Call of the Camino: Myths, Legends and Pilgrim Stories on the Way to Santiago de Compostela


Robert Mullen - 2010
    The history of the Camino is recounted, as well as several of the myths, legends, and miracle stories that have become attached--and given special meaning--to this itinerary. Emphasizing that personal myths are an essential part of this lore, this chronicle also includes stories from the confraternity of the pilgrims, people from all corners of the world who visit this walk for a great diversity of reasons, but all of whom leave having experienced the same miracle--that this pilgrimage will play a defining role in their lives.

Faith in the Game: Lessons on Football, Work, and Life


Tom Osborne - 1999
    Before retiring in 1997, he took his team to a bowl game every year, won three national championships in the last four years he coached, and ended his career boasting an 84 percent winning record. But while these numbers testify to an undeniable accomplishment, it has been another, more powerful force that has shaped Osborne's life: his faith.In Faith in the Game, this legendary coach shares the philosophy he used to create not only a champion football team, but also a meaningful life. Both a memoir of Osborne's career with the Cornhuskers and an inspirational guide to making the most out of life, Faith in the Game presents the traits Osborne helped to instill in his team, including core values like honesty, loyalty, and courage. Illustrated with compelling behind-the-scenes stories of the Nebraska football team and conveyed in his own captivating tone, Osborne's message reveals the value of hard work, the need to balance our professional and personal obligations, and, above all, the importance of bringing faith into our lives.For those seeking a spiritually centered approach to living and working, this candid account of Tom Osborne's faith and strength is a warm and authentic book from which all of us can learn.

Abiding in Mindfulness, Volume 2: On Feeling, the Mind & Dhamma


Joseph Goldstein - 2007
    For it is close attention to each of these qualities that unlocks our deepest patterns of conditioning—and removes our greatest obstacles to liberation.From the crucial distinction between "worldly" and "unworldly" feelings to practical methods for "de-conditioning" habitual responses, Goldstein elucidates the Buddha's instructions for achieving a deeper happiness and ease of being through moment-by-moment mindfulness of feelings.The Third and Fourth Foundations of Mindfulness: Mindfulness of Mind, Mindfulness of DhammasAs you continue your exploration of the Satipat­t­hana Sutta, Goldstein brings you to the third and fourth foundations of mindfulness: Mindfulness of Mind and Mindfulness of Dhammas (or "categories of phenomena"). Here, you will learn what it means to "take responsibility for your own heart and mind"—the central art of the third foundation—through the pragmatic discernment of skillful and wholesome mind states and their counterparts, and direct investigation of the higher states of mind, including "concentrated" and "liberated" mind, and more. Next, you progress through the beginning sections of the fourth foundation, with Goldstein's step-by-step guidance about working with the hindrances and the aggregates. Includes 35-page study guide.Note: Abiding in Mindfulness, Volume 3, will contain remaining talks about the fourth foundation.The author's proceeds from this program will benefit the Insight Meditation Society's Forest Refuge retreat center.Course objectives:Discuss the second foundation of mindfulness: mindfulness of the feelings, including worldly and unworldly feelings• Discuss the third foundation of mindfulness: mindfulness of the mind, including a discussion of self-judgment, as well as the contracted and distracted mind• Explore the refrain of the Sutta: including the mindfulness of reactivity, the mindfulness of arising and passing away, as well as the mindfulness of internal and external experience• Discuss the fourth foundation of mindfulness: mindfulness of the Dhammas, including mindfulness of the five hindrances (desire, aversion, sloth and torpor, restlessness, and doubt)• Explore the five aggregates, including material elements, feeling, perception and formations, formations and consciousness, as well as non-self

The Ascent of Humanity


Charles Eisenstein - 2007
    Eisenstein traces all of the converging crises of our age to a common source, which he calls Separation. It is the ideology of the discrete and separate self that has generated these crises; therefore, he argues, nothing less than a "revolution in human beingness" will be sufficient to transform our relationship to each other and the planet. And this revolution is underway already. In all realms of human endeavor, an Age of Reunion is emerging out of the birth-pangs of a planet in crisis. The range and depth of Eisenstein's thesis is breath-taking. Encompassing science, religion, spirituality, technology, economics, medicine, education, and more, he details a vast paradigm shift reflecting a more fundamental shift in the human sense of self. Even in this dark hour, he says, a more beautiful world is possible -- but not through the extension of millennia-old methods of management and control. The convergence of crises is revealing the final bankruptcy of those methods. Soon, he says, we will abandon the Babelian effort to build a tower to Heaven, as we realize that the sky is all around us already. Then, we will turn our efforts to creating a new kind of civilization, a conscious civilization designed for beauty rather than height.

