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Spirituality and Religion March 2017
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Letters to a Young Muslim
by Omar Saif Ghobash
Omar Saif Ghobash was born in 1971 in the United Arab Emirates--the same year the country was founded--to an Arab father and a Russian mother. After a traumatizing experience losing his father to a violent attack in 1977, when he was only six years old,Ghobash began to realize the severe violence that surrounded him in his home country. As he grew older, eventually being appointed as the UAE Ambassador to Russia in 2008, he began to reflect on what it means to be a Muslim, establishing a moral foundation rooted in the belief of the hard grind that is the crux of spiritual and practical living. This book is the result of the personal exploration Ghobash went through in the years after his father's death. Letters to a Young Muslim will explore how Arabs can provide themselves, their children, and their youth with a better chance of prosperity and peace in a globalized world, while attempting to explain thehistory and complications of the modern-day Arab landscape and how the younger generation can solve problems with extremists internally, contributing to overall world peace.
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| At Home in the World: Stories and Essential Teachings from a Monk's Life by Thich Nhat HanhThe acclaimed Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh offers fresh autobiographical inspiration in At Home in the World. Using accounts of five periods his in life to introduce specific spiritual challenges, he provides several short observations under each heading that illustrate his principles of compassion and empathy. Fans of this religious leader and readers new to his work will find thought-provoking guidance for "everyday practice and for social engagement in the world" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Surviving Death : A Journalist Investigates Evidence for an Afterlife
by Leslie Kean
Leslie Kean's impeccably researched, page-turning investigation, revealing stunning and wide-ranging evidence suggesting that consciousness survives death. Kean explores the most compelling case studies of young children reporting verifiable details from past lives, contemporary mediums who seem to defy the boundaries of the brain and of the physical world, apparitions providing information about their lives on earth, and people who die and then come back to report journeys into another dimension. Based on facts and scientific studies, Surviving Death includes fascinating chapters by medical doctors, psychiatrists, and PhDs from four countries. As a seasoned journalist whose work transcends belief systems and ideology, Kean enriches the narrative by including her own unexpected, confounding experiences encountered while she probed the question concerning all of us: Do we survive death?
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| Love Hurts: Buddhist Advice for the Heartbroken by Lodro RinzlerIn this book on emotional healing, Buddhist teacher and columnist for the Huffington Post Lodro Rinzler offers advice based on the Buddha's precepts about suffering -- including but not limited to solace for the lovelorn. Built on his notes from short sessions during which Rinzler listened to people who came to share their heartbreaks, each chapter offers spiritual counsel for specific experiences, from "What Is Heartbreak?" to "If You Need to Hear a Joke" to "If You Feel Acceptance." Introductory and concluding chapters frame these anecdotal teachings on spiritual self-care. Publishers Weekly calls this a "superb book for any heartbroken reader." |
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| Paris to the Pyrenees: A Skeptic Pilgrim Walks the Way of Saint James by David Downie; photographs by Alison HarrisThough food writer David Downie wasn't interested in the religious aspects of the pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in Compostela, Spain, he decided to trace the ancient route for its historic significance and in order to improve his health. Setting off on the Rue Saint-Jacques in Paris (the medieval but not the modern pilgrims' starting point) and walking through France with his wife, photographer Alison Harris, Downie found inspiration despite his skepticism. Noting intersections between Celtic and Roman history, Christian churches and other shrines, and the modern people he met, he began to reflect more deeply on philosophical questions he found important. Harris' photographs accompany this thought-provoking chronicle. |
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| Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East by Gerard RussellThough Islam is the most common religion practiced in the Middle East, there are dozens of others that most Westerners know very little about. In this engaging book, a curious former British diplomat who lived in the area for over a decade provides an accessible introduction to several minor religions that have survived for centuries but are now in danger of extinction. Traveling around the Middle East, Gerard Russell learns about and meets Yazidis, Zoroastrians, Copts, Druze, Samaritans, Kalasha, Mandaeans, Manicheans, and others. |
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| Mecca: The Sacred City by Ziauddin SardarPakistani-born Londoner Ziauddin Sardar introduces the history of Islam and its cultural influences in this witty and personal study of Mecca. The holiest city for Muslims, who are expected to visit there at least once in their lives, Mecca's primary function as a religious symbol contrasts with the reality that it's a modern city. Recounting intriguing stories about individuals (such as the Dutch spy who was expelled after his false conversion was exposed), warring political factions, and archaeological travesties, Sardar pays tribute to the deep spiritual and historical roots of the site in this "beautifully written and revealing" (Booklist) study. |
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