The Essential Mystics, Poets, Saints, and Sages is a treasury of quotes and passages from the great Sufi mystics, Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, Jews, and Christians throughout the centuries. This collection, curated by religious scholar Richard Hooper, stresses the beauty of religious language and mystical experience, including hundreds of entries from world’s major religious traditions, the greatest poets, mystics, sages, and saints of all time. Included are selections from William Blake, Ramakrishna, Rumi, St. John of the Cross, Osho, Tagore, Chuang Tzu, and many more. The selections are given context by the introductory essays by Hooper, which explore the Perennial Philosophy, the nature of the mystical experience, and the way of non-dualism. The Essential Mystics, Poets, Saints, and Sages is an ideal gift as well as a source for daily guidance and support, regardless of the religious or sectarian affiliations.

In Three Mystics Walk into a Tavern, Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Moses de León, and Meister Eckhart—three of the greatest mystics of all time—meet in Venice for an imaginary night-long conversation that will inspire everyday individuals of the twenty-first century to find their own spirituality and realize that everyone can be a mystic. Although the mystics came from different backgrounds and religious traditions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity), their spiritual paths led them to similar understandings of a union with the Divine. The three mystics have a timeless and timely message for people who walk the earth eight centuries after they did, no matter an individual’s religious background or even if they have none. It is a message of connecting with the “divine spark” deep within us and within the universe.

Spiritual seekers across faith traditions share a fierce yearning for mystical unity with their God. While beliefs and practices differ, what ignites the human heart to quest for the mystical, the unknowable, the holy just beyond understanding, is the same. The Call of the Mourning Dove: How Sacred Sound Awakens Mystical Unity offers a new paradigm, the Sonic Trilogy of Love, that details how sacred sound, embedded in the ancient canons across faith traditions, creates just such a portal into this unmitigated experience of God. Because the experience is ubiquitous across faith traditions, it does not matter whether a seeker has embarked on an eclectic quest for God or remains deeply committed to questing within one particular faith tradition. All seekers, known as Lovers within the Trilogy, discover that by intoning the sacred sounds, the Love embedded in the ancient languages, the conditions are set to experience unity with God, the Beloved. This unity occurs in unforeseen moments, as love, the core organizing principle of the Trilogy, circles in on itself, dissolving all distinctions, leaving the Lover filled with only the silent wonder of God. And, graciously, nothing is the same.

It’s time for a kindness revolution. In The Kindness Cure, psychologist Tara Cousineau draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to show how simple practices of kindness—for ourselves, for others, and for our world—can dissolve our feelings of fear and indifference, and open us up to a life of profound happiness. Compassion for ourselves and others is our birthright as humans—hardwired into our DNA and essential to our happiness. But in our fast-paced, technical savvy and hyper competitive world, it may come as no surprise that rates of narcissism have risen, while empathy levels have declined. We now find ourselves in a “cool to be cruel” culture where it’s easy to feel disillusioned and dejected in our hearts, homes, and communities. So, how can we reverse this malady of meanness and make kindness and compassion an imperative? The Kindness Cure draws on the latest social and scientific research to reveal how the seemingly “soft skills” of kindness, cooperation, and generosity are fundamental to our survival as a species. In fact, it’s our prosocial abilities that put us at the head of the line. Blended with moving case studies and clinical anecdotes, Cousineau offers practical ways to rekindle kindness from the inside out. We are wired to care. The very existence of our human species evolved because of an intricate physiology built for empathy, compassion, and cooperation. Yet we have an epidemic of loneliness, indifference, and cruelty, and we see these destructive trends on a daily basis in our families, schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces. This important book teaches effective skills in compassion, mindfulness, and social and emotional learning, and reveals successful social policy initiatives in empathy taking place that inform everything from family life to education to the workplace. Kindness has the exponential power to renew relationships and transform how we think, feel, and behave in the world. Will you be a part of the revolution?

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? How am I going to get there? Weve all asked these questions, but most of us have only gotten fuzzy answers, leading to a psychospiritual malaise of whatever. Society ignores the mythopoetic notion of destinythe idea that we have contracted with the gods to have certain experiences on earth for our enlightenment and empowerment, and so for our lifes purpose and meaning. Destiny Retrieval shows how to reverse destiny loss with shamanic practices like soul clearing, pathfinding, and signpost recognition. In this comprehensive exploration, author David Kowalewski uses cross-cultural research, scientific findings, field-tested protocols, and personal experiences to unpack this ancient practice. Find out how you can be a hero in your own mindand in your own realityby embarking on your destiny quest with the help of shamans and their spirit allies. You can learn the costs of a purposeless and meaningless life and discover how shamans can reverse malaise with destiny-retrieval practices from the ancient past. Using a variety of practices, this guide offers an in-depth examination of the ancient shamanic craft of retrieving destiny to restore purpose and meaning in life.

