Religion

2022 Foreword INDIES Award Winner | Silver: Body, Mind  Spirit

2023 IPPY Award Winner | Bronze: New Age/Mind, Body, Spirit

Hidden in the darkness is an ancient secret suppressed by every aspect of our light-drunk modern world—there is a Great Mother from the bottom of time who has always guided us through perils and calamities. Now is the hour of Her return.

“An exigent, affecting summons to rediscover the night.”—Kirkus Reviews

Is darkness synonymous with ignorance and evil? Or is it the original matrix from which all life emerges, and the Mother to whom it returns? Higher and higher levels of artificial illumination have suppressed our contact with the numinous since the Industrial Revolution, with dire consequences for society, our planetary ecology, and our souls. This mystical testament weaves together paleobiology, memoir, history, science, and spiritual archaeology to lead readers back into the lost mysteries of the dark. Not since The Teachings of Don Juan or Ishmael has a book diagnosed with such urgency and cultural coherence the problems at the heart of modern life.

In Waking Up to the Dark, Clark Strand offers penetrating insight into the spiritual enrichment that can be found when we pull the plug on our billion-watt culture. He argues that the insomnia so many of us experience as “the Hour of the Wolf” is really “the Hour of God”—a wellspring of rest and renewal, and an ancient reservoir of ancestral wisdom and inspiration. And in a powerful yet surprising turn, he shares with us an urgent message for the world, received through a mysterious young woman he calls Our Lady of Climate Change (aka THE VIRGIN MARY), about the challenges we all know are coming.

"This book is at once a love letter to Zen practice and a critique of late twentieth century American Zen. Judith inspires us to investigate our own karmic knots, and in the middle of this suffering, she invites us to walk quietly down to the neighborhood pond and take a cooling dip in the moonlight." —Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones, and many other books

Untangling Karma is a memoir of accepting and healing personal trauma, both on and off the meditation cushion. Author Judith Ragir, an American Zen teacher, has used her spiritual practice to overcome anger and self-imposed isolation and become more loving. 

In Buddhism, the personal and the systemic are interwoven. If we are to heal from trauma, we need to find and face our deeply held, often hidden pain. Because we have been raised in a society of greed, aggression, and confused values, this is something we all must do, regardless of our ethnic or racial background.

Ragir lets fall the stereotypical cool, calm Zen teacher’s demeanor to reveal her complicated, emotional self. She discusses what she has done to find greater inner peace as well as the personal impacts of transferring an Eastern philosophy onto her Western mind and applying a male-inspired monastic model to herself as an American woman, Jew, and mother. Untangling Karma is at once a love letter to Zen Buddhism and a critique of turn-of-the-century American Zen.

If we can be bold when facing our personal pain and traumatic experiences, says Ragir, and curious about our own karmic histories, then we can help build a more inclusive, healing-focused, 21st-century Buddhism.

“This is one of the best books on Zen and Zen practice that I have read in years. Busshō uses a well-known Zen song/poem to elucidate the key features of Zen meditation, practice and life….It brings the famous Zen master’s teaching alive while also showing how it is relevant to Zen practice in the 21st century." —Tim Burkett, author of Nothing Holy About It and Zen in the Age of Anxiety

Foreword Book of the Year Finalist (Nonfiction: Religion)

Singing and Dancing Are the Voice of the Law introduces us to one of the great works of Zen literature, “The Song of Zazen.” Zen teacher Busshō Lahn illuminates Hakuin’s enigmatic poem in plain language, unpacking it and applying it to contemporary life. His book offers a wealth of information on the context and content of this eighteenth-century work, clearly evoking its themes of abiding wisdom, meditation, compassionate self-regard, and our own everyday life’s potential to express deep spiritual truth.

Short stanza by short stanza, this exceptionally readable and deeply engaging book shows how the poem’s teachings and invitations are as applicable now as they were when they were first written nearly three centuries ago. Lahn offers readers an intuitive and progressive path of exploration of their spiritual lives, regardless of their faith tradition.

In a time when abuse at the hands of religious leaders is too common, comes this guide to making the most of the Zen tradition while protecting and empowering yourself.

While the liberation that Zen offers is real, it must be engaged with carefully, explains this sensei. Her book is neither a memoir about a single case of abuse nor a bloodless academic study. Nelson reflects on the multiple dangers in Zen, from firsthand experience in Boston—where documented abuse recently took place—integrating her discussion at every step with core Zen teachings. 

“This is a thoroughly engaging exploration based on deep knowledge of the tradition as well as contemporary research.” —Martine Batchelor, author, Principles of Zen 

“Practicing Safe Zen imparts a lesson we all will have to learn if we want to truly mature in our spiritual practice.” —Barry Magid, author, Ending the Pursuit of Happiness

This collection of genuine teachings resonates with an authenticity that comes from Yoshin's many years of practice. It is both profound and practical.

A Temporary Affair is a collection of talks given at Sunday morning sittings at the Ithaca Zen Center by Yoshin David Radin, abbot and founder of the Ithaca Zen Center for the past 40 years. The talks contained here were given at a time when Yoshin’s health was severely compromised by end stage renal failure. In February 2019, he received a kidney transplant from a member of Ithaca Zen Center, to whom the publication is dedicated.

