Religion

This unique commentary on the Pentateuch focuses on the narrative as it stands, rather than on the historical backgrounds.

A detailed study on the rituals, beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and their pagan origin.

An easy-to-use workbook allows readers to more effectively work through the boundaries concepts in their dating life.

When Love Does, life gets interesting. Each day turns into a hilarious, whimsical, meaningful chance that makes faith simple and real. Each chapter is a story that forms a book, a life. This is one life you don't want to miss. Light and fun, unique and profound, lessons drawn from Bob's life just might inspire you to be secretly incredible, too.

The Mahabharata has the privilege of being the longest epic ever written in the world. Jaya by Devdutt Pattanaik is a fascinating retelling of the Mahabharata with beautiful illustrations. But what sets this book apart from the many other versions of the epic is the seamless way the author has woven tales that are well known with little known variants from regional and folk tales. Originally known as Jaya, The Mahabharata has more than 100,000 2-line stanzas. This enthralling retelling by Devdutt Pattanaik draws its readers into the fascinating tale of the Kuru family, the complications and fights that lead up to the famous 18-day Mahabharata War and its impact. He weaves together well-and-lesser-known folk as well as regional versions of the epic including the Pandavani of Chattisgarh, Gondhal of Maharashtra, Terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu and Yakshagana of Karnataka. The book is written in a 108 chapters and abundant with many little known facts like the names of the hundred Kauravas, the stories of Astika, Madhavi, Jaimini, Aravan and Barbareek and the deifying of Draupadi as a goddess in the temples of Tamil Nadu. The author has even tried to date the war with the astronomical data provided in the epic. Devdutt Pattanaik''s Jaya is a book that shows the epic in a new light.

Cusick's insights help readers understand how porn struggles begin, what to do to prevent them, and most importantly, how to overcome the compulsion once it begins. In the end, this powerful book shows us all how the barrier built by porn addiction can become a bridge to abundant life.

Dynah Carey knew where her life was headed. Engaged to a wonderful man, the daughter of doting parents, a faithful child of God, she has it all. Then the unthinkable happens: DynahΓÇÖs perfect life is irrevocably changed by a rape that results in an unwanted pregnancy. Her family is torn apart and her seemingly rock-solid faith is pushed to the limits as she faces the most momentous choice of her life: to embrace or to end the life within her. This is ultimately a tale of three women, as DynahΓÇÖs plight forces both her mother and her grandmother to face the choices they made. Written with balance and compassion, The Atonement Child brings a new perspective to the most controversial topic of our times.

With intricate patterns, a presentation box and a family tree, this petite Bible is an ideal Christening gift.

Dating back to the eighth century C.E., the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a foundational text of Chan/Zen Buddhism that reveals much about the early evolution of Chinese Chan and the ideological origins of Japanese Zen and Korean Son. Purported to be the recorded words of the famed Huineng, who was understood to be the Sixth Patriarch of Chan and the father of all later Chan/Zen Buddhism, the Platform Sutra illuminates fundamental Chan Buddhist principles in an expressive sermon that describes how Huineng overcame great personal and ideological challenges to uphold the exalted lineage of the enlightened Chan patriarchs while realizing the ultimate Buddhist truth of the original, pure nature of all sentient beings.Huineng seems to reject meditation, the value of good karma, and the worship of the buddhas, conferring instead a set of "e;formless precepts"e; on his audience, marked by embedded notes in the text. In his central message, an inherent, perfect buddha nature stands as the original true condition of all sentient beings, which people of all backgrounds can experience for themselves. Philip Yampolsky's masterful translation contains extensive explanatory notes and an edited, amended version of the Chinese text. His introduction critically considers the background and historical setting of the work and locates Huineng's place within the history and legends of Chan Buddhism. This new edition features a foreword by Morten Schlutter further situating the Platform Sutra within recent historical research and textual evidence, and an updated glossary that includes the modern pinyin system of transcription.

