The Spiritual Practice of Good Actions

The Spiritual Practice of Good Actions PDF

Author: Greg Marcus

Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide

Published: 2016-09-08

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 0738749877

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Bring your everyday life into alignment with your aspirational values through Mussar, a thousand-year-old Jewish practice of spiritual growth based on mindful living. Perfect for anyone, regardless of age or experience, this comprehensive book presents thirteen soul traits—ranging from humility and gratitude to trust and honor—and the simple daily actions you can take to develop them. Drawing on universal principles and providing grounded instruction, The Spiritual Practice of Good Actions helps you explore soul traits through daily techniques and exercises, including mantras, mindful observation, and journaling. Nurture your spirit with inspiring stories and build a soul trait profile to better understand yourself. By dedicating two weeks of practice to each trait, you'll see major changes in how you approach the world and feel empowered to be your best self. Praise: "The Spiritual Practice of Good Actions opens wide the doors to a traditional Jewish spiritual practice that has the power to transform your life."—Alan Morinis, Dean, The Mussar Institute and author of Everyday Holiness "Weaving ancient wisdom with twenty-first-century circumstances, Greg Marcus beautifully presents how the teachings of Mussar can bring you a deeper sense of purpose and a better life."—Tiffany Shlain, Emmy-nominated filmmaker and creator of The Making of a Mensch

Everyday Spiritual Practice

Everyday Spiritual Practice PDF

Author: Scott W. Alexander

Publisher: Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9781558963757

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Have you wondered, "How do I integrate my heartfelt beliefs into my daily life?" Nearly 40 contributors address this creative dilemma and share their discoveries. Creating a home altar, practicing martial arts, fasting, quilting -- these are just some of the ways they've found to make every day more meaningful and satisfying.

Deliberate Acts of Kindness

Deliberate Acts of Kindness PDF

Author: Meredith Gould

Publisher: Image

Published: 2002-05-14

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 0385505507

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An indispensable guide to the spiritual and the practical aspects of devoting one’s time and energies to the service of others. Deliberate Acts of Kindness is for people who are ready to supplement"random acts of kindness" with intentional acts of generosity, decency, and integrity. More than simply a handbook for volunteers, it explores the significance of service as an expression of spirituality and the commitment to something greater than oneself. Meredith Gould guides readers through their journeys, from recognizing when they are ready to answer the call to service to finding the right place to donate their time and talents. She offers invaluable advice on discovering the types of work that best suit their personalities and the areas in which they can make the greatest contributions. There is helpful information on how to get involved, as well as sensible suggestions about what to do when things go wrong in a service situation. An easy-to-read mix of tips, quotations, reflections, and short narrative passages, Deliberate Acts of Kindness presents a comprehensive, honest look at what service is like on a day-to-day basis. Its insights will help new volunteers and veterans alike negotiate the practical difficulties that sometimes arise and achieve the spiritual maturity that comes from answering the call to service. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Contemplative Practices in Action

Contemplative Practices in Action PDF

Author: Thomas G. Plante Ph.D.

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2010-07-15

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0313382573

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This groundbreaking primer illuminates contemplative methods that can improve mental and physical health. Contemplative practices, from meditation to Zen, are growing in popularity as methods to inspire physical and mental health. Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health offers readers an introduction to these practices and the ways they can be used in the service of well being, wisdom, healing, and stress reduction. Bringing together various traditions from the East and West, this thought-provoking work summarizes the history of each practice, highlights classic and emerging research proving its power, and details how each practice is performed. Expert authors offer step-by-step approaches to practice methods including the 8-Point Program of Passage Meditation, Centering Prayer, mindful stress management, mantram meditation, energizing meditation, yoga, and Zen. Beneficial practices from Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, and Islamic religions are also featured. Vignettes illustrate each of the practices, while the contributors explain how and why they are effective in facing challenges as varied as the loss of a partner or child, job loss, chronic pain or disease, or psychological disorders.

