Philosophy and Religion

With a new Preface by the noted writer Madeleine L'Engle, author of nearly fifty books of fiction and non-fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time. St. Francis of Assisi's ecstatic embrace of a life of poverty revolutionized Christianity even as it transformed the ethics of the West. In this luminous and lively book, St. Francis's followers preserved his legend and those of his first disciples, combin

Confucius is one of the most humane, rational, and lucid of moral teachers, concerned not with arcane metaphysics but with practical issues of life and conduct. What is virtue? What sort of life is most conducive to happiness? How should the state be ruled? What is the proper relationship between human beings and their environment?  In this classic translation of The Analects by Arthur Wal

In Beyond Belief, renowned religion scholar Elaine Pagels continues her groundbreaking examination of the earliest Christian texts, arguing for an ongoing assessment of faith and a questioning of religious orthodoxy. Spurred on by personal tragedy and new scholarship from an international group of researchers, Pagels returns to her investigation of the “secret” Gospel of Thomas, and breathes new

A National Jewish Book Award-winning autobiography that's "an astonishing fusion of learning and psychic intensity; its poignance and lucidity should be an authentic benefit to readers, Jewish and gentile" (The New York Times Book Review). Children have obligations to their parents: the Talmud says "one must honor him in life and one must honor him in death." Beside his father´s grave, a dil

It has long been a central conviction of western humanistic thought that reason is the most godlike of human traits, and that it makes us unique among animals. Yet if reason directs what we do, why is human behavior so often violent, irrational and disastrous? In Within Reason, leading neurologist Donald B. Calne investigates the phenomenon of rationality from an astonishingly wide array of scien

A classic work on Eastern philosophy, and a charming, deeply illuminating story of one man´s experience with Zen. Eugen Herrigel, a German professor of Philosophy in Tokyo, took up the study of archery as a step toward an understanding of Zen Buddhism. This book is the account of the six years he spent as a student of one of Japan´s great kyudo (archery) masters, and of how he gradually ove

The Bhagavad Gita is the most famous poem in all of Hindu literature and part of the Mahabharata, the ancient Indian epic masterpiece. The Gita (in Sanskrit, "Song of the Lord") consists of a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna on the morning of a climactic battle. Krishna provides Arjuna with the spiritual means to understand his own nature so that he can take action and prevail.

David Abram's first book, "The Spell of the Sensuous," hailed as "revolutionary" by the "Los Angeles Times," as "daring" and "truly original" by "Science," has become a classic of environmental ...

A wise and utterly original book of travel essays from an international bestselling author that will “give one an expansive sense of wonder” (The Baltimore Sun). Any Baedeker will tell us where we ought to travel, but only Alain de Botton will tell us how and why. With the same intelligence and insouciant charm he brought to How Proust Can Save Your Life, de Botton considers the pleasures of an

“There's no writer alive like de Botton” (Chicago Tribune), and now this internationally heralded author turns his attention to the insatiable human quest for status—a quest that has less to do with material comfort than love. Anyone who´s ever lost sleep over an unreturned phone call or the neighbor´s Lexus had better read Alain de Botton´s irresistibly clear-headed new book, immediately.

A landmark publication that offers Western readers a unique combination of what Buddhists worldwide consider the holiest of holy texts, The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra.   The Diamond Sutra, or the Perfection of Wisdom, which cuts like a thunderbolt, is one of the cornerstone texts of Mahayana Buddhism and provides a summary of the core concepts of the Buddha. The Heart Sutra, perhap

Why do some people find and sustain hope during difficult circumstances, while others do not? What can we learn from those who do, and how is their example applicable to our own lives? The Anatomy of Hope is a journey of inspiring discovery, spanning some thirty years of Dr. Jerome Groopman’s practice, during which he encountered many extraordinary people and sought to answer these questions

World-famous author Wayne Dyer, the doctor who taught millions how to take charge of their own lives in the bestselling classics Your Erroneous Zones and Pulling Your Own Strings, reveals how to help your kids take charge of their own happiness. If you have children, then you have dreams for them. You want to see them growing up happy, healthy, self-reliant, and confident in themselves and thei

For untold centuries, the shaman was the tribe′s most revered and respected member, possessing the unique ability to tap into the universal source of wisdom by journeying deep within the self -- seeking, and finding, answers to pressing questions, achieving profound understanding by avoiding the stumbling blocks of the outer material world. Developing techniqu

This new edition of the Image classic, with more than 100,000 copies sold, brings E. Allison Peers's magnificent translation of St. John of the Cross's masterpiece Dark Night of the Soul to a new generation of readers and will renew the interest of those already familiar with its soaring poetry and timeless truths. The sixteenth-century Carmelite monk St. John of the Cross stands alongside St. T

This book is based on talks by Ram Dass at the Menninger Foundation in 1970 and at the Spring Grove Hospital in Maryland in 1972. The text grew out of the interaction between Ram Dass and the spiritual seekers in attendance at these talks. The result of this unique exchange is a useful guide for understanding the nature of consciousness--useful both to other spiritual seekers and to formally tra

An important, new interpretation of the I Ching, the 5,000-year-old Chinese book of wisdom, in a unique workbook format designed to help truth-seekers find new meaning and enlightenment in its ancient lore. Designed for those actively exploring this ancient system in order to better understand their lives, The I Ching Workbook serves as a simple guide to the study and interpretation of the I Chin

Here is a guide for all Christians aspiring to union with God, which, according to Brother Lawrence, is the ultimate goal of every soul. The new Image edition of The Practice of the Presence of God is a reissue of the 1977 translation that was the first to appear in decades. It features an in-depth Introduction by John J. Delaney that examines what is known about Lawrence's life, how the book ca

By a well-known psychic and astrologer, a revealing psychological/astrological exploration of the masks we wear and the many ways our rising signs affect our personalities.

From the international bestselling author of Awareness, a pocket-sized guide that will bring you to new levels of spiritual awareness. The Way To Love contains the final flowering of Anthony de Mello's thought, and  in it he grapples with the ultimate question of  love. In thirty-one meditations, he implores his  readers with his usual pithiness to break through