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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Aspects of religions (non-Christian) > Religious experience > Mysticism
Recorded talks and sayings by Inayat Khan in their unedited and
most authentic version.
This book is an in-depth, comparative study of two of the most
popular and influential intellectual and spiritual traditions of
West Africa: Tijani Sufism and Ifa. Employing a unique
methodological approach that thinks with and from-rather than
merely about-these traditions, Oludamini Ogunnaike argues that they
contain sophisticated epistemologies that provide practitioners
with a comprehensive worldview and a way of crafting a meaningful
life. Using theories belonging to the traditions themselves as well
as contemporary oral and textual sources, Ogunnaike examines how
both Sufism and Ifa answer the questions of what knowledge is, how
it is acquired, and how it is verified. Or, more simply: What do
you know? How did you come to know it? How do you know that you
know? After analyzing Ifa and Sufism separately and on their own
terms, the book compares them to each other and to certain features
of academic theories of knowledge. By analyzing Sufism from the
perspective of Ifa, Ifa from the perspective of Sufism, and the
contemporary academy from the perspective of both, this book
invites scholars to inhabit these seemingly "foreign" intellectual
traditions as valid and viable perspectives on knowledge,
metaphysics, psychology, and ritual practice. Unprecedented and
innovative, Deep Knowledge makes a significant contribution to
cross-cultural philosophy, African philosophy, religious studies,
and Islamic studies. Its singular approach advances our
understanding of the philosophical bases underlying these two
African traditions and lays the groundwork for future study.
The complete work of the Entered Apprentice, Fellow-craft and
Master-mason's Degrees, with their ceremonies, lectures, etc. It
has doubtless been a matter of comment and surprise among the
Members of the Fraternity that all the books which are avowedly
intended to serve as guides to the Work of a Lodge invariably
contain more or less than their professed object demands. They are
usually deficient in the very points that may be most needed,
rendering the use of a separate Monitor unavoidable; while, on the
other hand, they include a great deal of information on matters
with which every Mason is necessarily perfectly familiar, and which
it is neither needful nor desirable to be communicated to the
uninitiated. It has been the aim of the Compiler of this little
volume to avoid both these defects: first, by omitting all
Passwords, Grips, and other esoteric subjects; and second, by
giving the Work of the first three degrees monitorially as well as
ritually complete, in plain language for ready reference, and
entirely free from the tedious perplexities of cypher or other
arbitrary and unintelligible contractions.
Benjamin Pollock argues that Franz Rosenzweig s The Star of
Redemption is devoted to a singularly ambitious philosophical task:
grasping the All the whole of what is in the form of a system. In
asserting Rosenzweig s abiding commitment to a systematic
conception of philosophy often identified with German Idealism,
this book breaks rank with the assumptions about Rosenzweig s
thought that have dominated the scholarship of the last decades.
Indeed, the Star s importance is often claimed to lie precisely in
the way it opposes philosophy s traditional drive for systematic
knowledge and upholds instead a new thinking attentive to the
existential concerns, the alterity, and even the revelatory
dimension of concrete human life. Pollock shows that these very
innovations in Rosenzweig s thought are in fact to be understood as
part and parcel of The Star s systematic program. But this is only
the case, Pollock claims, because Rosenzweig approaches philosophy
s traditional task of system in a radically original manner. For
the Star not only seeks to guide its readers on the path toward
knowing the All of which all beings are a part; it at once directs
them toward realizing the redemptive unity of that very All through
the actions, decisions, and relations of concrete human life."
A groundbreaking exposition of Islamic mysticism The Essence of
Reality was written over the course of just three days in 514/1120,
by a scholar who was just twenty-four. The text, like its author
'Ayn al-Qudat, is remarkable for many reasons, not least of which
that it is in all likelihood the earliest philosophical exposition
of mysticism in the Islamic intellectual tradition. This important
work would go on to exert significant influence on both classical
Islamic philosophy and philosophical mysticism. Written in a terse
yet beautiful style, The Essence of Reality consists of one hundred
brief chapters interspersed with Qur'anic verses, prophetic
sayings, Sufi maxims, and poetry. In conversation with the work of
the philosophers Avicenna and al-Ghazali, the book takes readers on
a philosophical journey, with lucid expositions of questions
including the problem of the eternity of the world; the nature of
God's essence and attributes; the concepts of "before" and "after";
and the soul's relationship to the body. All these discussions are
seamlessly tied into 'Ayn al-Qudat's foundational argument-that
mystical knowledge lies beyond the realm of the intellect. A
bilingual Arabic-English edition.
