Award-winning actor and playwright John Maxwell Taylor builds on the success of his previous book, The Power of I Am, in this eloquent call to awaken from our collective trance and to claim the transformative power and happiness that is our birthright. Drawing on his forty years’ experience in spiritual self-transformation, Taylor offers a potent array of practical tools, stories, and life lessons that help us reorder the events in our lives, the way people respond to us, and the impact we have on the world. The Enlightenment Quest and the Art of Happiness shows us how to master ourselves so that we can harness the energy of higher power to surmount the chaos of the modern world and provides strategies for “sociological aikido” that allow us to deal effectively with negative people, narcissists, and egotists. Informed by Taylor’s incredibly varied background—from European pop star, to student of Paramahansa Yogananda, Gurdjieff, and Mantak Chia, to resident at the pioneering Findhorn Community, to playing Carl Jung on stage for many years—this book demonstrates how, by understanding the powers active in creation, we can become instruments through which higher power continually flows to advance our evolution toward consciousness. In doing so, we not only transform ourselves, we become powerful agents for changing the world. Readers learn how to: • Deal with negative people and egotists • Use higher power to redirect the world around one to one's own advantage • Stay sane in an insane world by understanding true spiritual psychology • See the world as it is instead of spiritually daydreaming that "things are going to get better" • Move beyond conspiracy theories and conspire instead to create a united world of consciousness • Gain fresh insights into the work of Campbell, Jung, Paramahansa Yogananda, Gurdjieff, and others • Apply the Findhorn principles of miraculous manifestation as practiced by the author since 1973

In an age when it has become fashionable to dismiss the Enlightenment as a sinister movement based on instrumental rationality, Benjamin Redekop delves deeper to understand the movement on its own terms. In Enlightenment and Community he shows that the E

Daniel Bell assesses the impact of Christian resistance to capitalism in Latin America, and the implications of theological debates that have emerged from this. He uses postmodern critical theory to investigate capitalism, its effect upon human desire and the Church's response to it, in a thorough account of the rise, failure and future prospects of Latin American liberation theology.

The Path to Enlightenment is about our quest to find inner peace. Many seek inner peace but never find it. But everyone who finds it soon realizes that it doesn't mean a life without challenges and that inner peace is a journey, not a destination. In some cases, inner peace will lead to even more challenges in life. Saul's life was changed when he was called to serve God. He went from being Saul, the man who persecuted Jews, to the Apostle Paul, the man who was enlightened, yet he suffered tremendously. One of the most powerful messages from the Bible is "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17 NIV). Even if you are not religious, the enclosed collection of poetry is about things in life to help sharpen you.

What is enlightenment? Wei Zhang brings together the fabled consideration of enlightenment by Kant, his contemporaries, and modern respondents such as Habermas and Foucault with the question "What is Chinese enlightenment?" Kant and his peers began a discussion of the notion of enlightenment in the pages of the Berlinische Monatsschrift when that newspaper's editor posed the question "Was ist Aufklärung?" in 1784. Chinese intellectuals began a similar consideration in the wake of the May Fourth cultural movement of 1919, which marked a self-conscious break from the feudal past and a new engagement with the West. Zhang asks to what extent European enlightenment can be regarded as purely philosophical and isolated from political events and, alternately, to what extent the Chinese enlightenment can be split into separate political and intellectual discourses. Her work yields a new set of conceptual questions and practical issues and provides new energy to the dialogue on political and cultural modernity. In cross-cultural context, Zhang finds the answers to the question "What is enlightenment?" are multiple, pluralistic, dynamic, and self-renewing.

This acclaimed translation of Michel Delon's Dictionnaire Europen des Lumires contains more than 350 signed entries covering the art, economics, science, history, philosophy, and religion of the Enlightenment. Delon's team of more than 200 experts from around the world offers a unique perspective on the period, providing offering not only factual information but also critical opinions that give the reader a deeper level of understanding. An international team of translators, editors, and advisers, under the auspices of the French Ministry of Culture, has brought this collection of scholarship to the English-speaking world for the first time.