Stephen Cherry's latest book is a sequence of beautifully crafted prayer-meditations, providing simple yet profound spiritual nourishment for the Lenten season. The book gives an engaging introduction to the different ways that prayer can work in the lives of the busiest of Christians.

Drawing on psychology, philosophy, and literature, William James's classic survey of religious belief gathers testimony from a huge range of diverse sources to construct a defence of the individual religious experience. It speaks powerfully to the modern debate on atheism and faith, in the most critically up-to-date edition available.

'Synchronicity is more than a happy accident. It is an effect of the connectivity of the universe. It is proof that everything is a part of a unified, connected whole. It is an affirmation of life.' - David Wilcock

Embarking on an ethnographic journey to the inner barrios of Havana among practitioners of Ifa, a prestigious Afro-Cuban tradition of divination, this title reevaluates Western ideas about truth in light of the practices and ideas of a wildly different, and highly respected, model.

Are you bedraggled, beat-up, burnt-out? Most of us believe in God's grace-in theory. But somehow we can't seem to apply it in our daily lives. We continue to see Him as a small-minded bookkeeper, tallying our failures and successes on a score sheet. Yet God gives us His grace, willingly, no matter what we've done. We come to Him as ragamuffins-dirty, bedraggled, and beat-up. And when we sit at His feet, He smiles upon us, the chosen objects of His "furious love." Brennan Manning's now-classic meditation on grace and what it takes to access it-simple honesty-has changed thousands of lives. Now with a Ragamuffin's thirty-day spiritual journey guide, it will change yours, too. Includes a 30-Day Spiritual Journey Guide!"Brennan Manning does a masterful job of blowing the dust off of shop-worn theology and allowing God's grace to do what only God's grace can do-amaze." -Max Lucado, Bestselling author of The Gift for All People

An indispensable text in the history of medieval Jewish-Christian relations, this work documents one of the first allegations of Jewish ritual murder. This 1896 edition includes an English translation and extensive introductory material by Augustus Jessop and M. R. James.

This immensely useful book explores Zen''s rich tradition of chanted liturgy and the powerful ways that such chants support meditation, expressing and helping us truly uphold our heartfelt vows to live a life of freedom and compassion. Exploring eight of Zen''s most essential and universal liturgical texts, Living by Vow is a handbook to walking the Zen path, and Shohaku Okumura guides us like an old friend, speaking clearly and directly of the personal meaning and implications of these chants, generously using his experiences to illustrate their practical significance. A scholar of Buddhist literature, he masterfully uncovers the subtle, intricate web of culture and history that permeate these great texts. Esoteric or challenging terms take on vivid, personal meaning, and old familiar phrases gain new poetic resonance.

The recounting of the story of Revival on the Scottish Isle of Lewis in the late 1940 s. It is a fascinating blend of history, biography and testimony. It includes the eye-witness accounts from Duncan Campbell & Mary Peckham

This classic samurai-era text fused Japanese swordsmanship with Zen and influenced the direction that the art has taken ever since. Written by the seventeenth-century Zen master Takuan Soho (1573–1645), The Unfettered Mind is a book of advice on swordsmanship and the cultivation of right mind and intention. It was written as a guide for the samurai Yagyu Munenori, who was a great swordsman and rival to the legendary Miyamoto Musashi. Takuan was a giant in the history of Zen; he was also a gardener, calligrapher, poet, author, adviser to samurai and shoguns, and a pivotal figure in Zen painting. He was known for his brilliance and acerbic wit. In these succinct and pointed essays, Takuan is concerned primarily with understanding and refining the mind—both generally and when faced with conflict. The Unfettered Mind was a major influence on the classic manifestos on swordsmanship that came after it, including Miyamoto Musashi''s Book of Five Rings and Yagyu Munenori''s Life-Giving Sword.

