Religions Today provides a sympathetic account of what living religions really are. Fisher traces the historical development and practices of major religious movements and explores how these evolve into contemporary belief and teaching. She considers major faiths as well as indigenous religions and new religious movements, focusing on how living religions affect contemporary society. Case studies and interviews with living people ensure that this concise guide is both readable and stimulating.

The topic of love and non-violence in Islam, in an environment imbued with intolerance, extremism and terrorism, is very significant. This book portrays how loving humanity and eliminating violence are key in all the Islamic teachings and are evident in the conduct of Allah's exalted Messenger.The Holy Quran states that Almighty Allah has raised the Prophet as an epitome of mercy for the entire universe. Despite atrocious afflictions caused by the polytheists of Mecca, the Prophet remained peaceful and always sought dialogue as a means of resolution.Islam is a religion that preaches peace, security, love and regard. According to Islamic teachings, a Muslim is one from whose tongue and hand all people, whether Muslim or Non-Muslim, are safe. The dignity, inviolability and protection of human life is basic to Islamic law. Killing a human unjustly is unlawful and also an act of disbelief in certain cases. Islam states that the sanctity of life is superior to the sanctity of the Ka'ba hence shedding blood unjustly has been condemned in the harshest possible terms.Under Islamic law even in the state of war non-combatants cannot be killed during battle.The only enemies who are allowed to be killed are those actively take part in combat. Other restrictions also include killing animals, damaging crops, destroying buildings, properties and places of worship. Such strict rulings are in place even during times of war therefore it is clear that all acts of terrorism and extremism are in direct contravention of the teachings of the Quran and hadith.Islam eliminated hatred through love, terrorism through peace and ignorance through knowledge. This book portrays how love, peace and knowledge form the very essence of Islam.

Dionysian Buddhism: Guided Interpersonal Meditations in the Three Yanas will assist readers in exploring their own emotional landscapes. This sequence of thirty guided meditations by the renowned spiritual teacher and psychotherapist Claudio Naranjo is structured to guide individuals towards acceptance of what is and to be fully present -- to meet pain with joy, expand awareness into consciousness and to learn how to share in the full presence of others. The "Dionysian" context of Buddhism provides a lens in which to interpret non-attachment through noninterference with the stream of life. Naranjo draws on a wide range of Buddhist traditions, from Theravada to Vajrayana, in order to create a work that emphasizes both the experiential and multifaceted aspects of meditation. As Naranjo says, Only a change of consciousness might save our world, and that in view of this collective shift in consciousness there is nothing more relevant we can do than start with ourselves.

This interdisciplinary study introduces readers to Friedrich Schleiermacher's diverse pathways of reflection and creative practice that are related to the field of translation. By drawing attention to Schleiermacher's various writings on a range of subjects (including philology, criticism, hermeneutics, dialectics, rhetoric and religion), the author makes it clear that the frequently cited lecture UEber die verschiedenen Methoden des UEbersetzens (On the Different Methods of Translating) represents but a fraction of Schleiermacher's contributions to modern-day insights into translation. The analysis of Schleiermacher's various pathways of reflection on translation presented in this book leads to the conclusion that translation is part of the essence of the world, as it is a fundamental tool of our cognition and a foundation of our existence. In Schleiermacher's works, transfer, translation, mediation, and communication underpin our very existence in the world and our self-awareness. At the same time, they represent fundamental categories for a project that focuses on the consolidation and assimilation - through translation - of that which is foreign, different, diverse.

Internationally renowned author and Bible teacher Joyce Meyer provides a close study on Philippians, emphasizing the true joy that comes from serving others through Christ. Paul's letter to the people at Philippi serves as a reminder that if we search for joy in possessions, places, or people, we will always come up short. True, lasting joy comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, living in harmony with His followers, and serving others in the name of Christ. The life lived by the Philippians is still attainable today. In her comprehensive approach, Joyce Meyer takes a deep dive into well-known and beloved verses, identifying key truths and incorporating room for personal reflection. Joyce's Philippians provides a key study tool that will help you develop a stronger relationship with God. If you take time to examine His word, you'll see how much He loves you and how much He desires that you live a joyful, content life on earth!

