Theosophy is a key work for anyone seeking a solid grounding in spiritual reality as described by Rudolf Steiner. The book is organized in four parts. First, Steiner builds up a comprehensive understanding of human nature, beginning with the physical bodily nature and moving up through the soul nature to our spiritual being: the I and the higher spiritual aspects of our being.This then leads to the experience of the human being as a sevenfold interpenetrated being of body, soul, and spirit. In the next section Steiner gives an extraordinary overview of the laws of reincarnation and the workings of karma as we pass from one life to the next. This prepares us for the third section where Steiner shows the different ways in which we live, during this life on earth and after death, in the three worlds of body, soul, and spirit, as well as the ways in which these worlds in turn live into us.Finally, a succinct description is given of the path of knowledge by which each one of us can begin to understand the marvelous and harmonious complexity of the psycho-spiritual worlds in their fullness.

Practical, clear, and powerful advice from a spiritual master.

Taylor G. Petrey's trenchant history takes a landmark step forward in documenting and theorizing about Latter-day Saints (LDS) teachings on gender, sexual difference, and marriage. Drawing on deep archival research, Petrey situates LDS doctrines in gender theory and American religious history since World War II. His challenging conclusion is that Mormonism is conflicted between ontologies of gender essentialism and gender fluidity, illustrating a broader tension in the history of sexuality in modernity itself. As Petrey details, LDS leaders have embraced the idea of fixed identities representing a natural and divine order, but their teachings also acknowledge that sexual difference is persistently contingent and unstable. While queer theorists have built an ethics and politics based on celebrating such sexual fluidity, LDS leaders view it as a source of anxiety and a tool for the shaping of a heterosexual social order. Through public preaching and teaching, the deployment of psychological approaches to "cure" homosexuality, and political activism against equal rights for women and same-sex marriage, Mormon leaders hoped to manage sexuality and faith for those who have strayed from heteronormativity.

Who were the three wise men and what was "the Star of the Magi" that led them to Bethlehem? Using the dialogue form, Christian Hermetic Astrology explores these questions and the basis for the inauguration of "Star Wisdom." Set in the Temple of the Sun, where Hermes, the Egyptian sage, gathers with his three pupils, Tat, Asclepius, and King Ammon, these discourses focus upon the path of Christ, culminating in the Mystery of Golgotha. With Rudolf Steiner and Anne Catherine Emmerich pointing the way, Robert Powell hits produced a book, through his independent research and careful study, intended as a contribution to a modern "path of the magi" leading to a Christian wisdom of the stars.

" Don't mistake mere words to be the meaning of the teachings. Mingle the practice with your own being and attain liberation from samsara right now."
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava is the primary master of Vajrayana, the teachings for our time. Out of his great compassion and wisdom, he instructed his main disciple Yeshe Tsogyal to conceal terma treasures to be revealed at the destined time for future practitioners. The profundity of this advice is meant to be personally applied by all individuals in all circumstances. It is a classic work, which contains valid truth for anyone who sincerely wants to follow a spiritual path.
"The chief compiler of Padmasambhava's teachings was Yeshe Tsogyal, an emanation of a female Buddha. There may be some people who believe that only men can attain enlightenment, but her life is proof to the opposite. The awakened state of mind is neither male or female."
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, from Introductory Teachings

What constitutes the field of religious studies? The 29 chapters in this introductory text offer an incisive look at the key approaches, methods, problems, and subjects that define contemporary academic research in the field of religious studies at universities in the German-speaking world. It provides a unique and polyphonic portrait of contemporary religious studies. The contributions are written in a clear, accessible style; an appendix with supplemental reading aids helps one to navigate the individual contributions.

Recent decades have seen a revival of paganism, and every summer people gather across the United States to celebrate this increasingly popular religion. Sarah Pike's engrossing ethnography is the outcome of five years attending neo-pagan festivals, interviewing participants, and sometimes taking part in their ceremonies. "Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves" incorporates her personal experience and insightful scholarly work concerning ritual, sacred space, self-identity, and narrative. The result is a compelling portrait of this frequently misunderstood religious movement.
Neo-paganism began emerging as a new religious movement in the late 1960s. In addition to bringing together followers for self-exploration and participation in group rituals, festivals might offer workshops on subjects such as astrology, tarot, mythology, herbal lore, and African drumming. But while they provide a sense of community for followers, Neo-Pagan festivals often provoke criticism from a variety of sources--among them conservative Christians, Native Americans, New Age spokespersons, and media representatives covering stories of rumored "Satanism" or "witchcraft."
"Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves" explores larger issues in the United States regarding the postmodern self, utopian communities, cultural improvisation, and contemporary spirituality. Pike's accessible writing style and her nonsensationalistic approach do much to demystify neo-paganism and its followers.

