We all tell stories about who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. These personal myths in turn shape who we become and what we believe—as individuals, families, and nations. This book offers readers the tools to detect the story line in their own lives and to write and tell it to others, opening up a hidden world of self-discovery and meaning. The numerous accessible exercises are followed by examples of personal stories and inspiring quotes to stimulate the journey to the center of one's purpose. "By the art of fantasy and imagination, story and image, these authors map the ways personal stories deepen into transpersonal mythic journeys." —David Miller, Ph.D., Watson-Ledden Professor of Religion, Syracuse University

Natural languages – idioms such as English and Cantonese, Zulu and Amharic, Basque and Nicaraguan Sign Language – allow their speakers to convey meaning and transmit meaning to one another. But what is meaning exactly? What is this thing that words convey and speakers communicate? Few questions are as elusive as this. Yet, few features are as essential to who we are and what we do as human beings as the capacity to convey meaning through language. In this book, Gaetano Fiorin and Denis Delfitto disclose a notion of linguistic meaning that is structured around three distinct, yet interconnected dimensions: a linguistic dimension, relating meaning to the linguistic forms that convey it; a material dimension, relating meaning to the material and social conditions of its environment; and a psychological dimension, relating meaning to the cognitive lives of its users. By paying special attention to the puzzle surrounding first-person reference – the way speakers exploit language to refer to themselves – and by capitalizing on a number of recent findings in the cognitive sciences, Fiorin and Delfitto develop the original hypothesis that meaningful language shares the same underlying logical and metaphysical structure of sense perception, effectively acting as a system of classification and discrimination at the interface between cognitive agents and their ecologies.

This book explores the concept that the reality which is created by the consciousness inherent in the Western worldview is exceptionally limiting and probably unsustainable. After describing the contexts within which the book was written the author documents his personal journey in search of wholeness and meaning. From his experience of this journey he suggests that the wisdom, insight, and praxis contained within - what he describes as the meta-narratives of - Holism, Indigenous cultures, and Eastern traditions are manifestations of a holistic consciousness. The author explores the concept that a shift to such a holistic consciousness is required in order to redress the imbalance that is evident in all humanity's relationships, and he suggests that enabling such a shift in consciousness would have deep implications for the concepts and contexts of community, adult learning, meaningful work, and sustainability.

We’re all on a journey. We all want more meaning than what we have at the present moment. We wouldn’t be human if we did not. Imagining Eternity is about one person’s journey. It’s an honest and forthright account of a human being looking for lasting value and purpose in his life. In this, Imagining Eternity is everyone’s story, a thoroughly human sojourn into the dreams, pain, hopes, and longings which all of us explore and encounter. It’s a mirror, not so much of content, but of form, of the universal realities we all face in our quest to find value in our existence. We’re all looking for permanence. Imagining Eternity is one person’s telling of how he found it.

The bestselling Journey to the West comic book by artist Chang Boon Kiat is now back in a brand new fully coloured edition. Journey to the West is one of the greatest classics in Chinese literature. It tells the epic tale of the monk Xuanzang who journeys to the West in search of the Buddhist sutras with his disciples, Sun Wukong, Sandy and Pigsy. Along the way, Xuanzang's life was threatened by the diabolical White Bone Spirit, the menacing Red Child and his fearsome parents and, a host of evil spirits who sought to devour Xuanzang's flesh to attain immortality. Bear witness to the formidable Sun Wukong's (Monkey God) prowess as he takes them on, using his Fiery Eyes, Golden Cudgel, Somersault Cloud, and quick wits! Be prepared for a galloping read that will leave you breathless!

Natural languages – idioms such as English and Cantonese, Zulu and Amharic, Basque and Nicaraguan Sign Language – allow their speakers to convey meaning and transmit meaning to one another. But what is meaning exactly? What is this thing that words convey and speakers communicate? Few questions are as elusive as this. Yet, few features are as essential to who we are and what we do as human beings as the capacity to convey meaning through language. In this book, Gaetano Fiorin and Denis Delfitto disclose a notion of linguistic meaning that is structured around three distinct, yet interconnected dimensions: a linguistic dimension, relating meaning to the linguistic forms that convey it; a material dimension, relating meaning to the material and social conditions of its environment; and a psychological dimension, relating meaning to the cognitive lives of its users. By paying special attention to the puzzle surrounding first-person reference – the way speakers exploit language to refer to themselves – and by capitalizing on a number of recent findings in the cognitive sciences, Fiorin and Delfitto develop the original hypothesis that meaningful language shares the same underlying logical and metaphysical structure of sense perception, effectively acting as a system of classification and discrimination at the interface between cognitive agents and their ecologies.

The journey through a significant loss in your life such as the death of a loved one, a special relationship or ailing health is something that no one is truly ever prepared for. Your life is forever changed in that moment. The meaning is lost and it's hard to know how to continue moving forward. This book shares the author's stories of her loss of her baby, going through a divorce, experiencing a debilitating illness and how she guided her teenage daughter through the tragic death of her best friend. She has been writing her thoughts, her emotions and what she has learned from all of her losses since her baby died and has now combined all of it in this book. The insights, teachings and lessons that are shared will provide you with reassurance that what you are feeling and experiencing in your grieving process is normal, how to begin to create meaning in your life once again and provide you with hope for your future. The grieving process, the experience of the void and the choice to live fully once again takes a willingness to accept what is, surrender and release the grief and a decision to move forward and rise.

Perhaps the most important conclusion we might draw from Jung is that Christ's work of redemption is not complete because it only reached consciousness. The coming of Christ meant that evil was repressed to the unconscious psyche from where it erupts in periodic bouts of conflict such as we saw in the last century. The archetypes of the collective unconscious that provide the framework of reality have no morality and it remains for the individual to fill the archetypes with their own meaning and moral direction or else they will have none, just alternating patterns of light and dark, Antichrist and redeemer, war and peace. How could one ever hope to approach such a task? Such is the subject of Jung's most important work. Jung deconstructed Christianity and alchemy, taking both back to its most psychologically important symbolic material, before putting the pieces back together again in an 'individuation process' that seeks to integrate the core archetypes, ultimately leading to the realisation of a transcendent Self. This brings a renewal of the Christ symbol in an individual symbol of the Self that integrates the unconscious psyche. The challenge for the reader is that Jung was writing in exploratory fashion and so individuation is not addressed in one place but rather dealt with piecemeal through the Collected Works, a large and intimidating body of work. Even so it is the definitive source where the reader must ultimately go to get the most from individuation. There is however a place for a bridging work that helps orientate the reader and set the scene. Such is the goal of this book. Having taken so much from Jung in my own life, it is my humble attempt to give something back. I use the concept of the theatre to take us into Jung because it has certain features that aid in understanding the structure of the psyche, and also a structure that can provide a more grounded and familiar context for the rest of Jung's work.The book includes a Foreword by Jacquie Flecknoe-Brown, a Jungian analyst and author of The Dreamer's Odyssey.

Film Music reveals the immense possibilities of both films and film music that may well lead to re-imagining civilization. The book is a provocative deep dive into the nature of media, felt meaning, and our relationship to both. Paired with the new world of virtual reality, Film Music examines the primary art form of this century with new eyes and ears, and offers a road map to the future. Readers will be stunned beyond disbelief.

Prelude and aftermath of a lynching in Georgia, depicting the South's unsolved racial problem.