Embark on an enchanting odyssey of self-discovery and enlightenment through the pages of "The Wondrous Quest: Journey to the Knower Within." This remarkable book takes you on a mesmerizing voyage into the realm of non-duality, presented in a way that not only educates but also deeply resonates, regardless of your age. Step into the tapestry of wisdom interwoven with captivating narratives. Picture yourself within the serene surroundings of Guru Veda's Ashram, where young seekers embark on an epic adventure in search of profound understanding. Engage in their dialogues with Guru Veda as they plunge into eternal themes, spanning from the very essence of existence to the limitless awareness that transcends the boundaries of time. This literary masterpiece draws inspiration from the teachings of luminaries like Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta, Jean Klein, Rupert Spira, and more, seamlessly bridging the ancient wisdom of traditions with our contemporary comprehension. Enriched with captivating stories and meditative reflections, it lays out a direct route to the core of existence, inviting you to explore the art of harmonious living in a realm of no duality. As you immerse yourself in its narrative, you will not only forge connections with the characters' transformative journeys but also with your own pursuit of self-realization. Every tale acts as a mirror, reflecting the innate sagacity residing within your consciousness. The profound "I AM" meditation enclosed in these pages becomes a portal to your innermost self, establishing a profound link with the divine presence within you. More than just a book, "The Wondrous Quest" extends an earnest invitation to plunge into the profound depths of your consciousness and acknowledge the binding unity that connects all living things. Irrespective of whether you are an avid seeker of wisdom or merely intrigued by the enigmas of existence, this book serves as your compass, guiding you along a transformative journey of self-discovery and comprehension. Turn its pages and embark on this extraordinary expedition towards illumination. Your adventure begins now.

We live in ‘knowledge societies’ and work in ‘knowledge economies’, but accounts of social change treat knowledge as homogeneous and neutral. While knowledge should be central to educational research, it focuses on processes of knowing and condemns studies of knowledge as essentialist. This book unfolds a sophisticated theoretical framework for analysing knowledge practices: Legitimation Code Theory or ‘LCT’. By extending and integrating the influential approaches of Pierre Bourdieu and Basil Bernstein, LCT offers a practical means for overcoming knowledge-blindness without succumbing to essentialism or relativism. Through detailed studies of pressing issues in education, the book sets out the multi-dimensional conceptual toolkit of LCT and shows how it can be used in research. Chapters introduce concepts by exploring topics across the disciplinary and institutional maps of education: -how to enable cumulative learning at school and university -the unfounded popularity of ‘student-centred learning’ and constructivism -the rise and demise of British cultural studies in higher education -the positive role of canons -proclaimed ‘revolutions’ in social science -the ‘two cultures’ debate between science and humanities -how to build cumulative knowledge in research -the unpopularity of school Music -how current debates in economics and physics are creating major schisms in those fields. LCT is a rapidly growing approach to the study of education, knowledge and practice, and this landmark book is the first to systematically set out key aspects of this theory. It offers an explanatory framework for empirical research, applicable to a wide range of practices and social fields, and will be essential reading for all serious students and scholars of education and sociology.

National Book Award Finalist: “This man’s ideas may be the most influential, not to say controversial, of the second half of the twentieth century.”—Columbus Dispatch At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only three thousand years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion—and indeed our future. “Don’t be put off by the academic title of Julian Jaynes’s The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Its prose is always lucid and often lyrical…he unfolds his case with the utmost intellectual rigor.”—The New York Times “When Julian Jaynes . . . speculates that until late in the twentieth millennium BC men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of the gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis.”—John Updike, The New Yorker “He is as startling as Freud was in The Interpretation of Dreams, and Jaynes is equally as adept at forcing a new view of known human behavior.”—American Journal of Psychiatry

"[This] magnificent critical survey, with its inherent respect for both the 'Westt's mainstream high culture' and the 'radically changing world' of the 1990s, offers a new breakthrough for lay and scholarly readers alike....Allows readers to grasp the big picture of Western culture for the first time." SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, THE PASSION OF THE WESERN MIND is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.

The author, journalist, television commentator, and longtime Washington insider reflects on the spiritual quest that has brought deeper meaning to her life—and kept her grounded within the high-powered political world of Washington, D.C.’s elite—her renowned writing career, her celebrity marriage, and her legendary role as doyenne of the capital’s social scene. In this emotionally involving, illuminating memoir, the legendary Washington Post journalist, and author talks candidly about her life at the white-hot center of power and the surprising spiritual quest that has driven her for more than half a century. While working as a reporter, caring for a learning-disabled son with her husband, longtime Washington Post executive editor Benjamin Bradlee, reigning over the capital’s social scene, and remaining intimately connected with national politics, Sally Quinn yearned to understand what truly made the world—and her life—tick. After years of searching, most of which occurring in the secular capital of the world, she came to realize that the time she spent with friends and family—the evenings of shared hospitality and intimate fellowship—provided spiritual nourishment and that this theme has been woven into all the most important moments of her life. In this spiritual memoir, Quinn speaks frankly about her varied, provocative spiritual experiences—from her Southern family of Presbyterians and psychics, to voodoo lessons from her Baptist nanny, her trials as a hospitalized military kid in Japan as the Korean War begins, to her adventures as a Post reporter and columnist and her experience as one of the first female news anchors on national television; her battles with the Nixon administration, Watergate, and other scandals that have rocked the nation; her courtship and long marriage to one of the most authoritative figures in the media; her role as the capital’s most influential hostess; and her growing fascination with religious issues. This fascination led to her pioneering work in creating the most visited religious site on the web, OnFaith.co, where she reports on the unseen driving force of American life. Throughout this radiant, thoughtful, and surprisingly intimate memoir, Quinn reveals how "it’s all magic"—the many forms of what draws us together and provides meaning to all we do. Her roller coaster and irreverent but surprisingly spiritual story allows us to see how the infinite wonder of God and the values of meaningful conversation, experience, and community are available to us all. Finding Magic includes 16 pages of exclusive photographs.

