Sacred Lives

The calming effects and neurological benefits of meditating have been so well-documented that they speak for themselves at this stage in our collective understanding. Chanting has a similar effect to meditation - at least, according to the brain. It has been shown to increase alertness while easing physiological bodily stress. Not only that, but chanting has the effect of producing an alpha wave in the brain.

Jenny Kutz Papapostolou, who accepted God’s assignment to run a children’s home in Greece, knows from experience that to achieve greatness in God’s Kingdom, you must first learn humility. In Sacred Smallness, Jenny points out that while Christian culture often heralds fame and wealth as the ultimate success, God is delighted in humble surrender—even when it leads to sacred smallness and holy hiddenness.

Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In Beyond Belief, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member Sea Org - the church's highest ministry - speaks of her "disconnection" from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.

What is a soul? What happens to us after we physically die? What is consciousness, and can it survive without a physical brain? Can we remember our past lives? Do near-death experiences prove immortality? How does reincarnation really work? Drawing from ancient Jewish wisdom and a modern understanding of consciousness, Rav Pinson explores the possibility of surviving death, the near-death experience, and a glimpse into what awaits us after this life.

Did you know that astrology and magick are woven from the same threads? The more you learn about one, the more you'll intuitively understand about the other. This inspiring hands-on guide tells you how to connect with the 12 faces of the goddess through astrology, story, ritual, and pathworking.

Adventures in the Afterlife is a powerful journey of spiritual awakening; a bold quest for answers and enlightenment. The old assumptions of heaven are confronted and an expansive new vision of our continuing life is presented. After being diagnosed with cancer, William Buhlman, author of Adventures Beyond the Body, pursued answers to the mysteries of our existence after death. Confronting his mortality, he experienced profound insights into what lies beyond our physical body.

Esteemed Bible scholars and teachers Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler take readers on a guided tour of the most popular Hebrew Bible passages quoted in the New Testament to show what the texts meant in their original contexts and then how Jews and Christians, over time, understood those same texts. By understanding the depth and variety by which these passages have been, and can be, understood, The Bible With and Without Jesus does more than enhance our religious understandings, it helps us to see the Bible as a source of inspiration for any and all listeners.

Bishop John Shelby Spong, author of Jesus for the Non-Religious, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, Sins of Scripture, and many other books, is known for his controversial ideas and fighting for minority rights. In Eternal Life: A New Vision, a remarkable spiritual journey about his lifelong struggle with the questions of God and death, he reveals how he came to a new conviction about eternal life.

The Kabbalah is divided into three branches—the theoretical, the meditative, and the magical. While many books, both in Hebrew and English, have explored the theoretical Kabbalah, very little has been published regarding the meditative methods of the various schools of Kabbalah. Aryeh Kaplan's landmark work reveals the methodology of the ancient Kabbalists and stresses the meditative techniques that were essential to their discipline, including:

Promising health, wealth, and happiness, feng shui offers endless appeal - at least in concept. Unfortunately, feng shui's seemingly complicated methods are often difficult to learn and apply in a meaningful way. Fortunately, Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life is written in plain and simple English. Revealing the ancient Chinese secrets that are as useful and necessary today as they have been for centuries, Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life communicates how to meet "The One", find a dream job, and much more.

For numerous centuries, the Talmud—an extraordinary work of Jewish ethics, law, and tradition—has compelled readers to grapple with how to live a good life. Full of folk legends, bawdy tales, and rabbinical repartee, it is inspiring, demanding, confounding, and thousands of pages long. As Liel Leibovitz enthusiastically explores the Talmud, what has sometimes been misunderstood as a dusty and arcane volume becomes humanity's first self-help book. How the Talmud Can Change Your Life contains sage advice on an unparalleled scope of topics.

The Essential Talmud is a masterful introduction by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz to the great repository of Jewish wisdom, the Talmud. A book of profound scholarship and concise pedagogy, The Essential Talmud succinctly describes the Talmud's history, structure, and methodology. It summarizes the Talmud's main principles, demonstrates its contemporary relevance, and captures the spirit of this unique and paradoxical sacred text as a human expression of divine law.

From environmental destruction to harmful relationships, you can never fully achieve peace of mind living in a world where threats are coming from every direction. And this will come at a great cost to your wellbeing. Because instead of focusing your limited time, energy, and resources on the things that grow and nourish you, you spend them on worrying.

For millennia humans have fasted for spiritual, emotional, and physical reasons—as a way to heal their bodies, reconnect to the sacred, regain a sense of life’s purpose, and allow their souls to detoxify. We are evolutionarily designed to fast, and the body knows how to do it very well. Fasting allows the body and all its systems to rest, purify, and heal. Offering step-by-step guidelines to fully prepare yourself for a deep fast, Buhner explores what to expect during and after spiritual, emotional, and physical fasting and detoxification.

New discoveries in archaeology and recent bestsellers and movies such as The Da Vinci Code and The Passion of the Christ have sparked a renaissance of the many controversies that have remained unanswered in Christianity and other religions. At the heart of these controversies is Jesus. With a unique perspective only Sylvia Browne could bring, The Mystical Life of Jesus is filled with the details of Jesus' inspiring life.

Taoist living rests on four pillars: the public, the domestic, the private, and the spirit lives. Not only do Taoists strive to live these four aspects fully and in a balanced way, they also believe there is an outlook and an art to each of them. Eva Wong uses the teachings of Taoist masters themselves to explain the essential concepts. She then gives voice to these texts - simplifying them, removing barriers to understanding, and making them completely accessible and relevant to the modern reader.

A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet - then spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the violence by hand printing the best prayer flags in India. A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her best friend ritually starve herself to death. Nine people, nine lives; each one taking a different religious path, each one an unforgettable story. William Dalrymple delves deep into the heart of a nation torn between the relentless onslaught of modernity and the ancient traditions that endure to this day.

Native shamanic traditions tell us that there are cords, strands, threads, and filaments of energy that flow to and through us, connecting us to everyone and everything in the universe. Some energy strands make us feel vibrant and alive. Others deplete and weaken us. Most of us are unaware of these energy strands, but they are extremely powerful forces that surround us every day.

Churches often realize they need to change. But if they're not careful, the way they change can hurt more than help. Leading practical theologian Andrew Root offers a new paradigm for understanding the congregation in contemporary ministry. He articulates why congregations feel pressured by the speed of change in modern life and encourages an approach that doesn't fall into the negative traps of our secular age.

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) is one of the most beloved of the Catholic saints. In 1562, during the era of the Spanish Inquisition, Teresa sat down to write an account of the mystical experiences for which she had become famous. The result was this book, one of the great classics of spiritual autobiography. With this fresh translation of The Book of My Life, Mirabai Starr brings the inimitable Spanish mystic to life for a new generation, with contemporary English that mirrors Teresa's own earthy, vernacular Spanish, and that presents us with someone we feel we know.