The collection of 31 talks contains the insight of the individual dharma talks themselves, as well as the underlying story of how the dharma teachings helped the author cope, and even thrive, with his continuing loss of kidney function. The talks go right up to the days before he was admitted to the hospital. The comfort and guidance he received from the dharma during the times when he was most ill have been a great inspiration to all who know him, as they will to readers. In his own words, “How extraordinary, how blessed, how wonderful, to have met the teachings that free us from suffering when in difficult places.” Through these talks the reader can clearly see how he put that wisdom to use in his own life situation, and how they can do so as well.

“We have a contemplation problem,” and here’s what to do about it.

Jacob Riyeff draws on 1,600 years of contemplative tradition in the West to show how humans are contemplative beings, what it means to contemplate in different areas of life, and how embracing a contemplative life can help lead anyone to a fuller experience of self, world, and communion with the Divine.

This is a volume of “spiritual theology,” using theological principles and understandings but exploring how to apply those principles and understandings to shape one’s daily living. Drawing on the ways that John Cassian, St. Benedict, Gregory the Great, William of Saint-Thierry, Dame Gertrude More, and others shaped and passed on the Christian inheritance, Contemplate brings this directly to bear on contemporary social and cultural situations. It seeks to answer the question, what does the contemplative tradition of the Latin west have to offer Christians living post-industrial, digitally-saturated, ecologically fraught lives?

This book is first in a new series, “Beyond Our Instincts”: succinct, multi-disciplinary, countercultural stances in an environment that sells us the idea that happiness is whatever you want now. These authors—all scholars of religion who are also religiously involved—suggest there are more important things, including some we may have forgotten.
     Coming in future publishing seasons:
     *Join (being together; refusing too much solitariness)
     *Imagine (on opting out of technique-obsessed culture)
     *Wait (the lost value of open questions and not-knowing)

Zen is the ideal path for those who have left institutional religion behind.

In this liminal moment, when the grip of our old religions has loosened, a prominent Zen practitioner asks: What is religion? What is spirituality? And what is it all about? 

Ford begins by invoking the ideas of Aldous Huxley, welcoming what he calls a “naturalistic perennialism.” Ford believes there are currents of religion that are rooted in our biology. And as something natural, it is something that people can find within all religions, in fact, the heart birthing of all religions. 

Then, true to the book’s title, Ford asks and answers, “Why then, Zen?” and demonstrates how pure Zen is as simple as noticing and waking: an expression of an intimate way of life. 

Four noble truths, ox herding pictures, samadhi, koan, lovingkindness, and many other Zen essentials are here, in succinct and conversational prose that offers a lifeboat to anyone who feels something missing in the absence of religious life.

The author of The Jew in the Lotus seeks to answer the Dalai Lama’s question.

Rodger Kamenetz, author of international bestseller The Jew in the Lotus, about a pilgrimage of rabbis to see H.H. the Dalai Lama (a historic dialogue between Jewish and Buddhist masters), watched as the rabbis asked H.H. in Dharamsala, “How does your spiritual practice purify afflictive emotions?” Rodger explains in this book, “This is the most fundamental question we might ask of any spiritual practice, any religion or philosophy of life. How do your practices help you purify afflictive emotions such as anxiety, envy, resentment, and shame?”

Kamenetz sets out to answer this question experimentally, in spiritual practice, through the contemplation of images in memory, dreams, perception, and prayer. These practices lead to a life of feeling which displaces negativity and reactivity.

Seeing into the Life of Things will help readers cultivate these skills—perception, memory, dreams, and prayer. The book is structured as a commentary on these practices building step-by-step from the simple “count your blessings” to more difficult images in dreams. Kamenetz shows how to use dreams as prompts and scripts, in order to learn how to experience feelings by acting them out.

Memoir and narrative threads also run through the book, revolving around the author’s relationship with Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi—the most important Jewish teacher of the 20th century and the anchor of that trip to Dharamsala in 1990.

"Judaism Without Tribalism is a blessing, a much-needed challenge, and a deep well of wisdom and sanity." —Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones

This book investigates Judaism at its best—and sanest. It strips away outdated and harmful beliefs that have accrued over the centuries and returns to the essential truths that are too-often ignored in favor of tradition, tribal identity, or the claims of the powerful.

The result is a vibrant Judaism for the 21st century and beyond—a Judaism that draws deeply from history and scripture yet addresses the unmet needs of the present and the future. It is a Judaism that is open and accessible to everyone.

Judaism without tribalism is a call to be a light unto the nations, and a blessing to all the people of the earth. It is a Judaism free from legalism and tribalism—a Judaism that refuses to serve patriarchy and power.

Written by one of today's most respected—and most unconventional—Jewish thinkers, Judaism Without Tribalism is a manifesto, an invitation to completeness, and a call for inner and outer spiritual revolution. It is also a deeply practical guide to living authentically, breath by breath and day by day.

This is what happened at the famous Zen monastery south of San Francisco.

