Art Religion

The contented heart is never out of heart. Contentment is a golden shield that beats back discouragement. True contentment will trust God even when it cannot see him. Why are you discontented? Is it because you are temporarily dispossessed of comforts? You who are discontented because you do not have all you would like to have, let me tell you, either your faith is a nonentity, or, at best, it is just an embryo. It is a weak faith that must have stilts and crutches to support it.

The Art of Lucid Dreaming is a quick and easy guide to help you get lucid fast. Dr. Clare Johnson, world-leading expert on lucid dreaming, shares her best practical tips and a unique Lucidity Quiz that identifies your personal sleeper-dreamer type so you can fast-track to the techniques that work best for you. When you are lucid in a dream, you can choose to ask your unconscious mind for guidance, perform healing magic, seek creative solutions to problems, and explore the dream realm more profoundly than ever before.

In The Art of Asking Better Questions, J. R. Briggs offers a thoughtful exploration of how intentional, well-crafted questions can transform relationships, leadership, and spiritual growth. Guided by the wisdom of Jesus as the ultimate question-asker, this book introduces four levels of questions designed to address different purposes and provide practical tools to improve your conversations.

Renowned critic and translator Robert Alter’s The Art of Biblical Narrative has radically expanded our view of the Bible by recasting it as a work of literary art deserving studied criticism. In this seminal work, Alter describes how the Hebrew Bible’s many authors used innovative literary styles and devices such as parallelism, contrastive dialogue, and narrative tempo to tell one of the most revolutionary stories of all time: the revelation of a single God. In so doing, Alter shows, these writers reshaped not only history, but also the art of storytelling itself.

A full-length study of the teaching of S. N. Goenka, prepared under his guidance and with his approval. Useful for meditators and non-meditators alike. This was the first book to appear in English that accurately describes the practice of Vipassana at length for the general listener. It includes stories by Goenkaji, as well as answers to students’ questions that convey a vivid sense of his teaching.

The Art of Worldly Wisdom was written in 1647. It is a collection of 300 maxims on various topics, each elaborated with a commentary. The sayings offer advice and guidance on how to live well, advance socially, and be a better person.

Gain insights into how to mentally live from the end of your intentions by living in the power of your imagination.

The inspirational teachings in this collection show that the real way of the warrior is based on compassion, wisdom, fearlessness, and love of nature. The teachings are drawn from the talks and writings of Morihei Ueshiba, founder of the popular Japanese martial art of Aikido, a mind-body discipline he called the "Art of Peace", which offers a nonviolent way to victory in the face of conflict. Ueshiba believed that Aikido principles could be applied to all the challenges we face in life.

The Art of Vinyasa takes a unique look at Ashtanga yoga as meditation in motion that produces profound inner change. Two of the most well-respected teachers of the Ashtanga style of yoga, Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, explore this rigorous practice not as a gymnastic feat but as a meditative form.

In this book, B. Alan Wallace explains a fundamental type of mental training that is designed to shift our attitudes so that our minds become pure wellsprings of joy instead of murky pools of problems, anxieties, fleeting pleasures, hopes, and frustrations. The lojong—or mind-training—teachings have been the subject of profound study, contemplation, and commentary by many great masters. Wallace shows us the way to develop our capacity for spiritual awareness through his relatable and practical commentary on the mind-training slogans.

In this hope-filled approach to spiritual and personal growth, the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are uniquely interpreted to speak to everyone seeking a freer and more God-centered life. This special rendering makes them relevant to those suffering from specific addictions - alcohol, drugs, gambling, food, sex, shopping - as well as the general addictions we wrestle with daily, such as anger, greed, and selfishness.

Level Up Your Tarot Readings with Your Own Psychic Abilities. Drawing on decades of experience as a professional reader, bestselling author Mat Auryn presents a comprehensive guide to unlocking your psychic potential. He shows you how to unite traditional tarot techniques and your own intuition, enhancing your readings with astounding levels of accuracy and insight. With 78 exercises, meditations, and rituals accessible for all practitioners, The Psychic Art of Tarot provides step-by-step instructions for understanding your unique psychic style and mastering an array of skills.

Conceived over 30 years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura's broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of "making". What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio, in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise.

When world renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned 60, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth. This beautiful literary collage documents his multifaceted explorations. In a hyperconnected world that is at the same time plagued by social isolation, this book shows how to enjoy the inescapable solitude that is at the heart of human life.

Many people believe that if they were only wealthy then they could finally be truly happy. However, most soon realize that money and wealth are not the cause of happiness but rather the by-product of it. True peace is like a wheel and money is just one of the many spokes.

In this new audiobook by best-selling author, Edward Sri, we discover the close connection between growing in the virtues and growing in friendship and community with others. A consummate teacher, Dr. Sri leads us through the virtues with engaging examples and an uncanny ability to anticipate and answer our most pressing questions. Dr. Sri shows us in his inimitable, easy-to-listen style, that the virtues are the basic life skills we need to give the best of ourselves to God and to the people in our lives. In short, the practice of the virtues give us the freedom to love.

In today's technology-driven culture, reading has become a lost art. With smartphones offering information at the tap of a finger, reading a book is often seen as a tedious and outdated activity. Christians are not immune to this problem, as many find it hard to read books - even the Bible - consistently and attentively. Recovering the Lost Art of Reading addresses these timely issues by exploring the importance of reading generally as well as studying the Bible as literature, giving practical suggestions along the way.

Since the first whiff of information came from Japan that there might still be traditional Japanese Reiki practitioners in Japan, we became intrigued with the system of Reiki's Japanese past. We travelled to Japan (with our two year old in tow) to see if we could find out anything else about it. In Japan we met with teachers who taught a mixture of both traditional styles of Reiki and its more modern versions.

Shiva Yoga Secrets explores the profound presence of Lord Shiva as revealed in the Vedas. Shiva appears as Rudra, the fierce yet benevolent force who dissolves ignorance and reveals eternal truth. Emmy-nominated actor and yogi Sripad Jaganantha Das brings these divine concepts to life with a narration that carries both the authority of great tradition and the intimacy of lived understanding.

Woven from Joseph Campbell’s previously unpublished work, this volume explores Judeo-Christian symbols and metaphors - and their misinterpretations - with the famed mythologist’s characteristic conversational warmth and accessible scholarship. Campbell’s insights highlight centuries of confusion between literal and metaphorical interpretations of Western religious symbols that are, he argues, perennially relevant keys to spiritual understanding and mystical revelation.