Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master's Lessons in Living a Life That Matters


Bernie Glassman - 2002
    That's the premise of this book: how to cook what Zen Buddhists call "the supreme meal"—life. It has to be nourishing, and it has to be shared. And we can use only the ingredients at hand. Inspired by the thirteenth-century manual of the same name by Dogen, the founder of the Japanese Soto Zen tradition, this book teaches us how we can "enlarge the family we're feeding" if we just use some imagination. Bernie Glassman founded Greyston Bakery in Yonkers, New York, in 1982 to employ those whom other companies deem unemployable—the homeless, ex-cons, recovering addicts, low-skill individuals—with the belief that investing in people, and not just products, does pay. He was right. Greyston has evolved into an $8 million-a-year business with clients all over New York City. It is the sole supplier of brownies to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, and has even sold cakes to the White House. But financial profit is only one of two bottom lines that Greyston is committed to. The other one is social impact, and this goal is certainly being met. The bakery enterprise has led to the creation of the Greyston Foundation, an integrated network of organizations that provide affordable housing, child care, counseling services, and health care to families in the community. Using entrepreneurship to solve the problems of the inner city, Greyston has become a national model for comprehensive community development. Its giving back is more than just sloughing off a percentage of its profits and donating it to charity; it's about working with the community's needs right from the beginning—bringing them from the margins to the core. As its company motto goes, "We don't hire people to bake brownies. We bake brownies to hire people." This book is as much a self-manual as a business manual, addressing such concepts as    • Beginner's mind    • The Middle Way of Sustainability    • The "hungry ghosts" of Buddhism as a picture of all humanity    • Working with our faults    • Indra's Net and the interconnectedness of life    • Leaving no trace

Spiritual Power, Spiritual Practice


Caroline Myss - 1998
    Through these daily disciplines anyone can learn to tap the wellsprings of love, faith, and trust that energize our spiritual potential.

The Faith of a Heretic


Walter Kaufmann - 1978
    

Think Big!: Be Positive and Be Brave to Achieve Your Dreams


Ryuho Okawa - 2015
    Using his own life experiences and wisdom as the roadmap, Ryuho Okawa inspires us with practical steps for building courage, choosing a constructive perspective, finding a true calling, cultivating awareness, and harnessing our personal power to realize our dreams. Think Big! offers the support and encouragement to shift to new ways of thinking and mastering self-discipline. Okawa s self-proven approach fosters stability and strength in the challenges each of us faces. In addition to his relatable stories and a motivational voice to keep us going, each chapter builds on the next for concrete methodologies that, when added up, are a track to support your dreams, yourself, and your life. Put in place, these day-to-day life tools can help us in living courageously with no regrets, and maximizing our potential. Think Big! also offers the map that helps us confront self-doubts and move us past discouraging obstacles. This book lets us shift our perspectives on failure and vulnerability, learn to charge toward difficult situations, and move away from judgment when we make mistakes. Fast-tracking our goals takes more than just positive thinking it takes a plan, passion, action and habits that create success. Okawa s simple, relatable wisdom is outlined to cultivate knowledge-seeking, motivated beings that translate personal visions into action for greater happiness and success. Off the pages comes the courage to get unstuck, get clear and focused, and get into action. The transformation is simple; it starts with thinking big. Think Big! a self-development book that can make a big impact toward a meaningful future."

A Prayer That Never Fails: 7 Spiritual Practices to Catapult You to Happiness


Sadhvi Vrinda Om - 2019
    When I was initiated into sannyasa, I thought I had become a different person forever. The reality was far from it. The only solace: I was not the only one. Having met numerous seekers who visit our ashram to meet My Guru, Om Swami, I realized that most of them had similar woes. My failures were everyday failures for others just as much. They too were dancing to the fickle tunes of their unanchored and untamed minds. But there was hope. Simple instructions from the ingenious mind of My master rescued me. It is his infallible wisdom that I have tried to capture in this book. I hope the lessons in these pages bring you as much peace and clarity as they brought me.

The Simple Feeling of Being: Visionary, Spiritual, and Poetic Writings


Ken Wilber - 2004
    Yet while he is best known for his scholarly research into the world's contemplative traditions, Wilber is also an accomplished spiritual practitioner and mystic in his own right. In order to highlight the personal wisdom of this popular author, the editors of The Simple Feeling of Being have assembled a collection of inspirational, mystical, and instructional passages drawn from his publications. These heartfelt writings, born of Ken's own meditation practice and inner experiences, include:    •  Poetic passages of contemplative insights and reflections    •  Inspired descriptions of Spirit, Nondual Awareness, the Witness, One Taste, and other topics    •  Commentary on the spiritual contributions of figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Meister Eckhart, and Ramana Maharshi    •  Anecdotes of personal experience and glimpses into Wilber's inner world    •  Practical spiritual instructions and guided meditations

