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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Aspects of religions (non-Christian) > Religious experience
Mirjana Soldo was only sixteen years old when she and five other children saw a mysterious woman on a hillside near the village of Medjugorje, ex-Yugoslavia.
The woman—who possessed an extraordinary beauty and grace—identified herself as the Virgin Mary. The events that began on that summer afternoon in 1981 dramatically changed Mirjana’s life and brought intense suffering at the hands of the communist authorities.
After more than 35 years of apparitions, people still flock to Medjugorje in search of answers to life’s big questions. Stories of miracles abound, and, according to Mirjana, more are yet to come—the Virgin entrusted her with ten prophetic secrets concerning the future of the world.
In her new auto-biography, My Heart Will Triumph, Mirjana tells the story of Medjugorje through her own eyes—the same eyes that reportedly gaze upon the most revered woman in history.
First published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &
Francis, an informa company.
In Israel there are Jews and Muslims who practice Sufism together.
The Sufi' activities that they take part in together create
pathways of engagement between two faith traditions in a
geographical area beset by conflict. Sufism and Jewish Muslim
Relations investigates this practice of Sufism among Jews and
Muslims in Israel and examines their potential to contribute to
peace in the area. It is an original approach to the study of
reconciliation, situating the activities of groups that are not
explicitly acting for peace within the wider context of grass-roots
peace initiatives. The author conducted in-depth interviews with
those practicing Sufism in Israel, and these are both collected in
an appendix and used throughout the work to analyse the approaches
of individuals to Sufism and the challenges they face. It finds
that participants understand encounters between Muslim and Jewish
mystics in the medieval Middle East as a common heritage to Jews
and Muslims practising Sufism together today, and it explores how
those of different faiths see no dissonance in the adoption of Sufi
practices to pursue a path of spiritual progression. The first
examination of the Derekh Avraham Jewish-Sufi Order, this is a
valuable resource for students and scholars of Sufi studies, as
well as those interested in Jewish-Muslim relations.
'How can our souls unite with the etheric Christ, experienced in
the etheric world since the end of the last century? What steps
should we take, in the second century of the age of Michael, to
unite with Him?' At the centre of humanity's evolution stands the
Mystery of Golgotha, through which the Christ impulse entered the
earth. Anthroposophy, said Rudolf Steiner, was given at the
beginning of the last century to prepare for the second major
Christ event - the etheric Second Coming - beginning in 1933. This
Event is the portal that leads to the mighty and transformative
happenings taking place in the etheric world right now, enabling us
to meet the etheric Christ, Michael and Anthroposophia. At the
heart of this book is an existential question. Early in his
anthroposophical work, Ben-Aharon came to realize that without the
light of spiritual science, the meeting with the etheric Christ
remained simply a personal experience. Likewise, without the new
life forces streaming from the etheric Christ, anthroposophy was
merely a body of knowledge, frozen in time. Both needed each other.
But how was that mutually-enlivening bridge to be built? Speaking
candidly of his personal spiritual path and inner struggles of
consciousness, Ben-Aharon tackles this fundamental dilemma as a
prelude to the forthcoming, second edition of his book The New
Experience of the Supersensible. Contents include: The Ur-Phenomena
of the Modern Christ Experience, Paul's Christ Experience and the
Birth of Christian Platonism; The Michaelic Yoga; The
Platonic-Aristotelian Essence Exchange at the End of the Twentieth
Century; The Meeting with the Etheric Christ; The Abyss and the
Event of the Threshold; The Knowledge Drama of the Second Coming;
The Meeting with Michael; The Meeting with Anthroposophia.
Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity offers a comparative
study of the works of the Sufi-poet Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273)
and the practical teachings of the German Dominican, Meister
Eckhart (c1260-1327/8). Rumi has remained an influential figure in
Islamic mystical discourse since the thirteenth century, while also
extending his impact to the Western spiritual arena. However, his
ideas have frequently been interpreted within the framework of
other mystical, philosophical, or religious systems. Through its
novel approach, this book aims to reformulate Rumi's practical
mysticism by employing four methodological principles: a) mysticism
is a coherent structure with mutual interconnection between its
parts; b) the imposition of alien structures to interpret any
particular mysticism damages its inward coherency; c) practical
mysticism consists of two main parts, namely practices and stages;
and d) the proper use of comparative methodology enables a deeper
understanding of each juxtaposed system. Eckhart's speculative
mysticism, which differs from and enjoys similarities with the
love-based mysticism of Rumi, provides a "mirror" that highlights
the special features of Rumi's practical mysticism. Such comparison
also allows a deeper comprehension of Eckhart's practical thought.