In the hurly burly of this busy world, simple kindness and goodness can get left behind in the rush to be first in line, to the top of the corporate ladder, and to have the most likes. But, what does it all mean at the end of the day? Isn't being a good person and making real contributions to the world more important than anything else? Author Brenda Knight, part of the team who made the world a better place with "Random Acts of Kindness" as well as a little more thankful with The Grateful Table, writes "At the end of life, I feel sure having lots of money, fancy cars, and real estate is not nearly as important as how much love you gave to the world." This realization was the inspiration for "Be a Good in the World," a book of "good days" filled with ideas for making a difference

When Bob "Bull" Watson was hired as general manager of the New York Yankees in 1996, his orders were to give the club a title it had not had since 1977 and 1978 World Series Champions -- to do it as soon as possible, preferably that same year. Watson survived that pressure just as he survived his bout with cancer and his difficult climb out of the minor leagues in the racially turbulent 1960s. "After 32 years in baseball .. surviving may be the one thing I do best." Interwoven with his life story is an informative and entertaining discussion of all things baseball -- how a hitter thinks, how to build a powerful ball club, how to manage the personalities and egos in the game, and how the game has changed over the years.

In "You Don't Have to Be Blind to See," Jim Stovall shows you how to choose a new path that will lead to success in every area of your life. This powerful, inspiring book will help you dream big dreams and define success for yourself. It will also give you the tools to make your dreams come true and succeed on your own terms. Let Jim Stovall show you how to discover a vision for your personal destiny. "You don't need to wait for a tragedy to give you a wake-up call about your priorities and your dreams....You don't have to be blind to see "

Since Bob Carlisle's song "Butterfly Kisses" topped Billboard"s national charts it has become an anthem to the special love between dads and daughters. This book shares letters from fans who wanted to share their own father/daughter stories.

Bestselling authors "Bruce and Stan" drive across the country to 12 major cities and 12 colleges asking real people the world's most important question: What is the meaning of life?

1. Chicken Soup for the Soul has always been a part of the Christian community. With a new contemporary cover design, a new interior layout, and up-to-date stories, this book will have fresh appeal to Christian parents.
2. Chicken Soup has been very successful in the Christian and parenting markets. Their Christian titles have sold more than 3.7 million in aggregate and their titles to read with kids have sold 2.6 million copies in aggregate.
3. Books represent a new thematic experience, even for readers of past books, as Chicken Soup has tightened the content, and books contain only relevant stories. Out-of-date stories were eliminated. 4. Each book contains 101 stories recompiled from dozens of past Chicken Soup titles.
5. "Our 101 Best Stories" collection is an efficient way for new readers to obtain books covering Chicken Soup's most popular topics.
6. Every book has a warm and moving foreword from Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen explaining the company's rebirth and its return to 101 stories per book.
7. Chicken Soup for the Soul earned the Guinness World Record for having the most books on the New York Times bestseller list at one time.
8. Last year, "USA Today" named Chicken Soup for the Soul #5 on it list of 25 books that left a legacy over the past quarter century.
With 101 great stories and poems, this book is created for Christian parents to read and enjoy themselves or to share with their children. All of the selected stories are appropriate for children and are about raising Christian kids twelve and under. Parent will enjoy reading these heartfelt, inspiring, and often humorous stories about the ups and downs of daily life in today's contemporary Christian families, written by other Christian parents.

The first Chicken Soup for the Soul book was published in 1993, and became a publishing industry sensation, ultimately selling eight million copies. Since then, more than 150 Chicken Soup titles have been published, selling more than 100 million copies.

Chicken Soup for the Soul has won dozens of awards over the past 15 years, and its founders, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen have become celebrity motivational speakers and authors.

