The Bahá'í Faith is a religion that was founded by Bahá'u'lláh in the mid-nineteenth century and has since spread all around the world. Though a way of life that is largely grounded in action, the mystical connection between the individual believer and God stands at its core. The seeker of truth aims to walk the mystical path with practical feet. This book highlights the place of mysticism in the Bahá'í Faith through an exploration of its sacred literature. It discusses Bahá'u'lláh’s teachings on God and creation, the purpose of life, the nature of spiritual experience and transformation, as well as the principles and practices that the spiritual seeker utilises on the path of transformation. Through this exploration we discover the potential of the human being to live an active and spiritual life in this world, drawing closer to God. Each person was created in the image of God and has the capacity to mirror all of God’s perfections, experiencing His light both in the outside world and within, in this world and the next.

'Brian Draper is Britain's foremost popular spiritual thinker; he has no equals in linking the inner with the political and personal outer. This is a remarkably practical exploration of elusive yet core elements of our existence.' - Oliver James The beauty of mindfulness is that it's incredibly simple both to 'get' and to practise. And the results - increasingly backed by neuro-scientific evidence - are priceless: calmness and reduced stress, more creativity, greater awareness, compassion. . . And yet there's a danger that mindfulness can be used in a purely consumerist and self-serving way to help people to become better adapted cogs in a still-toxic model of work and life. Brian Draper challenges us to live not just mindfully but soulfully. Not merely to be less stressed, but to flourish, dynamically and creatively - to be present - through living intentionally and compassionately.

Addressing the pervasive longing for meaning and fulfillment in this time of crisis, Nature and the Human Soul introduces a visionary ecopsychology of human development that reveals how fully and creatively we can mature when soul and wild nature guide us. Depth psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin presents a model for a human life span rooted in the cycles and qualities of the natural world, a blueprint for individual development that ultimately yields a strategy for cultural transformation. If it is true, as Plotkin and others observe, that we live in a culture dominated by adolescent habits and desires, then the enduring societal changes we so desperately need won’t happen until we individually and collectively evolve into an engaged, authentic adulthood. With evocative language and personal stories, including those of elders Thomas Berry and Joanna Macy, this book defines eight stages of human life — Innocent, Explorer, Thespian, Wanderer, Soul Apprentice, Artisan, Master, and Sage — and describes the challenges and benefits of each. Plotkin offers a way of progressing from our current egocentric, aggressively competitive, consumer society to an ecocentric, soul-based one that is sustainable, cooperative, and compassionate. At once a primer on human development and a manifesto for change, Nature and the Human Soul fashions a template for a more mature, fulfilling, and purposeful life — and a better world.

In Mystical Activism, we each hold the power to change the world right where we are. To call these "end times" is not hyperbole. We are in trouble and the signs are everywhere: extreme political divisions; xenophobic violence; enormous wealth inequity; poverty and homelessness; racism, sexism, and ageism; arms buildups and unending wars; and, most critical of all, terrifying climate disruption associated with man-made global warming. We are the cause of these dark times. Driven by left-brain beliefs, illusions and obsessions, humanity races headlong toward the collapse of civilization. Fortunately, the solution to these mounting crises also lies in the human psyche, arising from a most surprising source: the right-brain’s natural mystical consciousness. Our survival depends on whether we grasp and resolve this paradox in time.

Writing Without a Parachute: The Art of Freefall shows both beginning and experienced writers how to get the thinking mind to step aside, so that writing becomes truly creative - a vulnerable and open-hearted engagement with the moment. Here for the first time, writing teacher Barbara Turner-Vesselago shares in print the method by which, for almost 30 years, she has helped hundreds of writers to publish fiction, memoir, non-fiction and poetry worldwide. By means of five simple precepts, she leads the writer step by step into real trust in writing through the art of Freefall: invoking the courage to fall without a parachute into the words as they come. This book can be used for inspiration, as a reference, or as a sustained, twelve-month course in writing. It will help all writers to connect with their deepest intention in writing, and to write with greater authority and grace.

