Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians


Lawrence Kushner - 2001
    It is a tradition that may at times, for Christians, feel strangely familiar and will, for Christians and Jews, always challenge you to see yourself and your world through a new lens."--from the IntroductionJewish spirituality is an approach to life that encourages us to become aware of God's presence and purpose, even in unlikely places. "This world and everything in it is a manifestation of God's presence," says Rabbi Lawrence Kushner. "Our challenge and goal is to find it and then act in such a way as to help others find it too."In this special book, Kushner guides Christians through the rich wisdom of Jewish spirituality. He tailors his unique style to address Christians' questions, and, in doing so, opens new windows on their own faith.Jewish Spirituality is a window into the Jewish soul that people of all faiths can understand and enjoy. From the Talmud and Torah, to "repentence" (teshuva) and "repairing the world" (tikkun olam), Kushner shows all of us how we can use the fundamentals of Jewish spirituality to enrich our own lives.

Taoism


Ken Cohen - 1999
    In easy-to-follow language, Ken Cohen reveals Lao Tzu's vast spiritual legacy, including: origins, philosophy, and religion; keys to ethical living, inner silence, and simplicity; Taoist meditations, prayers, and rituals, plus teachings on diet, poetry, feng shui, dream yoga; and much more.

Bedside Torah


Bradley Shavit Artson - 2001
    Rabbi Bradley Artson, one of the truly inspirational and knowledgeable teachers of Torah of our time, weaves together the insights of ancient rabbis and sages, medieval commentators and philosophers, and modern scholars and religious leaders. The reflections in this collection offer three different commentaries on each of the 50 Torah portions, enlightening you into the Torah's infinite layers of meaning and offering opportunities to discover interpretations of your own.The Bedside Torah is an introduction to Jewish text study that is both learned and engaging . . . The language is conversational, the insights provocative, and the chapters are just the right length for reading before an inspired night's sleep. --Anita Diamant, author of The New Jewish Wedding, Choosing a Jewish Life, How to Be a Jewish Parent, The Red Tent, and Good HarborBradley Artson is one of the most insightful and articulate rabbis of his generation, as this volume clearly attests.--Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good PeopleIn The Bedside Torah, Rabbi Artson combines wisdom garnered from traditional Jewish sources and commentaries with anecdotes and insights drawn from his own life as well as the lives of all those he has served. In so doing, he has turned each weekly Torah portion into a series of revelations for the reader. The Bedside Torah is a treasure that will surely enrich the religious life of Jews as well as all those who seek comfort and guidance from Jewish scriptures.--Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., president, Hebrew Union College--Jewish Institute of Religion

The Jewish Joke: A Short History - With Punchlines


Devorah Baum - 2017
    This smart and funny book includes tales from many of these much-loved comics, and will appeal to their broad audience, while revealing the history, context and wider culture of Jewish joking.The Jewish joke is as old as Abraham, and like the Jews themselves it has wandered over the world, learned countless new languages, worked with a range of different materials, been performed in front of some pretty hostile crowds, and yet still retained its own distinctive identity. So what is it that animates the Jewish joke? Why are Jews so often thought of as ‘funny’? And how old can a joke get?The Jewish Joke is a brilliant—and laugh-out-loud funny—riff on about what marks Jewish jokes apart from other jokes, why they are important to Jewish identity and how they work. Ranging from self-deprecation to anti-Semitism, politics to sex, Devorah Baum looks at the history of Jewish joking and asks whether the Jewish joke has a future. With jokes from Lena Dunham to Woody Allen, as well as Freud and Marx (Groucho, mostly), Baum balances serious research with light-hearted humor and provides fascinating insight into this well-known and much loved cultural phenomenon.

The Dr. Wayne W. Dyer Audio Collection: Includes the Bestsellers: Real Magic - Pulling Your Own Strings - Your Erroneous Zones


Wayne W. Dyer - 1995
    Wayne Dyer is an inspirational guide to thousands. Now his main titles—including the perennial blockbuster Real Magic—are available in one boxed set perfect for gift-giving.Author Biography: Wayne W. Dyer is one of the most widely read authors today in the field of self-development. He is the author of many books, including such bestsellers as Your Erroneous Zones, You'll See It When You Believe It, and Real Magic. A psychotherapist, Dyer received his doctorate in counseling psychology from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, and has taught at many levels of education from high school through graduate study. He is the co-author of three textbooks, contributes to numerous professional journals and lectures extensively in the United States as well as abroad. He appears regularly on radio and television shows around the country.

Seeker After Truth


Idries Shah - 1982
    It is precisely because of the unreliability of vision, of memory, of wanting to believe, of induced belief ... that the Sufis say that an objective perception must be acquired before even familiar things can be seen as they are. "Seeker After Truth" goes beyond the familiar "first do this, then do that" style of handbook, transporting the reader to new ranges of perception, according to his or her capacity. Among the many assumptions questioned are: the objective worth of deep emotional feelings; the superiority of man's social habits over those of rats, and the origin of those habits; the evils of deceit ... The magazine Literary Review said about it: "This book ... is food for many different kinds of study - a book unlike anything our society has produced until recently, in its richness, its unexpectedness, its capacity to shock us into seeing ourselves as others see us, both personally and as a society."

Dialogue with Death: A Journey Through Consciousness


Eknath Easwaran - 1981
    Why am I here? Is there a purpose to my life? What happens when I die? These deep questions are addressed with clear wisdom, vivid images and memorable stories.