Kabbalah teaches that people have the power to fashion their own
fate, but activating and using this power requires genuine
understanding of self, desire, and purpose. Helping seekers find
that wisdom is the purpose of this book. Kabbalah offers the oldest
application of astronomy and astrology known to humankind, and"
Kabbalistic Astrology demonstrates that probing the planets and
studying the stars, which is based in science, can help people
satisfy their deepest needs and the needs of others. More than
merely a collection of horoscopes, this book explains how Kabbalah
-- unlike conventional astrology, which insists that everything is
determined by the heavens -- teaches that each person is born at
the precise instant best suited to his or her special needs. In
clear, compelling language, Rav Berg brings to modern readers
Kabbalah's message of multiple futures -- with specific practices
and strategies for finding the best of them.
From the bestselling author of The Secret History of the World, an
exploration of the mystical forces that shape and protect us The
Sacred History is an account of the workings of the supernatural in
history. It tells the epic story of angels, from Creation, to
Evolution through to the operations of the supernatural in the
modern world. This tale of how people and peoples have been helped
by angels and other angelic beings is woven into a spellbinding
narrative that brings together Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Elijah, Mary
and Jesus, Mohammed, Joan of Arc, the angels who helped Hungarian
Jews persecuted by the Nazis, and stories from African, Native
American and Celtic traditions. Told from the spiritual point of
view, The Sacred History relates every betrayal, every change of
heart, every twist and turn, everything that looks like a
coincidence, every portent, every clue, every defeat, every rescue
moments before the prison door clangs shut. This is the angelic
version of events.
The Middle Ages saw a flourishing of mysticism that was
astonishing for its richness and distinctiveness. The medieval
period was unlike any other period of Christianity in producing
people who frequently claimed visions of Christ and Mary, uttered
prophecies, gave voice to ecstatic experiences, recited poems and
songs said to emanate directly from God and changed their ways of
life as a result of these special revelations. Many recipients of
these alleged divine gifts were women. Yet the female contribution
to western Europe's intellectual and religious development is still
not well understood. Popular or lay religion has been overshadowed
by academic theology, which was predominantly the theology of men.
This timely book rectifies the neglect by examining a number of
women whose lives exemplify traditions which were central to
medieval theology but whose contributions have tended to be
dismissed as "merely spiritual" by today's scholars. In their
different ways, visionaries like Richeldis de Faverches (founder of
the Holy House at Walsingham, or "England's Nazareth"), the learned
Hildegard of Bingen, Hadewijch of Brabant (exemplary voice of the
Beguine tradition of love mysticism), charismatic traveller and
pilgrim Margery Kempe and anchoress Julian of Norwich all
challenged traditional male scholastic theology. Designed for the
use of undergraduate student and general reader alike, this
attractive survey provides an introduction to thirteen remarkable
women and sets their ideas in context.
More than two decades have passed since Chicago published the first
volume of this groundbreaking work in the Religion and
Postmodernism series. It quickly became influential across a wide
range of disciplines and helped to make the tools of
poststructuralist thought available to religious studies and
theology, especially in the areas of late medieval and early modern
mysticism. Though the second volume remained in fragments at the
time of his death, Michel de Certeau had the foresight to leave his
literary executor detailed instructions for its completion, which
formed the basis for the present work. Together, both volumes
solidify Certeau's place as a touchstone of twentieth-century
literature and philosophy, and continue his exploration of the
paradoxes of historiography; the construction of social reality
through practice, testimony, and belief; the theorization of speech
in angelology and glossolalia; and the interplay of prose and
poetry in discourses of the ineffable. This book will be of vital
interest to scholars in religious studies, theology, philosophy,
history, and literature.
