Twiceborn: My Early Thoughts that Revealed My True Mission chronicles Ryuho Okawa's formative years up to the founding of Happy Science and rise to religious prominence. Comprised of two parts, Part One offers a glimpse into Okawa's early thoughts on profound philosophical themes. Part Two depicts Okawa's first mainstream lecture in Tokyo Dome, where he addressed a grand audience of 50,000 people in July, 1991. Okawa's milestone moments will be featured in the theatrical film, Twiceborn, a dramatized account of Okawa's ascent to greatness, scheduled for international release in the Fall of 2020. Since childhood, Okawa was conscious of an important mission steering his future, and dedicated his youth to assiduous study and training. Part One is comprised of six chapters, where Okawa shares vital lessons and discoveries from his youth that would later stand him in good stead when assuming his mission as a world teacher. Chapter One introduces Okawa's humble beginnings and his awareness of being ordinary. Okawa frames this perception as the impetus governing his aspirations and commitment to diligence. Drawing from experience, Okawa shares key points to consider for those who aspire for greatness. Chapter Two seeds the importance of cultivating a spirit of independence. In this context, independence is the spirit to take responsibility over your life, both mentally and financially, and to live a truly fruitful and meaningful existence. Chapter Three explores the notion of diverse values - why different values, such as people's way of thinking and religious ideas exist, and how we should perceive this diversity. Okawa also shares thoughts on the existence of good and evil and God's purpose behind this duality. Chapter Four focuses objectively on God - from how Okawa came to ponder the existence of God, to his actual experience with the divine - by contemplating his upbringing, environment and the struggles that he encountered throughout adolescence. Okawa accents the importance of controlling and refining one's own mind to encounter God. Chapter Five pertains to time and being. Okawa probes philosophical themes, including why we exist in this world and how we can universally validate the existence of God through love. Chapter Six describes, in detail, the crucial moment when Okawa overcame the Devils' temptation and vowed dedication to a life of religious prominence. Okawa's sincerity conveys his earnest mission to champion peace and deliver salvation to us all. Part Two depicts Okawa's 1991 milestone lecture in Tokyo Dome, "The Victory of Faith," where he made a stunning revelation that forever changed the lives of millions. In this powerful and inspiring lecture, Okawa reveals the spiritual truths governing this world and the reason for our existence. Twiceborn imbues readers with timeless wisdom to further spiritual enrichment and inspire meaningful societal contributions. Find God in your given circumstances and endeavor the mission that you are destined for!

This volume offers unique insights into the mutually constitutive nature of social media practices and religious change. Part 1 examines how social media operate in conjunction with mass media in the construction of discourses of religion and spirituality. It includes: a longitudinal study of British news media coverage of Christianity, secularism and religious diversity (Knott et al.); an analysis of responses to two documentaries 'The Monastery' and 'The Convent' (Thomas); an evaluation of theories of the sacred in studies of religion and media within the 'strong program' in cultural sociology in the US (Lynch); and a study of the consequences of mass and social media synergies for public perceptions of Islam in the Netherlands (Herbert). Part 2 examines the role of social media in the construction of contemporary martyrs and media celebrities (e.g., Michael Jackson) using mixed and mobile methods to analyse fan sites (Bennett & Campbell) and jihadi websites and YouTube (Nauta). Part 3 examines how certain bounded religious communities negotiate the challenges of social media: Judaism in Second Life (Abrams & Baker); Bah'ai regulation of web use among members (Campbell & Fulton); YouTube evangelists (Pihlaja); and public expressions of bereavement (Greenhill & Fletcher). The book provides theoretically informed empirical case studies and presents an intriguing, complex picture of the aesthetic and ethical, demographic and discursive aspects of new spaces of communication and their implications for religious institutions, beliefs and practices.

