For centuries, readers have turned to the Bhagavad Gita for inspiration and guidance as they chart their own spiritual paths. As profound and powerful as this classic text has been for generations of seekers, integrating its lessons into the ordinary patterns of our lives can ultimately seem beyond our reach. Now, in a fascinating series of reflections, anecdotes, stories, and exercises, Ram Dass gives us a unique and accessible road map for experiencing divinity in everyday life. In the engaging, conversational style that has made his teachings so popular for decades, Ram Dass traces our journey of consciousness as it is reflected in one of Hinduism’s most sacred texts. The Gita teaches a system of yogas, or “paths for coming to union with God.” In Paths to God, Ram Dass brings the heart of that system to light for a Western audience and translates the Gita’s principles into the manual for living the yoga of contemporary life. While being a guide to the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, Paths to God is also a template for expanding our definition of ourselves and allowing us to appreciate a new level of meaning in our lives.

Some people find God by living in harmony with the rhythms of nature, others by the practice of specific meditations and prayers. For some, the way is beauty, creativity, love, devotion, study, or service. Just as many rivers lead to the sea, there are many paths to God. Each of the seven primary energy centers of the human body—the chakras—corresponds to a specific path. In this book, those paths are outlined, complete with spiritual exercises, giving you, the reader, a sense of the most fruitful direction for your journey.

God, Goddess and Guru are the primary forms of divinity presented in this treasure of three yogic scriptures. Translations and commentaries on each scripture verse clarify the unique and powerful philosophy of yoga and help open your heart to the divine. Text contains Sanskrit text, translations and commentaries on Pratyabhijna Hridayam, Nirvanashatkam and Hanuman Chalisa along with glossary and index.

With step-by-step instructions for over forty ways to pray, this valuable guide contains a wealth of timeless spiritual prayer practices that Christians have used over the last 2000 years from cultures around the world. Among the prayer practices you'll encounter in this book are the daily office, the prayer shawl, praying with icons, centering prayer, fasting, prayer beads, walking a labyrinth, pilgrimage, anointing for healing, and praying the scriptures. Paths to Prayer offers a whole-person approach to prayer that takes into account each person's individuality and doesn't assume we all relate to God in the same way. A prayer styles self-assessment will help you reflect on your life, your preferences, and your unique way of interacting with the world. Try new dimensions of praying— innovative, searching, relational, and experiential— to deepen your encounter with the divine.

This fascinating chronicle of the author's personal experiences with North American and Maya Indian spiritual practices and ceremonies illuminates ancient beliefs that provide a path to self-healing, harmony, and balance and guide us on a path back to the Source.

“This book should be your next read! I give The Path of Life my highest recommendation.”--Lysa TerKeurst, #1 New York Times bestselling author Uncover joy on your path of life. God has a path for each of our lives--a path full of adventure, challenges, and joy. Biblical paths are not all that different from the paths we encounter in our world today. Finding God’s path is not a mystery. Throughout the Bible, God makes it clear that He will teach us, show us, speak to us, and guide us on this path. Lisa Robertson is passionate about walking alongside women to uncover the mysteries, symbolism, and truths about the path of life. Perfect for fans of Lysa TerKeurst and Priscilla Shirer -- this book blends sound, Biblical teaching with heartfelt wisdom.

Sacred Pathways reveals nine distinct spiritual temperaments--and their strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies--to help you improve your spiritual life and deepen your personal walk with God. It's time to strip away the frustration of a one-size-fits-all spirituality and discover a path of worship that frees you to be you. Experienced spiritual directors, pastors, and church leaders recognize that all of us engage with God differently, and it's about time we do too. In this updated and expanded edition of Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas details nine spiritual temperaments and--like the Enneagram and other tools do with personality--encourages you to investigate the ways you most naturally express yourself in your relationship with God. He encourages you to dig into the traits, strengths, and pitfalls in your devotional approach so you can eliminate the barriers that keep you locked into rigid methods of worship and praise. Plus, as you begin to identify and understand your own temperament, you'll soon learn about the temperaments that aren't necessarily "you" but that may help you understand the spiritual tendencies of friends, family, and others around you. Whatever temperament or blend of temperaments best describes you, rest assured it's not by accident. It's by the design of a Creator who knew what he was doing when he made you according to his own unique intentions. If your spiritual walk is not what you'd like it to be, you can change that, starting here. Sacred Pathways will show you the route you were made to travel, marked by growth and filled with the riches of a close walk with God. A Sacred Pathways video Bible study is also available for group or individual use, sold separately.

In popular and academic literature, jihad is predominantly assumed to refer exclusively to armed combat, and martyrdom in the Islamic context is understood to be invariably of the military kind. This perspective, derived mainly from legal texts, has led to discussions of jihad and martyrdom as concepts with fixed, universal meanings divorced from the socio-political circumstances in which they have been deployed through the centuries. Asma Afsaruddin studies in a more holistic manner the range of significations that can be ascribed to the term jihad from the earliest period to the present and historically contextualizes the competing discourses that developed over time. Many assumptions about the military jihad and martyrdom in Islam are thereby challenged and deconstructed. A comprehensive interrogation of varied sources reveals early and multiple competing definitions of a word that in combination with the phrase fi sabil Allah translates literally to "striving in the path of God." Contemporary radical Islamists have appropriated this language to exhort their cadres to armed political opposition, which they legitimize under the rubric of jihad. Afsaruddin shows that the multivalent connotations of jihad and shahid recovered from the formative period lead us to question the assertions of those who maintain that belligerent and militant interpretations preserve the earliest and only authentic understanding of these two key terms. Retrieval of these multiple perspectives has important implications for our world today in which the concepts of jihad and martyrdom are still being fiercely debated.

At the 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago, Swami Vivekananda transformed Western thinking. He showed that, far from being an exotic novelty, Hinduism is an important, legitimate spiritual tradition with valuable lessons for the West. Pathways to Joy is a selection of 108 of his sacred teachings on Vedanta philosophy. In accessible and powerful prose, Vivekananda illuminates the four classical yoga paths — karma, bhakti, raja, and jnana — for the different natures of humankind. The messages focus on the oneness of existence; the divinity of the soul; the truth in all religions; and unifying with the Divine within. Invaluable and inspiring, the selections also explore karma, maya, rebirth, and other great revelations of Hinduism.