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Authoritative edition of Hafiz's most important poems, including original Persian and brilliant English translationsRecent translations of Hafiz have been controversial. Omid Safi, an Islamic studies scholar at Duke, notes that "there are so many fake translations of Hafiz floating around, offering 'versions' that have no earthly connection to anything that the Persian poet and sage of Shiraz named Hafiz ever said. Elizabeth Gray offers us something different: poetic translations rooted in close readings of the original Persian, developed in consultation with a native speaker scholar."A "ghazal" is usually understood to mean lyric poetry concerned with love. But what had been a courtly love lyric concerned with wine and physical beauty became, in the hands of Sufis like Farid ud-Dín 'Attar and Jalal ud-Dín Rumi, a way to describe a mystic's relationship with God. Ghazals also became a means of veiling from theological and political conservatives the Sufi belief in the possibility of an intuitive, personal union with God.Háfiz became the greatest of all Sufi poets, called the "Tongue of the Invisible" and the "Interpreter of Mysteries." His command of the ghazal's traditional imagery and themes blends eroticism, mysticism, and panegyric into verse of unsurpassed beauty. His eighty ghazals are presented in this book. Persian originals appear on facing pages to brilliant English translations of Gray and Anvar.In the afterword, Persian scholar Daryush Shayegan notes how "there is no antagonism between the earthly wine and the divine wine, just as there is none between profane love and the love of God, since one is the necessary initiation to the other."

"A contemplative monk's musings on living a "useless life." In the spirit of Thomas Merton's The Sign of Jonas come five decades of life at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky from the private journals of one of Merton's former novices, Brother Paul Quenon. Readers are introduced to multiple aspects-the inwards and outwards-of a monk's life. Reflections, meditations, insights, and wanderings are mingled with outward experiences in nature, community, and sketches of monks-saintly, comical, or strange-poetic moments. Remarks are made on world events, seen from a local and momentary perspective, such as the war in Iraq, or the end of the war in Vietnam. Private discoveries of animal behavior, and magical locations for prayer are experienced with wonder. No daily chronology is followed, but entries are arranged from the 1970s to the 2000s according to the decade they occurred in, including the visit of the Dalai Lama and other occasions when this contemplative's life has intersected with spiritual teachers outside the monastery. Overall, a multi-colored, diverse, and surprising display of what it is like to live "an enclosed life.""--

The spiritual journey is interior to each person, but not meant to be walked alone.Much can be gained from trailing the spiritual narratives of those who have traveled ahead of us, for the God they have found, we may never have considered. How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere, Volume 2 again captures for a general audience the spiritual shift away from popular notions of a God “up there” and “out there” and toward immanent and inclusive understandings of a God in our very midst. It is built around the fascinating personal journeys of a close-knit group of prominent contributors, leaders including Christopher M. Bache, Jude Currivan, Amit Goswami, Kabir Helminski, Karen Johnson with Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas), Sheri Kling, Beverly Lanzetta, Ervin Laszlo, Jay McDaniel, Raymond Moody, Peter Russell, Rupert Spira, and Becca Tarnas.From dark nights of suffering and despair, to the joy of scientific and intellectual discovery, to the aesthetic beauty of music and nature, and the blissful—and at times dreadful—shock of psychedelic, mystical and near-death experience, these spiritual memoirs reveal exceptional encounters with the Holy Mystery—a universal Mind that exceeds but also includes our very own. And, unlike the first volume, this new book is deliberately catered toward group study with its “Questions for Discussion” and “Sages to Explore” sections at the end of each chapter.

"This bilingual edition of St. Teresa of Avila's poems with commentary engages readers with all facets of the Saint's life: the mystic and monastic reformer, the artist and proto-feminist, and the philosopher with a penchant for paradox. St. Teresa of Avila's poems, written in the 16th century, speak to the spiritual longing of our times and invite us to find peace amid turmoil. St. Teresa walked a path of grace, seeking the divine within the human soul, and her poetry lights this path for all of us. This is the first translation of St. Teresa's poetry by a woman poet and captures the saint's spiritual vigor and famously conversational tone in English. That voice is echoed in well-researched commentary strengthened by the translator's willingness to share her spiritual journey"--

"Epistolary biography of a bridge-building 20th century Christian-Hindu spiritual leader. This fascinating biography of Swåamåi Abhishiktåananda is based on a vast collection of letters written to friends and family over his twenty-five years in India. SwåamåiAbhishiktåananda (1910-1973)-a French Catholic monk, who came to India in 1948 and settled there till the end of his life in 1973-was one of the most fascinating spiritual figures of the twentieth century and a bridge-builder between Christian and Hindu traditions. After nineteen years of living in a Benedictine monastery in France, his passionate longing to realize the Truth brought him face-to-face with Indian spirituality and paved the way for him to meet one of the greatest contemporary sages of India, Shri Ramana Maharshi. This book illustrates the spiritual trajectory of an extraordinary pioneer of interreligious dialogue and a bridge-builder between Christian and Hindu traditions, from his first arrival in South India in 1948 towards his spiritual Awakening in Rishikesh on July 14, 1973"--

