A New Earth:
Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Paperback)
by Eckhart Tolle A lot of what is said in this book is not new but Eckhart
brought these concepts together as a step by step approach to enlightenment
and diminishing ego. I wish I had this book available after my Near-Death
Experience, It would have explained most of the spiritual enlightenment I
went through and explain what I had to find out for myself over a 25 year
period.
A New Earth is a profoundly spiritual manifesto for a better way of life—and
for building a better world. With his bestselling spiritual guide The
Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle inspired millions of readers to discover the
freedom and joy of a life lived "in the now." In A New Earth, Tolle expands
on these powerful ideas to show how transcending our ego-based state of
consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key
to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world. Tolle describes how
our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger,
jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of
consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence.
Practicing Conscious Living and Dying:
Stories of the Eternal Continuum of
Consciousness
by Annamaria Hemingway Part of my NDE story is one of the stories
included in this book. I think it is a wonderful book, not just
because my story is included, but because Annamaria has put together an
incredibly inspiring collection that will bring a tear to everyone's eyes.
It motivates you into living a more conscious life and helping others.
An uplifting collection of spiritually illuminating
texts and powerfully thought- provoking real life stories, showing death as
an integral part of life. Modern medical advances have resulted in death and
dying becoming a taboo, which leaves us feeling isolated when the
inescapability of death touches our lives. These touching observations of
closeness to someone else who is dying, and personal accounts of near death
experiences and after-death communication, illustrate how coming to terms
with the inevitability of death is actually a life-affirming experience.
These emotionally powerful and inspirational experiences address timeless
questions and show how each of the people has come to understand that death
teaches us that the preciousness of life must be lived with a sense of
purpose and meaning, as a celebration of our existence.
Courageous Souls:
Do We Plan Our Life Challenges Before Birth?
by Robert Schwartz Courageous Souls explores the premise that we are all eternal souls who
plan our lives, including our greatest challenges, prior to birth for
purposes of spiritual growth. The book contains ten true stories of people
who planned physical illness, having handicapped children, deafness,
blindness, drug addiction, alcoholism, losing a loved one, and severe
accidents. Because very different life challenges are often planned for
similar reasons, readers who have not faced these specific challenges will
nevertheless see themselves - and their motivations as a soul - in these
stories. As readers come to realize that they themselves planned their
lives, suffering that once seemed purposeless becomes imbued with deep
meaning. Wisdom may be acquired in a more conscious manner; feelings of
anger, guilt, blame, and victimization are replaced by acceptance,
forgiveness, peace, and gratitude.
The World's
Religions, by Huston Smith, has been a standard introduction to its
subject since its first publication in 1958. Smith writes humbly,
forswearing judgment on the validity of world religions. His
introduction asks, "How does it all sound from above? Like bedlam,
or do the strains blend in strange, ethereal harmony? ... We cannot
know. All we can do is try to listen carefully and with full attention
to each voice in turn as it addresses the divine. Such listening defines
the purpose of this book."
The
Upanishads, the font of Indian spirituality, Easwaran delights us
with a readable rendition of one of the most difficult texts of all
religious traditions. Each Upanishad is a lyrical statement about the
deeper truths of mysticism, from the different levels of awareness to
cultivations of love for God.
The Dhammapada: by Eknath Easwaran
According to Eknath Easwaran, if all of the Buddhist sutras
had been lost except the Dhammapada, it alone would be enough for readers to
understand and appreciate the wisdom of the Buddha. Easwaran's version of
the Dhammapada goes a long way toward proving this. In a lengthy
introduction, Easwaran summarizes the life of the Buddha and the main tenets
of his thought, including key concepts such as dharma, karma, and nirvana.
The language of the Dhammapada is as lucid and flowing as the Psalms or the
Sermon on the Mount, and this is why it is one of the most loved and
remembered of all Buddhist sutras. Its subject matter, succinctly, is about
training the mind, which leads to kind thoughts and deeds, which bring peace
and freedom from suffering. If you are interested in reading one of the gems
of Buddhist literature, this is a good place to start; and if you are
looking for a great version of this beloved scripture, you can't do better.
Like all great world scripture, the verses here reward rereading and
reflection, prompting you to "strive for wisdom always."
First published
in 1964, Idries Shah's definitive work, 'The Sufis', completely
overturned Western misconceptions of Sufism, revealing a great spiritual
and psychological tradition encompassing many of the world's greatest
thinkers: Rumi, Omar Khayyam, Ibn El-Arabi, Al-Ghazzali, Sadi, Attar,
Francis of Assisi and many others.
In
1927, Walter Evans-Wentz published his translation of an obscure Tibetan
Nyingma text and called it the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Popular
Tibetan teacher Sogyal Rinpoche has transformed that ancient text,
conveying a perennial philosophy that is at once religious, scientific,
and practical. Through extraordinary anecdotes and stories from
religious traditions East and West, Rinpoche introduces the reader to
the fundamentals of Tibetan Buddhism, moving gradually to the topics of
death and dying. Death turns out to be less of a crisis and more of an
opportunity. Concepts such as reincarnation, karma, and bardo and
practices such as meditation, tonglen, and phowa teach us how to face
death constructively. As a result, life becomes much richer.
