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In The Mysteries of the Prayer and Its Important Elements, book four of the 40 books of the Revival of the Religious Sciences, Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālī explains the inner and outer meanings of the prayer, a central practice for Muslims. He explains the acts involved in the outward elements of the prayer and outlines which of these acts are obligatory and which are sunna. He then discusses the inward requisites of the prayer--the practices of the heart-- and presents practical remedies for a distracted heart. He also discusses the annual prayers and the prayers and supplications related to events such as eclipses, the prayer for rain, guidance, and need. This readable yet comprehensive work covers an array of issues from the essential outward aspects of how to pray, to the inward aspects of the state of the heart during the prayer and how to humble oneself completely. As a practical, yet profound book, it is essential reading for Muslims who seek a deeper comprehension of prayer, and for all those interested in understanding the meaning and place of prayer in Islam.

In addition to scholarly articles, this volume includes Merton's own Sufi poems, insightful book reviews, transcriptions from his related lectures, and a selection of works from which he drew particular inspiration, including the work of al-Tirmidhi (d.932), which uses fascinating metaphors to elucidate the difference between the Breast, Heart, Inner Heart, and the Intellect.

"An English translation of Islam, l'autre visage. Albin Michel: Espaces libres, Paris 1995, first published by Criterion, 1991."

"Rabindranath Tagore is one of the great universal mystics. As you read his Gitanjali (Song Offerings), you feel the depth and the honesty of his experience, "the great lifelong adventure," he calls it. "We are in the process of being created. We may not know exactly what is happening. But we feel the flow of life in us to be one with the universal life outside. The relation of my soul to this beautiful autumn morning, this vast radiance, is one of intimate kinship; and all this colour, scent, and music is but the outward expression of our secret communion. This constant communion, whether realized or unrealized, keeps my mind in movement; out of this intercourse between my inner and outer world I gain such religion, be it much or little, as my capacity allows: and in its light I have to test the scriptures before I can make them really my own" (Glimpses, 87). These comments from a letter he wrote on Oct. 5, 1895, come from a time when he was still "under the shelter of obscurity," enjoying "the greatest freedom my life has ever known." He thrived best in the anonymous privacy of not being famous. These poems were written from within that shelter. We feel in them the extravagant intimacy of his communion with his soul. That may be our primary response to this sequence of poems. I know it is my own. I recognize in his poetry my own feeling of inner freedom and soul friendship, along with the flooding joy of expressing that, all within a relaxed playfulness. If I may be so grandiose. I certainly do not claim his breadth of interior life. I just feel I can read many of his poems with empathy, and with some understanding"--

"A truly ground-breaking study of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk-a Hasidic master who lived and thought boldly. Adventurous enough to lead a group of his followers from Eastern Europe to Palestine in the 18th century, he also modeled a heart-based, ecstatic form of Jewish spirituality. Menachem Mendel combined intense devotional practice with mystical fellowship, exemplifying his belief that one can discover the divine both deep within oneself and through interpersonal relationship. The wide-ranging, impressive essays in this volume bring this seminal figure to life and enrich our understanding of Jewish mysticism on the cusp of modernity"--

The essays in this volume of the Fons Vitae Series, Merton & Indigenous Wisdom, are spiritual exercises to explore Merton's globally inclusive religious imagination. These exercises can revitalize our ways of living as we drink from the springs of ancient views and practices. They help us to not only recognize the damage of European colonization, but to taste indigenous American wisdom as a still-living sacrament for our collective salvation. --

This biographical novel presents the story of the French scholar Eva de Vitray-Meyerovitch, French translator of Mevlana, more familiarly known as Rumi. The book takes the form of a dialog between this female 20th century scholar and Mevlana, who lived in 13th century Turkey. The book is structured in 12 chapters. There are 12 parts to the sema dance of the Whirling Dervishes, the dervish group founded by Mevlana. The progression of the 12 parts of this ceremony mirrors the stages of both the life of Eva de Vitray and Rumi himself. The three are interviewed in a captivating manner. Each sema section is described at the beginning of a chapter to enhance the feeling of ritual in the book and how it feeds into her itinerary.

Rational objective physical solutions to our global problems are necessary, they cannot be sufficient. Spiritual transformation is the crucial ingredient for human survival and flourishing, as long as we survive, while there is still time. There can only be a will to Be, and an inspiring human future while human beings are still inspired. Krassen points to the clear pivot point: time. No longer can there be an aspiration to a future we project from the standpoint of the dualistic world-that-is-going, but rather the time has come embrace a hope that is embedded in a fuller, grander, and more profound understanding of what time and being actually already are. All of time is always here, in existence as we can live it. By contemplating the mystical rhythms of the Hebrew calendar, Krassen challenges us to go beyond optimism and pessimism. Both are dead ends, built on a concept of time that is outmoded. The Vanishing Path before us can still be contemplated if only we reflect on the nature of reality through an enlightened lens that makes time count so we can still Be.

The traditions of the Prophet of Islam are, after the Qu'ran, the most important source for every aspect of Islamic life and thought. Ranging in topic from prayer to economic activity, hygiene to politics, ethics to aesthetics, and law to metaphysics, this work is the first in a European language to collect more than 200 of the purely spiritual traditions drawn from canonical collections of the Hadith as well as from other traditional resources. It contains illuminating commentaries drawn from the writings of eminent Sufis, such as Hasan al-Basri, Ibn Arabi, al-Ghazali, al-Janayd, Shaykh al-'Alawi and his spiritual progeny. This unique book also reveals an important dimension of the Prophet's being, one that is often neglected in modern studies not only by non-Muslim Westerners, but also by many Muslim biographers.