My Rebbe


Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz - 2014
    During his forty years of leadership, Rabbi Schneerson transformed Chabad into a global movement marked by extensive outreach activities and a closeknit network of emissaries stationed around the world. His passionate devotion to education, social change, and acts of charity and kindness inspired countless people to embrace spirituality in their daily lives.In My Rebbe, celebrated author and thinker Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz shares his firsthand account of this extraordinary individual who shaped the landscape of twentieth-century religious life. Written with the admiration of a close disciple and the nuanced perceptiveness of a scholar, this biography-memoir inspires us to think about our own missions and aspirations for a better world.

The Way: Using the Wisdom of Kabbalah for Spiritual Transformation and Fulfillment


Michael Berg - 2001
    Michael Berg has accomplished the monumental task of translating the eternal truths of life into spiritual common sense. Without a doubt, The Way will become one of the sacred texts of your own life."-Caroline Myss, Ph.D., author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Sacred ContractsThe spiritual way of Kabbalah has grown from a hidden treasure into a widespread mainstream movement that has helped people from every walk of life, all around the world, to improve their lives. In this bestselling book, Michael Berg of The Kabbalah Centre-the world's leading educational institution teaching the wisdom of Kabbalah-shows you how to recognize and understand the key spiritual laws in order to improve your life and the lives of everyone around you. The Way will teach you meditation and prayer techniques and how to reduce emotional chaos and increase personal harmony. At once groundbreaking and so clearly written that it is accessible to anyone following any spiritual path, The Way provides the spiritual power tools to attain true fulfillment and happiness.

Rumi Daylight: A Daybook of Spiritual Guidance


Rumi - 1990
    Rumi is now recognized here in the West, as he has been for seven centuries in the Middle East and Western Asia, as one of the greatest literary and spiritual figures of all time. Rumi is a spokesman for the religion of love in the language of the heart. Recent translations of Rumi's work have brought forth a variety of different qualities, exploring the subtlety, grace, and electricity of his verse. This book presents his spiritual teachings concisely and comprehensively, in a translation that touches heart and mind. The Mathnawi, from which these selections have been taken, is one of the greatest spiritual masterpieces ever written. Its content includes the full spectrum of life on earth, as well as the vertical dimension to the highest levels of metaphysics and cosmic awareness.

A Tree in a Forest. A Collection of Ajahn Chah's Similes


Ajahn Chah - 1995
    How do I prepare my mind for meditation?There is nothing special. I just keep it where it always is.They ask, 'Then are you an arahant?'Do I know?I am like a tree in a forest, full of leaves, blossoms and fruit.Birds come to eat and nest, and animals seek rest in its shade.Yet the tree does not know itself.It follows its own nature.It is as it is.""All the teachings" Ajahn Chah taught, "are merely similes and comparisons, means to help the mind see the truth. If we establish the Buddha within our mind, then we see everything, we contemplate everything, as no different from ourselves.Many of the similes that Ajahn Chah himself used to teach came out of his vast experience of living in the forest. His practice was simply to watch, all the while being totally open and aware of everything that was happening both inside and outside himself. He would say that his practice was nothing special. He was, in his own words, like a tree in a forest, "A tree is as it is," he's say. And Ajahn Chah was as he was. But out of such "nothing specialness" came a profound understanding of himself and the world.Ajahn Chah used to say, "The Dhamma is revealing itself in every moment, but only when the mind is quiet can we understand what it is saying, for the Dhamma teaches without words." Ajahn Chah had this uncanny ability to take that wordless Dhamma and convey its truth to his listeners in the form of a simile that was fresh, easy to follow, sometimes humorous, sometimes poetic, but always striking a place in the heart where it would jar or inspire the most: "We are like maggots; life is like a falling leaf; our mind is like rain water."The teachings of Ajahn Chah teem with similes and comparisons like these. We thought it would be a good idea to collect them all in the form of a book as a source of inspiration for those who may want some respite from the "heat" of the world and seek some rest in the cool and abundant shade of "a tree in the forest".

The Thunder of Silence


Joel S. Goldsmith - 1993
    The famed lecturer and teacher explains the principle that there is an inner grace available to all and offers concrete directions for hearing and understanding the voice of God.

When Christ Comes: The Beginning of the Very Best


Max Lucado - 2009
    There is much about the end of history we don't understand. But while thoughts on the final day will stir our questions, they needn't stir our fears. Regarding that day, Jesus urged, Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me (John 14:1).Max Lucado believes the day Christ comes will be the beginning of the very best. And our primary task is to be prepared and peaceful while we wait.If we have some questions about the end of time ...If we have concerns about what will happen to us ...If we want to look to the end of times as a source of comfort and not chaos ...Then this is the book we need. New York Times best-selling author Max Lucado walks us through Scripture to find peace in the present and hope for the hereafter.

Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda


Paramahansa Yogananda - 1980
    In answering the questions of those who turned to him for guidance, Yogananda expressed himself with candor, spontaneity, and insight. He knew when to relieve a somber situation with a flash of wit, and was able to transform philosophical truths into simple precepts for everyday living.

The Mystic Eye


Sadhguru - 2008
    This is a book to treasure.It offers an unpreecendented glimpse into the world of a contemporary mystic,a prestigious living archive of knowledge.In the course of his discussions,Sadhguru probes the farthest realms of illogic,and yet his unfailingly rational and matter of fact tone lends credibility to the more fanatic aspects of the content.The result is a unique perspective on a world you knew or thought you knew.Refracted through the mystic eye a lens of exceptional insight and piercing clarity it is a world transformed.A world that reminds you that there are indeed many more things on heaven and earth...that are dreamt of in your philosophy.