Sharon Berg, a middle-aged divorcee with two children has gainful employment working overtime for the mysterious Rabbi Joachim, spiritual director of the Center for Mystical Judaism. Set in Coney Island, Sharon’s efforts at making a life for herself and her children take readers on a journey though Hasidism as it exists today including its schools for children and the fundamentalist characters that run them. When the Rabbi travels to Israel on a mission, and fails to return, Sharon must co...

Perle Besserman's adventures in a Japanese Zen monastery provide the groundwork for this lively, heartwarming narrative of a woman's life in Zen. Engaging in cross-cultural dialogues with nuns and laywomen in India, China, Japan, and more, Besserman dispels the notion that women had nothing to do with the founding and sustaining of Zen. She shows how women continue to transform traditional Zen in new and creative ways, integrating the practice of meditation into their lives. Both informati...

Jewish mystics from biblical times to the present have explored the hidden secrets of the Torah in quest of a single goal: to lose the self in the Infinite "No-thingness" (Ein Sof) and be at one with God. In language accessible to the layperson, this Shambhala Guide provides a detailed introduction to the complex world of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. With an extensive background in meditation practice, Perle Besserman emphasizes Kabbalah's spiritual disciplines, grounded in righteous liv...

A woman's search for meaning takes her across continents and through the complexities of love and faith.Fay Watkins, a spirited Texan, embarks on a journey of self-discovery that leads her from Mexico's revolutionary fervor to New York's intellectual circles, and beyond. Her quest for enlightenment is fueled by a naive idealism, resulting in impulsive decisions and a series of transformative relationships.As Fay navigates love, loss, and spiritual awakening...

The red bracelet: it graces the wrists of numerous celebrities - from Madonna to Britney Spears - who have converted to the spiritual practice of Kabbalah. But what is Kabbalah and how can women apply it to their own lives?In A New Kabbalah for Women, bestselling author and teacher of Jewish mysticism and meditation, Perle Besserman, shares a feminine approach to spirituality. Since the time of Moses, Jewish mysticism has been barred to women, and Shekhinah, the feminine si...

Grassroots Zen envisions a socially engaged Buddhism where zazen is integrated each day with work, family, and social obligations.Though both authors have practiced traditional Zen for decades here they eschew the militaristic, patriarchal tendencies of Zen in favor of "an egalitarian community of socially mobile members who place less emphasis upon transmission and hierarchy than on individual responsibility."

A new view of Jesus as a Buddha-like wisdom teacher who taught the transformation of consciousness—with traditional contemplative practices you can do yourselfIf you put aside what you think you know about Jesus and approach the Gospels as though for the first time, something remarkable happens: Jesus emerges as a teacher of the transformation of consciousness.The Wisdom Jesus provides a new perspective on Christ and an expansive interpretation of ...

A translation of the Kabbalah for the layperson includes a compact presentation of each primary text and features a practical analysis and vital historical information that offer insight into the various aspects of Jewish mysticism.

The recently discovered mystical sayings of Jesus, with facing-page commentary that brings the text to life for you."The Gospel of Thomas really is, I believe, the clearest guide we have to the vision of the worlds supreme mystical revolutionary, the teacher known as Jesus. To those who learn to unpack its sometimes cryptic sayings, the Gospel of Thomas offers a naked and dazzlingly subversive representation of Jesus defining and most radical discovery: that the living Kingdom of G...

Your body is the place where heaven and earth meet.The greatest spiritual achievement is not transcending the body but joining body and spirit together. But to do this, you must break through assumptions that draw boundaries around the Infinite and wake up to the body as the site of holiness itself.This groundbreaking book is the first comprehensive treatment of the body in Jewish spiritual practice and an essential guide to the sacred. With meditation prac...

In “The Beatitudes: What Jesus Really Meant”, author Imre Vallyon explains each of the Beatitudes in very simple terms and from the view of Higher Consciousness. You will learn what the Sermon on the Mount actually means so that you can apply it to your own life, to your relationship with others, and to the life of the world. When you sift the true meaning of Jesus’ sermon from its historical context and from the misunderstandings and misinterpretation of the scholars, you find a universal...

The spiritual teachings of many faith traditions can help you step beyond the limits of any one tradition to the reality that can't be named.The fastest growing spiritual movement in the United States today is that of the religiously unaffiliated. These spiritual seekers make up 20 percent of the adult American population; they are the spiritual equivalent of political independents. Refusing to limit themselves to one religion or another, these seekers without bord...