The 72 Angels of Magick: Instant Access to the Angels of Power


Damon Brand - 2016
    The angels are ready to listen and ready to work for you. All you have to do is ask in the right way. The 72 Angels of Magick brings together the content of Magickal Angels and The Greater Magickal Angels. For the first time, all the information is included in one volume. If you already own those books, you don’t need this one. If you’re new to angel magick, everything you need for success is here.When you contact the angels listed in this book you will have the power to dominate success and fortune, obtain what you wish, protect yourself and stop enemies. These mighty angels can be contacted easily, instructed directly and will gladly fulfill your desires. You don’t need to believe anything or belong to any religion. You don’t need to be pure or worthy. All you need is a strong desire for something to change in your world. If you have that desire, the angels will take you where you want to go. It is their purpose to give you the power to express the life you dream of living. Whether you are seeking fame, money, wisdom, healing or peace, the angelic powers can help you to improve your life in the ways that matter to you most. The angels in this book can help you to carry out difficult tasks, strengthen your will power and increase your popularity.You can attract love, find harmony, increase fame, find strength, break through adversity, sleep well, heal yourself and obtain clear thought. There are angelic powers that enable you to invent, discover new methods, improve your business and find new supporters.You can increase the loyalty of friends and lovers. The power to improve prosperity, win awards, write well, be stable, reduce anxiety, learn easily, understand in new ways and dominate strong personalities is at your hand. The angels can help you to excite new passion, discover more about yourself and see the past, present and future with clarity.They will protect, uncover truth, stop liars, inspire artists and spread the word about your creative works. Debtors can be made to pay up. You can turn enemies into friends. Whether you are making deals, learning a trade, trying to pass exams or working to increase your income, these angels can bring the help you need. You will discover:A unique talisman that opens the gateway to angelic contact The Words of Power that establish an angelic connection Seventy-Two unique sigils for contacting angels Over two hundred angelic powers that can be used in thousands of ways Information on how to choose the right angel Methods for communicating directly with angels Ancient secrets for contacting angels that can’t be found anywhere else.

Jewish Jocks: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame


Franklin Foer - 2012
    Featuring work by today’s preeminent writers, these essays explore significant Jewish athletes, coaches, broadcasters, trainers, and even team owners (in the finite universe of Jewish Jocks, they count!).Contributors include some of today’s most celebrated writers covering a vast assortment of topics, including David Remnick on the biggest mouth in sports, Howard Cosell; Jonathan Safran Foer on the prodigious and pugnacious Bobby Fischer; Man Booker Prize–winner Howard Jacobson writing elegantly on Marty Reisman, America’s greatest ping-pong player and the sport’s ultimate showman. Deborah Lipstadt examines the continuing legacy of the Munich Massacre, the fortieth anniversary of which coincided with the 2012 London Olympics. Jane Leavy reveals why Sandy Koufax agreed to attend her daughter’s bat mitzvah. And we learn how Don Lerman single-handedly thrust competitive eating into the public eye with three pounds of butter and 120 jalapeño peppers. These essays are supplemented by a cover design and illustrations throughout by Mark Ulriksen. From settlement houses to stadiums and everywhere in between, JEWISH JOCKS features men and women who do not always fit the standard athletic mold. Rather, they utilized talents long prized by a people of the book (and a people of commerce) to game these games to their advantage, in turn forcing the rest of the world to either copy their methods—or be left in their dust.

The Seven Feasts of Israel


Zola Levitt - 2012
    An explanation of the commandments of Jehovah to Moses on Mount Sinai regarding the festival days and their deep significance. Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles are shown in all their glory.

12 Steps on Buddha's Path: Bill, Buddha, and We


Laura S. - 2006
    This book is a powerful and enriching synthesis of the 12-Step recovery programs and the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism. It is sure to appeal to anyone touched by addiction, including those looking for new ways to understand and work with the tried-and-true 12-Step system. Tens of millions of Americans suffer from alcoholism and other forms of dependence, and 12 Steps on Buddha's Path offers hope and help for any one of them.Though writing anonymously out of deep respect for 12-Step policies, the author is in fact a well-known professional author, deeply involved in the recovery and meditation communities.

Buddhism: An Introduction to the Buddha's Life, Teachings, and Practices


Joan Duncan Oliver - 2019
    From central ideas like the Eight Fold Path and the Four Noble Truths to the role of meditation, Buddhism offers an indispensible introduction to the wisdom tradition that has shaped the lives of millions of people across centuries and continents. Writing in an engaging, approachable style, author Joan Duncan Oliver outlines the key tenants of Buddhism for every reader, unpacking complex philosophies and revealing the beauty of the timeless faith.A practitioner of Buddhist meditation for over thirty years, Oliver has written extensively on the subject and is uniquely well versed in Buddhist practice. Her expert knowledge and understanding make Buddhism an essential modern guidebook to an ancient tradition.

