Personal growth

In February 2004, when her American husband, a recently ordained Zen monk, leaves home to train for a year at a centuries-old Buddhist monastery, Tracy Franz embarks on her own year of Zen. An Alaskan alone—and lonely—in Japan, she begins to pay attention. My Year of Dirt and Water is a record of that journey. Allowed only occasional and formal visits to see her cloistered husband, Tracy teaches English, studies Japanese, and devotes herself to making pottery. Her teacher instructs her to turn cup after cup—creating one failure after another. Past and present, East and West intertwine as Tracy is twice compelled to return home to Alaska to confront her mother’s newly diagnosed cancer and the ghosts of a devastating childhood. Revolving through the days, My Year of Dirt and Water circles hard questions: What is love? What is art? What is practice? What do we do with the burden of suffering? The answers are formed and then unformed—a ceramic bowl born on the wheel and then returned again and again to dirt and water.

Naturally occurring DMT may produce prophecy-like states of consciousness and thus represent a bridge between biology and religious experience  • Reveals the striking similarities between the visions of the Hebrew prophets and the DMT state described by Strassman’s research volunteers  • Explains how prophetic and psychedelic states may share biological mechanisms  • Presents a new top-down “theoneurological” model of spiritual experience  After completing his groundbreaking research chronicled in DMT: The Spirit Molecule, Rick Strassman was left with one fundamental question: What does it mean that DMT, a simple chemical naturally found in all of our bodies, instantaneously opens us to an interactive spirit world that feels more real than our own world? 

The rites, practices, and texts collected by the mysterious UR group for the use of aspiring mages.  • Rare Hermetic texts published in English for the first time.  • Includes instructions for developing psychic and magical powers.  In 1927 Julius Evola and other leading Italian intellectuals formed the mysterious UR group. Their goal: to bring their individual egos into a state of superhuman power and awareness in which they could act "magically" on the world. Their methods: the practice of ancient Tantric and Buddhist rituals and the study of rare Hermetic texts. So successful were they that rumors spread throughout Italy of the group's power, and Mussolini himself became quite fearful of them. Now for the first time in English Introduction to Magic collects the rites, practices, and knowledge of the UR group for the use of aspiring mages. 

Featured in the premiere issue of O: The Oprah Magazine and on Oprah's Favorite Things 2000 segment, The Four Agreements reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob people of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the Four Agreements -- be impeccable with your word, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions, always do your best -- offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform life into a new experience of freedom, love, and true happiness. This jacketed linen-bound hardcover gift edition features two-color printing and a silk ribbon marker.

Here is a guide to the magical spirituality of the hedge witch, which describes a path that is profound and yet simple - uncluttered by complex ritual, a matter of the heart. The hedge witch is a solitary witch and natural mystic who practises wildwood mysticism, so called because it is the knowledge at the root of the tree of witchcraft. Explained in detail are the witch's prayers, spell-casting and communication with spirits and faeries, including those spirits travelling in the three realms of the magical otherworld. The values and ethics of this most ancient tradition may surprise and delight with their blend of common sense, compassion and wildness. (It is not a spiritual way for conformists!) This book opens the door to all those who feel they are natural witches but are, as yet, uninstructed. The Hedge Witch's Way is a guide for witches of either gender - potential wisewomen or wisemen - that presents the faerie-led practices of our ancestors, in a modern-day context.

In this illuminating and thoughtful text, Neil Pembroke shows how relationships form the heart of chaplaincy, nursing and social care practice. Developing ideas from Martin Buber and virtue theory he shows how authentic, compassionate self-communication forms the basis of relatedness in human services work. Drawing on examples from everyday life and human services work settings, Pembroke demonstrates the importance of trust and feelings of belonging in the working environment. He considers in particular the connection between spirituality and the idea of personal charm, showing how charm can be seen as a vital component in the communication of self, which enables us to nurture the physical and spiritual well-being of those we care for.

What, if anything, does biological evolution tell us about the nature of religion, ethical values, or even the meaning and purpose of life? The Moral Meaning of Nature sheds new light on these enduring questions by examining the significance of an earlier—and unjustly neglected—discussion of Darwin in late nineteenth-century Germany. We start with Friedrich Nietzsche, whose writings staged one of the first confrontations with the Christian tradition using the resources of Darwinian thought. The lebensphilosophie, or “life-philosophy,” that arose from his engagement with evolutionary ideas drew responses from other influential thinkers, including Franz Overbeck, Georg Simmel, and Heinrich Rickert. These critics all offered cogent challenges to Nietzsche’s appropriation of the newly transforming biological sciences, his negotiation between science and religion, and his interpretation of the implications of Darwinian thought. They also each proposed alternative ways of making sense of Nietzsche’s unique question concerning the meaning of biological evolution “for life.” At the heart of the discussion were debates about the relation of facts and values, the place of divine purpose in the understanding of nonhuman and human agency, the concept of life, and the question of whether the sciences could offer resources to satisfy the human urge to discover sources of value in biological processes. The Moral Meaning of Nature focuses on the historical background of these questions, exposing the complex ways in which they recur in contemporary philosophical debate.

