Dazzling Bodies

Dazzling Bodies PDF

Author: Richard Valantasis

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2014-10-23

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1625647808

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Spirituality is always developed and nurtured in community, and communities have particular spiritualities. Dazzling Bodies promotes practices and performances as the basis for individual and community spiritual formation by analyzing specific experiences and real-life situations in personal and corporate life. Three bodies are delineated as the basis for spiritual formation: the physical body, the social body, and the corporate body. Drawing on theories of communication (semiotics, social semiotics, and narrative theory), the book examines personal and corporate spiritual formation, both by plotting the ways community systems create solidarity, and by analyzing community systems for the modulation of power at work. Dazzling Bodies explores the development of a specific language system for each community, taking the sermon as the primary instrument of community formation. Liturgy and worship receive special attention. A theory of asceticism, based on specific performances, founded in renewed social relationships, and forming an alternative symbolic universe, provides parameters for individual and corporate spiritual formation.

A Radical Jew

A Radical Jew PDF

Author: Daniel Boyarin

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 0520212142

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Talmudic scholar Daniel Boyarin turns to the Epistles of Paul as the spiritual autobiography of a first-century Jewish cultural critic and explores what led Paul--in his dramatic conversion to Christianity--to such a radical critique of Jewish culture. "Boyarin's incisive questioning is relevant to cultural clashes in many parts of the world".--Robin Scroggs, PRINCETON SEMINARY BULLETIN.

Sappho's Sweetbitter Songs

Sappho's Sweetbitter Songs PDF

Author: Lyn Hatherly Wilson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-07-04

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1134799721

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Fourfold Path

The Fourfold Path PDF

Author: Magdalena Lovejoy

Publisher: iUniverse

Published:

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1532050186

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

How Do We Become Free and Enter into the Mystery of Life? The Fourfold Path takes us on a healing journey inspired by the philosopher Plato and his teachings on how to know yourself by transcending all limitations within the human space. The model of transcendence leaves behind the metaphors we live by to pioneer humankind into the deepest and most powerful gnosis ever attained through the love of wisdom. Through transcendence, you can discover how to free yourself from the suffering that obstructs the complete vision of the soul. You can heal from the unconscious processes and go beyond the limitations of the ego. Once you have learned the Path, you can attain enlightenment and become like God, and attain the characteristics of divinity, immortality, and bliss. Transcendence is basic to all human cultures who move through the limitless possibilities given to humankind to evolve using the wisdom of the mind and the wisdom of the heart. This wisdom invites us to go deeper and move from self-realization to knowledge of God. Life itself inspires this change through the experiences of love, birth, death, miracles, blessings, and family. True enlightenment occurs when we process these life experiences as lessons on a soul journey that initiate a spiritual awakening. It is as simple as arguing that there are two identities: a true self and a false self. Philosophy is the means to know the difference between the two, while transcendence is the path that can lead humankind to know the truth. When humankind comes to know their true selves, they will be set free from suffering. This is the ascent toward what Plato called The Good, which many believe is also called God. The Fourfold Path shows us how to leave behind the limitations of the human space to discover a sacred place in communication and communion with Spirit, so you can become one with God and find true happiness.

Gods, Kings & Slaves

Gods, Kings & Slaves PDF

Author: Venketesh R.

Publisher: Hachette India

Published: 2013-10-25

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 9350096137

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

War is coming... Peninsular India, fourteenth century. The Pandyan empire is at its peak, its enemies subdued and its people at peace. Having left behind his step-brother Sundar in the race to the throne, Crown Prince Veera Pandyan is set to rule from Madurai, reputed to be the richest city in the subcontinent. But invisible fractures within the kingdom threaten to destroy it, and a new enemy approaches, swifter than anyone can imagine. In Delhi, Sultan Alauddin Khilji’s trusted general, the eunuch Malik Kafur, has trained his eyes on the distant south, fabled for its riches. A slave captured by the Khiljis, Kafur is renowned for his ambition and cunning. None, not even the mighty Mongols, have defeated him – no empire can withstand the trail of destruction he leaves in his wake. And all he wants is to see Madurai on its knees, its wealth pillaged, its temples destroyed. As an ancient city combusts in flames of treachery, bloodlust and revenge, brother will battle brother, ambition will triumph over love, slaves will rise to rule, cities will be razed to dust, and the victor will be immortalized in history...