Living Tao: Timeless Principles for Everyday Enlightenment


Ilchi Lee - 2015
    But Tao cannot fully be explained in words; it can only felt and experienced. Tao is something you live, day by day, moment by moment. It s the omnipresent oneness beyond ephemeral phenomena that expresses itself in everything. New York Times bestselling author Ilchi Lee, an enlightened Tao master from South Korea, has laid out a path to living Tao everyday. Along this path, he guides you to an understanding of the meaning of birth, death, and everything in between, building a foundation for living a complete and whole life. The universal principles contained in "Living Tao: Timeless Principles for Everyday Enlightenment" stem from the Korean practice of Sundo, an ancient tradition of mind-body training, as well as Lee s own life experience. With these tangible principles, Ilchi Lee makes this profound topic simple and accessible. "Living Tao" has an unparalleled depth in its simplicity that anyone can absorb and immediately apply. * 2015 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award Winner, Bronze, Body, Mind & Spirit"

Sins of the Tongue: The Backbiting Tongue


Jean-Pierre Bélet - 2015
    Belet wages war against one of the worst sins of his (and our) time - backbiting - better known to us as detraction (telling the faults of others without cause). Most of us do not realize how evil this sin is. In fact, many of us don't think it's a sin at all. After ruining someone's reputation, or satisfying our anger (and yes, our hatred) by spewing out every bad thing we can say about someone, we justify ourselves by saying, "Well, it's true!" We even think we are acting justly by giving someone what they deserve.. Due to our lack of charity and also to our pride, little do we see things from God's point of view, to whom these are vile sins - a form of hatred of neighbor - a failure to do the two things necessary - to love God and our neighbor (Matt. 22:37-40). In explaining this sin of backbiting, properly called detraction, Fr. Belet quotes the best men of Western Civilization: Aristotle, Plato, Horace, Seneca, Pliny, the Roman Emperor Constantine, King David, Isaiah, Saints James, Luke, Matthew, Paul, John Chrysostom, Jerome, Cassian, Gregory the Great, Augustine, Bernard, Thomas Aquinas, and many others. A very helpful book for those who wish to know to meaning of backbiting---and how to avoid it.

To Begin Again: The Journey Toward Comfort, Strength, and Faith in Difficult Times


Naomi Levy - 1998
    The words in this book come from the heart--mine and the hearts of others. I pray that you will find within them a spark that will ignite the flame of hope and the passion for healing that lies within us all."Naomi Levy was a spirited fifteen-year-old when her father was murdered in a senseless holdup that destroyed not only his life but her trust in a loving God. Healing took a long time, yet from her struggles with grief, anger, and depression, she forged the wisdom that made her, at twenty-six, a beloved rabbi--and now makes her book a miracle of honesty, recovery, and compassion.Where do we find the strength to meet tragedy? Can we rekindle hope? Innocence? Faith? The answers, illustrated with many moving, true stories drawn from Rabbi Levy's experience and the lives of her congregants, provide sanity, peace, and a safe harbor where we can heal and grow. Remember: "Death is a great tragedy. But to die while we are still living, that is the greatest tragedy of all."

Mystery Babylon: Unlocking the Bible's Greatest Prophetic Mystery


Joel Richardson - 2016
     Mystery Babylon is an in-depth look at the prophecy of Revelation 17 and 18. Richardson dissects the longest prophecy in the New Testament – the final chapters of the Bible – in order to make sense of these deeply elusive and profoundly controversial passages. At once a queen, a prostitute, and a cold-blooded killer, this great harlot waves a golden cup filled with blood. Adorned in purple and scarlet and gold and precious stones, she seduces the kings of the earth with luxury. Most commonly known, perhaps, is that she rides a beast with seven heads and ten horns. Her title is Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of all harlots and of the abominations of the earth. From the early days of Christianity, believers have struggled to understand the mystery of the great harlot. Scholars and students alike have arrived at many different conclusions. In his characteristically easy-to-understand style, Richardson works through the history of Christian interpretation of Mystery Babylon, weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each view, making a powerful case for a solution to this prophecy that will rock the prophecy world. Divided into three parts Mystery Babylon Richardson exposits Scripture in part 1, examines the more common positions in part 2, and invites the reader to a powerful conclusion in part 3. Keep both your Bible and your mind open as you read this book not simply with an intellectual curiosity, but with much prayer and a truly contrite and trusting heart, believing indeed that the Lord will open up his secrets to all “those who fear Him” (Ps. 25:14).