The Alchemy of Prayer

The Alchemy of Prayer PDF

Author: Loretta M. Siani Ph.D.

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2011-04-15

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 1462003184

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The Alchemy of Prayer offers an eminently readable, step-by-step spiritual guide that puts the complex metaphysics of prayer taught in A Course in Miracles into everyday terms. If youre skeptical about the power of prayer or have little faith in the traditional Christian approach to prayer, this book is for you. Its central thesis is that prayer is not an act of communication that begins with us and ends with God, but rather that it is an act of communication that begins with God and ends with us; were it not for this fact, wed be oblivious to prayer. Indeed, The Alchemy of Prayer proposes that we were actually created out of prayer. The power surge that emanated out of Gods first prayer not only sparked us into existence; it forever established our minds as natural channels for receiving and sending His same kind of prayer. This explains why today, eons after creation, were still wired for prayer. Moreover, it also explains why prayers not modeled after Gods primal prayer seemingly go unanswered. All of this begs the question: how is it that weve forgotten how to pray the way God wired us to pray? How is it that the apple has fallen so far from the tree? This intellectually engaging book seeks to answer these questions for you and aims to provoke a sea change in your fundamental thinking about the kind of God in which you believe, as well as what true prayer really is.

The Alchemy of Prayer

The Alchemy of Prayer PDF

Author: Loretta M. Siani Phd

Publisher:

Published: 2011-04

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9781462003174

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"The Alchemy of Prayer" offers an eminently readable, step-by-step spiritual guide that puts the complex metaphysics of prayer taught in "A Course in Miracles" into everyday terms. If you're skeptical about the power of prayer or have little faith in the traditional Christian approach to prayer, this book is for you. Its central thesis is that prayer is not an act of communication that begins with us and ends with God, but rather that it is an act of communication that begins with God and ends with us; were it not for this fact, we'd be oblivious to prayer. Indeed, "The Alchemy of Prayer" proposes that we were actually created out of prayer. The power surge that emanated out of God's first prayer not only sparked us into existence; it forever established our minds as natural channels for receiving and sending His same kind of prayer. This explains why today, eons after creation, we're still wired for prayer. Moreover, it also explains why prayers not modeled after God's primal prayer seemingly go unanswered. All of this begs the question: how is it that we've forgotten how to pray the way God wired us to pray? How is it that the apple has fallen so far from the tree? This intellectually engaging book seeks to answer these questions for you and aims to provoke a sea change in your fundamental thinking about the kind of God in which you believe, as well as what true prayer really is.

The Golden Cord

The Golden Cord PDF

Author: Dr Adonijah Ogbonnaya

Publisher:

Published: 2018-09-12

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 9780994697448

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In September of 1970, on the way to a farm, I began to say the Lord's Prayer. "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." As these lines flowed from my lips, I knew something was happening to me. It was as though someone else was speaking through me. I could not resist. I kept speaking. I could hear myself saying, "Give us this day our daily bread," and the rest that follows, as the whole landscape melted away. The trees, the fields and the hills in that moment began to move as if they were liquid oil reflecting light. Powerful lights shone through. I could still hear myself in the distance, faintly whispering the Lord's Prayer. My whole being was passing through dimensions that, until this day, I can hardly find words to describe. I stood before a vast stream of indescribable light, rivers of golden fire, and waves of blue flame - as one finds towards the end of a burning candle, but infinitely larger in dimensions. Since then, the Lord's Prayer has held a supernatural fascination for me. That moment with the Lord's Prayer opened up for me the vistas of the Heavenly dimensions. The pattern and process of this prayer were the magma that formed the stone of my prayer life. Of the numerous spiritual experiences I have had through the years, this one was so indelibly imprinted into the depth of my soul that I find myself returning to the Lord's Prayer in times of confusion. This meditation has never failed to yield fruit.

The Book of the Secrets of Prayer and its Requirements

The Book of the Secrets of Prayer and its Requirements PDF

Author: Imam Al-Ghazali

Publisher: Islam Digital

Published:

Total Pages: 82

ISBN-13: 1780410115

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This book describes the importance of prayer and its requirements. It describes what is essential for the disciple in terms of the external acts and its inner secrets of prayer, and revealing its refined hidden meanings in terms of humility, sincerity and intention. Presented to the English speaking public is a translation of two chapters of Ghazal's great work, Ihya .ulum al-din. The chapter is entitled kitabasrar al-salah (the book of the secrets of prayer and its requirements). This translation was originally carried out by E E Caverley which I have edited in places to give the reader a clearer understanding of the text and correcting the Quranic references. I have also included in the book the prophetic narrations in the original Arabic to give the reader of Arabic a fuller flavour of the intended meaning. The two chapters selected are entitled "fefadail al-salahwa al-sajudwa-aljama.hwa al-azaanwaibarihaï" (virtue of the prayer, prostration, congregation, call to prayer and its precepts). And the third chapter from the book entitled fee shuruut al-batinah min a.amaal al-qalb. (Inward stipulations for the acts of the heart) The first chapter generally focuses on the pre-eminent status of prayer and its superiority over all other forms of worship in Islam. Instilling in the one who is about to initiate the prayer the enormity and seriousness of the action. The second chapter in the book focuses on the mind-set of the one who is engaged in prayer, humility being a fundamental pillar in this regard. Imam Ghazali also offers practical remedies to attain this status of humility and describes the base nature of heedlessness before one's Creator. I hope this book acts as a means of proximity since nothing can facilitate this noble goal to reach one's Lord but the Prayer. But prostate in adoration, and bring thyself the closer (to Allah) Surah Alaq.19

