"Elizabeth Lesser offers up a rich cornucopia of lessons for the soul in The New American Spirituality, a warm and fascinating account of a modern pilgrimage." --Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., author of Emotional Intelligence In the crowded field of books dealing with spirituality, psychology, and religion, what has been missing is a comprehensive, authoritative guide to the many choices facing spiritual seekers today.The New American Spiritualityfills that need. This encouraging, empowering "user's manual" for the soul teaches you how to chart a unique and personal path through the diverse landscapes of the American spiritual quest. In 1977, Lesser cofounded the Omega Institute, now America's largest adult-education center focusing on wellness and spirituality. Working with many of the eminent thinkers and practitioners of our times in the fields of religion, psychology, mysticism, science, and healing, Lesser found that the hunger for a spiritual life can be satisfied by a rich blend of the world's wisdom traditions. InThe New American Spiritualityshe synthesizes the lessons she has learned from different belief systems, and intertwines them with illuminating stories from her life as a seeker, teacher, daughter, wife, and mother. She answers pertinent questions--how do you determine what is right for you from the many strains of the modern spiritual search? how do you assess a teacher or practice? how can you gauge your progress?--while warning of the tendency to miss out on real growth by merely dabbling in the latest fads. Recounting her own trials and errors and offering meditative exercises as well as references to some of the world's great spiritual teachers, Lesser provides directions through the four landscapes of the spiritual journey: the mind: developing awareness, learning meditation, easing stress and anxiety the heart: finding what one really loves, dealing with grief and loss, becoming fully alive the body: returning the body to the spiritual fold, healing, coping with aging and the fear of death the soul: naming God for ourselves, exploring other realms of consciousness, trusting the mysterious nature of the universe, developing compassion and forgiveness Warm, accessible, and wise, The New American Spirituality is a cross-disciplinary sourcebook for the millions of Americans who, whether or not they participate in an organized religion, wish to incorporate a more meaningful, joyful, and individualized spirituality into their daily lives.

Seize this opportunity to look more deeply into the narrative themes, symbols and mythic elements encountered in the Harry Potter books. Drawing from diverse spiritual and scholarly sources, The Seeker's Guide to Harry Potter offers seekers of all kinds an open-minded guide to the rich layers of meaning and symbolism we encounter in all seven of the novels.

A KEY TO THE MYSTERIES No other book in history has done more to clarify the Esoteric, mystical, and occult traditions of the world than Manly P. Hall’s The Secret Teachings of All Ages. Now, historian Mitch Horowitz provides the first companion work to Hall’s opus. The Secret Teachings of All Ages helps twenty=first-century readers enter and experience (or re-experience) Hall’s hallowed pages and also clarifies and expands on some of the book’s key themes and topics. Mitch explores developments and historical discoveries since hall published his “Great Book” nearly a century ago and adds fresh dimensions to subjects including: The antiquity and legacy of Ancient Egypt. The mystical origins of the world’s major faiths. Strange beasts and anomalies in history and today. The origins and esotericism of Tarot. Secret Societies in Myth and Fact. The enduring relevance of astrology. Authorized by Manly P. Hall’s Philosophical Research Society, The Secret Teachings of All Ages is a feast of esoteric exploration on its own and a worthy companion to history’s unparalleled encyclopedia arcana. “Mitch is a fantastic tour guide to the fringes of reason, high weirdness, deep esoterica, secret societies, and mystery religions.” –BoingBoing “Has the rare gift of making the esoteric accessible to discerning masses.” –HuffPost

In 1977, Elizabeth Lesser cofounded the Omega Institute, now America's largest adult-education center focusing on wellness and spirituality. Working with many of the eminent thinkers of our times, including Zen masters, rabbis, Christian monks, psychologists, scientists, and an array of noted American figures--from L.A. Lakers coach Phil Jackson to author Maya Angelou--Lesser found that by combining a variety of religious, psychological, and healing traditions, each of us has the unique ability to satisfy our spiritual hunger. In The Seeker's Guid, she synthesizes the lessons learned from an immersion into the world's wisdom traditions and intertwines them with illuminating stories from her daily life. Recounting her own trials and errors and offering meditative exercises, she shows the reader how to create a personal practice, gauge one's progress, and choose effective spiritual teachers and habits. Warm, accessible, and wise, this book provides directions through the four landscapes of the spiritual journey: THE MIND: learning meditation to ease stress and anxiety THE HEART: dealing with grief, loss, and pain; opening the heart and becoming fully alive THE BODY: returning the body to the spiritual fold to heal and overcome the fear of aging and death THE SOUL: experiencing daily life as an adventure of meaning and mystery

What story would Eve have told about picking the apple? Why is Pandora blamed for opening the box? And what about the fate of Cassandra who was blessed with knowing the future but cursed so that no one believed her? What if women had been the storytellers? Elizabeth Lesser believes that if women’s voices had been equally heard and respected throughout history, humankind would have followed different hero myths and guiding stories—stories that value caretaking, champion compassion, and elevate communication over vengeance and violence. Cassandra Speaks is about the stories we tell and how those stories become the culture. It’s about the stories we still blindly cling to, and the ones that cling to us: the origin tales, the guiding myths, the religious parables, the literature and films and fairy tales passed down through the centuries about women and men, power and war, sex and love, and the values we live by. Stories written mostly by men with lessons and laws for all of humanity. We have outgrown so many of them, and still they endure. This book is about what happens when women are the storytellers too—when we speak from our authentic voices, when we flex our values, when we become protagonists in the tales we tell about what it means to be human. Lesser has walked two main paths in her life—the spiritual path and the feminist one—paths that sometimes cross but sometimes feel at cross-purposes. Cassandra Speaks is her extraordinary merging of the two. The bestselling author of Broken Open and Marrow, Lesser is a beloved spiritual writer, as well as a leading feminist thinker. In this book she gives equal voice to the cool water of her meditative self and the fire of her feminist self. With her trademark gifts of both humor and insight, she offers a vision that transcends the either/or ideologies on both sides of the gender debate. Brilliantly structured into three distinct parts, Part One explores how history is carried forward through the stories a culture tells and values, and what we can do to balance the scales. Part Two looks at women and power and expands what it means to be courageous, daring, and strong. And Part Three offers “A Toolbox for Inner Strength.” Lesser argues that change in the culture starts with inner change, and that no one—woman or man—is immune to the corrupting influence of power. She provides inner tools to help us be both strong-willed and kind-hearted. Cassandra Speaks is a beautifully balanced synthesis of storytelling, memoir, and cultural observation. Women, men and all people will find themselves in the pages of this book, and will come away strengthened, opened, and ready to work together to create a better world for all people.

Do you roll your eyes at Be positive! Be happy! and Just let it go!? Are you tired of the Universe being responsible for everything? Feel like a failure because you can't manifest everything you want in an afternoon? Don't worry, you're not crazy. You may just be wriggling free from the hypnotic grip of spiritual bullshit. And fair play to you; it can be strangely compelling. The truth is that the spiritual path is as nuanced and frustrating as it is beautiful and fulfilling. The danger is that as we enthusiastically rush to share our new found spiritual wisdom, we unwittingly pass more and more bullshit around. So how do you clear the crap off your spiritual path? Join life-long spiritual seeker (and finder) Sue Fitzmaurice as she wades valiantly through a monumental pile of it in search of answers. Packed with insight and more than a few belly laughs, let The Smart Seeker's Guide to Spiritual Bullshit be your life raft and guide. Dear Seeker, sanity lies within.

Explores the effects on mental health of varied spiritual practices, bodywork techniques, and nurturing therapies