The Intifada of 2000-2001 has demonstrated the end of an era of diplomacy in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The style of peacemaking of the Olso Accords has been called into question by the facts on the ground. Elite forms of peacemaking that do not embrace the basic needs of average people on all sides are bound to fail. The complete neglect of deeper cultural and religious systems in the peace process is now apparent, as is the role that this neglect has played in the failure of the process. Building on his earlier book, Between Eden and Armageddon, Gopin provides a detailed blueprint of how the religious traditions in question can become a principal asset in the search for peace and justice. He demonstrates how religious people can be the critical missing link in peacemaking, and how the incorporation of their values and symbols can unleash a new dynamic that directly addresses basic issues of ethics, justice, and peace. Gopin's analysis of the theoretical, theological, and political planes shows us what has been achieved thus far, as well as what must be done next in order to ensure effective final settlement negotiations and secure, sovereign, democratic countries for both peoples.

“A must-read for anyone interested in incorporating meditation into their lifestyle.” ––Sanjay Gupta, MD, chief medical correspondent for CNN Heartfulness is an ideal, a spiritual way of living by and from the heart that is inclusive of all ideologies, beliefs, and religions. In this heart-centered book, a student in conversation with his teacher, Kamlesh D. Patel—affectionately known as Daaji, the fourth and current spiritual guide of the century-old Heartfulness tradition—present a unique method of meditation with the power to facilitate an immediate, tangible spiritual experience, irrespective of a person’s faith.

In a series of essays devoted to key terms and ideas in Islam, Bravmann argues on the basis of pre-Islamic and early Islamic texts for an Arabian background to the rise of the religion. In pursuing a through philological examination of the evidence, Bravmann finds core values and ideas of Islam deeply embedded in ancient Arab linguistic expression. His work continues to provide a critical element in the debates about the emergence of Islam and cannot be ignored by anyone trying to assess the complex historiographical problems that surround the issue.

Foreword by Michael Shermer, Ph.D. Contributors include Richard Dawkins, Penn Jillette, and Julia Sweeney. A large and growing number of parents are choosing to raise their kids without religion. In Parenting Beyond Belief, Dale McGowan celebrates the freedom that comes with raising kids without formal indoctrination and advises parents on the most effective way to raise freethinking children. With advice from educators, doctors, psychologists, and philosophers as well as wisdom from everyday parents, the book offers tips and insights on a variety of topics, from "mixed marriages" to coping with death and loss, and from morality and ethics to dealing with holidays. Sensitive and timely, Parenting Beyond Belief features reflections from such freethinkers as Mark Twain, Richard Dawkins, Bertrand Russell, and Dr. Don Ardell that will empower every parent to raise both caring and independent children without constraints.

With unflinching gaze and uncompromising intensity Julius Evola analyzes the spiritual and cultural malaise at the heart of Western civilization and all that passes for progress in the modern world. As a gadfly, Evola spares no one and nothing in his survey of what we have lost and where we are headed. At turns prophetic and provocative, Revolt against the Modern Worldoutlines a profound metaphysics of history and demonstrates how and why we have lost contact with the transcendent dimension of being. 

Norse Mythology: A Guide To Ancient Viking Religion and Beliefs is a book which explores the spiritual and cultural beliefs of the ancient Norse/Viking peoples of Northern Europe. Whether you are of Northern European heritage and want to re-connect with the beliefs of your ancestors, or you are just interested in the history and beliefs of the Norse people, this book is packed full of information that will interest you. In this book, you will learn about: - The Aesir gods and goddesses - The Vanir gods and goddesses - The Jotun (giants) - The cosmology of Norse mythology and details about the Nine Worlds - What the Norse people believed about destiny - The ancient Norse creation story - Beliefs about death and the afterlife - Runes: what are they, what are their mythical origins, and what they are used for - The modern-day equivalent of ancient Norse religion, called Asatru And much more!

A paradigm-shifting blend of science, religion, and philosophy for agnostic, spiritual-but-not-religious, and scientifically minded readers   Many people are fed up with the way traditional religion alienates them: too easily it can perpetuate conflict, vilify science, and undermine reason. Nancy Abrams, a philosopher of science, lawyer, and lifelong atheist, is among them. And yet, when she turned to the recovery community to face a personal struggle, she found that imagining a higher power gave her a new freedom. Intellectually, this was quite surprising.   