Prayer of the Heart in Christian and Sufi Mysticism

Prayer of the Heart in Christian and Sufi Mysticism PDF

Author: Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Publisher: The Golden Sufi Center

Published: 2012-05-01

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1890350354

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"... parallels the prayer practices of Sufi and Christian mysticism with ease.... Vaughan-Lee's prayerful prose is poetic, inclusive, and intelligent." —Publishers Weekly Prayer of the Heart in Christian & Sufi Mysticism guides the reader through the stages of mystical prayer. Mystical prayer is a way to create a living relationship with the Divine within the heart. Drawing on Christian and Sufi sources such as St. Teresa of Avila, Attar, St. John of the Cross, and Rumi, as well as from his own experience, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee describes how prayer is first born of need, but then takes one deep within the heart, into the stages of Union and Ecstasy. Through mystical prayer, one is drawn beyond any words into the interior silence of real communion with God. Here, in the silence within the heart, a meeting and merging takes place that carries us beyond our self into the mystery of divine presence, into the secret nature of love's oneness. Prayer of the Heart in Christian and Sufi Mysticism explores the inner listening of the heart, and the secret of 'pray without ceasing' in which we discover how prayer becomes alive within the heart. Finally there is a chapter on the need at this time to pray for the Earth. How can we pray for the well-being of the Earth? How can we include the Earth in our prayers and our heart? This little book is an offering of the heart that brings together the Christian and Sufi mystical traditions in the oneness of love to which they belong. It will benefit any practitioner of prayer, anyone who is drawn to discover a relationship with God within their heart. “... with the understated simplicity of a true spiritual master, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee seamlessly weaves these complementary traditions into a single tapestry of singular power and beauty... this book offers yet another profound contribution to the collective evolution of our hearts.” —Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, from the Foreword "... draws together the Christian and Sufi traditions of mystical prayer ... Vaughan-Lee's clearly written little guide will be gratifying and absorbing for those interested in mysticism and alternate routes toward the love of God." —Library Journal “... an excellent book ... As we recover more and more of the ancient contemplative traditions, we are finding immense similarities in goal, practice, and effects. At the mystical level, we are seemingly talking about the same experience, despite our different vocabularies and styles! Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee makes this sacred journey both clear and inviting.” —Fr. Richard Rohr, Franciscan Priest, author, and founder Center for Action and Contemplation

Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World

Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World PDF

Author: Scott Noegel

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2010-11-01

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 9780271046006

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In the religious systems of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, gods and demigods were neither abstract nor distant, but communicated with mankind through signs and active intervention. Men and women were thus eager to interpret, appeal to, and even control the gods and their agents. In Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World, a distinguished array of scholars explores the many ways in which people in the ancient world sought to gain access to--or, in some cases, to bind or escape from--the divine powers of heaven and earth. Grounded in a variety of disciplines, including Assyriology, Classics, and early Islamic history, the fifteen essays in this volume cover a broad geographic area: Greece, Egypt, Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Topics include celestial divination in early Mesopotamia, the civic festivals of classical Athens, and Christian magical papyri from Coptic Egypt. Moving forward to Late Antiquity, we see how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam each incorporated many aspects of ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman religion into their own prayers, rituals, and conceptions. Even if they no longer conceived of the sun, moon, and the stars as eternal or divine, Christians, Jews, and Muslims often continued to study the movements of the heavens as a map on which divine power could be read. The reader already familiar with studies of ancient religion will find in Prayer, Magic, and the Stars both old friends and new faces. Contributors include Gideon Bohak, Nicola Denzey, Jacco Dieleman, Radcliffe Edmonds, Marvin Meyer, Michael G. Morony, Ian Moyer, Francesca Rochberg, Jonathan Z. Smith, Mark S. Smith, Peter Struck, Michael Swartz, and Kasia Szpakowska. Published as part of Penn State's Magic in History series, Prayer, Magic, and the Stars appears at a time of renewed interest in divination and occult practices in the ancient world. It will interest a wide audience in the field of comparative religion as well as students of the ancient world and late antiquity.

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening PDF

Author: Cynthia Bourgeault

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1561012629

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Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening is a complete guidebook for all who wish to know the practice of Centering Prayer.

Prayer

Prayer PDF

Author: Philip Zaleski

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2006-10

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 9780618773602

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Paying homage to prayer traditions from around the world and throughout history, this celebration of prayer covers everything from Pentacoastalist revivals to the sacred pipe to the Catholic rosary.