From ancient Taoist sages and Sufi mystics to Christian contemplatives and contemporary Zen masters, Seeing, Knowing, Being explores the profound truth behind all the world’s mystic traditions: Living a spiritual life has nothing to do with fixing ourselves. It is simply a matter of awakening to what we already are. The real work of self-discovery-and the answer to our suffering, emptiness, and loss of meaning-is learning to see in a different way. “The mystical adventure is all in the seeing, says John Greer. “From departure to arrival, nothing changes but our eyes. But the process isn’t that simple. In this all-embracing work that is destined to become a classic, Greer artfully traces the steps and stages of the delicate process of awakening. He shows how we can move from society’s hand-me-down version of reality to the wonder of our true nature-from conceptual, habitual patterns of thinking to knowing the truth by being. Like a master artist who captures an image and stirs something deep inside of us, Greer also highlights nearly one hundred evocative metaphors, as varied and colorful as the sages themselves, to kindle your imagination and spark your intuition-to shift your perspective and shake you into an awareness that no amount of explanation can. What Greer shows, with great wisdom and compassion, is that when you put aside the map of the mind, you can follow the compass of your heart. You can move through the details of life-going to work, raising a family, throwing out the garbage-and still experience the wonders and oneness of life with deep reverence, gratitude, and joy. “Books often describe journeys. Seeing, Knowing, Being actually takes you on one. . . . A profound expedition into the true nature of life. -MATTHEW FLICKSTEIN, author and producer of the award-winning film With One Voice

The Writer's Journey is an insider's guide to how master storytellers from Hitchcock to Spielberg have used mythic structure to create powerful stories. This new edition includes analyses of latest releases such as The Full Monty.

People have sought Truth in many places and in every way imaginable. Yet, despite (and because of) all our external searching, we have not learned the obvious—that We are the Truth we are seeking, and that the memory of who we are will satisfy all our other needs and desires. We Are One: Using Intuition to Awaken to Truth appeals to all people who have found that the achievement of health, romance and success are not enough to inspire meaning in their lives, and to health practitioners who now have very little time to know their patients. The book's simple four-step template can be used as effortlessly for making a decision as for experiencing God. The reader will learn how to find their own truth within themselves, check the veracity other people's information, heal themselves, and remove any blocks to living a fully authentic and spiritual life. Written by Helen D. Vandeman, M.Ed., a dynamic speaker who has presented at conferences in the United States and abroad, We Are One combines the wisdom of mystics with the evidence of scientists to give intuition its rightful place in our lives.

Knowing is less about information and more about transformation; less about comprehension and more about being apprehended. This radical book develops the notion of covenant epistemology--an innovative, biblically compatible, holistic, embodied, life-shaping epistemological vision in which all knowing takes the shape of interpersonal, covenantal relationship. Rather than knowing in order to love, we love in order to know. Meek argues that all knowing is best understood as transformative encounter. Creatively blending insights from a diverse range of conversation partners--including Michael Polanyi, Michael D. Williams, Lesslie Newbigin, Parker Palmer, John Macmurray, Martin Buber, and James Loder--Meek offers critically needed "epistemological therapy" in response to the pervasive and damaging presumptions that those in Western culture continue to bring to efforts to know. The book's innovative approach--an unfolding journey of discovery-through-dialogue--itself subverts standard epistemological presumptions of timeless linearity. While it offers a sustained and sophisticated philosophical argument, Loving to Know's texts and textures interweave loosely to effect therapeutic epistemic transformation in the reader.

In this ground-breaking and seminal work, esteemed Buddhist teacher Rob Burbea lays out an original and comprehensive approach to deepening insight. Starting from simple and easily accessible understandings of emptiness, Burbea presents a unique conception of the path along which he escorts the practitioner gradually, through the careful structure of the work, into ever more mystical levels of insight. Through its precise instructions, illuminating exercises and discussions that address the subtleties of both practice and understanding, Seeing That Frees opens up for the committed meditator all the profundity of the Buddha's radical teachings on emptiness. This is a book that will take time to digest and will serve as a lifelong companion on the path, leading the reader, as it does, progressively deeper into the territory of liberation. From the Foreword by Joseph Goldstein: "Rob Burbea, in this remarkable book, proves to be a wonderfully skilled guide in exploring the understanding of emptiness as the key insight in transforming our lives... It is rare to find a book that explores so deeply the philosophical underpinnings of awakening at the same time as offering the practical means to realize it."