What unites figures as diverse as James Joyce, Caravaggio, John Milton, the architect of Chartres, Dorothy Day, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the later Bob Dylan is a peculiar and distinctive take on things, a style, a way, which flows finally from Jesus of Nazareth. Origen remarked that holiness is seeing with the eyes of Christ. Teilhard de Chardin said, with great passion, that his mission as a Christian thinker was to help people see. And Thomas Aquinas said that the ultimate goal of the Christian life is a ‘beatific vision,’ an act of seeing. This book is about coming to vision through Christ.” — Robert Barron, from the Prelude

    A collection of uplifting quotations from some of mankind’s most important philosophers, scientists, writers, and even comedians, THE INSPIRATIONAL ATHEIST will be a treasured daily companion for the growing demographic of humanists who  believe that life has meaning when we live it meaningfully, independent of the existence of a higher power. With words from Carl Sagan, D. H. Lawrence, Julia Child, Douglas Adams, Charlotte Bronte, Bertrand Russell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Carlin, Joan Didion, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Thomas Jefferson and dozens of others on topics ranging from Love and Nature to Wisdom and Beauty, this book is a celebration of the sublime without the divine.

    Lewis, get your daily dose of inspiration from this one-of-a-kind devotional collecting 365 readings from the beloved Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis channeled his profound spiritual understanding into The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and the other books in his seminal fantasy series. This enthralling anthology (with lavish illustrations by Pauline Baynes) is the perfect gift for fans of the beloved children's books, and a peerless set of meditations for anyone looking to step through that secret door to their own world of devotion.

    This book contains the teachings and meditations Lama gave at a five-day retreat he led near Melbourne, Australia, which he introduced by saying: "Whether or not this five-day meditation course becomes beneficial is up to you; it depends on your own mind. It's not a lama thing; I'm not going to bring you to enlightenment in this short time... If over the next five days you can begin to recognize the reality of your own nature, this meditation course will have been worthwhile. Therefore, dedicate your actions during this time to discovering inner freedom through recognizing the negative characteristics of your own uncontrolled mind."

    In her own life journey, she has struggled with difficult questions?and has found some answers. Not easy, pat answers, but real-life, lived-out-in-the-flesh answers that can help you find meaning and purpose in spite of pain and suffering. Life Is Tough but God Is Faithful offers encouraging insight into God's presence in the midst of our questions and struggles?and highlights positive choices you can make, no matter what your circumstances may be."Life is tough, but God is faithful" has become Sheila's motto. "The Bible is full of stories of men and women who, in the midst of the toughest situations of life, discovered the faithfulness of God," she says. "When our dreams go sour or seem unfulfilled, we can choose to allow Satan to slither into our lives, or we can choose to remember that God is faithful, no matter how hopeless life gets."Sheila looks at thirteen crucial turning points that can help you rediscover God's love and forgiveness. Showing how the choices you make affect your life, she offers insights from the book of Job, from her own life, and from the lives of people whose simple but determined faith helped them become shining lights in a dark world.

    The seven deadly sins are the force causing that hole. They are at work in each of us. They decimate our relationships, our souls and our world. These deadly sins often seem pleasing and good for gaining what we desire, but they are thoroughly poisonous. Conversely, the Beatitudes are Jesus' pictures of a restored creation. The Beatitudes introduced what Jesus said to his earliest followers about a life strong and fruitful. In fact, the Beatitudes give us a glimpse of a world empty of evil and filled to the edges with God's life. Looking at the Beatitudes and the seven deadly sins in turn, we see two paths, two sets of invitations. Both call to deep places within us to come and taste. Both invite us to take up residence. Both present themselves as life as it actually is. But only one will draw us further into reality.And only one will make us happy. “Of the many, many books about the Gospels, or about Jesus, or about Christian morality, only one in a thousand gives us a real breakthrough, a new ‘big picture’. Most are just nice little candles on the cake. Seven is a bonfire. It’s not just good; it’s striking. It doesn’t just say all the things you’ve heard a thousand times before. And yet it’s totally in sync with both the saints and the scholars.”--Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy at Boston College, and author of over forty-five books, including Fundamentals of the Faith.

    Billions seek the answer to world's ills, conflicts, prejudices and injustice, and David Icke reveals what that is in his appropriately named new book, The Answer.It is not religious, economic or political, but something from which all else comes.There is nothing more important to turn the world around than for the content of this book to be globally known.The future of humanity depends upon it.