Renowned for the beauty and simplicity of his teachings, Ajahn Chah was Thailand's best-known meditation teacher. His charisma and wisdom influenced many American and European seekers, and helped shape the American Vipassana community. This collection brings together for the first time Ajahn Chah's most powerful teachings, including those on meditation, liberation from suffering, calming the mind, enlightenment and the 'living dhamma'. Most of these talks have previously only been available in limited, private editions and the publication of "Food for the Heart" therefore represents a momentous occasion: the hugely increased accessibility of his words and wisdom. Western teachers such as Ram Dass and Jack Kornfield have extolled Chah's teachings for years and now readers can experience them directly in this book.

Over the past ten years, the fields of social work and education have grappled separately with definitions of spirituality, with ways to integrate spirituality into the classroom, and with the rendering of spirituality as a meaningful concept for practitioners, students, and researchers. But social work and education have many commonalities in areas of engagement with children, families, and communities. For the first time, this book brings together these two professional disciplines for interdisciplinary discussions that advance our knowledge in the broad area of "spirituality."

The book's three sections reflect broad topic areas created to facilitate dialogue between the contributors, all of whom have established expertise in exploring spirituality in both fields. The first section of the book explores the historical and theoretical underpinnings of spirituality in education and social work. Examination of our respective heritages uncovers the religious roots within our professions and reveals a present understanding of spirituality that calls for active engagement in challenging oppression and working toward social justice. The second section shifts the focus to the pedagogical implications of incorporating spirituality into higher-education classrooms. The differing levels of acceptance and the tensions that come from including spirituality, implicitly or explicitly, in the programs and coursework in our respective faculties are illuminated by authors in both professions. The final section explores issues related to practising and teaching in the field from a spiritually sensitive perspective.

Christianity is in crisis. Many sincere Christians feel their traditional Christian practices are in danger of becoming irrelevant, empty rituals. In his previous book A New Kind of Christianity, Brian D. McLaren offered new biblical models for how we understand the central ideas of a faith that provides hope for restoring and reinvigorating the power of the gospels to transform us and our communities.

In Naked Spirituality, McLaren takes his prophetic work a step further by confronting how the lack of a simple, doable, durable spirituality undermines the very transformation God is calling us to undergo. As a result, our religious structures become tools to maintain the status quo and not catalysts for personal and social change. McLaren presents a four-stage framework for understanding the spiritual life, and he unfolds spiritual practices appropriate to each stage. Each practice is rooted in a simple word: here, thanks, O, sorry, help, please, when, no, why, behold, yes, and silence. Naked Spirituality offers accessible, practical wisdom for living a truly spiritual life. Staying true to Jesus's core message while engaging faithfully with our postmodern world, McLaren presents a proven spiritual program for engaging in and sustaining a meaningful relationship with God.

A Lenten devotional by a celebrated author, well known in the United States and Great BritainWhen is love not mixed up with something else? Love and the desire to possess, love and the need to control, love and the need to be needed, love and the lust to absorb, love and condescension, love and narcissism. In this short book of meditations on the Passion according to Saint John, Martin L. Smith shows how, in the Christian mystery, love itself must be crucified and die to be reborn as the grace of communion...as love set free. Love Set Free has strong recognition in Episcopal/Anglican circles as a series of meditations designed for use as lectio and suitable for Lent or Holy Week.

"
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius" is one of the great masterpieces of the Christian canon. A series of meditations and practices that guides seekers on a journey to spiritual perfection, this manual has been used by millions of religious and lay persons alike for centuries.
Now, in the first new Anthony de Mello book in more than fifteen years, the bestselling author of "Awareness "takes readers on an in-depth exploration of the practices of St. Ignatius and offers simple guidance and wisdom to help readers navigate the sometimes-confusing byways on the journey to God. Drawn from a series of talks de Mello gave before his untimely death in 1987, this book challenges us to achieve new levels of understanding and inner exploration, with chapters on how to hear the voice of the divine, the need for repentance, and how to ascend to love in our day-to-day life, .
A must-have for fans of de Mello's work and anyone interested in learning to pray in profound and meaningful ways, "Seek God Everywhere" is an inspirational and practical work that will transform your life.