No
translator could do greater justice to the gorgeous simplicity of Rumi's
poetry than Coleman Barks has done here. These exquisite renderings of
the 13th-century Persian mystic's words into American free verse capture
all the "inner searching, the delicacy, and simple groundedness"
that characterize Rumi's poetry while remaining faithful to the images,
tone, and spiritual message of the originals.
A
revised and updated translation of the Koran. The clear, fluent,
authoritative English rendering of this holiest of Muslim texts preserves
the characteristic flavor and rhythm of the original, following the sequence
of the Koranic suras.
In undertaking
a spiritual life, we must make certain that our path is connected with
our heart, according to author and Buddhist monk Jack Kornfield. Since
1974 (long before it gained popularity in the 1990s), Kornfield has been
teaching westerners how to integrate Eastern teaching into their daily
lives. Through generous storytelling and unmitigated warmth, Kornfield
offers this excellent guidebook on living with attentiveness,
meditation, and full-tilt compassion.
My
one fear with the Dummies and Complete Idiot's Guide series is that these
are sometimes seen as endpoints rather than beginnings. As Hillel said when
giving his answer to the question 'What is Judaism?' while standing on one
foot, there are some basic truths to any religion, and the rest is
commentary, but one should read that commentary! The
Complete Idiot's Guide to the World's Religions by Brandon Toropov and Fr.
Luke Buckles provides a good if brief overview of the major religions and
sects in the world today. This is not a history text per se, and the book does
not go into ancient religions that are no longer practiced, nor does it spend
much time on small groups and religious communities that dot the religious
landscape of the world today.
The Way of Life
According to Lao tzu: An American Version: by Witter Bynner (Translator)
In
an expanded format, enhanced with new calligraphy, is a timely and welcome
reissue of the classic of Eastern philosophy and religious thought that sold
over 200,000 copies in its previous edition. On every page, are insightful
concepts on how to come to your senses and find the balances in your
existence. It is a miraculous book which you will read over and over again
for personal fulfillment and it will always remain fresh and rewarding in
the process.
Out
of Print--Limited AvailabilityElie Wiesel describes himself
as neither philosopher nor historian but "merely" as a
"storyteller who transmits what was given to him, as faithfully as
possible, yet lending it his own voice and intonation." He does
exactly that. Using his own memories and insights, plus whatever tales
and legends he finds most interesting, he takes us through Hasidism from
its beginning through a lot of the Hasidic masters. The subject is
interesting by itself, especially since many of the legends are profound
or funny.
A
valuable contribution to the evaluation of our knowledge about Jesus by
a noted bible scholar. Sanders returns to the territory of his
well-received Jesus and Judaism to provide an overview of the history of
study of the historical Jesus (as opposed to the Christ of faith). He
places Jesus in both the political setting of the backwater province of
the Roman Empire (Judea was then ruled by a fairly independent Herod)
and the Judaism of his time. His discussion of the miracles attributed
to the man is set against a backdrop of acceptance of magic and miracles
generally in the ancient world.
Mrs. Starbird does an excellent job
of researching European history, heraldry, the rituals of Freemasonry,
medieval art, symbolism, psychology mythology, religion and the Hebrew
and Christian Scriptures to discover that the meaning of the Holy Grail
could be the lost bride of Jesus and the female child she carried within
her.
Out
of Print--Limited Availability
(But some times you can purchase a copy on Amazon.com) Audio
Cassette This
unabridged reading of the Buddha's own words, read by philosopher Jacob
Needleman, is followed by Dr. Needleman's expert commentary on Buddhism
and The Dhammapada. This audio tape is a
wonderful way to start understanding Buddhism. I used to play it on in the
car on my way to and fro and I always reached my destination in a peaceful
manner. It is narrated beautifully.
This
is a bold look at how the Bible, the Cayce readings, and ancient
Gnostic, Eastern, and Egyptian texts reveal a consistent and intriguing
pattern of incarnations by the Master Soul, Jesus.
Gangaji
is an American woman spiritual teacher who travels around the world
engaging in open public dialogue (Satsang) with attendees. The focus of
these dialogues is always to examine the true nature of who one is,
using the mind to point to that which is beyond the mind. The ultimate
inspiration for her teachings is Ramana Maharshi, an important Indian
mystic of the twentieth century who led a very simple, pure life and
inspired many. This book is a collection of highlights from a number of
Gangaji's dialogues.
In
an expanded format, enhanced with new calligraphy, is a timely and welcome
reissue of the classic of Eastern philosophy and religious thought that sold
over 200,000 copies in its previous edition. On every page, are insightful
concepts on how to come to your senses and find the balances in your
existence. It is a miraculous book which you will read over and over again
for personal fulfillment and it will always remain fresh and rewarding in
the process.