From the award-winning and best-selling author of the biography of Shunryu Suzuki (Crooked Cucumber), comes a memoir and oral history of Tassajara—a monastery founded by the San Franciscan Zen Center in 1967. Peopled like a Sixties film of Buddhism invasion, with hippies, dreamers, lovers, and the first serious practitioners in the US. Nyogen Senzaki, D.T. Suzuki, Alan Watts, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, and of course Shunryu Suzuki and Richard Baker are all here. This is the story of what happened at the founding of the first Zen monastery in the West.

Offers letters of the Sanskrit alphabet as key to understanding Yoga and the Divine

These original meditations on the Sanskrit letters range from personal narratives to metaphysical and theological speculations, linguistic play, and inter-spiritual allusions to other works and traditions, all relevant to living a contemplative life in the contemporary world.

Sowder’s book is anchored in the devotional Tantrik, Śaiva-Śakta tradition, focused on the Divine Feminine, but allusions to western mystics (Christian, Jewish, Muslim) also appear frequently. No other book like this exists.

Succinct, inspiring biography of a bridge-building Jewish leader, supplemented by 15 black-and-white photographs

On March 21, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights organizers led 8,000 protesters on a 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery. They invited a distinguished group of national religious figures to join them in the front lines. One of these was Abraham Joshua Heschel—a gifted Jewish scholar, teacher, and speaker, whose recent book, The Prophets (1962)—a detailed study of the ancient biblical champions of justice and mercy—was a source of great inspiration to Dr. King and others.

As Heschel walked arm-in-arm with his colleagues, he was easy to spot in the crowd: He was a short, stocky man with flowing white hair, a bushy beard, who wore a dark yarmulke (Jewish head covering). Like the prophets of old, Heschel believed that standing up for others—particularly the most vulnerable members of society—is a sacred obligation. He later wrote, the religious person must seek to hold God and humankind “in one thought at one time,” suffering “harm done to others,” making “compassion” one’s “greatest passion.”

Heschel first learned these essential values as a child in Eastern Europe. This little book is his story.

This bilingual edition of St. Teresa of Avila’s poems with commentary engages readers with all facets of the Saint’s life: the mystic and monastic reformer, the artist and proto-feminist, and the philosopher with a penchant for paradox.

“What a gift then to read Dana Delibovi’s translations of St Teresa d’Ávila’s complete poems—sweet treasure!—so elegant and concise, the language lyrical yet simple and accessible, the music of the stanzas and the profundity of her voice carried into English. I also appreciated Delibovi’s curation: the short introductions and thematic arrangement of the poems—nothing overly ponderous and academic. It’s as if we are on a pilgrimage into the heart and soul and song of this amazing woman and spiritual leader and poet.” —Julia Alvarez, poet, novelist, and essayist; author of The Cemetery of Untold Stories

“Saint Teresa has, at last, found an English translator who has deeply penetrated the poet’s essence, her revelatory reverence and rapturous beauty.” —Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno, author of Night Suite, Remission, and A Continual Pilgrimage: American Writers in Paris, 1944-1960

St. Teresa of Avila’s poems, written in the 16th century, speak to the spiritual longing of our times and invite us to find peace amid turmoil. St. Teresa walked a path of grace, seeking the divine within the human soul, and her poetry lights this path for all of us. This is the first translation of St. Teresa’s poetry by a woman poet and captures the saint’s spiritual vigor and famously conversational tone in English. That voice is echoed in well-researched commentary strengthened by the translator’s willingness to share her spiritual journey.

“Reading Ellen Bernstein's Toward a Holy Ecology is to partake in a garden of delights. She refreshes our reading of the Song by enlivening all of our senses." —Rabbi Nancy Flam, Co-founder National Center for Jewish Healing, and The Institute for Jewish Spirituality

Song of Songs is known as the erotic part of the Bible, but Ellen Bernstein shows how it is also an ancient source of deep ecological wisdom.

Toward a Holy Ecology is a new translation of this Hebrew text, illuminating the place of humans in the natural world and inviting you to develop a holy, ecological language for life.

This book sets the natural world before you with intensity and beauty, inviting you to savor it with all your senses. Then you are able to return to the world with a renewed clarity, love, and energy necessary for creating a healthier future for the earth and all her inhabitants.

Toward a Holy Ecology is for all who love the earth and its inhabitants—including outdoor enthusiasts, spiritual seekers, fellow poets, feminists, and students of the humanities, religion, and ecology. It will change how you see, how you speak, and how you live.

Epistolary biography of a bridge-building 20th century Christian-Hindu spiritual leader

This fascinating biography of Swāmī Abhishiktānanda (Henri Le Saux) is based on a vast collection of letters written to friends and family over his twenty-five years in India.

Swāmī Abhishiktānanda (1910-1973)—a French Catholic monk, who came to India in 1948 and settled there till the end of his life in 1973—was one of the most fascinating spiritual figures of the twentieth century and a bridge-builder between Christian and Hindu traditions. After nineteen years of living in a Benedictine monastery in France, his passionate longing to realize the Truth brought him face-to-face with Indian spirituality and paved the way for him to meet one of the greatest contemporary sages of India, Shri Ramana Maharshi.