Believers is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers-a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen": Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. Melvin Konner, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has lived his adult life without such faith, explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution and genetics of the religious impulses we experience. He views religious people with a sympathetic eye; his own upbringing, his apprenticeship in the trance dance religion of the African Bushmen and his friends in Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and other faiths have all shaped his perspective. He concludes that religion does much good as well as undoubted harm and that for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away.

This is a collection of seventeen essays looking at the things that separate man from God in the torturing modern world. It is being published posthumously after Dr. Thinds departure from this world on 15 September 15 1967, to his Heavenly Abode. Dr. Thind was inspired by his fathers spiritual accomplishments, which left an indelible impression on the authors mind. He followed his fathers legacy throughout his entire life, and built on it. In his lectures to vast audiences in cities throughout the United States, Dr. Thind often said, "The destiny of God is the most profitable discovery -- and it certainly is". Now read about this discovery for yourself.

A penetrating interpretation of St. Teresa of Avila's central teaching on prayer, by a widely-praised and best selling author.

"Archaeology of Spiritualties "provides a fresh exploration of the interface between archaeology and religion/spirituality. Archaeological approaches to the study of religion have typically and often unconsciously, drawn on western paradigms, especially Judaeo-Christian (mono) theistic frameworks and academic rationalisations. Archaeologists have rarely reflected on how these approaches have framed and constrained their choices of methodologies, research questions, hypotheses, definitions, interpretations and analyses and have neglected an important dimension of religion: the human experience of the numinous - the power, presence or experience of the supernatural.

Within the religions of many of the world s peoples, sacred experiences particularly in relation to sacred landscapes and beings connected with those landscapes are often given greater emphasis, while doctrine and beliefs are relatively less important. Archaeology of Spiritualities asks how such experiences might be discerned in the archaeological record; how do we recognize and investigate other forms of religious or spiritual experience in the remains of the past?.

The volume opens up a space to explore critically and reflexively the encounter between archaeology and diverse cultural expressions of spirituality. It showcases experiential and experimental methodologies in this area of the discipline, an unconventional approach within the archaeology of religion. Thus"Archaeology of Spiritualities "offers a unique, timely and innovative contribution, one that is alsochallenging and stimulating. It is a great resource to archaeologists, historians, religious scholars and others interested in cultural and religious heritage."

A Little Light on the Spiritual Laws sets out clearly and simply 36 Spiritual Laws which govern life on Earth. Vividly illustrated with stories and metaphors, it shows how to achieve prosperity, success, gratitude and purification. If you do not understand the rules of the game you cannot play in the top league. In the same way you cannot be happy, healthy and successful until you understand the Laws of Life. This book offers a definitive, accessible guide to mastering life and when practised at the highest level, it contains the keys to heaven.

In 1984, Dr. Sage Bennet was suffering from a spiritual crisis. After completing her PhD and securing a coveted job as a professor at the University of Wisconsin, she still felt empty. At night she had trouble breathing, like a great weight was sitting on her chest. The crisis lifted when, through a chance encounter, she joined a meditation centre and began her own Wisdom Walk, a spiritual quest that would result in many life changes. Putting into practice the wisdom learned from many years of study, she developed an eclectic spiritual life that borrowed rituals from many religions and spiritual traditions, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Islam. In her new book "Wisdom Walk", Bennet outlines some of the most powerful of those practices, making spiritual and religious traditions accessible without diminishing or losing respect for their more subtle nuances. With depth and respect, it provides an accessible, easy-to-follow guide for bringing the world's spiritual traditions into your life through practical, powerful rituals.

The Pocket Edition of the Workbook and Manual contains the complete and unabridged language of the Original Edition of A Course in Miracles. Taken from the original manuscript for the Course, the only editing that has been been done to this great spiritual classic has been to correct occasional typographic and spelling errors and to render capitalization and punctuation consistent.

We call it the pocket edition because it is designed to be easily portable. You can toss into a backpack, briefcase or even a lady's purse so you will always have today's Lesson at hand. The book is designed for rough treatment--It is printed on durable paper, nicely glued, and has a laminated cover that resists spots and staining.