Thank You for Being Such a Pain: Spiritual Guidance for Dealing with Difficult People


Mark Rosen - 1998
    By embracing four fundamental premises and putting into practice the author's many helpful and practical suggestions, you'll acquire the skills and insights necessary for turning around even the most troublesome relationship. What you need to keep in mind is that: (1) nothing in your life happens randomly and your difficulties have a deeper purpose; (2) frustration and even emotional pain are as necessary for your personal and spiritual growth as love and joy; (3) transforming enmity and completing unfinished business may be the most important skills you can learn in life; and (4) when you make an effort to work on your inner self, your outer relationships will be transformed.        This groundbreaking book draws upon state-of-the-art psychological principles and timeless spiritual practices from all traditions. Filled with enlightening exercises and entertaining stories, Thank You for Being Such a Pain will forever change the way you see the difficult people in your life . . . as well as the way you see yourself.

The Secret World of Saints: Inside the Catholic Church and the Mysterious Process of Anointing the Holy Dead


Bill Donahue - 2011
    She slept on a bed of thorns. She had a friend whip her. She put hot coals between her toes. She suffered from smallpox, and the disease left her almost blind. Yet she still fasted, in penitence, and ministered to the sick and elderly. When she died, it was said, the smallpox scars instantly vanished from her face. It wasn’t long before people began to credit her with miracles.Indeed, the Vatican has just announced, 300 years after her death, that Tekakwitha is a miracle worker. She will be named a saint—America’s first indigenous saint, no less—as early as next fall. But what, exactly, does that mean? How does someone become a saint? What’s the vetting process? In this thoroughly entertaining investigation into the mysterious world of saints, Bill Donahue tells the strange and fascinating story of how the holy get their halos. The journey to canonization is long (sometimes, as in the case of Tekakwitha, it can take centuries), lurid (decayed body parts play a role), and, nowadays, surprisingly cutting-edge. Tekakwitha earned her saint status thanks to a medical miracle she allegedly caused in 2006: A boy suffering from a fatal flesh-eating bacteria suddenly and inexplicably recovered after his family prayed to the Blessed Kateri. Church experts grilled the boy’s doctors, studied his MRIs and hospital chart, and came to the conclusion that a force stronger than modern medicine saved him. In addition to Tekakwitha, Donahue introduces us to a cast of celestial characters, from Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II—both on the fast track to sainthood—to Saint Francis, Joan of Arc, and the shady Padre Pio, who claimed to suffer stigmata and raise bodies from the dead. But it’s what happens after these holy folk die that’s arguably even more intriguing. Mixing legend and science, history and on-the-ground reporting, The Secret World of Saints sheds light on one of the Catholic Church’s most arcane and captivating traditions.* * *Early praise for "The Secret World of Saints":"My sinful covetousness for Bill Donahue's talents and the fun he's having here has put me out of the running for sainthood. I love his story anyway."— Mary Roach, author of the bestselling "Stiff," "Spook," "Bonk," and "Packing for Mars"* * * About the Author: Bill Donahue is a journalist living in Portland, Oregon. His work has appeared in "The Atlantic," "The New York Times Magazine," "Wired," "Runner’s World," "The Washington Post Magazine," and "Inc." He has been nominated for two National Magazine Awards, and his stories have been reprinted in Best American Travel Writing, Best American Sports Writing, and numerous other anthologies.

The Great Adventure Bible Timeline Study Kit: Study Materials


Jeff Cavins - 2006
    Each lesson should be concluded with the corresponding lecture from the DVD or CD series, which contains expert commentary presented by Jeff Cavins. The Bible Timeline Study Kit includes:Study Set: Questions and ResponsesAn in-depth, 176-page set of Study Questions (including maps, charts, tables and note-pages) with a corresponding 88-page set of Responses provides you with a guide for your reading and Scripture study.Bible Timeline ChartA 33" full-color chart provides a visual overview of the books of the Bible. It allows you to track the growth of God's family from Creation to the establishment of the Church and see Bible history in context of world events.Bible Timeline BookmarkA full-color bookmark provides the significance for the color assigned to each time period and serves as a reference tool to mark your place in your Bible.Memory Bead WristbandThe t

Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World


Charles J. Chaput - 2017
    From Charles J. Chaput, author of Living the Catholic Faith and Render unto Caesar comes Strangers in a Strange Land, a fresh, urgent, and ultimately hopeful treatise on the state of Catholicism and Christianity in the United States. America today is different in kind, not just in degree, from the past. And this new reality is unlikely to be reversed. The reasons include, but aren't limited to, economic changes that widen the gulf between rich and poor; problems in the content and execution of the education system; the decline of traditional religious belief among young people; the shift from organized religion among adults to unbelief or individualized spiritualities; changes in legal theory and erosion in respect for civil and natural law; significant demographic shifts; profound new patterns in sexual behavior and identity; the growth of federal power and its disregard for religious rights; the growing isolation and elitism of the leadership classes; and the decline of a sustaining sense of family and community.

