Little did his family realize that Soordas could often see more than anyone else. He could direct a shepherd to his lost goat and a father to his missing son. He could describe exactly how the idol of his beloved Lord Krishna was dressed in the temple each day. The Mughal emperor Akbar personally came to invite him to his court. The poet Tulsidas visited him. The powerful, the wise and the ordinary flocked to him for his all-seeing wisdom and his soul-stirring songs of devotion.

    Abi Talib, son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, first Shi'i imam and fourth caliph, is a monumental figure within the Islamic tradition. But despite the immense importance of Imam Ali, there is a dearth of literature in Western languages about his life and thought. This book -- the first serious engagement in English with the intellectual principles underpinning his teachings -- is therefore a welcome and valuable addition to the sources available. It consists of three parts. Part one introduces the person of Ali in a general manner, and focuses particularly on the spiritual and ethical content of his teachings. Part two evaluates Ali's "sacred conception of justice" Part three addresses the theme of spiritual realization through the remembrance of God, the central mystical practice of the Sufis. Justice and Remembrance will be of great value to students and scholars of Islamic thought, as well as to those interested in the relationship between spirituality and ethics.

    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.

    Wendy Palmer shows us through basic practice and partner exercises how we can become more aware of the body and trust its wisdom. Palmer introduces exercises from her Conscious Embodiment and Intuition Training program, connecting movement, meditation, and breathing in a daily practice which can help the process of integration, of deepening and unifying ourselves, and learning to deal with our fear and aggression.

    It’s the part of you that already knows how to break free of fear and unhappiness. This rebel is the voice of your own awakened mind. It’s your rebel buddha—the sharp, clear intelligence that resists the status quo. It wakes you up from the sleepy acceptance of your day-to-day reality and shows you the power of your enlightened nature. It’s the vibrant, insightful energy that compels you to seek the truth. Dzogchen Ponlop guides you through the inner revolution that comes from unleashing your rebel buddha. He explains how, by training your mind and understanding your true nature, you can free yourself from needless suffering. He presents a thorough introduction to the essence of the Buddha’s teachings and argues that, if we are to bring these teachings fully into our personal experience, we must go beyond the cultural trappings of traditional Asian Buddhism. “We all want to find some meaningful truth about who we are,” he says, “but we can only find it guided by our own wisdom—by our own rebel buddha within.”

    "The metods presented in this book follow the tradition from which all the four yogic paths of Raja, karma, Jnana and Bhakti stem out...Yogas are som well explained that even a lay reader will have little difficulty in grasping and understanding the techniques to control the mind..." The astrological magazine

    Villoldo shares some of their time-honored teachings that emphasize the sacred dream: an ephemeral, yet powerful vision that has the potential to guide us to our purpose and show us our place in the universe.The practices in this book will help you forge a sacred dream for yourself. They will help you craft a destiny infused with courage, and driven by vision. You’ll be invited to follow the footsteps of the luminous warrior and learn how to break out of the three nightmares surrounding love, death, and safety that have held you captive, and transform them into the experience of timeless freedom, known as the Primordial Light. This creative power exercised by shamans will lead you to create beauty and healing, and dream a new world into being.When you transform these dreams and accept that life is ever changing, that your mortality is a given and that no one except you can free you from fear —the chaos in your life turns to order, and beauty prevails.“Wake up from the slumber you are living in, and dream with your eyes open so that all the possibilities of the future are available to you.”

    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.

    The deeper way is by feeling the insights of the narration. The deepest way is where these insights and parables light up your mind in your hours of darkness and guide you like a friend. Hence the author invites you to read this book not just once, but many times over like a daily prayer... for prayer is not changing the Lord but changing you. To do what you like and like what you do is indeed a divine work. Work is an opportunity to find oneself. This book helps you in finding yourself in all walks of life... intimate, family, work, social, arid spiritual zones. In the process, you will be grateful to the weeds of your mind. They ultimately help your practice of being relaxed. Being relaxed is wise. Begin with being wise and you will be relaxed. Being relaxed is a wise and an easy way to live life.

    Krishnamurti, or just U.G., was a speaker and philosopher, often known as an "anti-guru" or as "the man who refused to be a guru." This book is a compilation of discussions between U.G. Krishnamurthi and various questioners in India, Switzerland, Australia, the Netherlands, and the U.K. According to U.G., "The religious states of bliss and ecstasy can never be experienced, can never be grasped, contained, much less given expression to you, by man. That beaten track will lead you nowhere. There is no oasis situated yonder; you are stuck in a mirage."