Offering a critical examination of practical mysticism, this book
is a valuable resource for students and scholars of Islamic
studies, comparative mysticism, and the intellectual history of
Islam.
As the first complete translation of a classic Arabictext written
in the 11th century, this work is an eloquent introduction to
mystical love in Islam.Considered one of the most important
chaptersin al-Ghaz l 's magnum opus "The Revival of the Religious
Sciences," it consists of arguments that form the basis of Sufi
theory and the practice of mystical love. Providing the book's
historical and spiritual context, this accountalso offers insight
into the poetry of such greats as Rumi and Hafiz."
The twelve studies here are arranged in three distinct groups -
Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic philosophy, Jewish mysticism, and modern
philosophy. One theme that appears in various forms and from
different angles in the first two sections is that of 'Images of
the Divine'. It figures not only in the account of mystical imagery
but also in the discussion of the 'Know thyself' motif, and is
closely allied to the subject-matter of the studies dealing with
man's ascent to the vision of God and his ultimate felicity. In the
third section three thinkers are discussed: the English Deist,
William Wollaston, who is shown to be steeped in the medieval
Jewish traditions of philosophy and mysticism; Moses Mendelssohn,
the philosopher of eighteenth-century Enlightenment, whose thesis
asserting Spinoza's influence on Leibniz's doctrine of the
pre-established Harmony is investigated critically; and Franz
Rosenzweig, the most brilliant religious philosopher in
twentieth-century Jewry, whose notion of History is analysed.
Originally published in 1969, this is an important work of Jewish
philosophy.
The Burden Of Freedom explains that too many people use past
oppression to remain mired in hatred and irresponsibility today.
The spirit of oppression has specific telltale effects on
individuals, communities, and nations. These are identified by
Myles Munroe as a hatred for work, laziness, fear, low self-esteem,
selfishness, lack of creativity, low initiative, and distrust of
those in authority. To break free from these self-replicating
cycles of oppression there must be a mental transformation.
Paradoxically, freedom requires the need to impose control on self,
require more responsibility than slavery, and the decision to
accept a destiny of freedom, recognizing the process and discipline
that personal and political freedom require. Simply put, The Burden
Of Freedom should be available to every citizen and on the shelves
of every high-school, college, and community library in the
country.
Spirituality has only recently been conceptualized as a distinct
construct from religion or religiosity. For centuries, the term
religiosity referred to both personal and public attempts to relate
to the divine essence of the universe. More recently, and first
among the layperson, the term spirituality has been recognized as a
private phenomenon and the term religion as a public phenomenon.
This book discusses global practices of spirituality. It also
examines societal attitudes toward spirituality and the effects it
has on human health.
'Letters of Light' is a translation of over ninety passages from a
well-known Hasidic text, 'Ma'or va-shemesh', consisting of homilies
of Kalonymus Kalman Epstein of Krakow, together with a running
commentary and analysis by Aryeh Wineman. With remarkable
creativity, the Krakow preacher recast biblical episodes and texts
through the prism both of the pietistic values of Hasidism, with
its accent on the inner life and the Divine innerness of all
existence, and of his ongoing wrestling with questions of the
primacy of the individual vis-a-vis of the community. The
commentary traces the route leading from the Torah text itself
through various later sources to the Krakow preacher's own reading
of the biblical text, one that often transforms the very tenor of
the text he was expounding. Though composed almost two centuries
ago, 'Ma'or va-shemesh' comprises an impressive spiritual
statement, many aspects of which can speak to our own time and its
spiritual strivings.
This book explores the organic lives of popular Sufi shrines in
contemporary Northwest India. It traverses the worldview of shrine
spaces, rituals and their complex narratives, and provides an
insight into their urban and rural landscapes in the post-Partition
(Indian) Punjab. What happened to these shrines when attempts were
made to dissuade Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus from their veneration of
popular saints in the early twentieth century? What was the fate of
popular shrines that persisted even when the Muslim population was
virtually wiped off as a result of migration during Partition? How
did these shrines manifest in the context of the threat posed by
militants in the 1980s? How did such popular practices reconfigure
themselves when some important centres of Sufism were left behind
in the West Punjab (now Pakistan)? This book examines several of
these questions and utilizes a combination of analytical tools, new
theoretical tropes and an ethnographic approach to understand and
situate popular Sufi shrines so that they are both historicized and
spatialized. As such, it lays out some crucial contours of the
method and practice of understanding popular sacred spaces (within
India and elsewhere), bridging the everyday and the metanarratives
of power structures and state formation. This book will be useful
to scholars, researchers and those engaged in interdisciplinary
work in history, social anthropology, historical sociology,
cultural studies, historical geography, religion and art history,
as well as those interested in Sufism and its shrines in South
Asia.