This title was first published in 2002: Culture and Enlightenment are the two words that best characterise the essence of György Markus's career, in whose honour this book is published. Markus devoted the last twenty years of research towards a theory of cultural objectivations and their pragmatics, and the great depth of his knowledge of the history of culture and philosophy informs all his teaching and writing. The pursuit of Enlightenment ideals attains reflective self-consciousness in Markus' works; forged in the knowledge of its own historicity, of the embeddedness of rationalities in culture and in an awareness of the paradoxes that cling to the conscious affirmation of ideals which are no longer self evident or beyond questioning. In taking up the challenge of these paradoxes, Markus spans the whole history of modern philosophy and culture with a matchless authority. This book draws together contributions from leading figures in contemporary philosophy, who are also friends, colleagues and former students of György Markus. The book is divided into two sections: the first presents critical assessments of various aspects of Markus' wide-ranging works; the second presents contributions in celebration of his influence and his wide interests. In their critical assessment of Markus' work and in the demonstration of his influence, the contributors hope to convey something of the breadth and something of the excitement of doing philosophy in the company of György Markus.

Dive into the Wonders of the Mind with Maya: Illusions of Mind invites you on an enchanting journey through the fascinating world of perception and consciousness. Meet Maya, a curious adventurer with a heart full of wonder and a mind ready to explore. Join her as she embarks on an exciting quest to unravel the mysteries of the mind, from captivating visual illusions to the magical melodies of auditory tricks. Through captivating storytelling and playful insights, this ebook introduces young minds to the fascinating world of psychology and neuroscience in a fun and engaging way. As Maya navigates the twists and turns of her inner landscape, young readers will discover the power of perception, the wonders of the subconscious, and the joy of self-discovery. With colorful illustrations and interactive exercises, "Illusions of Mind" encourages young readers to question, experiment, and explore the workings of their own minds. Whether you're a curious kid with a thirst for knowledge or a parent looking to spark curiosity in your child, this ebook promises to entertain, educate, and inspire. Join Maya and her friends on an unforgettable adventure into the illusions of the mind, where every page is filled with wonder, discovery, and endless possibilities.

In their Dialectic of Enlightenment, Horkheimer and Adorno set out to "explain why humanity, instead of entering a truly human state, is sinking into a new kind of barbarism." Philosophy teacher Tom Donovan (PhD UCRiverside) offers a fresh reading of that classic text showing that it is first and foremost a critique of the metaphysical urge. Describing our world of "stupid consumption, mindless entertainment, and perverted games and relationships" he notes, "these sorts of games have no end game, as fantasy spectators never really win, and yet they don’t see it because they are too busy watching the other lose. This is the secret of class society. As long as there is someone below you, then lack of reconciliation doesn’t hurt so badly." Citing the Super Bowl, Clippers owner Donald Sterling, basketball players like LeBron James, plus the Kardashians, mega churches, and comedians like Jon Stewart, Donovan gives us a new understanding of our age and how the broken threads that are today’s Capitalism, religion, and sports contribute to unraveling the fabric of Modernity. Against readings that claim that Dialectic of Enlightenment is a simple critique of instrumental reason that ultimately undermines rationality itself, Dr. Donovan argues that the real critique is aimed at the metaphysical urge itself. As such, rationality itself is not the target of attack nor is the notion of enlightenment. Taking Adorno's and Horkheimer's example of the Marquis de Sade, the author observes, "…Sade can only find pleasure in domination. The fear of the outside has morphed into fear of a reconciled world, fear of a world where everyone treats each other as ends in themselves. A society like this can tolerate porn but not socialism, a society like this won’t miss the ice-caps but wouldn't miss the Super Bowl, a society like this lets civilization sink into barbarism so long as they can watch The Bachelor. Stylistically this book attempts to rationally mimic the fragmentary nature of Dialectic of Enlightenment so that through form and content the argument of the book will emerge dialectically. Readers will see that Dialectic of Enlightenment actually offers a positive conception of enlightenment and a philosophical instance of the use of dialectics. The book is for readers interested in critiques of capitalism and religion, and sports in America, as well as Marxism and Critical Theory. It will intrigue academics interested in the Frankfurt School and the idea of the "Metaphysical Urge."

This is the first book-length treatment of Critical Buddhism as both a philosophical and religious movement, where the lines between scholarship and practice blur. Providing a critical and constructive analysis of Critical Buddhism, particularly the epistemological categories of critica and topica, this book examines contemporary theories of knowledge and ethics in order to situate Critical Buddhism within modern Japanese and Buddhist thought as well as in relation to current trends in contemporary Western thought.