Designed to provide just such a framework, In the Buddha's Words is an anthology of the Buddha's works that has been specifically compiled by a celebrated scholar and translator. For easy reference, the book is arrayed in ten thematic sections ranging from "The Human Condition" to "Mastering the Mind" to "The Planes of Realization." Each section comes with introductions, notes, and essays to help beginners and experts alike draw greater meaning from the Buddha's words. The book also features a general introduction by the author that fully lays out how and why he has arranged the Buddha's teachings in this volume. This thoughtful compilation is a valuable resource for both teachers and those who want to read the Buddha on their own.

    When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned. THE CONSOLATION was written in the period leading up to his brutal execution. It is a dialogue of alternating prose and verse between the ailing prisoner and his 'nurse' Philosophy. Her instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free will, restore his health and bring him to enlightenment. THE CONSOLATION was extremely popular throughout medieval Europe and his ideas were influential on the thought of Chaucer and Dante.

    This commemorative edition contains for the first time Seton's drawigns of American Indian motifs, a selection of photographs illustrating his life, information about his role as founder of the Boys Scouts of America.

    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.

    Evidence that Jesus had siblings contradicts Church dogma on the virgin birth, and James is also a symbol of Christian teachings that have been obscured. While Peter is traditionally thought of as the leader of the apostles and the “rock” on which Jesus built his church, Jeffrey Bütz shows that it was James who led the disciples after the crucifixion. It was James, not Peter, who guided them through the Church's first major theological crisis--Paul's interpretation of the teachings of Jesus. Using the canonical Gospels, writings of the Church Fathers, and apocryphal texts, Bütz argues that James is the most overlooked figure in the history of the Church. He shows how the core teachings of Jesus are firmly rooted in Hebraic tradition; reveals the bitter battles between James and Paul for ideological supremacy in the early Church; and explains how Paul's interpretations, which became the foundation of the Church, are in many ways its betrayal. Bütz reveals a picture of Christianity and the true meaning of Christ's message that are sometimes at odds with established Christian doctrine and concludes that James can serve as a desperately needed missing link between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to heal the wounds of centuries of enmity.

    His central doctrine is the unity of all existence. In this text, William Chittick explores how, through the work of Ibn Al-Arabi, Sufism moves away from anguished and ascetic searchings of the heart and conscience and becomes a matter of speculative philsophy and theosophy.

    These writings reflect the honor and respect for the feminine in the Sufi worldview, and they are shared in the spirit of inspiration and hope for the flourishing contributions of women to the spiritual development of humanity. Spanning the centuries, from the time of the Prophet Muhammad to the present day, the selections are by or about an array of Sufi traditions in different parts of the world, from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to Europe and America—from beloved members of the Prophet's family to the mystic Rabi'a al-Adawiyya to the modern scholar Annemarie Schimmel. Biographical anecdotes and personal memoirs provide a glimpse into the experience of great saints and contemporary practitioners alike, while providing an introduction to the principles and practices of Sufism.

    In it, you will find no creed of belief to which you must subscribe to be a Unitarian Universalist, no statement of doctrine. Unitarian Universalists value the individual spiritual journey and believe that there is no one right way to lead a religious life. For us, religion is ultimately not about what you think. Religion is about how you live. Ours is a faith of deeds, not creeds.”—from the PrefaceUpdated with a new preface by UUA President William Sinkford, the fourth edition of the UU Pocket Guide continues to be a foundational tool in our rich liberal religious tradition. Here is the perfect book for visitors, newcomers and anyone else who wants to learn more about UU faith heritage.Also available in Spanish, Guía Unitaria Universalista de bolsillo is an essential resource for congregations in Latino/a communities.For more information contact skinnerhouse @ uua.org.

    With a simple yet penetrating style, Zacharias uses rich illustrations to celebrate the power of Jesus Christ to transform lives. Jesus Among Other Gods contrasts the truth of Jesus with founders of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, strengthening believers and compelling them to share their faith with our post-modern world.

    In understanding the true nature of what it means to be fully human, he contends that we come face to face with the essence of Xian theology: human beings investing ordinary concepts with divine meaning & significance. The true danger to humanity occurs when theology is given the force of dogma & doctrine. Losing sight of its anthropological underpinnings & dependence upon or emergence from human nature, it then acquires an existence separate from that of humankind. He leaves nothing untouched: miracles, the Trinity, Creation, prayer, resurrection, immortality, faith & much more.The essential nature of manThe essence of religion considered generallyGod as a being of the understanding God as a moral being or law The mystery of the incarnation; or, God as love, as a being of the heartThe mystery of the suffering GodThe mystery of the Trinity & the mother of GodThe mystery of the Logos & divine imageThe mystery of the cosmogonical principle in God The mystery of mysticism, or of nature in God The mystery of providence & creation out of nothingThe significance of the creation in Judaism The omnipotence of feeling, or the mystery of prayer The mystery of faith, the mystery of miracle The mystery of the resurrection and of the miraculous conceptionThe mystery of the Christian Christ, or the personal GodThe distinction between Christianity & heathenismThe significance of voluntary celibacy & monachismThe Christian heaven, or personal immortality The essential standpoint of religion The contradiction in the existence of GodThe contradiction in the revelation of GodThe contradiction in the nature of God in generalThe contradiction in the speculative doctrine of GodThe contradiction in the Trinity The contradiction in the sacramentsThe contradiction of faith & loveConcluding application

    This meditation on the spiritual life has inspired readers from Thomas More and St. Ignatius Loyola to Thomas Merton and Pope John Paul I. Written by the Augustinian monk Thomas à Kempis between 1420 and 1427, it contains clear instructions for renouncing wordly vanities and locating eternal truths. No book has more explicitly and movingly described the Christian ideal:

    It is an indispensable guide to the depth and power of the Shia–Sunni split.

    He considered the doctrines of faith an invitation to question, to think, and to learn; and he devoted his life to confronting and understanding the most elusive aspects of Christianity. His writings on matters such as free will, the nature of truth, and the existence of God make Anselm one of the greatest theologians and philosophers in history, and this translation provides readers with their first opportunity to read his most important works within a single volume.

    In doing so Asimov illuminates the Bible's many obscure and mysterious passages, producing a valuable text for anyone interested in religion and history.

    Relying on new research and improved translations, Davis uncovers some amazing questions and contradictions about what the Bible really says. Jericho's walls may have tumbled down because the city lies on a fault line. Moses never parted the Red Sea. There was a Jesus, but he wasn't born on Christmas and he probably wasn't an only child.Davis brings readers up-to-date on findings gleaned from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Gnostic Gospels that prompt serious scholars to ask such serious questions as: Who wrote the Bible? Did Jesus say everything we were taught he did? Did he say more? By examining the Bible historically, Davis entertains and amazes, provides a much better understanding of the subject, and offers much more fun learning about it.