Essential Spirituality

Essential Spirituality PDF

Author: Roger Walsh

Publisher: Turner Publishing Company

Published: 2000-09-01

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 162045940X

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"Essential Spirituality beautifully articulates the benefits of spiritual living in the material world."-Dan Millman, author, Everyday Enlightenment and The Way of the Peaceful Warrior "Deceptively simple. Its power is rooted not only in Dr. Walsh's formidable intellectual capacity to deal effectively with a vast body of religious literature but in his own deep spiritual practices in a multitude of disciplines over many years. An important contribution."-Ram Dass, author, Be Here Now "An absolute masterpiece . . . Essential Spirituality is helpful to both the unseasoned and seasoned seeker. The writing is deep, simple, and clear yet at the same time poetic and musical. A must read."-GERALD G. JAMPOLSKY, M.D. author, Love Is Letting Go of Fear "Energetic, engaged, and occasionally electrifying. . . . The field of spiritual books has been looking for its own Lewis Thomas or Carl Sagan, and I believe Roger Walsh may be that one."-KEN WILBER, author, One Taste and A Brief History of Everything Based on over twenty years of research and spiritual practice, this is a groundbreaking and life-changing book. In his decades of study, Dr. Roger Walsh has discovered that each of the great spiritual traditions has both a common goal and seven common practices to reach that goal: recognizing the sacred and divine that exist both within and around us. Filled with stories, exercises, meditations, myths, prayers, and practical advice, Essential Spirituality shows how you can integrate these seven principles into one truly rewarding way of life in which kindness, love, joy, peace, vision, wisdom, and generosity become an ever-growing part of everything you do.

The Spiritual Practice of Remembering

The Spiritual Practice of Remembering PDF

Author: Margaret Bendroth

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2013-11-11

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13: 1467438898

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We often dismiss history as dull or irrelevant, but our modern disengagement from the past puts us fundamentally out of step with the long witness of the Christian tradition. Yet, says Margaret Bendroth, the past tense is essential to our language of faith, and without it our conversation is limited and thin. This accessible, beautifully written book presents a new argument for honoring the past. The Christian tradition gives us the powerful image of a vast communion of saints, all of God's people, both living and dead, in vital conversation with each other. This kind of connection with our ancestors in the faith, Bendroth maintains, will not happen by wishing or by accident. She argues that remembering must become a regular spiritual practice, part of the rhythm of our daily lives as we recognize our world to be, in many ways, a gift from others who have gone before.

Aging as a Spiritual Practice

Aging as a Spiritual Practice PDF

Author: Lewis Richmond

Publisher: Avery

Published: 2012-12-31

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1592407471

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Offers a Buddhist perspective on aging well, with anecdotes of the author's experiences with illness, aging, and transformation, and guided meditations.

Denial Is My Spiritual Practice

Denial Is My Spiritual Practice PDF

Author: Rachel G. Hackenberg

Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2018-05-15

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 1640650245

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Two ministers share their own stories about struggling to live out their faith. It’s the sort of experience familiar to many: Somewhere between illness and divorce, abusive relationships and brushes with death, faith failed to provide answers . . . or we failed to live as though we believed faith held answers. But surely, it’s different for clergy, the ones who preach and practice faith? But faith requires more, and authors Martha Spong and Rachel G. Hackenberg, who grew up in the church and became ordained ministers, know first-hand about coming to terms with God and life, the need to search for answers . . . or at least assurance we are not alone in struggling for renewed hope. Denial is My Spiritual Practice is a companion for the wondering and struggling. The authors offer their own stories as evidence that God remains, both when faith fails and when faith finds new understanding. They combine stark life experiences, offbeat spiritual perspectives, and Scripture to offer comfort, grace, laughter, and a few tears along the way.

A Responsible Life

A Responsible Life PDF

Author: Ira Stone

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2013-05-14

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1620328755

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"Love your neighbor" is the central obligation of Jewish life. Mussar, a late nineteenth-century Jewish renewal movement, focused on this precept as a means of self-improvement and spiritual growth. Through the practical applications of Mussar, one can learn how to awaken to a spirituality that is compassionate, moral, and generous. In this book, Rabbi Ira Stone provides a contemporary theological framework for understanding Mussar and describes how participation in a Mussar group can offer support and guidance for this powerful spiritual practice.

The God of Intimacy and Action

The God of Intimacy and Action PDF

Author: Mary Albert Darling

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2019-03-05

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1506454925

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Acclaimed evangelical speaker and writer Tony Campolo teams up with spiritual director and teacher Mary Albert Darling to reveal some gems from the liturgical Christian tradition to Protestants who may be ready for a refreshing change. While steeped in their own evangelical tradition, the authors are not afraid to venture back into Christian history and reclaim practices that have long been considered exclusively Catholic--including Centering Prayer, along with works by Ignatius Loyola and Catherine of Siena--as excellent spiritual tools to help evangelicals grow in faith and love for the poor. A vital theme in Campolo and Darling's work is that spirituality is not solely an individualistic practice but must lead Christians to love and help the oppressed. True Christian mysticism, they posit, is not an either/or proposition. That's because the nexus between evangelism and justice is to be found in Christian mysticism.