This book illustrates the spiritual trajectory of an extraordinary pioneer of interreligious dialogue and a bridge-builder between Christian and Hindu traditions, from his first arrival in South India in 1948 towards his spiritual Awakening in Rishikesh on July 14, 1973.

Enlightened Contemporaries is the first book to compare the lives and teachings of three of the world's most admired spiritual masters: Francis of Assisi, the Christian saint; Dogen, the great Zen Buddhist teacher; and Rumi, the Islamic Sufi master. They lived during the same turbulent century. They integrated mystical experiences of the sacred into their lives, and they can inspire us to do the same.

Enlightened Contemporaries combines robust scholarship with brisk, engaging, lyrical prose. Offering a thorough introduction for the general reader as well as specialists, it will appeal to those who enjoy an interfaith approach to spiritual exploration, one that links Christian, Buddhist, and Islamic mystical teachings within a vibrant historical context and shows how they not only complement each other but remain profoundly relevant in the twenty-first century.

Bringing Saint Francis, Dogen, and Rumi vividly to life as complex and compelling human beings, Enlightened Contemporaries lucidly explains their spiritual paths, explores the dynamic age in which these three pioneering teachers struggled and triumphed, and investigates their remarkable poetry. It also deftly examines how Francis, Dogen, and Rumi engaged the world in the context of five shared themes: spiritual love, nature, the body, the role of women, and balancing retreat from society with active involvement. By interweaving the spiritual lives of these Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim teachers, Enlightened Contemporaries will help readers enhance their own lives and find new paths of spiritual understanding.

Replicable experiences of God according to Francis of Assisi, offered on the 800th anniversary of his death.

Never have we needed more to experience God—to feel God. Francis of Assisi was spiritual before anyone used that word, and he was religious in the best ways. We love him because he cut through the paraphernalia to get back to religion where it belongs: working in the human heart, making a difference in everyday life.

Anyone can do the things Francis did, summarized in these 36 ways of experiencing God. Examples offered through anecdote, text, and explanation include “Free captive creatures,” “Pray alone in the woods,” “Allow yourself to weep,” “Stand between those who fight,” “Make a cross with your arms,” and “Pray ‘Who are you, God? And who am I?’” Sweeney introduces each with faithful attention to the original sources, and comparisons to spiritual teachers from other traditions, including Thich Nhat Hanh, Roshi Bernie Glassman, Evelyn Underhill, Richard Rohr, and Mary Oliver.

“A beautifully written tale of spiritual growth.”—James Martin, SJ, author of the New York Times bestsellers Jesus: A Pilgrimage and Learning to Pray 

Not every Catholic mother wants her son to be a priest.

The true story of a young man’s journey to become a Jesuit priest—written by his mother, a fallen-away Catholic who must come to terms with her son’s decision or risk losing him. It is an intimate, sometimes irreverent, and often searing examination of faith, family, and reconciliation.

“You send your son off to college and you think that in a few years you might get a call, and he’ll announce that he has someone he’s bringing home, someone he wants you to meet. But then that someone turns out to be a recruiter hawking a lifetime of poverty, chastity and obedience. What college kid in his right mind would sign up for that?”

The book offers a rare, often entertaining, glimpse into the highly unusual Jesuit formation process—which includes sending would-be priests off on pilgrimages with $35 in their pockets. It also takes on tough issues, from the church’s history of sexual abuse to its treatment of women, and asks tough questions: Is it possible to be Catholic, liberal, and a feminist all at the same time? What does it mean to call yourself a Catholic?

2025 Nautilus Award Winner | Silver | Religion

A rabbi’s lifelong journey to discover the source and inspiration of Hasidism.

As a student of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s at Jewish Theological Seminary sixty years ago, Burt Jacobson was moved to devote his life to the study of Israel Baal Shem Tov—the founder of Hasidism. Heschel considered the Baal Shem the greatest Jewish teacher and communal leader of the last 1,000 years. Living in the Presence: A Personal Quest for the Baal Shem Tov is a wide-ranging portrait, revealing numerous facets of the Baal Shem Tov’s biography and revolutionary thought previously unknown. Through his knowledge of the world’s wisdom traditions, and personal journey, Rabbi Jacobson is able to place the Baal Shem in the company of the great world spiritual teachers. He reveals the Baal Shem’s vision as an ecstatic mystical encounter that opened to the transcendent unity of existence. It was this that inspired his love and compassion for all creation, especially for the people he met. His disciples testified that their experience of these truths transformed how they understood their own identities as manifestations of the Divine, altered how they lived as spiritual leaders of their communities, and laid the foundations for Hasidism as a movement.

Throughout his book Jacobson presents and evaluates insights of historians and scholars, but it is also filled with personal stories about Jacobson’s own struggle with his Jewish identity and his encounter with the Baal Shem as his spiritual teacher. Both a tour de force and a labor of love, this book will quickly become the most essential work on the subject ever published in English.

