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Spirituality and Religion January 2019
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| Consider these 10 thought-provoking lessons the Dalai Lama shares. Young people may need to save the world—but they are up to the task. He has faith that young people of today can break the cycle of conflict created by the generations before them. He believes many people today share his peaceful spirit. He feels a kinship with people many decades his junior, as he senses they share his natural craving for global harmony. History offers important clues as to what doesn’t work. He tells young people, “Your mission is to draw lessons from errors of the past, all the while developing a dialogue of tolerance and non-violent communication with those around you.” Peaceful protest can be more effective than war. He has witnessed incredible struggles and military conflict over his lifetime, but focuses on the times he saw freedom triumph in the end, such as when he was in Berlin watching the fall of the Berlin Wall. “ Social media is a powerful force that can be used to accomplish great things. For a man in his 80s, the Dalai Lama seems very well-versed in modern technology. He urges readers to take advantage of the substantial platform social media provides to connect with a global audience. Joining together and supporting each other makes us all stronger. The Dalai Lama advocates for what he calls a Revolution of Compassion, which he says can defeat aggression. “Place compassion at the heart of social life. Develop new collaborative models that connect local communities with the global networking community. Make good use of collective intelligence, based on sharing." One person can make a difference. He believes that the impact of each individual can power a movement. “When you change as an individual, you change the world,” he writes. A joyful attitude can conquer all. A positive spirit is stronger than even DNA. “Studies have shown that our states of mind modify how our genes operate,” he writes. “If we infuse our minds with compassion, we block the genetic stress response and modify the brain’s biochemistry: loving-kindness generates happiness.” Women will likely be the trailblazers for establishing world peace. The Dalai Lama credits his mother for nurturing his spirit and teaching him compassion. I am resolutely feminist, and I am delighted to see more and more young women taking up senior positions. Accept leadership roles, for we need you to promote love and compassion.” We’re all responsible for protecting our world. He feels humankind has neglected their duties as stewards of the planet in recent history, but says focusing on earth-friendly practices now can have a big impact. “ |
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| Living With the Gods: On Beliefs and Peoples by Neil MacGregor Until fairly recently, religion as a major influence on the nature of individual societies around the world seemed to be on the wane. Now, far from being marginalized, the relationship between faith and society has moved to the center of politics and global conversation. Neil MacGregor's new book traces the ways in which different societies have understood and articulated their places in the cosmic scheme. It examines mankind's beliefs not from the perspective of institutional religions but according to how shared narratives have shaped societies--and what happens when different narratives run up against each other. Neil MacGregor is the author of other expansive histories, most notably A History of the World in 100 Objects. |
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The things you can see only when you slow down : how to be calm and mindful in a fast-paced world by Hyemin SunimThe world moves fast, but that doesn’t mean we have to. This bestselling mindfulness guide by Haemin Sunim (which means “spontaneous wisdom”), a renowned Buddhist meditation teacher born in Korea and educated in the United States, illuminates a path to inner peace and balance amid the overwhelming demands of everyday life.
By offering guideposts to well-being and happiness in eight areas—including relationships, love, and spirituality—Haemin Sunim emphasizes the importance of forging a deeper connection with others and being compassionate and forgiving toward ourselves. The more than twenty full-color illustrations that accompany his teachings serve as calming visual interludes, encouraging us to notice that when you slow down, the world slows down with you.