This comprehensive volume explores the interface between sport and
religion, or more broadly, sport and spirituality. While most of
the contributions come from Western and Christian traditions, the
volume raises broader questions about the kinds of impact that
spirituality can and should have on sport, and equally, that sport
can and should have on spirituality. The authors put forth an
anti-dualistic message, one that argues against any vision of sport
and religion existing in separate domains. Mind interpenetrates
body, faith and love interpenetrate competition, spirituality and
the Divine can interpenetrate secular games. This positive book has
powerful implications for reforming contemporary sport,
particularly crass, extrinsically-driven, win-at-all-cost versions
of competition. It is a book about the incarnation, the paradoxical
existence of the spirit in the flesh, love in competition, the
myth-making power and meaning of games to engage the world,
transcendent hope found in kicking a ball around, and how sport as
a liturgy can mediate divine presence. This book was originally
published as a special issue of the journal Sport, Ethics and
Philosophy.
Practical Wisdom in Management is the first in-depth case-study
book to explore how practical wisdom from spiritual and
philosophical traditions inspires corporate culture and leadership.
The outcome of the Practical Wisdom Initiative, between The Academy
of Business in Society (ABIS) and Yale University Center for Faith
and Culture, it seeks to construct a bridge between the worlds of
management and the spiritual and philosophical traditions. Covering
ten major worldwide religions, Theodore Malloch provides an
overview of the practical wisdom of the major faith traditions for
management. It includes case studies of over twenty multinational
corporations focusing on their values, spiritual inspiration and
business strategy. It features case studies on corporations
including: Ascension Health; Michelin; DANONE Group, Walmart; TOMS;
Marriott; HSBC; Four Seasons; Guangzhou Eversunny Trading and
Toyota. It is essential reading for business leaders, researchers
and students of business ethics and spirituality courses and
includes full teaching guidance.
In a major original study, Graham Maddox analyses the role of
religion in the development of democracy from the tribes of ancient
Israel to the present day. The book contrasts Athenian direct
democracy with the Old Testament monarchy in which the concept of
religious opposition - vital to modern democracy - arose. Maddox
then develops his discussion of the relationship between religion
and democracy through early christianity to the Reformation and
Calvinism, ending with a chapter on modern democracy. Maddox's
contentious thesis concerning the development of democracy is truly
interdisciplinary drawing on political science, religious history
and theology.
Sufism formed one of the cultures of resistance which has existed
in the social fabric of Persia since antiquity. Such resistance
continues to manifest itself today with many looking to Sufism as a
model of cooperation between East and West, between traditional and
modern. 'Sufism in the Secret History of Persia' explores the place
of Sufi mysticism in Iran's intellectual and spiritual
consciousness through traditional and contemporary Sufi thinkers
and writers. Sufism in the Secret History of Persia examines the
current of spirituality which extends from the old Iranian worship
of Mithra to modern Islam. This current always contains elements of
gnosis and inner knowing, but has often provided impetus for
socio-political resistance. The study describes how these
persisting pre-Islamic cultural and socio-religious elements have
secretly challenged Muslim orthodoxies and continue to shape the
nature and orientation of contemporary Sufism.
In Depression and the Soul, John Peteet proves the old adage that
the best physician is also a philosopher. He considers how to
approach the problem of depression within a larger context, and
reviews current concepts of successful living relative to the heart
(emotion and volition), the mind (cognition and coping), and the
soul (the self in relation to transcendent reality). Each chapter
goes on to further explore the relationship between depression and
the context of a patient's entire life. This is done through
consideration of how the existential struggles of depressed
individuals engage their spiritual lives, by reviewing current
empirical literature on depression and spirituality, comparing the
perspectives of various spiritual traditions or world views, and
summarizing ways that spirituality and depression interact.
The Aga Khans have long played a prominent part on the
international stage, but much less tends to be understood about the
most important group of their followers, the Khoja Ismailis of
South Asia, who are now also settled in many other parts of the
world. Even less is generally known about the hymns, called ginans,
which have historically formed so central an element in the
religious life and rituals of the Ismaili community. The principal
aim of this anthology is to fill this gap by providing a
sympathetic introduction to this still largely unexplored tradition
of South Asian devotional literature, and to draw attention to the
many features of remarkable interest which it contains.
One of the foremost 13th-century Persian mystics, 'Aziz Nasaffi
with his simple manner of explaining God, His Essence, Attributes
and Acts provides the western reader with an overview of all the
major interpretations of medieval Islamic thought. Providing the
first comprehensive selection in English of Nasaffi's treatises, Dr
Ridgeon's work offers the western student of Islam a much-needed
guide to the speculative and practical dimensions of Sufism.
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