“Beautiful, generative, loving, and deep: this may be the wisest Tarot book ever written. Gil Stafford finds the folly of the Cross in the journey of the Fool, and reminds us that ‘Life is a pilgrimage on the path of wisdom’s way.’” —Lisa Freinkel Tishman, author of Mindful Tarot

This book is a portal for those interested in the Bible and curious about the Tarot, for both those who might read the Bible daily as well as those who know very little about it but are not averse to it.

The first two chapters provide background that place the two mystical texts in conversation with each other. The vast and complex mythos of the Bible with its complex characters, actors, symbols, stories, and parables, are the backstory of the magnificent creatures of the Tarot’s inner psychic world.

A book for spiritual explorers, reading the Bible and the Tarot hand-in-hand can expand the imagination. It explores how to read the Tarot and the Bible to provoke the unconscious, the dream world, and expand the imagination. By the final chapter, readers are able to connect the mysteries of the Bible with the psychological magic of the Tarot.

The spiritual journey is interior to each person, but not meant to be walked alone.

Much can be gained from trailing the spiritual narratives of those who have traveled ahead of us, for the God they have found, we may never have considered. How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere, Volume 2 again captures for a general audience the spiritual shift away from popular notions of a God “up there” and “out there” and toward immanent and inclusive understandings of a God in our very midst. It is built around the fascinating personal journeys of a close-knit group of prominent contributors, leaders including Christopher M. Bache, Jude Currivan, Amit Goswami, Kabir Helminski, Karen Johnson with Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas), Sheri Kling, Beverly Lanzetta, Ervin Laszlo, Jay McDaniel, Raymond Moody, Peter Russell, Rupert Spira, and Becca Tarnas.

From dark nights of suffering and despair, to the joy of scientific and intellectual discovery, to the aesthetic beauty of music and nature, and the blissful—and at times dreadful—shock of psychedelic, mystical and near-death experience, these spiritual memoirs reveal exceptional encounters with the Holy Mystery—a universal Mind that exceeds but also includes our very own. And, unlike the first volume, this new book is deliberately catered toward group study with its “Questions for Discussion” and “Sages to Explore” sections at the end of each chapter.

In this highly readable book, Master Gou Jun brings Chan’s powerful and profound teachings to the page in a way that is accessible and warm. This is a book for those new to Chan, and for seasoned practitioners.

Essential Chan Buddhism is the rare unearthing of an ancient and remarkable Chinese spiritual tradition. Master Guo Jun speaks through hard-won wisdom on Chan's spiritual themes familiar to Western readers, such as mindfulness and relaxation in meditation, as well as profound, simply expressed teachings and insightful explorations of religious commitment. Essential Chan Buddhism filters formal spiritual practices through the lens of mundane and everyday life activities. The work captures the lyrical beauty and incantatory style of Guo Jun’s spoken English from the talks he gave at a fourteen-day retreat near Jakarta in 2010 and in subsequent conversations with his editor Kenneth Wapner.

“Sruti Ram is a fearless adventurer—a believer in miracles, mysticism and magic. His wondrous life proves that for the sincere seeker, the one who cultivates the highest intention, all roads lead to God, eventually but inevitably.” —Sharon Gannon, co-founder of Jivamukti yoga and author of the bestselling Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul (foreword by Sting)

“Sruti Ram reveals the road less travelled and the life of commitment to the journey within. One feels the unfolding of life’s magic that arises not from mental planning rather trusting the heart to show the way of true happiness in life. I admire Sruti Ram’s devotion to follow a spiritual path as an authentic way of life in a society focused too much on material concerns.” — Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, founder of Blue Spirit Costa Rica and the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY

For anyone drawn to spiritual love and devotion, and how to joyfully align one’s life to a soulful calling, All Roads Lead to Ram is a captivating and empowering true tale. Filled with Hindu deities, ancient temples, glittering festivals, and plenty of danger, it’s also entertaining and filled with humor and warmth. It’s part Indiana Jones adventure story and part spiritual memoir, with remarkable beating heart. Each chapter is a step in Sruti Ram’s profound and surprising personal journey. Chapters close with a sutra (lesson) by Sruti Ram himself—offering compassion and guidance founded in his own powerful teachings and the lessons of the ancient texts. The end of the book contains Sruti Ram’s teachings on the authentic Hindu texts and philosophy.

For the spiritual seeker, the avid reader, Hindu devotees or neophytes, yoga fans, for adventure-lovers and armchair travelers, for anyone interested in personal growth and mystical experience, All Roads Lead to Ram is bound to be a sure and rare delight.

Illustrated with rare and never before seen photos of Neem Karoli Baba, Ram Dass, Sruti Ram and many more.

International Book Awards—Religion: Eastern | Top Award
AmericanBookFest's Best Book Awards Winner | Religion: Eastern
Nautilus Award | Gold
Benjamin Franklin Award | Silver
Independent Book Publisher's Award | Bronze
Named One of the Best Books of 2021 — Spirituality and Practice Magazine

“An intriguing, challenging crash course in Zen Buddhism.” — Kirkus Reviews

"A generation-defining rendering of one of the great Zen Buddhist scriptures." — Spirituality and Practice

For centuries, The Blue Cliff Record has stood as one of the preeminent scriptures of the Zen Buddhist tradition in China, Japan, and Korea. However, until now there has been no published commentary by a contemporary Zen Master to assist readers in understanding its counterintuitive and sometimes baffling teachings.