In recent years, changes in religious studies in general and the study of Hinduism in particular have drawn more scholarly attention to other forms of the Hindu faith that are concretely embodied in temples, icons, artworks, rituals, and pilgrimage practices. This book analyses the phenomenon of pilgrimage as a religious practice and experience and examines Shri Shailam, a renowned south Indian pilgrimage site of Shiva and Goddess Durga. In doing so, it investigates two dimensions: the worldview of a place that is of utmost sanctity for Hindu pilgrims and its historical evolution from medieval to modern times. Reddy blends religion, anthropology, art history and politics into one interdisciplinary exploration of how Shri Shailam became the epicentre for Shaivism. Through this approach, the book examines Shri Shailam's influence on pan-Indian religious practices; the amalgamation of Brahmanical and regional traditions; and the intersection of the ideological and the civic worlds with respect to the management of pilgrimage centre in modern times. This book is the first thorough study of Shri Shailam and brings together phenomenological and historical study to provide a comprehensive understanding of both the religious dimension and the historical development of the social organization of the pilgrimage place. As such, it will be of interest to students of Hinduism, Pilgrimage and South Asian Studies.

A practical and inspiring approach to tackling our environmental crisis, from a master spiritual teacher. We can heal our earth by choosing a simpler, more fulfilling lifestyle, as trustees of a compassionate universe. Eknath Easwaran presents a penetrating analysis of the spiritual roots of our current predicament and offers a realistic and hopeful way forward. Each of us has a role to play in making wise choices, and each of us can genuinely make a difference. Drawing inspiration and insight from Mahatma Gandhi, Saint Francis, and his own experience of living in the East and the West, Easwaran shows the connections between individual thoughts and actions that move beyond consumerism to the unity of life. Mahatma Gandhi formulated a series of diagnoses of our seemingly perpetual state of crisis, which he called "the seven social sins": knowledge without character, science without humanity, wealth without work, commerce without morality, politics without principles, pleasure without conscience, and worship without self-sacrifice. Easwaran explores each of these diagnoses in turn and presents an alternative hypothesis of who we are and how we fit into the universe. This is ecology as a great adventure, filled with the challenges and rewards of inner growth. Easwaran tells us that "once we open our eyes to cooperation, artistry, thrift, and compassion, we begin to see thousands of little things we can do to help restore the environment - and restore dignity and deeper fulfillment to our own lives." Eknath Easwaran is renowned as a teacher of meditation and for his translations of the Indian scriptures. His writings express timeless spiritual insights and are illustrated by stories from East and West. His books reflect two cultures: India, where he grew up in a self-supporting agrarian village, and the United States, where he taught and lectured for over thirty years. His early experiences of living in harmony with nature, his firsthand acquaintance with Gandhi's India, and his long familiarity with an American audience have resulted in this book: a deeply thoughtful examination of our present situation, and a blueprint for living as trustees of a compassionate universe, in a world that we would want our children and grandchildren to inherit.

'Splitting the Moon' tracks scholar and author Dr Joel Hayward's intriguing journey into Islam, his fascination with the mysteries of faith, his experiences and observations as a Western Muslim and his thoughts on the state of the Ummah (Islamic community) today. He writes his poetry to capture events each day in the way that some people keep a diary. They are therefore deeply personal, yet reflect the ever-changing world around him.

Sometimes valuable lessons from childhood are not appreciated until years later. Millions of us went to Vacation Bible School during Summer growing up. Memories of those experiences tend to spur a smile and a nod as we realize how we continue to learn those lessons every day.

Rigorously researched and deeply illuminating, world-leading neurologist Dr Steven Laureys works with celebrated meditators to scientifically prove the positive impact meditation has on our brains.

Dr Steven Laureys has conducted ground-breaking research into human consciousness for more than 20 years.

For this bestselling book, Steven to explores the effect of meditation on the brain. He uses hard science to explain the benefits of a practice that was once thought of as purely spiritual. The result is a highly accessible, scientifically questioning guide to meditation, designed to open the practice to a broader audience.

A mix of fascinating science, inspiring anecdote and practical exercises, this accessible book offers scientific evidence that meditation can have a positive impact on all our lives.

In A Pelican in the Wilderness, Isabel Colegate casts through time and place to uncover tales of human solitude.

