked men and forgive their sins is truly amazing. But the grace of God does not stop there. Our whole life is filled with the manifestation of God's grace to us. Here you will find what grace is and how it affects us who know Christ.

    This adventure in science and imagination, which the Medical Tribune said might herald "a Copernican revolution for the life sciences," leads the reader through unexplored jungles and uncharted aspects of mind to the heart of knowledge.In a first-person narrative of scientific discovery that opens new perspectives on biology, anthropology, and the limits of rationalism, The Cosmic Serpent reveals how startlingly different the world around us appears when we open our minds to it.

    These daily readings offer the skeptic, the over-committed the opportunity to make room-perhaps just enough room-for God to show up. The weeks leading up to Christmas can spark a strong spiritual longing for more. Although it may never be articulated, we sense beneath those longings is a yearning for an experience of God. These brief writings address the challenges and realities of the season and include a simple action, ritual or meditation designed to gently steer the reader toward the deeper meaning that underlies the season. Smart, witty, edgy--and always hopeful--readings by Quinn Caldwell include a brief prayer for each morning and evening during the entire Christmas season. This book takes seriously the modern person's hunger for meaning and import in a season that feels increasingly frivolous. Includes a calendar with one easy task to do each day.

    Christianity does all this but who has ever looked to see if it is true? This is a fundamental question and no one has yet set out to prove or disprove Christianity. Until now. From inconsistencies, absurdities, errors, contradictions and adult make-believe this books shows how the bible is false and thus that Christianity cannot possibly be true. This book examines claims in the bible against fact, and it asks deep questions of how the bible mandates that we should live. If you have ever wondered how you could know that the earth is older than 6000 years, or that Noah's flood could not possibly happen, or that the biblical creation story and ten commandments have critical flaws then this book is for you. If you are a Christian and you have questions about your faith then this book is for you. It will set your mind at ease that you will not face judgement day and it will help free your mind from the shackles of indoctrination. If you debate with Christian friends then this is your kryptonite for Christians. If you are a woman or from a lifestyle minority then this book is for you too. Especially for you. Voices of reason, logic and compassion are ever more important in today's complex political landscape. Read this book and understand why humanity should call time on Christianity and why we will all be the better for it.

    HE WAS, AT ONCE, DIVINE AND HUMAN. COMMON YET EXTRAORDINARY HIS NAME IS JESUS. Come, follow his footsteps. Listen to his words. Hear them with your heart. JOIN MAX LUCADO AS HE TAKES YOU ON A JOURNEY INTO THE LIFE OF THE ONE WHO GAVE HIMSELF TO WIN YOUR HEART.

    Looking up at the stars or witnessing a beautiful sunrise leaves us feeling like there has to be more to our existence. Is there more out there than this? Who am I? What is my purpose? The answers to these questions are hidden in the Natural Laws of the Universe. These Cosmic Laws govern ALL things and shape our inner and outer worlds. They do not leave uncertainty or doubt. They are the key to ALL things in existence and they can help you to achieve anything you desire out of life. Unlock the secrets of the universe to help open your mind to a more fulfilling life. What you will gain from this book: Learn that there is more to life than what there seems How to gain knowledge and anything you want in life Why we are not told about the laws and why they are hidden from us How the laws are the key to ALL existence How to stop struggling and start living a meaningful life The Law of Attraction is one of the best known universal laws. It can help manifest anything you desire, but combined with other valuable laws it will reshape your thinking and bring more meaning to your existence. Not only can you have anything you desire, you can increase your quality of life and make more sense of the world around you. This book could be the most life changing book you've ever read. You can be in complete control of your life and the world around you by understanding the laws that govern all things. Take advantage of the hidden secrets of the universe and start living the life you deserve. Scroll up and grab a copy now!

    This book is a compilation of the fourth year of Weekly Knowledge from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, spiritual teacher and founder of the Art of Living Foundation. The Weekly Knowledge is sent around the world with precious words of wisdom for practical daily living.

    While psychedelics of all sorts are demonized in America today, the visionary compounds found in plants are the spiritual sacraments of tribal cultures around the world. From the iboga of the Bwiti in Gabon, to the Mazatecs of Mexico, these plants are sacred because they awaken the mind to other levels of awareness--to a holographic vision of the universe.Breaking Open the Head is a passionate, multilayered, and sometimes rashly personal inquiry into this deep division. On one level, Daniel Pinchbeck tells the story of the encounters between the modern consciousness of the West and these sacramental substances, including such thinkers as Allen Ginsberg, Antonin Artaud, Walter Benjamin, and Terence McKenna, and a new underground of present-day ethnobotanists, chemists, psychonauts, and philosophers. It is also a scrupulous recording of the author's wide-ranging investigation with these outlaw compounds, including a thirty-hour tribal initiation in West Africa; an all-night encounter with the master shamans of the South American rain forest; and a report from a psychedelic utopia in the Black Rock Desert that is the Burning Man Festival.Breaking Open the Head is brave participatory journalism at its best, a vivid account of psychic and intellectual experiences that opened doors in the wall of Western rationalism and completed Daniel Pinchbeck's personal transformation from a jaded Manhattan journalist to shamanic initiate and grateful citizen of the cosmos.

