Religion

Steinberg argues in this work that the artists regarded the deliberate exposure of Christ's genitalia as an affirmation of kinship with the human condition.

A recreation of the spiritual life of ancient Mesopotamia demonstrating that the roots of Western civilization lie in the ancient Near East "A brilliant presentation of Mesopotamian religion from the inside, backed at every point by meticulous scholarship and persistent adherence to original texts. . . . A classic in its field."--Religious Studies Review "The Treasures of Darkness is the culmination of a lifetime's work, an attempt to summarize and recreate the spiritual life of Ancient Mesopotamia. Jacobsen has succeeded brilliantly. . . . His vast experience shows through every page of this unique book, through the vivid, new translations resulting from years of careful research. Everyone interested in early Mesopotamia, whether specialist, student, or complete layman, should read this book. . . . It is, quite simply, authoritative, based on a vast experience of the ancient Mesopotamian mind, and very well written in the bargain."--Brian M. Fagan, History "Professor Jacobsen is an authority on Sumerian life and society, but he is above all a philologist of rare sensibility. The Treasures of Darkness is almost entirely devoted to textual evidence, the more gritty sources of archaeological knowledge being seldom mentioned. He introduces many new translations which are much finer than previous versions. . . . Simply to read this poetry and the author's sympathetic commentary is a pleasure and a revelation. Professor Jacobsen accepts the premise that all religion springs from man's experience of a power not of this world, a mysterious 'Wholly Other.' This numinous power cannot be described in terms of worldly experience but only in allusive 'metaphors' that serve as a means of communication in religious teaching and thought. . . . As a literary work combining sensibility, imagination and scholarship, this book is near perfection."--Jacquetta Hawkes, The London Sunday Times "A fascinating book. The general reader cannot fail to admire the translated passages of Sumerian poetry with which it abounds, especially those illustrating the Dumuzi-Inanna cycle of courtship, wedding and lament for the god's untimely death. Many of these (though not all) are new even to the specialist and will repay close study."--B.O.R. Gurney, Times Literary Supplement

With 10,000 trade paperbacks sold in the UK this is the must-have book on the Kabbalah - one of the fastest growing areas of MBS.

The strange verbal paradoxes called koans have been used traditionally in Zen training to help students attain a direct realization of truths inexpressible in words. The two works translated in this book, Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate ) and Hekiganroku (The Blue Cliff Record), both compiled during the Song dynasty in China, are the best known and most frequently studied koan collections, and are classics of Zen literature. They are still used today in a variety of practice lineages, from traditional zendos to modern Zen centers. In a completely new translation, together with original commentaries, the well-known Zen teacher Katsuki Sekida brings to these works the same fresh and pragmatic approach that made his Zen Training so successful. The insights of a lifetime of Zen practice and his familiarity with both Eastern and Western ways of thinking make him an ideal interpreter of these texts.

Reveals a long-lost secret of the Church: the early Christians' key to understanding the mysteries of the Mass was the New Testament's Book of Revelation.

This work is a profound analysis of the most urgent concerns and questions facing us at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Touching on religion and the application of religion to society, Gai Eaton illustrates the subtle harmony of a religious perspective and its ability to transform both the individual and society.

"As a poet," Snyder tells us, "I hold the most archaic values on earth. They go back to the late Paleolithic; the fertility of the soil, the magic of animals, the power-vision in solitude, the terrifying intuition and rebirth; the love and ecstasy of the dance, the common work of the tribe." He develops, as replacement for shattered social structures. a concept of tribal tradition which could lead to "growth and enlightenment in self-disciplined freedom. Whatever it is or ever was in any other culture can be reconstructed from the unconscious through meditation...the coming revolution will close the circle and link us in many ways with the most creative aspects of our archaic past."

With the turmoil in the Middle East, there is a growing interest about Islam - the world's second largest religion and one of the fastest growing - and its holy book, the Koran (or Qur'an). This English guide explores the history, structure, and basic tenets of Islam's sacred scripture.

Includes practices for cleansing the blood of toxins, relieving pain, using sexual energy for healing, and other tools for the treatment and prevention of disease.

Comprises such sacred books of India as the hymns of the "Rig-Veda", the world's first recorded poems, the stirring pantheistic speculations of the "Upanishads" and the "Bhagavad-Gita", a cosmic drama of God's self-revelation in human history, on the field of human battle.

A clear and provocative account of the epistemology of religious experience.

This introductory text offers a chronological account of the main Greek myths in surviving literary and artistic sources, and also examines the history of interpretation of Greek mythology from the 17th century to the present. It examines the relationship between Greek myths and epic poetry.

A sequel to "The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail", which aims to reveal the very nature of the messianic legacy. This book asks such questions as: Was there more than one Christ? Was Christ the founder of Christianity? Were the disciples as peace-loving as it is traditionally assumed? and more.

Uncovers the academic scandal par excellence of the 20th century. This book presents the story of how and why up to 75 per cent of the 800 ancient Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts, hidden for 19 centuries, remained concealed from the world. It has interviews, historical analysis and a close study of both published and unpublished scroll material.

This is a collection of Robert Fulghum's favourite observations, written over the years, that reveal simple truths about small lives with big meanings.

Since its publication in Germany Manfred Clauss's introduction to the Roman Mithras cult has become widely accepted as the most reliable, as well as the most readable, account of its elusive and fascinating subject.

Henri Nouwen, who died in 1996, was one of the most significant writers on spirituality of the late twentieth century. Reaching Out combines two of his most popular books in one volume.

Teachings on sound presenting a vision of the harmony which underlies and infuses every aspect of life. Science of breath, law of rhythm, the creative process, healing power and psychological influence of music.

The Holy Grail and its quest is a legend that has had a powerful impact on our civilization. The Grail is an ancient Celtic symbol of plenty, and a Christian symbol of redemption and eternal life, the chalice that caught the blood of the crucified Christ. This book presents this legend as a living myth that is profoundly relevant to modern life.

"Zen enriches no one," Thomas Merton provocatively writes in his opening statement to Zen and the Birds of Appetite-one of the last books to be published before his death in 1968. "There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while... but they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing,' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen. It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey." This gets at the humor, paradox, and joy that one feels in Merton's discoveries of Zen during the last years of his life, a joy very much present in this collection of essays. Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki, the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the reader a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith in these pages; rather one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ.

Taking absolute nothingness as the fundamental notion in rational explanations of the Eastern experience of human life, this book examines the relevance of this notion for contemporary life, and in particular for Western philosophical theories and religious believes.

A study of history, symbolism, medieval art, mythology, psychology, and the Bible that uncovers new and compelling evidence that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalen.

This omnibus edition brings together Phillip Keller's three devotional classics, A Shepherd Looks and the 23rd Psalm, A Shepherd Looks at the Good Shepherd, and A Shepherd Looks at the Lamb of God.

What is the meaning of life? How can we be truly happy? Buddhism answers these questions through the Dharma, which is a traditional term meaning both "the truth" and "the path", and is the subject of this book, which offers a starter-kit of Buddhist teachings and practices.

What happens when the meaning of life based on a divine revelation no longer makes sense? Luc Ferry argues that modernity has not killed the search for meaning but has transformed the search into a more humanitarian language.

A Muslim girl, imprisoned by her religion and severe disability, is healed and set free by God.