    Bob Smith, founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935, his hope was that AA would become a safe haven for those who suffered from this disease. Thirty years after his death, AA continues to help millions of alcoholics recover from what had been commonly regarded as a hopeless addiction. Still, while Wilson was a visionary for millions, he was no saint. After cofounding Alcoholics Anonymous, he stayed sober for over thirty-five years, helping countless thousands rebuild their lives. But at the same time, Wilson suffered form debilitating bouts of clinical depression, was a womanizer, and experimented with LSD.Francis Hartigan, the former secretary and confidant to Wilson's wife, Lois, has exhaustively researched his subject, writing with a complete insider's knowledge. Drawing on extensive interviews with Lois Wilson and scores of early members of AA, he fully explores Wilson's organizational genius, his devotion to the cause, and almost martyr-like selflessness. That Wilson, like all of us, had to struggle with his own personal demons makes this biography all the more moving and inspirational. Hartigan reveals the story of Wilson's life to be as humorous, horrific, and powerful as any of the AA vignettes told daily around the world.

    Left unchecked, this tendency can lead to mental health problems such as depression and generalized anxiety disorder. The Mindful Path Through Worry and Rumination offers powerful mindfulness strategies derived from Buddhist spiritual practices and proven psychological techniques to help you stop overthinking what you can't control-the future and the past-and learn how to find contentment in the present moment.Kumar integrates science, Buddhism, and therapeutic tools to create an insightful and useful guidebook for people stuck in rumination.-Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Yale University

    

    Yet, each moment of joy is only that: momentary, showing up the rest of our lives to be unsatisfying, somehow lacking and incomplete. On the other hand, Vedanta, the body of knowledge found at the end of the Veda, asserts with breathtaking boldness that one's true nature is completeness and limitlessness. Vedanta also promises that moksa, liberation from all forms of limitations that seem to bind a human being, is possible here and now. In this lucid, lively introduction to Vedanta, Swami Dayananda shows how man's constant struggle to overcome these limitations through the ceaseless pursuit of security and pleasure are predestined to failure for the simple reason that they are misdirected: they stem from a failure in understanding the real nature of the fundamental problem itself. All effort howsoever great or unremitting being limited, the result of such effort is also bound to be equally limited, inadequate. The road to freedom from limitation, then, can scarcely lie that way. Indeed, asserts Vedanta, it is only to be found in the correct knowledge of one's true nature as absolute. This vital first step, a clear understanding of man's fundamental problem of ignorance and error about his real nature. Is what this book is all about.

    Here are teachings about the Buddha, subsequent Buddhas, and our Buddhist nature; prayer texts and meditation techniques; the stories of hermits and yogis; the lessons of ancient monks and modern nuns—all centered around profoundly practical instructions for training the mind on the path to enlightenment. Clarifying but never simplifying the complexity of Tibetan Buddhism, this collection is the essential companion to anyone exploring the diamond path.

    This is not that book! Hardcore Zen was a groundbreaking look at Zen Buddhism through the eyes of a Western punk rocker living in Japan who became an ordained monk while working for a company that made cheap monster movies. In this new sequel, Hardcore Zen Strikes Again, Brad returns to his roots and provides a glimpse into some of his early writings that formed the basis for that book. These essays, mostly from a long-defunct website Brad produced in the early 2000s, form a snapshot of the genesis of Brad’s first book. Brad has provided new introductions and afterwords to each essay as well as a complete chapter written for Hardcore Zen that did not make the final cut, plus an article about his experiences at the company he was working for when the book was written. Together they make an invaluable collection for anyone interested in Brad’s writing as well as those interested in his unique way of presenting the timeless truths of Zen in a contemporary idiom.

    And yet it is this which can allow us to know the grace of God most powerfully. This study explores why Henri Nouwen is, perhaps, the modern writer who has done most to confront the question of woundedness. In doing so his work brings us face to face with Jesus the wounded healer and can release new depths of grace in the reader's life

    A lot of time and money has been invested in you. Once you graduate, you're supposed to cash in that ticket for as much money and status as you can. Your parents and peers expect it, and with thousands of dollars of student loans, you may feel that there's really no other choice. You can't risk "wasting" that expensive education. It's the safe thing to do. Isn't it?Not necessarily. In fact, when you measure success by more than money, what you think is your safest choice may actually be the riskiest. The "safe" choice can lead to enormous psychological and spiritual pain, costing you a chance to live your life. As Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, "Sometimes money costs too much."Mark Albion doesn't pretend to have all the answers, but his unique perspective can help you find yours. He guides you through a framework of four crucial questions and twelve principles to consider when making career decisions. Using tales of experience to caution and uplift, Albion helps you construct your personal, strategic "destiny plan."An inspirational yet practical career guide, More Than Money encourages aspiring MBAs, current students, and graduates to give themselves permission to be who they really want to be and to find their path of service and fulfillment. As Albion says, in the end "we won't remember you for the size of your wallet as much as for the size of your heart."