"A book for locating an authentic spirituality, realizing the deep I, eradicating the surface Me. With reference to Shunryu Suzuki Roshi's classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Rami Shapiro begins with beginner's mind as "empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. It is the kind of mind which can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything." Then, Rami ponders beginner's mind in the child of the Passover Haggadah "who knows not how to ask." The parents of this child are told to open (patach) the child to the art of questioning. Asking questions is key to Jewish mind. The questioning perennial beginner is central to both Zen and Jewish, Rami demonstrates: a daring, iconoclastic, often humorous mind devoted to shattering the words, texts, isms, and ideologies on which expert mind-closed to inquiry-depends. Zen Mind / Jewish Mind is not a scholarly study of anything, let alone Zen or Judaism, and despite all the footnotes, the book rests solely on Shapiro's fifty-plus years of playing in the garden of Judaism, Zen, and advaita/nonduality. Chapters include "Dharma Eye, God's I" (1), "Koan and Midrash" (4), and "The Yoga of Conversation" (7)"--

"Following Rilke's advice to "live the questions," this book invites us to draw upon his startling insights and often unconventional wisdom to see ourselves as ripening, unfolding, and always becoming. Rainer Maria Rilke's poetry has inspired readers for more than a century, and never more so than now. His rare spiritual vision speaks uniquely in a time when many are seeking freedom of thought and a more wholistic way of living. Written by two award-winning writers who have journeyed deeply with Rilke, this book invites readers-with Rilke-to "live" the deep questions facing us in our day, embracing the poet's refusal to reach for simplistic "answers." Through the originality and insight of their writing, Burrows and Dowrick honor readers' own experiences and, in conversation with Rilke, invite them to examine their lives and "desire the change," as the poet put it. In so doing, they bring sublime poetry into the heart of daily life, where the gifts it carries are most needed. All translations are by Mark S. Burrows, a widely respected Rilke scholar and translator"--

"The Holy Ordinary takes its inspiration from mystics, modern prophets, and saints, with surprising insights from Christian scriptures. "Mysticism is a stream of the experiential, flowing from the hearts of those who knew and know God," explains Mark Longhurst, demonstrating the availability to every person of a mystical life. Through topics such as "How to be contemplative and active" and "Live green like Hildegard of Bingen," Longhurst speaks to each person's need for transformation. This book is both profound and practical, a reflective guide for anyone-Nones, Dones, former Christians, and Christians open to learning from people of all backgrounds-seeking a vibrant, just, and inclusive spirituality"--

Yoga philosophy and self-care as key for aging beautifullyWhile advanced age is revered by some, very few of us are in a hurry to get there. This guide treats physical well-being and spiritual growth as two sides of a coin. It is custom-crafted for midlife and later by addressing both eternal verities and physical health. Yoga, the time-honored philosophy of which headstands and downward-facing dogs are only a fragment, doesn’t sugarcoat: physical life will end and material joys, as lovely as they can be, are temporary. In acknowledging our true nature, the eternal divinity that is our essence, we have the best shot at well-being on every level.This book explores spiritual awakening yoga-style, and the fundamentals of yoga’s sister science, ayurveda, for care of the body. No one is too young to take up these practices, and no one is too old either. Asana practice, the “physical exercise” component of the spiritual adventure of yoga, is fully adaptable to anybody of any age. And the mental and spiritual practices of yoga need no adaptations.Age Like a Yogi not only gives the reader immediately applicable tools for spiritual awareness and physical health in the post-fifty decades, but also a way to leave this world kinder, safer, saner, and a little more beautiful.

"One rabbi's lifelong journey to find the Baal Shem Tov. As a student of Abraham Joshua Heschel at Jewish Theological Seminary sixty years ago, Burt Jacobson was moved to devote his life to the study of Israel ben Eliezer, also known as the Baal Shem Tov-the founder of Hasidism. Heschel considered the Baal Shem the greatest Jewish teacher and communal leader of the last 1,000 years. Living in the Presence is a wide-ranging portrait, revealing numerous facets of the Baal Shem Tov's biography and revolutionary thought previously unknown. Through his knowledge of the world's wisdom traditions, and personal journey, Rabbi Jacobson is able to place his subject in the company of other great world spiritual teachers including Jesus and the Buddha. Jacobson reveals the Baal Shem's vision as an ecstatic mystical encounter that opened to the transcendent unity of existence. It was this that inspired his love and compassion for all creation, especially for the people he met. His disciples testified that their experience of these truths transformed how they understood their identities as manifestations of the Divine, altered how they lived as spiritual leaders of communities, and laid the foundations for Hasidism as a movement. Throughout his book Jacobson presents and evaluates insights of historians and scholars, but it is also filled with personal stories about Jacobson's own struggle with his Jewish identity and encounter with the Baal Shem as his teacher. Both a tour de force and a labor of love, this book will quickly become the most essential work on the subject ever published in English"--