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| God in the Qur'an by Jack Miles Who is Allah? What makes Him unique? And what does He ask of those who submit to His teachings? Jack Miles undertakes to answer these questions with his characteristic perspicacity, intelligence, and command of the subject. Miles depicts a "character" less mercurial than Yahweh, less ready to forgive than Christ, and yet emphatically part of their traditions. The God of the Qur'an revises and perfects: His purpose is to make whole what had been corrupted or lost from the practices and scriptures of the earlier Abrahamic religions. Setting passages from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur'an side by side, Miles illuminates what is unique about Allah, His teachings and His temperament, and in doing so revises that which is false, distorted, or simply absent from our conception of the heart of Islam. Miles writes, "I hope [that by reading this book] you may find it a little easier to trust the Muslim next door, thinking of him as someone whose religion, after all, may not be so wildly unreasonable that someone holding to it could not be a trusted friend." |
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Advice not given : a guide to getting over yourself by Mark Epstein Our ego, and its accompanying sense of nagging self-doubt as we work to be bigger, better, smarter, and more in control, is one affliction we all share. And while our ego claims to have our best interests at heart, in its never-ending pursuit of attention and power, it sabotages the very goals it sets to achieve. In Advice Not Given, renowned psychiatrist and author Dr. Mark Epstein reveals how Buddhism and Western psychotherapy, two traditions that developed in entirely different times and places and, until recently, had nothing to do with each other, both identify the ego as the limiting factor in our well-being, and both come to the same conclusion: When we give the ego free rein, we suffer; but when it learns to let go, we are free.
With great insight, and in a deeply personal style, Epstein offers readers a how-to guide that refuses a quick fix, grounded in two traditions devoted to maximizing the human potential for living a better life. Using the Eightfold Path, eight areas of self-reflection that Buddhists believe necessary for enlightenment, as his scaffolding, Epstein looks back productively on his own experience and that of his patients. While the ideas of the Eightfold Path are as old as Buddhism itself, when informed by the sensibility of Western psychotherapy, they become something more: a road map for spiritual and psychological growth, a way of dealing with the intractable problem of the ego. Breaking down the wall between East and West, Epstein brings a Buddhist sensibility to therapy and a therapist's practicality to Buddhism. Speaking clearly and directly, he offers a rethinking of mindfulness that encourages people to be more watchful of their ego, an idea with a strong foothold in Buddhism but now for the first time applied in the context of psychotherapy.
Our ego is at once our biggest obstacle and our greatest hope. We can be at its mercy or we can learn to mold it. Completely unique and practical, Epstein's advice can be used by all--each in his or her own way--and will provide wise counsel in a confusing world. After all, as he says, "Our egos can use all the help they can get."
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A prairie girl's faith : the spiritual legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Stephen W Hines A Prairie Girl's Faith provides the first extended, in depth discussion of the Christian faith of one of America's most beloved pioneer women--Laura Ingalls Wilder. Although the faith of the Ingalls' family pervades books in the Little House series, the more specific details of Laura's faith have never been fully explored. It took extraordinary pluck for anyone to survive the harshness of frontier life--from the heartbreak of sudden crop losses to murderous storms to unrelenting loneliness. This book reveals how in surviving, the brave Laura drew not just on her character, but found encouragement, strength, and hope in her relationship with God.
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| From the incomparable Amos Oz comes a series of three essays: on the universal nature of fanaticism and its possible cures, on the Jewish roots of humanism and the need for a secular pride in Israel, and on the geopolitical standing of Israel in the wider Middle East and internationally.
Dear Zealots is classic Amos Oz—fluid, rich, masterly, and perfectly timed for a world in which polarization and extremism are rising everywhere. The essays were written, Oz states, "first and foremost" for his grandchildren: they are a patient, learned telling of history, religion, and politics, to be thumbed through and studied, clung to even, as we march toward an uncertain future.You might also like: Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi and The Balfour Declaration by Jonathan Schneer. |
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| Why Religion? A Personal Story by Elaine Pagels Why is religion still around in the twenty-first century? Why do so many still believe? And how do various traditions still shape the way people experience everything from sexuality to politics, whether they are religious or not? These questions took on a new urgency for Pagels when dealing with unimaginable loss—the death of her young son, followed a year later by the shocking loss of her husband. Here she interweaves a personal story with the work that she loves, illuminating how, for better and worse, religious traditions have shaped how we understand ourselves; how we relate to one another; and, most importantly, how to get through the most difficult challenges we face. Drawing upon the perspectives of neurologists, anthropologists, and historians, as well as her own research, Pagels opens unexpected ways of understanding persistent religious aspects of our culture. A provocative and deeply moving account from one of the most compelling religious thinkers at work today, Why Religion? explores the spiritual dimension of human experience. |
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