God wants His children to walk in the freedom purchased for them by Christ at Calvary. Every person has been given the responsibility to make right choices in life--we must choose truth, reject lies, and forgive those who hurt us--but God has not left us as orphans to fend for ourselves! The Holy Spirit gives us the power to walk in the freedom that is already ours in Christ. Following these twenty-one days of select readings will increase the liberating work that God has begun in you through the Steps to Freedom in Christ. Each daily devotional provides three truths--the truth about God, the truth about you, and the truth about freedom--as well as recommended Scripture readings that affirm each of the three. As readers begin to hide these truths in their hearts, they will learn how to stand firm in their freedom and build a strong and holy shield against the enemy's attacks.

For two thousand years, Christians have been intrigued by the somewhat enigmatic Imago Dei references in the book of Genesis. Much theological ink has been spilled mulling over the significance and meaning of these words: "Let us make humanity in our image, according to our likeness . . . "In The Liberating Image, J. Richard Middleton takes on anew the challenge of interpreting the Imago Dei. Reflecting on the potential of the Imago Dei texts for developing an ethics of power rooted in compassion, he relates its significance to the Christian community's distinct calling in an increasingly violent world. The Liberating Image introduces a relevant, scholarly take on an important Christian doctrine. It will appeal to all Christians seeking to better understand what it means to be made in God's image.

The introductory history to the Christian faith.

An introduction to angels and how they can help improve our daily lives.

This handbook to spirituality gathers together Danish meditation teacher Jes Bertelsen's advice on training the mind through wordless prayer and meditation to realize the essence of consciousness. Bertelsen has been teaching philosophy and meditation since the early 1970s; in 1989, he met the Tibetan lama Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, who authorized Jes Bertelsen to teach Dzogchen, and to do so using his own judgment as to the most appropriate way to assimilate these teachings into Western culture. Bertelsen's teachings are based on an experiential investigation of the nature of consciousness, using comparative analysis of Eastern and Western spiritual teachings and consciousness practices on a foundation of modern psychological, philosophical, and scientific approaches.Essence of Mind outlines the author's experience and approach to Dzogchen, the natural primordial state of human consciousness that is timeless, pure, and untouched by suffering. The book is divided into three parts. The first part describes different methods for pointing out the essence of consciousness and the techniques related to them. The second part seeks to outline the key principles of a training system suited to Western students that can lead to realization. The final section outlines the significance of continuous exercises, and describes the way spiritual practice slowly permeates daily life, dreams, sleep, and eventually death. Through the mind-training process, the practitioner approaches an almost ecstatic state of completion, a luminous, blissful wakefulness in which the consciousness is also fully relaxed, not clinging to bliss or desiring ecstasy, but transparent and open.Bertelsen emphasizes that while more advanced forms of spiritual training can only take place in a face-to-face, deeply engaged mutual process between teacher and student, books are useful as sources of inspiration, in particular to help review one's insights and refresh one's practice. Essence of Mind systematizes the experiences that occur along the spiritual path and helps students to refine, correct, and clarify their efforts; it is the author's hope that many students in the West will be able to benefit from his comparative approach to Dzogchen.

This classic of the interior life and Christian mysticism by the sainted 16th-century Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun focuses on the practice of prayer. Modern readers will appreciate its warmth and accessibility.

In his previous book, The Attention Revolution, bestselling author Alan Wallace guided readers through the stages of shamatha, a meditation for focusing the mind. In Stilling the Mind, he uses the wisdom of Dzogchen--the highest of all the meditation traditions--to open up the shamatha practice into a space of vast freedom. Here, Wallace introduces us to Dudjom Lingpa's Vajra Essence, one of the most cherished works of the Nyingma school from which Dzogchen stems. With his trademark enthusiasm and keen intelligence, Wallace makes obscure concepts intelligible to contemporary readers and allows us to glimpse the profound realizations of a great nineteenth-century spiritual adept.

A comprehensive reference guide to the foundational Taoist practices taught by Master Mantak Chia.