A brilliant portrait of a beloved and controversialfigure in twentieth-century spirituality.Simone Weil (1906-1943) was a writer and philosopher who devoted her life to a search for God—while avoiding membership in organized religion. She wrote with the clarity of a brilliant mind educated in the best French schools, the social conscience of a grass-roots labor organizer, and the certainty and humility of a mystic—and she persistently carried out her search ...

A classic of faith-based activism―updated for a new generation. Why was Daniel Berrigan wanted by the FBI? Why did Robert Coles harbor a fugitive? Listen in to the conversations between these two great teachers as they struggle with what it means to put your faith to the test. Discover how their story of challenging the status quo during a time of great political, religious, and social change is just as applicable to our lives today. Thirty years ago, at the height of U.S. involvement in t...

Fascinating profiles of the most important spiritual leaders of the past one hundred years. An invaluable reference of twentieth-century religion and an inspiring resource for spiritual challenge today. The result of a nationwide survey of experts in leading universities and seminaries, as well as leading representatives of dozens of religious traditions and spiritual persuasions, this authoritative list of seventy-five includes martyrs and mystics, intellectuals and charismatics from East...

Who Were the Most Innovative Spiritual Leaders of the Past Century?Fascinating profiles of the most important spiritual leaders of the past one hundred years. An invaluable reference of twentieth-century religion and an inspiring resource for spiritual challenge today.Black Elk, H. H. the Dalai Lama, Mary Baker Eddy, Abraham Joshua Heschel, J. Krishnamurti, C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Elijah Muhammad, Meher Baba, Joseph Campbell, Simone Weil, Pope John XXII...

An empowering guide to the most creative spiritual ideas of the past century, Spiritual Innovators profiles seventy-five remarkable people. A celebration of the human spirit, ideal for both seekers and believers, the curious and the passionate, thinkers and doers, this book is an authoritative guide to the most creative spiritual ideas and actions of the past centurya challenge for us today.

An empowering guide to the most creative spiritual ideas of the past century, Spiritual Innovators profiles seventy-five remarkable people. A celebration of the human spirit, ideal for both seekers and believers, the curious and the passionate, thinkers and doers, this book is an authoritative guide to the most creative spiritual ideas and actions of the past centurya challenge for us today.

Karen Armstrong explains how to practise the religion of compassion that her last books have preached.In November 2009 Armstrong and TED launched The Charter of Compassion, which states that "We call upon all men and women to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion...to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings — even those regarded as enemies." To date, it's been signed by over 48,000 people on the Web, including such figures as The Dal...

“This book could well be the most highly readable, accurate, and up-to-date introduction to the world’s major religions.” - Harvey Cox, Hollis Research Professor of Divinity, Harvard University, and author of The Future of FaithIn God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World, New York Times bestselling author of Religious Literacy and religion scholar Stephen Prothero argues that persistent attempts in modern theo...

As Matthew Fox notes when an aging Albert Einstein was asked if he had any regrets he replied I wish I had read more of the mystics earlier in my life. The 365 writings in Christian Mystics represent a wide-ranging sampling of these readings for modern-day seekers of all faiths or no faith. Fox is uniquely qualified to comment on these profound sometimes startling often denounced insights. In 1998 this longtime member of the Dominican Order was silenced by Cardinal Ratzinger now Pope Bened...

A fascinating look at India’s remarkable impact on Western culture, this eye-opening popular history shows how the ancient philosophy of Vedanta and the mind-body methods of Yoga have profoundly affected the worldview of millions of Americans and radically altered the religious landscape.What exploded in the 1960s, following the Beatles trip to India for an extended stay with their new guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, actually began more than two hundred years earlier,...

No country, no culture, no person today is untouched by what happens in the rest of the world. Technological innovation, environmental degradation, economic gain & loss, nuclear weapons, instant communication have all created unprecedented familiarity among the world’s many cultures. With this historic development, the Dalai Lama understands that the essential task of humanity in the 21st Century is to cultivate peaceful coexistence.Many believe in the inevitability of an escalatin...

This compendium of obscure facts about the world's religions highlights the political, cultural, and philosophical aspects of the history of religion.If you're waiting for the world's "Holy Men" to tell you the truth about their religions, do you suppose they'll mention that:The Tao Te Ching was only created because Lao Tzu was thrown in jail by a disciple who didn't want to let him leave town without writing down his teachings?"Passover" cel...