The inaugural volume of Princeton Readings in Religions brings together the work of thirty scholars of the religions of India in a new anthology designed to reshape the ways in which the religious traditions of India are understood. The book contains translations of forty-five works, most of which have never before been available in a Western language. Many of these highlight types of discourse (especially ritual manuals, folktales, and oral narratives) and voices (vernacular, esoteric, domestic, and female) that have not been sufficiently represented in previous anthologies and standard accounts of Indian religions.

The selections are drawn from ancient texts, medieval manuscripts, modern pamphlets, and contemporary fieldwork in rural and urban India. They represent every region in South Asia and include Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, and Muslim materials. Some are written texts reflecting elite concerns, while others are transcriptions of oral narratives told by nonliterate peasants. Some texts are addressed to a public and pan-Indian audience, others to a limited coterie of initiates in an esoteric sect, and still others are intended for a few women gathered in the courtyard for a household ceremony. The editor has reinforced this diversity by arranging the selections within several overarching themes and categories of discourse (hymns, rituals, narratives, and religious interactions), and encourages us to make our own connections.

Can religion be compatible with liberal democracy? World Religions and Democracy brings together insights from renowned scholars and world leaders in a provocative and timely discussion of religions' role in the success or failure of democracy. An essay by Alfred Stepan outlines the concept of "twin tolerations" and differentiation, and creates a template that can be applied to all of the religion-democracy relationships observed and analyzed throughout the volume. "Twin tolerations" means that there is a clear distinction and a mutual respect between political authorities and religious leaders and bodies. When true differentiation is accomplished, the religious sector enjoys freedom of activity and the ability to peacefully influence its members but does not wield direct political power. A country's ability to implement the principle of differentiation directly affects the successful development of democracy.

Part two focuses on eastern religions -- Confucianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism -- and includes contributions from Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The third part addresses democracy in relationship to Judaism and the three branches of Christianity -- Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. Sociologist Peter Berger offers a global perspective of Christianity and democracy.

The volume's final section discusses what is perhaps the most challenging example of the struggling relationship between religion and democracy today: Islam and the governments of the Muslim nations. Abdou Filali-Ansary, Bernard Lewis, and others present a comprehensive exploration of Muslim thought and faith in an increasingly secular, modern world. It is inthis volatile political and religious climate that solutions are most urgently needed but also most elusive.

Contributors: Alfred Stepan, Hahm Chaibong, Francis Fukuyama, Pratap Mehta, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Hillel Fradkin, Daniel Philpott, Tim Shah, Robert Woodberry, Elizabeth Prodromou, Peter Berger, Abdou Filali-Ansary, Bernard Lewis, Robin Wright, Abdelwahab El-Affendi, Radwan A. Masmoudi, Laith Kubba, Ladan Boroumand, Roya Boroumand.

In this interdisciplinary work, William L. Davis examines Joseph Smith's 1829 creation of the Book of Mormon, the foundational text of the Latter-Day Saint movement. Positioning the text in the history of early American oratorical techniques, sermon culture, educational practices, and the passion for self-improvement, Davis elucidates both the fascinating cultural context for the creation of the Book of Mormon and the central role of oral culture in early nineteenth-century America. Drawing on performance studies, religious studies, literary culture, and the history of early American education, Davis analyzes Smith's process of oral composition. How did he produce a history spanning a period of 1,000 years, filled with hundreds of distinct characters and episodes, all cohesively tied together in an overarching narrative? Eyewitnesses claimed that Smith never looked at notes, manuscripts, or books-he simply spoke the words of this American religious epic into existence. Judging the truth of this process is not Davis's interest. Rather, he reveals a kaleidoscope of practices and styles that converged around Smith's creation, with an emphasis on the evangelical preaching styles popularized by the renowned George Whitefield and John Wesley.

