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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Aspects of religions (non-Christian) > Religious experience > Mysticism
"Kabbalah For Dummies" presents a balanced perspective of Kabbalah
as an "umbrella" for a complex assemblage of mystical Jewish
teachings and codification techniques. "Kabbalah For Dummies" also
shows how Kabbalah simultaneously presents an approach to the study
of text, the performance of ritual and the experience of worship,
as well as how the reader can apply its teaching to everyday life.
God hides behind the simplest of daily activities; finding Him is a
matter of total surrender to His will. That's the message of this
18th-century inspirational classic. Its encouragement to "live in
the moment," accepting everyday obstacles with humility and love,
has guided generations of seekers to spiritual peace.
The Armenian-born mystic, philosopher, and spiritual teacher G. I.
Gurdjieff (c.1866-1949) is an enigmatic figure, the subject of a
great deal of interest and speculation, but not easily fitting into
any of the common categories of "esoteric," "occult," or "New Age."
Scholars have for the most part passed over in silence the
contemplative exercises presented in Gurdjieff's writings. Although
Gurdjieff had intended them to be confidential, some of the most
important exercises were published posthumously in 1950 and in
1975. Arguing that an understanding of these exercises is necessary
to fully appreciate Gurdjieff's contribution to modern esotericism,
Joseph Azize offers the first complete study of the exercises and
their theoretical foundation. It shows the continuity in
Gurdjieff's teaching, but also the development and change. His
original contribution to Western Esotericism lay in his use of
tasks, disciplines, and contemplation-like exercises to bring his
pupils to a sense of their own presence which could to some extent
be maintained in daily life in the social domain, and not only in
the secluded conditions typical of meditation. Azize contends that
Gurdjieff had initially intended not to use contemplation-like
exercises, as he perceived dangers to be associated with these
monastic methods, and the religious tradition to be in tension with
the secular and supra-denominational guise in which he first
couched his teaching. As Gurdjieff adapted the teaching he had
found in Eastern monasteries to Western urban and post-religious
culture, however, he found it necessary to introduce contemplation.
What is Sufism? Contemporary views vary tremendously, even among
Sufis themselves. Contemporary Sufism: Piety, Politics, and Popular
Culture brings to light the religious frameworks that shape the
views of Sufism's friends, adversaries, admirers, and detractors
and, in the process, helps readers better understand the diversity
of contemporary Sufism, the pressures and cultural openings to
which it responds, and the many divergent opinions about
contemporary Sufism's relationship to Islam. The three main themes:
piety, politics, and popular culture are explored in relation to
the Islamic and Western contexts that shape them, as well as to the
historical conditions that frame contemporary debates. This book is
split into three parts: * Sufism and anti-Sufism in contemporary
contexts; * Contemporary Sufism in the West: Poetic influences and
popular manifestations; * Gendering Sufism: Tradition and
transformation. This book will fascinate anyone interested in the
challenges of contemporary Sufism as well as its relationship to
Islam, gender, and the West. It offers an ideal starting point from
which undergraduate and postgraduate students, teachers and
lecturers can explore Sufism today.
The Kizilbash were at once key players in and the foremost victims
of the Ottoman-Safavid conflict that defined the early modern
Middle East. Today referred to as Alevis, they constitute the
second largest faith community in modern Turkey, with smaller
pockets of related groups in the Balkans. Yet several aspects of
their history remain little understood or explored. This first
comprehensive socio-political history of the Kizilbash/Alevi
communities uses a recently surfaced corpus of sources generated
within their milieu. It offers fresh answers to many questions
concerning their origins and evolution from a revolutionary
movement to an inward-looking religious order.
The world faces a crisis of meaning. The old stories - whether the
exclusive claims of rival religions or the grand schemes of
perennial philosophy - seem bankrupt to many. The editorial stance
of this book is that mysticism and science offer a way forward
here, but only if they abandon the idol of a single logical
synthesis and acknowledge the diversity of different ways of
knowing. The contributors, from disciplines as diverse as music,
psychology, mathematics and religion, build a vision that honours
diversity while pointing to an implicit unity.
'The pen would smoothly write the things it knew But when it came
to love it split in two, A donkey stuck in mud is logic's fate -
Love's nature only love can demonstrate.' Rumi's Masnavi is widely
recognized as the greatest Sufi poem ever written, and has been
called 'the Koran in Persian'. The thirteenth-century Muslim mystic
Rumi composed his work for the benefit of his disciples in the Sufi
order named after him, better known as the whirling dervishes. In
order to convey his message of divine love and unity he threaded
together entertaining stories and penetrating homilies. Drawing
from folk tales as well as sacred history, Rumi's poem is often
funny as well as spiritually profound. Jawid Mojaddedi's sparkling
new verse translation of Book One is consistent with the aims of
the original work in presenting Rumi's most mature mystical
teachings in simple and attractive rhyming couplets. ABOUT THE
SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made
available the widest range of literature from around the globe.
Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship,
providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable
features, including expert introductions by leading authorities,
helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for
further study, and much more.
"The heart is where the human soul and God meet. This is what
teachings from Scripture and the mystics reveal: the heart is the
temple of God within us and within the heart we hold the power to
live a truly divine life. But how do we harness the tremendous love
the heart is capable of generating? In Eternal Heart, Carl
McColman, author of The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, invites us
to create an optimistic, visionary, and imaginative path to
personal happiness and fulfillment. Weaving together teachings from
the biblical tradition, literature of the mystics, and Buddhism,
McColman engages us in profound, practical exercises for
cultivating fuller, more abundant, and more satisfying lives. The
path of Christian Mysticism is a path of action. By unlocking the
mysteries in our hearts, we discover a source of power deep within
us: a power for spiritual growth, and for creating meaningful
relationships and working together to change the world for the
better."
"Hasidism Incarnate" contends that much of modern Judaism in the
West developed in reaction to Christianity and in defense of
Judaism as a unique tradition. Ironically enough, this occurred
even as modern Judaism increasingly dovetailed with Christianity
with regard to its ethos, aesthetics, and attitude toward ritual
and faith. Shaul Magid argues that the Hasidic movement in Eastern
Europe constitutes an alternative "modernity," one that opens a new
window on Jewish theological history. Unlike Judaism in German
lands, Hasidism did not develop under a "Christian gaze" and had no
need to be apologetic of its positions. Unburdened by an apologetic
agenda (at least toward Christianity), it offered a particular
reading of medieval Jewish Kabbalah filtered through a focus on the
charismatic leader that resulted in a religious worldview that has
much in common with Christianity. It is not that Hasidic masters
knew about Christianity; rather, the basic tenets of Christianity
remained present, albeit often in veiled form, in much kabbalistic
teaching that Hasidism took up in its portrayal of the charismatic
figure of the "zaddik," whom it often described in supernatural
terms.
The Book of Mirdad, the timeless allegorical story which has
touched the hearts of so many readers, continues to show new
generations how it is possible to expand one's consciousness, to
uncover God in man by dissolving man's sense of duality. Mikhail
Naimy, in a similar style to Gibran, unravels one layer after
another, showing that the words of his message have descended from
some mysterious source. The book is essentially a set of question
and answer between Mirdad and his disciples, especially his chief
disciple, Naronda. These dialogues occurred during the time he was
admitted as a servant in the monastery of Altar Peak, built where
Noah's Ark came to rest after the flood waters subsided. Mirdad's
teachings cover all the important life issues such as love, the
master-servant relationship, creative silence, money, the
moneylender and the debtor, the cycle of time and death,
repentance, old age, and so on. The culmination, and indeed the
message, is that Mirdad's own Ark is the Ark of Holy Understanding,
which will bring humankind through another deluge, greater than
Noah's, when Heaven will be revealed on Earth. Mirdad's words are
the words of an enlightened Sufi master.
'The greatest living poet of the Arab world' Guardian Cloud,
mirror, stone, thunder, eyelid, desert, sea. Through a dead or
dying land, Mihyar walks: a figure of heroic individualism and
dissent, part-Orpheus, part-Zarathustra. Where he goes, the austere
building-blocks of his world become the expressions of passionate
emotion, of visionary exaltation and despairing melancholy. The
traditions of the Ancient Greeks, the Bible and the Quran flow
about and through him. Written in the cosmopolitan Beirut of the
early 1960s, Adonis's Songs of Mihyar the Damascene did for Arabic
poetry what The Waste Land did for English. These are poems against
authoritarianism and dogma, in which a new Noah would abandon his
ark to dive with the condemned, and in which surrealism and Sufi
mysticism meet and intertwine. The result is a masterpiece of world
literature. Translated by Kareem James Abu Zeid and Ivan Eubanks
'The most eloquent spokesman and explorer of Arabic modernity'
Edward Said
Focusing on the Maijbhandari movement in Chittagong, south-eastern
Bangladesh, which claims the status of the only Sufi order
originated in Bengal and which has gained immense popularity in
recent years, this book provides a comprehensive picture of an
important aspect of contemporary Bengali Islam in the South Asian
context. Expertise in South Asian languages and literatures is
combined with ethnographic field work and theoretical formulations
from a range of disciplines, including cultural anthropology,
Islamic studies and religious studies. Analysing the Maijbhandaris
tradition of Bengali spiritual songs, one of the largest popular
song traditions in Bengal, the book presents an in-depth study of
Bengali Sufi theology, hagiography and Maijbhandari esoteric songs,
as well as a discussion of what Bengali Islam is. It is a useful
contribution to South Asia Studies, as well as Islamic Studies.