The Garden of Flowers and Weeds draws on contemporary scholarship and the author’s extensive experience with Zen in order to offer new insights for sophisticated students who are hoping to uncover the secrets of the koan tradition. At the same time, The Garden is jargon-free and uses personal stories to appeal to readers who are new to Buddhism. The theme of the book is simple: Accepting the unenlightened self with all its flaws is the most profound form of enlightenment.

Even with this clarity, finding a path into these old Zen stories is a challenge. They are designed to be roadblocks to intellectual understanding. Using personal memoire, the oral teachings of Zen, and meditation instruction, The Garden assists the reader in approaching the dialogues as spiritual exercises. The Blue Cliff Record contains an explosive power, but you can only access it by integrating its wisdom into your everyday experiences. As Zen Master Nanquan said, “Ordinary mind is the Way.”

First published account of the spiritual master who inspired Kripalu, the largest yoga center in the U.S.

“Swami Kripalu, affectionately known as Bapuji (or dear father), was one of the greatest Kundalini yogis of the 20th Century. Scholar, classical musician, composer, playwright, athlete, actor, and consummate story-teller, Bapuji was most renowned for his practice of sahaj or spontaneous yoga and his encyclopedic writings on yoga and classical music. He lived in the western state of Gujarat from 1913 to 1981. Although Bapuji visited the US from 1977-1981, few of his writings have been translated into English. Thus the full impact of his wisdom is yet to be felt in the west. Atma's thoughtful and creative approach to his life and teachings in Pilgrim of Love builds a strong foundation for getting to know this extraordinary master of yoga.” —Stephen Cope, author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

Kripalu Yoga, originally pioneered by Yogi Amrit Desai and later developed into a structured practice by key Kripalu teachers, provides an introduction to the life-transforming yogic principles that are Bapuji's legacy to Kripalu Center. With his teachings as its foundation, Kripalu Center is the largest residential yoga center in the world and is located in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. Offering year-round trainings, programs and health services, Kripalu Center provides the means for guests to develop awareness, cultivate health, and embark on a journey of deep spiritual transformation--all through the application of the tools of yoga.

Atma Jo Ann Levitt, M.A., R.N., is a certified yoga teacher, Healing Touch practitioner, and author of three books, including The Kripalu Cookbook: Gourmet Vegetarian Recipes. She pioneered many growth and wellness programs at Kripalu Center. She is coauthor of a book on sibling relationships, Sibling Revelry: 8 Steps to a Successful Adult Sibling Relationship.

Zen as the ideal path for those who have left institutional religion behind

Do you feel there is something more to be found in life? Is there something more for your life? Traditionally people turn to religions to find that “more.”

Today, when cultures are in upheaval and traditional religions are collapsing, a prominent Zen teacher explores the possibility of a spirituality at the heart of all religions.

Zen at the End of Religion is a brief introduction to Zen as a practical expression of perennial wisdom, a “naturalistic perennialism.”

The book offers a simple introduction to the core of Zen’s why and how. While Zen is a rich and varied tradition, this introduction focuses on the essentials, the foundations of the Zen way. This book explores the Four Noble Truths, the Two Truths, the Ten Ox Herding Pictures, Zen meditation, samadhi, koans, enlightenment, and more.

“When I hear James Ford’s words, something in me wakes up. He has the rare ability to communicate something that is much larger than himself. We are all lucky to be in contact with this gift.” —Gesshin Claire Greenwood, author of Bow First, Ask Questions Later

Reveals Jesus’ secret teachings to his closest disciples

It is arguably the earliest work of Christian mysticism. And like mysticism in all times and places it is susceptible to misunderstandings and erroneous accusations. Declared heretical after the church councils in the fourth century, Philip was suppressed and banned and laid hidden until being rediscovered in 1945 for a new consideration. Reexamined through the lens of a longer arc of Christian mysticism we see it at the heart of the Jesus movement based secret teachings Jesus gave to his disciples.

Awaken to an awareness that’s already inside you

The Placeless Abode weaves together five dharma talks delivered by Yoshin David Radin at the Rinzai-ji Zen Center of Los Angeles—his teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi’s home temple. Structured like the sesshin, or Zen retreat, from which the material arose, each day’s talk is followed by other writings that reflect and deepen the themes addressed.

The book invites readers to question the fundamental delusion of selfhood, explore the nature of death, and examine the mind’s tendency to misidentify itself as form. Radin writes and speaks with a rare combination of piercing insight and compassionate humor, reflecting his deep training and decades of teaching experience. The central message—awakening to the awareness that is already present—is rendered with striking simplicity, allowing readers from diverse backgrounds to resonate with its truth and meaning.

The tone is warm, poetic, and direct, offering a rare accessibility to the often paradoxical teachings of Zen.