This book presents a new paradigm for distinguishing psychotic and
mystical religious experiences. In order to explore how
Presbyterian pastors differentiate such events, Susan L. DeHoff
draws from Reformed theology, psychological theory, and robust
qualitative research. Following a conversation among
multidisciplinary voices, she presents a new paradigm considering
the similarities, differences, and possible overlap of psychotic
and mystical religious experiences.
In "Together Forever", Michael Laitman tells us that if we are
patient and endure the trials we encounter along our life's path,
we will become stronger, braver, and wiser. Instead of growing
weaker, we will learn to create our own magic and our own wonders
as only a magician can. In this warm, tender tale, the author
shares with children and parents alike some of the gems and charms
of the spiritual world.The storyline introduces a kind magician who
wishes to have a friend, and to teach his friend all the magic that
he knows. He creates all kinds of objects and animals, but his best
friend and student is the man that he creates. The story describes
how the magician teaches the man to be like him - a great and kind
magician - and explains that every one of us can become like the
magician, if it is our wish. The wisdom of Kabbalah is filled with
spellbinding stories. "Together Forever" is yet another gift from
this ageless source of wisdom, whose lessons make our lives richer,
easier, and far more fulfilling.
Since their beginnings in the ninth century, the shrines,
brotherhoods and doctrines of the Sufis held vast influence in
almost every corner of the Muslim world. Offering the first truly
global account of the history of Sufism, this illuminating book
traces the gradual spread and influence of Sufi Islam through the
Middle East, Asia, Africa, and ultimately into Europe and the
United States. * An ideal introduction to Sufism, requiring no
background knowledge of Islamic history or thought * Offers the
first history of Sufism as a global phenomenon, exploring its
movement and adaptation from the Middle East, through Asia and
Africa, to Europe and the United States of America * Covers the
entire historical period of Sufism, from its ninth century origins
to the end of the twentieth century * Devotes equal coverage to the
political, cultural, and social dimensions of Sufism as it does to
its theology and ritual * Dismantles the stereotypes of Sufis as
otherworldly 'mystics', by anchoring Sufi Muslims in the real lives
of their communities * Features the most up-to-date research on
Sufism available
Rabi'a, a female Sufi saint, was born in 717 CE and released from
slavery to lead a life in pursuit of purity and perfect union with
God. Her teachings and the numerous miracles attributed to her have
made her an influential and revered figure in Sufi theology. This
authoritative 1928 biography of the saint was written by Margaret
Smith, who mastered numerous eastern languages, travelled
extensively, and published a number of translations of important
Arabic texts. Smith's linguistic skill and her immersion in the
culture she studied has produced a book still considered an
important account of Rabi'a's life. Smith also includes an incisive
discussion of the role of women in early Islamic mysticism and an
examination of Sufi doctrine, and examines the issues of celibacy
and sainthood in Islam. A biography of one exceptional woman
written by another.
Ibn 'Ajiba (1747-1809) was a Moroccan Sufi of the Darqawi school
who studied in Fez and lived all his life in and around Tetuan.
Although still relatively unknown in the English-speaking world,
his writings are important for an understanding of Maghribi Sufism.
In this bi-lingual edition, with a Preface by Claude Addas and a
Foreword by Hamza Yusuf, Jean-Louis Michon presents two short
metaphysical treatises by Ibn 'Ajiba which shed new light on the
history of Sufism and show its vitality as a living tradition in
eighteenth-century Morocco. The key idea underlying both treatises,
the Oneness of Existence, reveals the enduring influence of the Ibn
Arabi, more than five centuries after his death. Students of Islam
in North Africa, those interested in the Sufi tradition and
spiritual seekers will welcome the publication of these treatises
and the useful presentation of both Arabic text and English
translation on facing pages.
From a highly popular and respected scholar, poet and lecturer and one of the nation’s most celebrated authorities on mysticism comes the paperback edition of a brilliant introduction to the essential texts and themes of the great mystic visionaries.Whether it’s based on the Buddhist vision of the Bodhisattva or the Christian concept of service, the mystic’s journey is one take on behalf of all humanity – and that journey is the same in all traditions. This wide range of selections brings readers the essential themes and personalities of the mystic experience. Beautifully introduced with practical analysis and vital historical information, The Essential Mystics offers extras from many traditions, including Buddhist, Sikh, Taoist, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Hopi, Aborigine and Kogi.
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