A document of paramount historical importance, not only in terms of
Christianity but also with respect to the development of Western
religion. It chronicles the teachings of Jesus, who explains life's
mysteries to his disciples and Mary Magdalene. Their discussions
take place after Christ's resurrection and include accounts of his
ascension into heaven.
Sufism through the eyes of a legal scholar In The Requirements of
the Sufi Path, the renowned North African historian and jurist Ibn
Khaldun applies his analytical powers to Sufism, which he deems a
bona fide form of Islamic piety. Ibn Khaldun is widely known for
his groundbreaking work as a sociologist and historian, in
particular for the Muqaddimah, the introduction to his massive
universal history. In The Requirements of the Sufi Path, he writes
from the perspective of an Islamic jurist and legal scholar. He
characterizes Sufism and the stages along the Sufi path and takes
up the the question of the need for a guide along that path. In
doing so, he relies on the works of influential Sufi scholars,
including al-Qushayri, al-Ghazali, and Ibn al-Khatib. Even as Ibn
Khaldun warns of the extremes to which some Sufis go-including
practicing magic-his work is essentially a legal opinion, a fatwa,
asserting the inherent validity of the Sufi path. The Requirements
of the Sufi Path incorporates the wisdom of three of Sufism's
greatest voices as well as Ibn Khaldun's own insights, acquired
through his intellectual encounters with Sufism and his broad legal
expertise. All this he brings to bear on the debate over Sufi
practices in a remarkable work of synthesis and analysis. A
bilingual Arabic-English edition.
Until now, few primary texts on the Kabbalah have been available in
English. Under the auspices of the Bronfman Library of Jewish
Classics, this historic publicatin of Gates of Light allows readers
to enter the hidden world of the Kabbalah and its profound and
beautiful Biblical interpretation. This central text of Jewish
mysticism was written in thirteenth-century Spain, where Kabbalah
flourished. Considered to be the most articulate work on the
mystical Kabbalah, Gates of Light provides a systematic and
comprehensive explanation of the Names of God and their mystical
applications. The Kabbalah presents a unique strategy for intimacy
with the Creator and new insights into the Hebrew scriptures. In
the Kabbalah, aspects of God emanate from the hierarchy of Ten
Spheres interconnected by channels that may be disrupted or
repaired through human activity.
'Joking is teaching, so take care to listen - Don't look at just
the joke's form of expression. To jesters every serious thing's
hilarious, While to the wise hilarious jokes are serious' Rumi is
the greatest mystic poet to have written in Persian, and the
Masnavi is his masterpiece. Divided into six books and consisting
of some 26,000 verses, the poem was designed to convey a message of
divine love and unity to the disciples of Rumi's Sufi order, known
today as the Whirling Dervishes. Like the earlier books, Book Four
interweaves amusing stories with homilies to instruct pupils in
understanding of God's meaning. It has a special focus on the
mystical knowledge of the spiritual guide, elaborated through
stories such as Solomon's freeiration to the Queen of Sheba, and
animal fables. This is the first ever verse translation of Book
Four of the Masnavi. It follows the original by presenting Rumi's
most mature mystical teachings in simple and attractive rhyming
couplets.
This is a multi-volume collection by leading authors in Islamic
Studies. The volumes were originally published between 1867 and
1987. The collection reprints texts carefully selected on the basis
of their influence and prestige, written by pre-eminent scholars of
Islamic history, philosophy and religion. The majority of the
volumes reprint the original, first editions, but where
appropriate, updated, enlarged editions are sometimes selected.
Friedrich von Hugel's Mystical Element of Religion remains the
authoritative study of the spirituality of Catherine of Genoa.
First published in 1908, this seminal work develops the authoris
major theory of the three basic elements of religion,
institutional, intellectual and mystical. Von Hugel shows how
Catherineis mysticism relates to her life and thought, making his
comprehensive and masterly two-volume analysis a classic in the
study of Western mysticism.
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