Reveals Jesus’ secret teachings to his closest disciples

It is arguably the earliest work of Christian mysticism. And like mysticism in all times and places it is susceptible to misunderstandings and erroneous accusations. Declared heretical after the church councils in the fourth century, Philip was suppressed and banned and laid hidden until being rediscovered in 1945 for a new consideration. Reexamined through the lens of a longer arc of Christian mysticism we see it at the heart of the Jesus movement based secret teachings Jesus gave to his disciples.

A leading scholar of Jewish mysticism with Hasidic insight for every Shabbat

Arthur Green has been the leader of a neo-Hasidic revival in modern American Judaism for the last half-century. All of that comes together in this new book of Torah interpretation.

His reflections on the weekly Torah portions are replete with the sense that the text is torah, teaching, and we are here to learn from it. This is done by entering the text and its reality. The frequent refrain of the early Hasidic sources (“Torah is eternal, speaking to each generation. What does this text have to teach us today?”) is echoed loudly, here, for a new generation of listeners determined to set its own course.

Even in original Hasidism, while the vocabulary of postmodernism hadn’t yet emerged, there was a growing sense of the readers’ right to take an active role in allowing the text to speak. Twin understandings of this process, one seeing a new generation of seekers wanting to enter the text, and the other seeing the ancient sources in quest of new and creative readers and interpreters, have continued to emerge in tandem over the past half-century. This way of reading Torah has entered many synagogues as well. And that is the spirit in which the present collection of divrey torah is offered.

Rabbi Green does not need to call for a new renaissance of the midrashic art or the Hasidic boldness in reading scripture. This rebirth is already underway—and here it is being noticed and nurtured.

Awaken to an awareness that’s already inside you

The Placeless Abode weaves together five dharma talks delivered by Yoshin David Radin at the Rinzai-ji Zen Center of Los Angeles—his teacher Joshu Sasaki Roshi’s home temple. Structured like the sesshin, or Zen retreat, from which the material arose, each day’s talk is followed by other writings that reflect and deepen the themes addressed.

The book invites readers to question the fundamental delusion of selfhood, explore the nature of death, and examine the mind’s tendency to misidentify itself as form. Radin writes and speaks with a rare combination of piercing insight and compassionate humor, reflecting his deep training and decades of teaching experience. The central message—awakening to the awareness that is already present—is rendered with striking simplicity, allowing readers from diverse backgrounds to resonate with its truth and meaning.

The tone is warm, poetic, and direct, offering a rare accessibility to the often paradoxical teachings of Zen.

“It has given me a friend in Saint Francis for a lifetime. A divine encounter.” —Karen Kiefer, Director, The Church in the 21st Century Center, Boston College 

Replicable experiences of God according to Francis of Assisi, offered on the 800th anniversary of his death.

Never have we needed more to experience God—to feel God. Francis of Assisi was spiritual before anyone used that word, and he was religious in the best ways. We love him because he cut through the paraphernalia to get back to religion where it belongs: working in the human heart, making a difference in everyday life.

Anyone can do the things Francis did, summarized in these 36 ways of experiencing God. Examples offered through anecdote, text, and explanation include: 

• Free captive creatures 
• Pray alone in the woods 
• Allow yourself to weep 
• Stand between those who fight 
• Make a cross with your arms 
• Pray Who are you, God? And who am I? 

Sweeney introduces each with faithful attention to the original sources and comparisons to spiritual teachers from other traditions, including Thich Nhat Hanh, Roshi Bernie Glassman, Evelyn Underhill, Richard Rohr, and Mary Oliver. 

“Beautiful, generative, loving, and deep: this may be the wisest Tarot book ever written. Gil Stafford finds the folly of the Cross in the journey of the Fool, and reminds us that ‘Life is a pilgrimage on the path of wisdom’s way.’” —Lisa Freinkel Tishman, author of Mindful Tarot

This book is a portal for those interested in the Bible and curious about the Tarot, for both those who might read the Bible daily as well as those who know very little about it but are not averse to it.

The first two chapters provide background that place the two mystical texts in conversation with each other. The vast and complex mythos of the Bible with its complex characters, actors, symbols, stories, and parables, are the backstory of the magnificent creatures of the Tarot’s inner psychic world.

A book for spiritual explorers, reading the Bible and the Tarot hand-in-hand can expand the imagination. It explores how to read the Tarot and the Bible to provoke the unconscious, the dream world, and expand the imagination. By the final chapter, readers are able to connect the mysteries of the Bible with the psychological magic of the Tarot.

“This is one of the best books on Zen and Zen practice that I have read in years. Busshō uses a well-known Zen song/poem to elucidate the key features of Zen meditation, practice and life….It brings the famous Zen master’s teaching alive while also showing how it is relevant to Zen practice in the 21st century." —Tim Burkett, author of Nothing Holy About It and Zen in the Age of Anxiety

Foreword Book of the Year Finalist (Nonfiction: Religion)

Singing and Dancing Are the Voice of the Law introduces us to one of the great works of Zen literature, “The Song of Zazen.” Zen teacher Busshō Lahn illuminates Hakuin’s enigmatic poem in plain language, unpacking it and applying it to contemporary life. His book offers a wealth of information on the context and content of this eighteenth-century work, clearly evoking its themes of abiding wisdom, meditation, compassionate self-regard, and our own everyday life’s potential to express deep spiritual truth.