Learn the path to enlightenment and inner peace encoded by the Cathar in the Major Arcana of the Marseille Tarot • Reveals how the secret wisdom teachings of the heretical Cathar sect were hidden in plain sight in the imagery of the Major Arcana of the Marseille Tarot deck • Decodes each of the cards in detail and shows how they offer clear instructions for recalibrating human consciousness and achieving enlightenment • Shares the author’s self-development program, based on the wisdom of the cards, for creating a lifestyle filled with peace, joy, good health, and meaning The Holy Grail has been discovered. Not a cup or chalice as myth leads us to believe, the Holy Grail is sacred knowledge of the path to enlightenment and inner peace. While author Russell Sturgess was conducting research on the Marseille Tarot, he found evidence that this tarot deck, while masquerading as a simple card game, held the teachings of an ancient heretical religious group from southern France, the Cathar, believed to be the keepers of the Holy Grail. To avoid persecution by the papacy, this sect used portable art like illuminations to convey their Gnostic Christian teachings, in the same way the stained glass windows of churches spoke to their congregations. This portable Cathar art then inspired the creation of the Tarot. After his breakthrough discovery of a hidden key on the Magician and Strength cards, Sturgess examined the Major Arcana cards further and used the key to unlock their symbolism, discovering clear instructions for recalibrating human consciousness and achieving enlightenment, with specific cards representing pivotal points in making the journey from ignorance to awareness. Decoding the cards in detail, the author shows how they reveal a journey of transformed consciousness that can result in finding what the Cathar called “the kingdom of heaven.” Calling this sacred knowledge “the Cathar Code,” Sturgess reveals his personal development program based on the Code that opens access to a meaningful lifestyle filled with peace and joy and that naturally fosters health and well-being. He shows how these teachings offer a clear path that transforms a life burdened by fear of failure, rejection, and scarcity into one with clarity of purpose, self-honoring, kindness, and the abundance that comes with making a fulfilling difference in the world.

‘At the Center of our being is a point of pure truth, ‘ wrote Thomas Merton, ‘ a point or spark which belongs entirely to God...This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us.’ Merton called this Center Point, Le Point Vierge the Virginal Point. Here, we and God are untied in a Mystery of inexpressible Presence. LE POINT VIERGE: Meditations on the Mystery of Presence is a year of daily meditations exploring the Mystery of Presence as we experience It in the Virginal Point in our hearts. Practicing Presence is a sure and certain way to make fresh contact with God. God is not an Object of our understanding but a Mystery of Presence encountered in the Virginal Point of our hearts. It is hoped that by reading LE POINT VIERGE, the reader will discover the truth of St. Augustine’s words: ‘You, O God, were more inward to me than my most inward parts and higher than my highest’ (Confessions 3.6.11).

This book deals with morals in Islam, improving self-image by nonattachment to objects, attachment to God, and moral enrichment. There is perfect compatibility between Islam and yoga on the highest level and also resemblance of Islamic prayers and yoga asanas. Enlightenment is the full-body realization and acceptance of the oneness of God (Allah). Religion can only be taught properly by spiritually enlightened masters. Constant remembrance of God enables the seeker to reach the Divine Presence, and hearts become at peace in the remembrance of God, and through its practice, a window of light opens where one can witness the souls of angels realize oneness with God. The book describes contemplative prayer, meditation, and silence that are best practiced in solitude apart from religious organizations, corporate worship, and group activity to find inner peace. In the domain of spiritual life, the efficient energy of the Supreme Principle signifies the celestial energy and allows one to enter into contact with divinity and leads to self-realization, which is the basic qualification for any spiritual teacher that grants him inner peace and bliss. The book reports that the fulfillment of all religions lie in gaining for man all that is necessary for finding the superior spirit, which is within all of us. Universal religion has a distinctive role to play, indicating that all religions are one.

This companion volume to Easwaran's "Passage Meditation" brings the world's timeless wisdom within reach of the modern seeker. The author chooses texts that are positive, practical, and meaningful for readers today, making them suitable for study and meditation.