Reclaiming Your Sacred Path shares how to renew your autonomous relationship with Spirit using practical tools to define your heart-centered path, sustain your momentum, and build resilience along the way. Author Jon Anastasio leads the path-seeker to find their own way back to their unique connection with Spirit by using divination, manifestation, and various spiritual healing modalities to reconnect with a spiritual path. Whether your current path is not fulfilling, or you are stalled in your spiritual journey, Reclaiming Your Sacred Path will help you confirm your values, create a vision for your spiritual life, obtain spiritual guidance, and turn your vision into practical steps forward. Reclaiming Your Sacred Path is the first step in a journey to recovering the spiritual experience so many of us have lost to the daily grind of life; and its greatest value comes not just in the cornucopia of teachings Jon Anastasio shares, but in its power of rejuvenation that can be tapped into anytime you feel as though you are losing your way.

“We all sleep and wake, eat and work, dream and hope – live in the same human condition. And we all fail, at some time or another, to look beyond the surface of our lives and seek a deeper purpose.” Alex is an unfulfilled architect from Australia going through the motions of mundane life. Travelling abroad becomes a potential way to appease his discontent and even reveal the purpose in life. But will his travels help him discover the path he seeks? This is a story of wanderlust and soul searching. It is an existential travelogue, an inner and outer journey, in which Alex faces both the world outside his safe home country and also himself.

In this “deeply insightful” and “heart warming” memoir, an animal rescuer reveals “profound lessons” learned while living on an animal sanctuary (Jane Goodall). What the Animals Taught Me is a collection of stories about rescued farm animals in a shelter in Sonoma County, California, and what these animals can teach us. Each story illuminates how animals can help us see and embrace others as they truly are and reconnect us with the natural world. Wishing to escape the urban rat race, freelance writer and editor Stephanie Marohn moved to rural northern California in 1993. Life was sweet. She was a busy freelancer. In return for reduced rent, she fed and cared for two horses and a donkey. Her life was full. And then, more farm animals started to appear: a miniature white horse, a donkey, sheep, chickens, followed by deer and other wildlife. Each one needed sanctuary either from abuse, physical injury, or neglect. Marohn took each animal in and gradually turned her ten-acre spread into an animal sanctuary. A deeply inspiring collection, What the Animals Taught Me awakens our hearts and reminds us that our best life teachers sometimes come covered in fur. “One of the best books I have ever read on the way animals open our hearts and teach us unforgettable lessons about life.” —Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism and The Direct Path

The Cosmic Game discusses the broadest philosophical, metaphysical and spiritual insights gleaned in Grof's research concerning human nature and reality, addressing the most fundamental questions human beings have asked about the nature of existence since time immemorial. Insights from research into nonordinary states of consciousness portray existence as an astonishing play of the cosmic creative principle that transcends time, space, linear causality, and polarities of every kind and suggest an identity of the individual psyche in its furthest reaches with the universal creative principle and the totality of existence. This identity of the human being with the Divine is the ultimate secret that lies at the core of all great spiritual traditions.

In this updated edition of The Tarot Handbook, now with a new introduction by the author, Angeles Arrien takes tarot beyond the limits of the fortune-telling realm and shows us how this time-honored application is both a visual and symbolic map of consciousness, and a source of ancient wisdom. An exciting handbook for either a beginning or an ardent student of the tarot, it contains a multitude of charts, spreads, illustrations of the Thoth Deck, and other methodology tools for anyone looking for insights into personal and spiritual development.An anthropologist who specializes in cross-cultural myths, Arrien demonstrates how the seventy-eight figures of the tarot are portraitures and archetypes that are prevalent in the collective human experience. The author teaches us to use this realization to look beyond our cultural viewpoint or bias when we approach the tarot, and to rely instead on these more important universal principles, thereby deepening the quality and accuracy of our interpretations and expanding our awareness of the human psyche. A significant and classic piece of tarot literature, The Tarot Handbook is both a required manual for teachers and students of the subject, and an accessible and fascinating exploration of cultural anthropology.