    • Its authoritative research has great relevance to the current debate on drug legalization. • Prolific authors Robert Masters and Jean Houston are pioneer figures in the field of transpersonal psychology and founders of the Human Potentials Movement. The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience was published in 1966, just as the first legal restrictions on the use of psychedelic substances were being enacted. Unfortunately, the authors' pioneering work on the effects of LSD on the human psyche, which was viewed by its participants as possibly heralding a revolution in the study of the mind, was among the casualties of this interdiction. As a result, the promising results to which their studies attested were never fully explored. Nevertheless, their 15 years of research represents a sober and authoritative appraisal of what remains one of the most controversial developments in the study of the human psyche. Avoiding the wild excesses taken by both sides on this issue, this book is unique for the light it sheds on the possibilities and the limitations of psychedelic drugs, as well as on the techniques for working with them. With drug legalization an increasingly important issue, The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience provides a welcome and much needed contrast to the current hysteria that surrounds this topic.

    In a first of its kind book, Ian Punnett provides a spiritual path for expressing your rawest emotions through prayer and how to rebuild a relationship with one's higher power--or anybody else in your life. In this important and practical book, Ian Punnett provides insight on   feeling anger and resentment toward God and offers advice on how to deal with the pain and blame that accompanies these emotions. In a book that is edgy, timely, funny and compassionate, Punnett presents real help in everyday language for transforming the negativity of anger into a positive and useful force that will ultimately help us pray more effectively, bring us closer to God, enhance our spiritual relationship, and change the way we live and love others. After a divorce, a broken friendship, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job or even the accumulation of all the tiny cracks in our spirit from life's disappointments, it’s easy to feel pissed at God. When anger is left unchecked, it is harmful to  our minds, bodies and souls. “How to Pray When You’re Pissed at God is not “the last word” on angry prayer,” Punnett writes, “but it might be the first words you have ever heard on the topic. By the end of the book, it is my hope that you’ll understand the role of anger in our lives, the benefit of honest prayer, and the need for honest, angry prayer in the lives of the faithful and faithless.”

    Why is it, asks Bishop Fulton Sheen, that one hears so often the expression "Go to hell!" and almost never the expression "Go to heaven!" Here, at his most penetrating, challenging, and illuminating best is Bishop Sheen with his answer, in a book that breathes new meaning into the truths about heaven and hell, and new life into the concepts of faith, tolerance, love, prayer, suffering, and death.Beginning with "The First Faint Summons to Heaven," Sheen shows how unpopular it is today to be a true Christian, and describes the struggle for living our faith amid the disorders of our times.  Keenly aware of evil in the myriad forms it takes in today's world, Bishop Sheen writes about the constant battle man faces with the "seven pallbearers of character" - pride, avarice, envy, lust, anger, gluttony and sloth - linking them with the corrosive forces that never cease in their attacks on the Church and those who earnestly desire to be serious Christians.In Go to Heaven, a great spiritual teacher and writer, deeply aware of the human and spiritual conflicts being waged in the world, shows us the way to heaven in a most eloquent book, encouraging the reader to choose heaven now, and to understand the "reality of hell."

    . . but not like this.In this revealing book, renowned speaker and author Christopher West discusses the topic of love and relationships, but he does it through the lens of his own powerful and personal experience. If you've ever wondered what to do with that deep cry of your heart to love and be loved, read on.Love Is Patient, but I'm Not offers West's reflections on Pope Francis book The Joy of Love. It focuses on the heart of the pope's meditations on the famous love is patient and kind passage from 1 Corinthians 13. Its short chapters will take you line by line through the passage, and will also let you in on some intimate aspects of West's faith journey—his wound of perfectionism, his consequent challenges as a husband and father, and the ups and downs he experiences as he struggles to work it all out. As it turns out, we aren't the only ones who find it hard to live out the love St. Paul describes for us.Interspersed throughout the book are short prayers and questions for reflection designed to help you open your heart to God and experience his unconditional, merciful love more fully. Read this book for a dose of spiritual encouragement and for a real-life look at what it means to live the joy of love.