"Truth and striving for truth must taste good to you; and lies, once you are conscious of them, must taste bitter and poisonous. You must not only know that human judgments have color, but also that printer's ink nowadays is mostly deadly nightshade juice. You must be able to experience this in all honesty and rectitude, and once you can do so, you will be in a state of spiritual transformation." -Rudolf Steiner In response to these questions, Rudolf Steiner delivered the informal lectures in this book to the workers at the Goetheanum: * What is the relationship between coming to see the secrets of the universe and one's own view of the world? * How far must one go before finding the higher worlds on the path of natural science? * Do cosmic forces influence all of humanity? * What connection do plants have with the human being and the human body? In answering these questions, Steiner covers a wide range of topics, from the development of independent thinking and the ability to think backward to the uses of what seems boring and the reversal of thinking between the physical and spiritual worlds, and from the "physiology" of dreams to living into nature and the spiritual dimension of various foods. As always in his lectures to the workers, Steiner's style is clear, direct, and accessible.

Johannes von Sterngassen, champion of a rigorously scientifically-oriented Thomism and member of the circles of mystics that formed around Meister Eckhardt, is central to the controversy over mysticism and scholasticism. His environment, biography and works have been reconstructed on the basis of a precise analysis of source material, a wide selection of texts, Latin quaestiones and German sermons. The text reveals Sterngassen's philosophical position and verbal power.

Johannes von Sterngassen, champion of a rigorously scientifically-oriented Thomism and member of the circles of mystics that formed around Meister Eckhardt, is central to the controversy over mysticism and scholasticism. His environment, biography and works have been reconstructed on the basis of a precise analysis of source material, a wide selection of texts, Latin quaestiones and German sermons. The text reveals Sterngassen's philosophical position and verbal power.

This is a reference for understanding world religious societies in their contemporary global diversity. Comprising 60 essays, the volume focuses on communities rather than beliefs, symbols, or rites. It is organized into six sections corresponding to the major living religious traditions: the Indic cultural region, the Buddhist/Confucian, the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim regions, and the African cultural region. In each section an introductory essay discusses the social development of that religious tradition historically. The other essays cover the basic social facts: the community's size, location, organizational and pilgrimage centers, authority figures, patterns of governance, major subgroups and schisms as well as issues regarding boundary maintenance, political involvement, role in providing cultural identity, and encounters with modernity. Communities in the diaspora and at the periphery are covered, as well as the central geographic regions of the religious traditions. Thus, for example, Islamic communities in Asia and the United States are included along with Islamic societies in the Middle East. The contributors are leading scholars of world religions, many of whom are also members of the communities they study. The essays are written to be informative and accessible to the educated public, and to be respectful of the viewpoints of the communities analyzed.

This selection of lectures offers insights into the complexity of evil as a phe-nomenon that arises when an event or process appears outside its true context. As a result, something that is "good" initially may become "evil" because it occurs in the wrong place. Steiner tells us that this as an effect of Lucifer and Ahriman, spiritual beings who work as polar forces and hinder human evolution by opposing our appropriate development. Confronting these difficulties, however, ultimately furthers our spiritual development. CONTENTS Editor's Introduction 1. Origin and Nature of Evil Evil Illuminated through the Science of the Spirit Good and Evil: Creation and Death 2. All Life Unfolds between the Polarities of Luciferic and Ahrimanic Forces Christ, Ahriman and Lucifer in Relationship to the Human Being The Relation of Ahrimanic and Luciferic Beings to Normally Evolved Hierarchies 3. The "Fall" Consequences and Counterbalance The Midgard Snake, the Fenris Wolf, and Hel The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil 4. The Intensification of Evil and the Task of Our Present Consciousness Soul Age Supersensible Aspects of Historical Research The Three Streams of Materialistic Civilization 5. "666" and the Future of Humanithy--The Task of Manichaeism How Do I Find the Christ? The Future of Human Evolution

Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs in America explores the challenges that Asian immigrants face when their religion--and consequently culture--is "remade in the U.S.A." Peppered with stories of individual people and how they actually live their religion, this informative book gives an overview of each religion's beliefs, a short history of immigration--and discrimination--for each group, and how immigrants have adapted their religious beliefs since they arrived. Along the way, the roles of men and women, views toward dating and marriage, the relationship to the homeland, the "brain drain" from Asia of scientists, engineers, physicians, and other professionals, and American offshoots of Asian religions, such as the Hare Krishnas and Transcendental Meditation (TM), are discussed.