"This book is a portal for those interested in the Bible and curious about the Tarot, for those who might read the Bible daily as well as those who know very little about it but are not averse to it. The first two chapters provide background that place the two mystical texts in conversation. The vast mythos of the Bible with its complex characters, actors, symbols, stories, and parables, are the backstory of the magnificent creatures of the Tarot's inner, psychic world. Spiritual explorers will enjoy reading the Bible and the Tarot side-by-side to expand the imagination. Stafford expertly reveals how these two mystical texts work together to provoke the unconscious, utilize one's dream world, and expand the mind. By the final chapter, you'll be able to connect the mysteries of the Bible with the psychological magic of the Tarot-as tools for self-transformation"--

A daughter’s search for her deceased mother brings her face to face with the gods, ghosts, and saints of Cuba. “My Mother in Havana lifts the veil between the living and the dead and makes believers of us all. This story of a mother's absence and a daughter's need is written with a lyricism that filled my heart with beauty while also making it ache for loved ones lost. This is a stunning debut.” —Lee Martin, author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Bright Forever“I closed this book believing more than ever that the people we love, including the people we’ve been, never really leave us.” —Maggie Smith, New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place BeautifulWriting with a physicality of language that moves like the body in dance, Rebe Huntman, a poet, choreographer, and dancer, embarks on a pilgrimage into the mysteries of the gods and saints of Cuba and their larger spiritual view of the Mother. Huntman offers a window into the extraordinary world of Afro-Cuban gods and ghosts and the dances and rituals that call them forth. As she explores the memory of her own mother, interlacing it with her search for the sacred feminine, Huntman leads us into a world of séance and sacrifice, pilgrimage and sacred dance, which resurrect her mother and bring Huntman face to face with a larger version of herself.

"Braided medieval and modern stories of an anchoress, her handmaiden, and the adjunct professor searching for them across centuries as they each navigate ambition, confinement, and the patriarchy. Twelve-year-old Elinor is enclosed with an anchoress, Lady Adela, in a cell at Wenlock Abbey, 14th-century England. Centuries later, an adjunct professor of medieval studies discovers Elinor's long-lost book of hours on a research trip to England. Holt-Browning explores women's timeless struggle for personal agency as her unforgettable characters discover the burdens and rewards of faith and devotion. A must-read for fans of Julian of Norwich"--

"One rabbi's lifelong journey to find the Baal Shem Tov. As a student of Abraham Joshua Heschel at Jewish Theological Seminary sixty years ago, Burt Jacobson was moved to devote his life to the study of Israel ben Eliezer, also known as the Baal Shem Tov-the founder of Hasidism. Heschel considered the Baal Shem the greatest Jewish teacher and communal leader of the last 1,000 years. Living in the Presence is a wide-ranging portrait, revealing numerous facets of the Baal Shem Tov's biography and revolutionary thought previously unknown. Through his knowledge of the world's wisdom traditions, and personal journey, Rabbi Jacobson is able to place his subject in the company of other great world spiritual teachers including Jesus and the Buddha. Jacobson reveals the Baal Shem's vision as an ecstatic mystical encounter that opened to the transcendent unity of existence. It was this that inspired his love and compassion for all creation, especially for the people he met. His disciples testified that their experience of these truths transformed how they understood their identities as manifestations of the Divine, altered how they lived as spiritual leaders of communities, and laid the foundations for Hasidism as a movement. Throughout his book Jacobson presents and evaluates insights of historians and scholars, but it is also filled with personal stories about Jacobson's own struggle with his Jewish identity and encounter with the Baal Shem as his teacher. Both a tour de force and a labor of love, this book will quickly become the most essential work on the subject ever published in English"--

"An inspiring story of hope, community, and love-in place of unrelenting grief. Myra Sack is a new mom, married to Matt, the love of her life. They live in Boston because Matt's residency in internal medicine takes them there. Myra is 30 years old, completed her MBA. They've bought a house. Life is unfolding beautifully. Until one day their beautiful year-old daughter Havi is diagnosed with a fatal neurodegenerative disease called Tay-Sachs. Then Myra and Matt discover that, despite extensive pre-conception genetic testing, an error was made, making this fatal diagnosis possible. Havi has only a year to live. Against all advice and norms, Myra and Matt decide to celebrate Havi's short life rather than intervene to prolong it. They vow to show her as much of the world as they can, embarking on a journey that begins on the California coast and continues back to Boston, surrounded by friends and family who relocate to be in Havi's orbit. Tapping their Judaism, they transform Friday night Shabbats into birthday parties-'Shabbirthdays'-to replace the birthdays Havi will never have"--