All Together Now?: One Man's Walk in Search of His Father and a Lost England


Mike Carter - 2019
    I called work and booked some time off. Then I bought a one-way train ticket to Liverpool.'In 1981, Mike Carter's dad, Pete, organised the People's March for Jobs, which saw 300 people walk from Liverpool to London to protest as the Thatcher government's policies devastated industrial Britain and sent unemployment skyrocketing. Just before the 2016 EU referendum, Mike set off to walk the same route in a quest to better understand his dad and his country.As he walked, Mike found many echoes of the early eighties: a working class overlooked and ignored by Westminster politicans; communities hollowed out but fiercely resistant; anger and despair co-existing with hope and determination for change. And he also found that he and Pete shared more in common than he might have thought.All Together Now? maps the intricate, overlapping path of one man's journey and that of an entire country. It is a book about belonging, about whether to stay or go, and about the need to write new stories for our communities and ourselves.

Practicing the Jhanas: Traditional Concentration Meditation as Presented by the Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw


Stephen Snyder - 2009
    The authors describe the techniques and their results, based on their own experience.

Pope Francis: Pastor of Mercy


Michael J. Ruszala - 2013
     What exactly do people find so attractive about Pope Francis? There is something about him that captivates and delights people, even people who hardly know anything about him. Aldo Cagnoli, a layman who developed a friendship with the Pope when he was serving as a cardinal, shares the following: “The greatness of the man, in my humble opinion lies not in building walls or seeking refuge behind his wisdom and office, but rather in dealing with everyone judiciously, respectfully, and with humility, being willing to learn at any moment of life; that is what Father Bergoglio means to me.” This book uncovers the life of the 266th Bishop of Rome, Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

The Life of St. Gemma Galgani


Germanus Ruoppolo - 1914
    Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was a mystic, stigmatist, visionary, ecstatic, victim soul, discerner of spirits, seer of hidden things, prophetess, spouse of Christ, zealot for souls and devotee of the Poor Souls in Purgatory. She died at only 25. Her mother was also saintly, and it is beautiful to see how she helped cultivate this lily of purity. See how Gemma made great sacrifices painful to human nature from her tenderest years. Inspiring and edifying! Impr. 382 pgs, PB

ZEN: A Simple Path to More Happiness, More Tranquility, and Less Problems


Andrew Daley - 2012
    It provides a useful introduction to Zen for people that have never had any previous experience of the subject matter, and it will provide a little something here and there for experienced Zen practitioners too, even if they are already very happy and very tranquil. The author's aim is to help people glide through life with maximum joy, and minimum fuss. Three of the central aspects of the Zen way of life that the author has found most useful for increasing happiness and tranquility are explored in detail. These are mindfulness, lifestyle and meditating. Between each of the three main chapters in this book are 'Zen tips', much shorter chapters of just a few paragraphs, giving information on a particular topic that the author has found especially useful in helping to maintain Zen tranquility and happiness. From the author: "This book isn't intended as a complete guide to all aspects of Zen culture, history or philosophy, but as an honest and insightful Zen based contribution to people's well being. I hope you enjoy it, and, more importantly, I hope you find it useful!"

Zulu Shaman: Dreams, Prophecies, and Mysteries


Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa - 1996
    Set against the backdrop of post-colonial South Africa, Zulu Shaman relays the first-person accounts of an African healer and reveals the cosmology of the Zulu. Mutwa begins with the compelling story of his personal journey as an English-trained Christian schoolteacher who receives a calling to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps as a shaman and keeper of folklore. He then tells the stories of his ancestors, including creation myths; how evil came to the world; the adventures of the trickster god Kintu; and Zulu relations with the “fiery visitors,” whom he likens to extraterrestrials. In an attempt to preserve the knowledge of his ancestors and encourage his vision of a world united in peace and harmony, Mutwa also shares previously guarded secrets of Zulu healing and spiritual practices: including the curing power of the sangoma and the psychic powers of his people.

God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion


Guy Consolmagno - 2007
    A full fledged techie himself, he relates some classic philosophical reflections, his interviews with dozens of fellow techies, and his own personal take on his Catholic beliefs to provide, like a set of "worked out sample problems," the hard data on the challenges and joys of embracing a life of faith as a techie. And he also gives a roadmap of the traps that can befall an unwary techie believer. With lively prose and wry humor, Brother Guy shows how he not only believes in God but gives religion an honored place alongside science in his life. This book offers an engaging look at how--and why--scientists and those with technological leanings can hold profound, "unprovable" religious beliefs while working in highly empirical fields. Through his own experience and interviews with other scientists and engineers who profess faith, Brother Guy explores how religious beliefs and practices make sense to those who are deeply rooted in the world of technology.