In this fascinating book, Richard Smoley examines the roles God has played for us and reconciles them with what we today know through science and reason. In the process, he shows that consciousness is the underlying reality beneath everything in the universe.In one of Hinduism’s great myths, Shiva plays a dice game with his consort, Parvati, and loses consistently. If he is the greatest god, why does he lose? Through this story, Richard Smoley explores the interplay between conscio...

Magic, the occult, the mystical—is there anything behind those words? If there is, is it anything beyond horror-movie clichés? People the world over have always known and interacted with these hidden forces. But in our culture, there are very few ways to sort out truth from nonsense.In this book, Richard Smoley, an expert on the occult, delves into the world of mind power, magic, suggestion, and the realms of the unseen. He speaks simply and clearly, in common-sen...

Scholar Richard Smoley reveals the secret history of the religious doctrines of Gnosticism in Forbidden Faith.The success of books such as Elaine Pagels's Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code proves beyond a doubt that there is a tremendous thirst today for finding the hidden truths of Christianity—truths that may have been lost or buried by institutional religion over the last two millennia.In Forbidden Faith, Ric...

An eye-opening introduction to the complex world of esoteric Christianity—perfect for the general readerThis guide to mystical and esoteric Christianity speaks from a nonsectarian point of view, unearthing insights from the whole of the Christian tradition, orthodox and heretical, famous and obscure. The esoteric tradition has traditionally searched for meanings that would yield a deeper inner knowledge of the divine. While traditional Christianity draws a timeline...

Magic, the occult, the mystical—is there anything behind those words apart from horror-movie clichés? People the world over have always known and interacted with these hid¬den forces. But today there are very few ways to sort out truth from nonsense.In this book, Richard Smoley, an expert on the occult, delves into mind power, magic, suggestion, and the realms of the unseen. He speaks simply and clearly, in common-sense terms, about these mysterious forces, how the...

**This groundbreaking work by Richard Smoley, author of fourteen books including Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism and Inner Christianity: A Guide to the Esoteric Tradition, presents the Jewish mystical teaching in a fresh new light.Kabbalah: Treasure House of Secret Wisdom**offers a guide to the esoteric tradition that will serve as a concise introduction for beginners. But it also presents never-before-published insights on the Sefer...

An eclectic, spicy smorgasbord of philosophical food forthought.- KIRKUS REVIEWSLife can seem to be a serious business. We could also look at it as a game—or a series of games.They include survival, love, power, pleasure, courage, creativity, and the Master Game!In this insightful book, Richard Smoley gives a lively but profound account of these games. He talks about how we play them, the mistakes we make, and how we can play them best....

This issue of the Rosicrucian Digest presents a compendium of materials that provide a solid introduction to the most important aspects of Gnosticism.

This gem-like, concise anthology provides thoughtful people with both an introduction to the paranormal and a reason to take a fresh look at it.Nostradamus...channeling...Atlantis...divination. Most serious people consider such topics nonsense. But look again. Writing with intellectual verve and a deeply critical mind, religious thinker Richard Smoley explores and reconsiders the supernatural in history and today.We are often conditioned to think of the Judeo-Christian trad...

A spirituality based on love, not fear• Shares key, inspiring teachings from A Course in Miracles as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, and the Sefer Yetzirah, the oldest known Kabbalistic text• Cites philosophical wisdom from Kant, Blake, Jung, and Gurdjieff, alongside cognitive science, to reveal how the world is not difficult and flawed, but our fear-based mind-sets lead us to see it that way• Offers a path to help you regenerate from the “...

Here is the greatest “deal” you will ever find: This concise, deeply practical guide shows how to forgive anyone who has ever hurt you and to receive a payback of enormous personal satisfaction and inner peace.“What I am offering you in this book is the best deal you have ever gotten in your life, or ever will. Even though I know nothing about you, I’m willing to make this claim with complete certainty.”With elegance and absolute persuasiv...

The British Empire is unique in world history. How did this small island come to rule a full quarter of the globe? No other nation has matched this achievement.The British Empire evolved over centuries, but it began to blossom in its greatest age: the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I (from 1558 to 1603) and King James I (from 1603 to 1625). Despite bitter religious struggles within and threats from nations such as Spain without, this era not only sowed the seeds of the ...