The quest for solitude – whether for social, religious, personal or intellectual reasons – dates back to ancient times. As a spiritual phenomenon it has its roots in Chinese, Hindu and Western philosophies; from the mystical Desert Fathers – the most famous of which was St Jerome – who cast themselves out into deserts and wastelands in search of spiritual revelation, to the Celts on Iona and Lindisfarne (who arrived with only onions to live on). Rousseau found solitaries inspirational, (but declared that he would die of boredom if he had to become a hermit himself, a view possibly shared by St Jerome who only managed to stay in the desert for two years).

Hermits and hermitages even used to be a feature of rural and urban England. Sir John Soane had a hermit's cell installed in his house in Lincolns' Inn. At Hawkstone in Shropshire in the 1780s it was reported that a live hermit was seen gazing at a human skull. And in the eighteenth-century it was seen as highly fashionable to place a hermitage in landscaped gardens; an advert would then be placed for a hermit, specifying particular requirements such as a promise not to cut hair, nails or beard. In return the hermit would receive food and a small gratuity. One hermit in Painshill, Surrey was sacked for drinking beer in the village inn.

But of course, recluses, solitaries, hermits, anchoresses (female solitaries) and 'loners' continue to exist to this day, quietly opting to live outside society or living in complete seclusion in wildernesses. Isabel Colegate examines their lives, motivations, self-reflections, writings and the thoughts of present-day urban and rural hermits.

Those who love Colegate's fiction will find all of its virtues here: historical imagination, quicksilver characterization, understated wit, and an eye for the bizarre matched by a power to evoke the sublime.

Sexuality, Religion and the Sacred is a thoughtful collection of bisexual, polysexual and pansexual scholarship on religion and spirituality. It examines how religious and spiritual traditions address sexuality, whilst also exploring the ways in which bisexually-, polysexually-, and pansexually-active people embrace religious and spiritual practice. The volume offers a comprehensive analysis of these prevalent themes by focusing on five main areas of discussion: Christian and Unitarian Discourses; Indigenous and Decolonizing Spiritual Discourses; Feminist Spiritual Discourses; Buddhist Discourses; and Neo/Pagan Discourses. Sexuality, Religion and the Sacred offers an accessible yet scholarly treatment of these topics through a collection of critical essays by academics of theology, humanities, cultural studies and social sciences, as well as sexology professionals and clergy from various faith and spiritual traditions. It gives readers an insight into the intersection of sexualities and spiritualities, and attempts to disrupt this very dichotomy through its careful consideration of a wide variety of discourses. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Bisexuality.

Dare to Dream provides the key to making your best future a reality. What's the best future you can imagine? Is it fame? A good job? A happy family? Whatever your idea of personal success, your DREAMS are the key to finding it! With her trademark lively humor and keen insight plus lots of inspiring success stories, Florence Littauer reveals the exciting ways your life can change.

In the early twentieth century The Eastern Buddhist not only shared in pioneering presentations of Buddhism to the west but invited interaction with non-Japanese authors. This interactive process increased dramatically in the post-war period, when dialogue between Buddhist and Christian thought began to take off in earnest. Significant here was the philosophical Buddhism of the frequently cited Kyoto School, a tradition of thought and teaching named after Kyoto University where it was largely based. At the same time these debates and dialogues brought in not only Zen voices but also thinkers from the Shin Buddhist tradition. Both of these orientations are reflected here. While the contributions stem mainly from the fifties, sixties and seventies, they have significantly influenced subsequent Buddhist-Christian dialogue. It was still a time of exciting mutual discovery. Anybody wishing to enter into this process of dialogue and exchange will therefore find it of great interest and value to approach it by considering the ideas and insights presented here. Because of the wealth of materials the selection has been spread across two volumes in the series Eastern Buddhist Voices and the present volume includes contributions from the earlier part of the period (Interactions with Japanese Buddhism includes contributions from the later part).

This is a reader on Bryan Turner's writings in sociology and Islam. Taking a thematic approach, Turner draws together his writings which engage with the relationship of Islam and the ideas of Western social thinkers. Turner engages with the broad categories of capitalism, orientalism, modernity, gender, and citizenship among others, as he explores how Muslims adapt to the changing times and how Islam has come to be managed by those in power.