A winsome, beautifully written, page-turning account of a modern spiritual journey. An Immovable Feast is a gateway, leading readers into a world of transformation. A fresh breeze blows through it, one that perhaps has not blown through Christian conversation in a long time. Blanski reminds us that religion is not dead because it is not mortal. It is the festival of heaven …on earth. An Immovable Feast is a profound love story told with humor, wisdom and bite. It tells the colorful and gripping story of one man’'s religious path that begins with a fundamentalist Baptist childhood to an adolescence in emergent church spirituality. He moves on through hipster years as a house painter and musician, then marries and enters a seminary in Wisconsin. After years of wearing a black cassock and preparing to be an Anglican priest, he boldly joins the Catholic Church. Tyler Blanski’'s tale does not reject suitors of religion, but seduces them. "Indeed a feast to both mind and heart." --Peter Kreeft "This book reads like poetry, entertains like satire, and convicts as only the truth can convict. It is a marvel of charity and a prodigy of style." --Scott Hahn "With converts as articulate as Tyler Blanski, the Church is in excellent shape." --+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia

"The Quantum Revelation is mind-blowing." ―Sting To say that quantum physics is the greatest scientific discovery of all time is not an exaggeration. In their discovery of the quantum realm, the physics community stumbled upon a genuine multifaceted revelation which can be likened to a profound spiritual treasure―a heretofore undreamed of creative power―hidden within our own mind. Quantum physics unequivocally points out that the study of the universe and the study of consciousness are inseparably linked, which is to say that ultimate progress in the one will be impossible without progress in the other. Einstein declared that what it reveals is so immensely important that “it should be everyone’s concern.” Yet few of us in the general public truly understand how the game-changing discoveries of the past century not only relate to our day-to-day lives, but also give us insights into the nature of reality and our place within it. Written for readers with no physics background, Paul Levy’s latest book, The Quantum Revelation: A Radical Synthesis of Science and Spirituality is for those who have heard that quantum physics is a fascinating subject but don’t quite understand how or why. Levy contemplates the deeper philosophical underpinnings of quantum physics, exploring the fundamental questions it provokes: What does it mean that quantum theory has discovered that there is no such thing as “objective reality?” How are we participating―via our consciousness―in creating our experience of a reality that quantum theory itself describes as “dreamlike?” What are the implications for us in our day-to-day lives that―as quantum theory reveals―what we call reality is more like a dream that we had previously imagined? The Quantum Revelation is unique in how it synthesizes science and spirituality so as to reveal and explore the dreamlike nature of reality. It is a book not just for people interested in quantum theory, but for anyone who is interested in waking up and dreaming lucidly, be it in our night dreams or our waking life.

Religion (and spirituality) is very much alive and shapes thecultural values and aspirations of psychiatrist and patient alike,as does the choice of not identifying with a particularfaith.  Patients bring their beliefs and convictions into thedoctor-patient relationship.  The challenge for mental healthprofessionals, whatever their own world view, is to develop andrefine their vocabularies such that they truly understand what iscommunicated to them by their patients. Religion andPsychiatry provides psychiatrists with a framework for thisunderstanding and highlights the importance of religion andspirituality in mental well-being. 

Scott Hahn, the bestselling author of The Lamb’s Supper and Reasons to Believe, celebrates the touchstones of the Catholic life, guiding readers to a deeper faith through the Church’s rites, customs, and traditional prayers. 

Presenting a thorough, comprehensive theory of spiritual capital based on solid academic research, 'Spiritual Capital' serves to reinforce and amplify the notion of a moral economic core that is beginning to feature in contemporary economic arguments. In this rare major work wholly dedicated to the subject of spiritual capital, Sam Rima explains the desperate need for revolutionary and transformational thinking in the area of economic policy and practice and makes the case for a new moral foundation to business and economics that directly addresses today's financial and business crisis. Writing in an accessible style, and drawing on examples from several continents, Rima explains spiritual capital theory in terms of the resources needed for its creation, how it is formed, how it can be invested and what the return on investment can be. The book provides practical tools for measuring a personal or organizational store of spiritual capital, along with clear guidelines on how to engage in spiritual capital formation. These will benefit business leaders interested in developing viable and sustainable enterprises capable of avoiding the disconnection between economic policy and social reality. There are also recommendations here for policy makers regarding the macro application of spiritual capital theory. This important contribution to Gower's Transformation and Innovation Series will appeal to business leaders and policy makers, academicians and students in the fields of sociology, theology, and economics, and anyone interested in social and economic justice issues, social innovation, and corporate social responsibility.

Spirituality is a crucial but sometimes overlooked aspect of mental well-being and psychiatric care. This book explores the nature of spirituality, its relationship to religion, and the reasons for its importance in clinical practice. In this evidence-based text, the authors discuss the prevention and management of illness, as well as the maintenance of recovery. Different chapters focus on the key subspecialties of psychiatry, including psychotherapy, child and adolescent psychiatry, intellectual disability psychiatry, substance misuse psychiatry and old age psychiatry. It contains references to up-to-date research and provides a comprehensive review of the relevant academic literature. The book is, at least in part, a response to the questions posed by researchers, service users and clinicians, concerning the importance of spirituality in mental healthcare. Contributors include psychiatrists, psychotherapists, mental healthcare chaplains and a social worker. They discuss aspects of experience often omitted from psychiatry and present both clinician and service user perspectives. The book will be of wide interest to psychiatrists, psychiatry trainees and all mental health professionals.