story of the predecessors of Christians

    P. Lovecraft, and Carlos Castaneda -each imbued with a twenty-first-century aptitude for quantum theory and existential psychology-and you get the voice of Daniel Pinchbeck. And yet, nothing quite prepares us for the lucidity, rationale, and informed audacity of this seeker, skeptic, and cartographer of hidden realms. Throughout the 1990s, Pinchbeck had been a member of New York's literary select. He wrote for publications such as "The New York Times Magazine," "Esquire," and "Harper's Bazaar." His first book, "Breaking Open the Head," was heralded as the most significant on psychedelic experimentation since the work of Terence McKenna. But slowly something happened: Rather than writing from a journalistic remove, Pinchbeck-his literary powers at their peak-began to participate in the shamanic and metaphysical belief systems he was encountering. As his psyche and body opened to new experience, disparate threads and occurrences made sense like never before: Humanity, every sign pointed, is precariously balanced between greater self-potential and environmental disaster. The Mayan calendar's "end date" of 2012 seems to define our present age: It heralds the end of one way of existence and the return of another, in which the serpent god Quetzalcoatl reigns anew, bringing with him an unimaginably ancient-yet, to us, wholly new-way of living. A result not just of study but also of participation, "2012" tells the tale of a single man in whose trials we ultimately recognize our own hopes and anxieties about modern life.

    Apart from this, many a times each state of each nation has role models from the past but not forgotten history. Maharashtra has its own idols. The greatest and most loved of them all is shivaji maharaj.

    Were humans created by God as Slaves? Was Abraham the first human Spy? Was Jesus an accidental Messiah? This work takes readers on a odyssey of the origins of humankind drawing on analogies between discoveries in genetic engineering and ancient archaeological finds.

    Gilbert's "The Armageddon Strain" to expose the plot -- and discovers that he's not contending with flesh and blood.

    When the mind has understood all things and found them to be in harmony with what has been expounded by the teachings, it is faithful and comes to rest in that beautiful faith.”Hermes to AsclepiusThe Corpus Hermeticum, a powerful fusion of Greek and Egyptian thought, is one of the cornerstones of the Western esoteric tradition. A collection of short philosophical treatises, it was written in Greek between the first and third centuries A.D. and translated into Latin during the Renaissance by the great scholar and philosopher Marsilio Ficino. These writings, believed to be the writings of Hermes Trismegistus, were central to the spiritual work of Hermetic societies in Late Antique Alexandria (200-700 A.D.), and aimed to awaken gnosis, the direct realization of the unity of the individual and the Supreme.In addition to this new translation of The Corpus Hermeticum, which seeks to reflect the inspirational intent of the original, The Way of Hermes includes the first English translation of the recently rediscovered manuscript of The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, a collection of aphorisms used by the hermetic student to strengthen the mind during meditation. With the proper mental orientation,a state of pure perception can be achieved in which the true face of God appears. This document is of enormous value to the contemporary student of gnostic studies for its insights into the actual workings of this spiritual path.Clement Salaman is the editor of the English translation of The Letters of Marsilio Ficino. Dorine Van Oyen is a lecturer on Hermetic studies in Amsterdam. William D. Wharton teaches Classical history, languages, and philosophy in Boston. Jean-Pierre Mahe is Correspondent of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Paris.

    Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 20. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Cyberiad (Polish: ) is a series of short stories by Stanisaw Lem. The Polish version was first published in 1967, with an English translation appearing in 1974. The main protagonists of the series are Trurl and Klapaucius, the "constructors." The vast majority of characters are either robots, or intelligent machines. The stories focus on problems of the individual and society, as well as on the vain search for human happiness through technological means. Two of these stories were included in the book The Mind's I. Trurl and Klapaucius are brilliant (robotic) engineers, called "constructors" (because they can construct practically anything at will), capable of almost God-like exploits. For instance, on one occasion Trurl creates an entity capable of extracting accurate information from the random motion of gas particles, which he calls a "Demon of the Second Kind." He describes the "Demon of the First Kind" as a Maxwell's demon. On another, the two constructors re-arrange stars near their home planet in order to advertise. The duo are best friends and rivals. When they are not busy constructing revolutionary mechanisms at home, they travel the universe, aiding those in need. Although the characters are firmly established as good and righteous, they take no shame in accepting handsome rewards for their services. If rewards were promised and not delivered, the constructors may even severely punish those who deceived them. The universe of The Cyberiad is pseudo-Medieval. There are kingdoms, knights, princesses, and even dragons in abundance. Robots are usually anthropomorphic, to the point of being divided into sexes. Love and marriage are possibl...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=59380

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    This book describes the motivations behind external history, the growth of religious striving, the rise and fall of cultures, and indicates their importance for us today. It reflects the lives and deeds of human beings of extraordinary stature: Rama, Krishna, Hermes, Moses, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, and Jesus.In these pages one witnesses spiritual adventure of a depth and intensity rarely experienced by creative human beings, even in their most exalted moments. This excitement of discovery which breathes through The Great Initiates may well explain its continuing popularity after over a century.

    The book serves to illustrate and amplify Idries Shah's preceding (over 20) books on the Sufi Way.

    These authors contend that the image on the shroud is not Jesus of Nazareth but Leonardo da Vinci. Photos.

    Michael Newton is world-famous for his spiritual regression techniques that take hypnotic subjects back to their time in the spirit world. His two best-selling books of client case studies, Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls, have left thousands of readers eager to discover their own afterlife adventures, their soul companions and guides, and their purpose in this lifetime. Now, for the first time in print, Dr. Newton reveals his step-by-step methods. His experiential approach to the spiritual realms sheds light on the age-old questions of who we are, where we came from, and why we are here. This groundbreaking guidebook, designed for both hypnosis professionals and the general public, completes the afterlife trilogy by Dr. Newton.

    This booklet contains the lecture by SGI President Ikeda on Nichiren Daishonin's letter "On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime." This lecture was serialized in Living BuddhismSept–Oct 2006 to Mar–Apr 2007.

     After that he had been rescued by more aliens! But only to be dumped on an alien planet in an alien galaxy and left to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. But there was nothing to figure out. The sights were indescribable. The smells intolerable. The food – even the stuff that was supposedly safe to eat – inedible. And the people unimaginable. There was only one thing he knew. He wanted to go home. And if the aliens wouldn't take him back to Earth, then he would just have to buy a spaceship and damn well fly himself back there!

    The doctrine codified in The Book of the Law and the numerous other Holy Books known as Thelema revealed Aleister Crowley as the Prophet of the new Aeon.In this ground-breaking book, author J. Daniel Gunther provides a penetrating and cohesive analysis of the spiritual doctrine underlying and informing the Aeon of the Child, and the sublime formulas of Initiation encountered by those who would probe its mysteries. Drawing on more than 30 years of experiences as a student and teacher within the Order of the A.·.A.·., the author examines the doctrinal thread of Thelema in its historical, religious, and practical context. This book is written in clear, precise language that will aid those students who seek to navigate the difficult terrain of the spiritual quest. More advanced students will find tantalizing clues to serve as guideposts and eventual confirmation of direct experience. With numerous diagrams and detailed references encompassing ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts, the Apocrypha, the Old and New Testaments, alchemy, hermetic Qabalah, and tarot, as well as the writings of Carl Jung and Aleister Crowley.