There is more to meditation than simply sitting quietly and emptying our mind. When we look within and practice contemplative meditation, we will be able to connect to a higher world, and receive inspirations and guidance to live a better life. This book introduces various types of meditation, including calming meditation, purposeful meditation, reading meditation, reflective meditation, and meditation to communicate with heaven. Through reading and practicing meditation in this book, we can experience the miracle of meditation, which is to start living a life of peace, happiness, and success. With how-tos and answers to common questions about meditation, this simple but profound book will awaken your soul and encourage you to start living a more mindful, positive, and fulfilled life.

This book puts spirit back at the heart of spirituality. By exploring the everyday impacts of alternative spiritual beliefs and practices, the book examines contemporary spirituality and how critical social science can map and understand it.

“Enlightenment does exist,” internationally renowned author and meditation master Jack Kornfield assures us. “Unbounded freedom and joy, oneness with the divine ... these experiences are more common than you know, and not far away.”

But even after achieving such realization — after the ecstasy — we are faced with the day-to-day task of translating that freedom into our imperfect lives. We are faced with the laundry.

Drawing on the experiences and insights of leaders and practitioners within the Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Sufi traditions, this book offers a uniquely intimate and honest understanding of how the modern spiritual journey unfolds — and how we can prepare our hearts for awakening.

Through moving personal stories and traditional tales, we learn how the enlightened heart navigates the real world of family relationships, emotional pain, earning a living, sickness, loss, and death.

Filled with “the laughter of the wise,” alive with compassion, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is a gift to anyone who is seeking peace, wholeness, and inner happiness. It is sure to take its place next to A Path with Heart as a spiritual classic for our time.

Cattoi and McDaniel present a selection of articles on the role of the body and the spiritual senses--our transfigured channels of sensory perceptions--in the context of spiritual practice. The volume investigates this theme across a variety of different religious traditions, starting from early and medieval Christianity, addressing a number of Eastern traditions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism, and finally touching on some modern forms of spirituality and psychotherapy.

There appears to be a hierarchy of cultures with the West perceiving the East as inferior, so much so that it is referred to simply as 'the Other'. Because today's world is globally interdependent, inter-woven, and integrative, it is pertinent to be open to the cultural, spiritual, and religious understandings of the East

Born in Balkh (present-day Afghanistan), Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) is one of the greatest Persian mystics and poets the world has known. His message of love speaks directly to the heart and transcends the limitations of language and the boundaries of time.

In the vast depths of Rumi's work the short quatrains, the Rubaiyat, are like crystals. They sparkle with the many hues of the rainbow and contain worlds inside. As we hold them iin our hands they capture us with their mystery. Transparent and clear they open doors into the wonder of inner spaces and longing. Whispers of two lovers in a crowd.

Social scientists and philosophers confronted with religious phenomena have always been challenged to find a proper way to describe the spiritual experiences of the social group they were studying. The influence of the Cartesian dualism of body and mind (or soul) led to a distinction between non-material, spiritual experiences (i.e., related to the soul) and physical, mechanical experiences (i.e., related to the body). However, recent developments in medical science on the one hand and challenges to universalist conceptions of belief and spirituality on the other have resulted in "body" and "soul" losing the reassuring solid contours they had in the past. Yet, in "Western culture," the body-soul duality is alive, not least in academic and media discourses. This volume pursues the ongoing debates and discusses the importance of the body and how it is perceived in contemporary religious faith: what happens when "body" and "soul" are un-separated entities? Is it possible, even for anthropologists and ethnographers, to escape from "natural dualism"? The contributors here present research in novel empirical contexts, the benefits and limits of the old dichotomy are discussed, and new theoretical strategies proposed.

A summary of the most important issues, approaches and models in the field of spirituality in business, economics and society. The Handbook of Spirituality and Business presents a comprehensive pluralistic view covering all the major religious and spiritual traditions.