"The Song of Songs is among the most accessible of all biblical books. It is also the most deeply ecological text of the canon, yet few people are aware of the Song's ecological message. The intention of Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in the Age of Climate Crisis is to illuminate that message. Today there is such urgency around our many earth crises-so much brokenness-that we need a vision of wholeness and an ecological language that can help inspire, soothe and reinvigorate us, and bring us together regardless of our various affiliations and ideologies. The Song offers both ecological language and a vision. It sets the natural world before us with intensity and beauty, bidding us to savor it with all of our senses so that we may return to the world with the renewed clarity, love and energy necessary to work toward a healthy future for the earth and all her inhabitants. The Song is a particularly powerful book since it never utters the name of the divine, yet is a deeply spiritual work that may reach people who are interested in matters of the sacred, but prefer to steer clear of God language and conventional religious ideas. In both the Jewish and Christian worlds, where many people are disengaging from religion altogether, the Song-with its universal themes of love, justice and the integrity of nature-may help open the door to the possibilities which religion has to offer. Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in an Age of Climate Crisis seeks to engage a wide readership including all people who love the earth and its inhabitants, outdoor enthusiasts, spiritual seekers, poets, feminists, and students of the humanities, religion and ecology"--

"His life suggested that one could be spiritually grounded and thriving in more than one tradition at the same time.” —Marcus Braybrooke, for the Interfaith ObserverThis pioneering work harmonizes Hindu Vedanta philosophy with the Christian vision of the Word made flesh through the Spirit of God's love.An introduction to the Vedic scriptures and Christian mysticism that reveals how God lavished his riches on both Christians and non-Christians alike and the importance of our unity as a people if we are to become whole. “Without Christianity I don't think the oriental religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, can answer the needs of the modern world. But without the enrichment of the mystical tradition of Asia I doubt whether the Western Churches can really discover the fullness of Christ which we are seeking.” (Bede Griffiths)

In 2002 Guillermo Fesser quit his morning radio talk show in Madrid, and moved with his family to Rhinebeck, N.Y., for a sabbatical year. Finding himself in a rural community 6,000 miles from home and 100 miles from New York City, Fesser began to discover an America he had never imagined existed.One Hundred Miles from Manhattan is a fresh, funny, positive and affectionate portrait of life in small-town America-and beyond. This book is filled with the stories of the people Fesser met, the places he visited and the things he learned during his year in Rhinebeck. From the German neighbors who welcome in the New Year by jumping back and forth from the couch to the coffee table to a Texan rancher who follows Native American traditions in the raising of bison. From a guide who leads fishing expeditions into Alaska's Kuskokwim Mountains to the engineer responsible for the steam conduction system in Manhattan's underbelly. And from a former follower of Reverend Moon-turned-track coach to the man who created Big Bird."One Hundred Miles from Manhattan is a book that Jon Stewart should have written. But he couldn't have since he rarely leaves Manhattan. Thankfully Guillermo Fesser did. This famous Spanish wit dispels pre-conceived notions about America by using good old wanderlust and fresh eyes to document what a rich country we are. Not materially; but in spirit, history and character. Guillermo should sit back down and try his hand at the great American novel."-Bill Owens, Executive Editor, 60 Minutes, CBS"Fesser looks at daily life through a unique lens. One Hundred Miles from Manhattan is wacky, funny and full of characters I would like to meet. Bravo!" -Pedro Almodóvar, Filmmaker"...With fast-paced and witty storytelling, going well beyond the stereotypes and clichés we are so used to hearing about America, Fesser captures the true essence of this country and its people, their vast cultural wealth and exhilarating complexity." -Juan Manuel Benítez, Anchor, NY1, New York City"... As he struggled to reconcile what he learned from the people he met with his preconceptions about the U.S., their tales became fodder for a bestseller in Spain: A Cien Millas de Manhattan. ... Now the book has just been translated into English, giving Guillermo a crack at surprising you about a place you know. You should let him." -Nick Leiber, Editor, Bloomberg Businessweek, New York CityAbout the author: Guillermo Fesser is a Spanish journalist mostly known in his country for his innovative morning radio talk show, Gomaespuma , which ran 25 years and had over 1 million listeners.Fesser studied journalism at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid and filmmaking at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles via a Fulbright scholarship. He has written and directed films; edited and hosted television news programs; and published articles in the major Spanish newspapers El Pais and El Mundo.Fesser lives with his family in Rhinebeck, New York, where he broadcasts weekly stories on life in small-town America to Onda Cero Radio in Spain and blogs for The Huffington Post.