    In Part One, we join him on an engaging, often hilarious, and compelling personal journey.... through decades of tasting from a banquet of spiritual approaches. Through his direct experience, fierce exploration, and scintillating discernment, Brown exposes the fragmented, ungrounded and dissociative notions of spirituality that have imprisoned our consciousness and obstructed our awakening since time immemorial. In his cuttingly straight style, he reveals that much of what we have been calling "spirituality" is actually a patriarchal, emotionally bereft construct that perpetuates our self-avoidance. He then proves to us--point by brilliant point--that true spirituality is a whole-being awakening, one that wonderfully embraces our entire human experience. In many spiritual practices, emotional healing processes (blockage clearing, issue resolution, the working through of the shadow) have been bypassed and trivialized, as though the 'real' spiritual realm exists independent of our feelings. Brown makes no distinction between these realms, revealing that emotional maturity and spiritual maturity are synonymous, and that any spirituality that desacralizes our selfhood is not enlightenment at all. It is a bypass of that which is fundamentally human: our feelings, our stories, our bodies, our relationships with each other and the earth that houses us. In his words, "Detachment is a tool- not a life. If you can't find your transformation in the village, you haven't found a thing." In Part Two, Brown engages in a riveting dialogue with an ungrounded seeker named "Michael." Their dialogues unfurl in warmth, humor, playfulness, personal story, threaded with challenging confrontation and cutting truth. Hands-on exercises are dispersed throughout--providing readers with a direct experience of a new, inclusive model. Here the author lays down the tracks for a more balanced, heartfelt and relational spirituality- one that leaves us "enrealed," integrated, and purposeful. Not awakened, but awakening. Not escaping our humanness, but finding our meaning and spirituality deep within it. Out of the ashes of old ways of being, a bright new paradigm comes into view. An inclusive, self-honoring, and healing spiritual perspective that will be a welcomed relief for any seeker.In the author's words, "It's one thing to briefly detach from story in the hopes of gaining a different perspective--it's quite another to deny our storied roots altogether. What will we stand in, then? At a time when our personal stories have been shamed and shunned in the spiritual community, it is all the more imperative to revive them and makes luminous their sacred, transformative properties. The past is not an illusion, as many would suggest. It is the ground of our being, the karmic field for our soul's transformation- the mystery that threads right through our history. Story is where we come from. Story is what roots us in the present. Story is how we arrive at the next place intact. A spirituality without story is like a body without breath. Dead to the world." What we need now are models that lead us back into our hearts, into relatedness, into a deep and reverential regard for the self's journey through time. In this magnificent book, Brown endeavors to hearticulate one such path, reminding us that heaven on earth begins and ends deep within the recesses of our enlivened humanness. At long last, we can lay down our weary heads, burdened by the impossibility of transcending our human experience. Back to our roots, back into our bodies, back into all that makes us marvelously human. Home at last.

    Help. Thanks. Wow.' Readers of all ages have followed and cherished Anne Lamott's funny and perceptive writing about faith and prayer. And in Help, Thanks, Wow she has coalesced everything she's learned about prayer into these simple, transformative truths. These three simple prayers will get you through tough times, everyday struggles, and the hard work of ordinary life.It is these three prayers - asking for assistance, appreciating the good we witness, and feeling awe at the world - that get us through the day and show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow , Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they have meant to her over the years and how they've helped, and explores how others have embraced these ideas.Help is the first of three eBooks, each covering a single section of Anne Lamott's latest book, Help, Thanks, Wow. Insightful and honest as only Anne Lamott can be, this is a book that new Lamott readers will love and longtime Lamott fans will treasure.

    Everything changes. For Buddhist priest and meditation teacher Lewis Richmond, this fundamental Buddhist tenet is the basis for a new inner road map that emerges in the later years, charting an understanding that can bring new possibilities, fresh beginnings, and a wealth of appreciation and gratitude for the life journey itself.In Aging as a Spiritual Practice, Richmond acknowledges the fear, anger, and sorrow many people experience when they must confront the indignities of their aging bodies and the unknowns associated with mortality. This wise, compassionate book guides readers through the four key stages of aging- such as "Lightning Strikes" (the moment we wake up to our aging)-as well as the processes of adapting to change, letting go of who we were, embracing who we are, and appreciating our unique life chapters. Unlike many philosophical works on aging, however, this one incorporates illuminating facts from scientific researchers, doctors, and psychologists, as well as contemplative practices and guided meditations on aging's various challenges and rewards. The tandem of maintaining a healthy body and healthy relationships, infused with an active spiritual life, is explored in rejuvenating detail. Breath by breath, moment by moment, Richmond's teachings inspire limitless opportunities for a joy that transcends age.

    Now, in" Emotional Chaos to Clarity, "he provides the antidote by showing us the path of skillful living. Grounded in Western psychology and Buddhist philosophy, each chapter introduces a mind state that prevents us from living skillfully, narrates stories from Moffitt's hundreds of students and clients, and provides step-by-step exercises for readers to find clarity in their own lives. Among the many benefits of skillful living are being able to gain wisdom from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences and having an inner life which can flourish, even if our outer life is filled with difficulty.

    During September Roman Catholics commemorate and honour the Seven Sorrows (or Dolours) of the Blessed Virgin Mary by prayers, other pious devotions and meditations.The first part of this book consists of prayers and miscellaneous devotions.The second part is a step-by-step guide to praying the popular Rosary (or Chaplet) of the Seven Sorrows with selections of text from the Gospels.The third part is a set of Reflections on the Seven Sorrows written by Saint Alphonsus Ligouri.The book is fully navigable by an active Table of Contents with hyperlinks.