Short stanza by short stanza, this exceptionally readable and deeply engaging book shows how the poem’s teachings and invitations are as applicable now as they were when they were first written nearly three centuries ago. Lahn offers readers an intuitive and progressive path of exploration of their spiritual lives, regardless of their faith tradition.

This bilingual edition of St. Teresa of Avila’s poems with commentary engages readers with all facets of the Saint’s life: the mystic and monastic reformer, the artist and proto-feminist, and the philosopher with a penchant for paradox.

“What a gift then to read Dana Delibovi’s translations of St Teresa d’Ávila’s complete poems—sweet treasure!—so elegant and concise, the language lyrical yet simple and accessible, the music of the stanzas and the profundity of her voice carried into English. I also appreciated Delibovi’s curation: the short introductions and thematic arrangement of the poems—nothing overly ponderous and academic. It’s as if we are on a pilgrimage into the heart and soul and song of this amazing woman and spiritual leader and poet.” —Julia Alvarez, poet, novelist, and essayist; author of The Cemetery of Untold Stories

“Saint Teresa has, at last, found an English translator who has deeply penetrated the poet’s essence, her revelatory reverence and rapturous beauty.” —Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno, author of Night Suite, Remission, and A Continual Pilgrimage: American Writers in Paris, 1944-1960

St. Teresa of Avila’s poems, written in the 16th century, speak to the spiritual longing of our times and invite us to find peace amid turmoil. St. Teresa walked a path of grace, seeking the divine within the human soul, and her poetry lights this path for all of us. This is the first translation of St. Teresa’s poetry by a woman poet and captures the saint’s spiritual vigor and famously conversational tone in English. That voice is echoed in well-researched commentary strengthened by the translator’s willingness to share her spiritual journey.

Inspiring, mystical, and often surprising Chassidic tales combine with teachings and favorite Jewish recipes to nourish body and soul.

Stories and food have always been central to Jewish life, and in this book, they are uniquely tied together. Thirty-nine Chassidic tales, revolving around food and eating and accompanied by spiritual teachings, delve into the mysteries of the Kabbalah, the joy of the Chassidim, and the power of religious faith and acts of kindness (mitzvot). Sixty-three recipes highlight Kosher cooking and the special foods traditionally prepared for Shabbat and the major Jewish holidays, including such favorites as knishes, latkes, gefilte fish, brisket, kugel, bagels, and challah bread. Many of the recipes are suitable for children to learn to cook.

2022 Foreword INDIES Award Winner | Silver: Body, Mind  Spirit

2023 IPPY Award Winner | Bronze: New Age/Mind, Body, Spirit

Hidden in the darkness is an ancient secret suppressed by every aspect of our light-drunk modern world—there is a Great Mother from the bottom of time who has always guided us through perils and calamities. Now is the hour of Her return.

“An exigent, affecting summons to rediscover the night.”—Kirkus Reviews

Is darkness synonymous with ignorance and evil? Or is it the original matrix from which all life emerges, and the Mother to whom it returns? Higher and higher levels of artificial illumination have suppressed our contact with the numinous since the Industrial Revolution, with dire consequences for society, our planetary ecology, and our souls. This mystical testament weaves together paleobiology, memoir, history, science, and spiritual archaeology to lead readers back into the lost mysteries of the dark. Not since The Teachings of Don Juan or Ishmael has a book diagnosed with such urgency and cultural coherence the problems at the heart of modern life.

In Waking Up to the Dark, Clark Strand offers penetrating insight into the spiritual enrichment that can be found when we pull the plug on our billion-watt culture. He argues that the insomnia so many of us experience as “the Hour of the Wolf” is really “the Hour of God”—a wellspring of rest and renewal, and an ancient reservoir of ancestral wisdom and inspiration. And in a powerful yet surprising turn, he shares with us an urgent message for the world, received through a mysterious young woman he calls Our Lady of Climate Change (aka THE VIRGIN MARY), about the challenges we all know are coming.

Offers letters of the Sanskrit alphabet as key to understanding Yoga and the Divine

These original meditations on the Sanskrit letters range from personal narratives to metaphysical and theological speculations, linguistic play, and inter-spiritual allusions to other works and traditions, all relevant to living a contemplative life in the contemporary world.

Sowder’s book is anchored in the devotional Tantrik, Śaiva-Śakta tradition, focused on the Divine Feminine, but allusions to western mystics (Christian, Jewish, Muslim) also appear frequently. No other book like this exists.

Dana Sawyer unpacks the philosophy-spirituality of Huxley, Watts, and Ram Dass (as well as our contemporaries, including Mirabai Starr and Richard Rohr) in ways readers will find intriguing, creating an original view of human nature, revealing why this mystical understanding of our world is called “perennial.”

During the 1960s and 70s, “Perennial Philosophy” was the most popular theory regarding what the world’s mystical traditions held in common, and it was touted as the best platform for understanding the nature of human consciousness, including how to expand it therapeutically with meditation, yoga, and psychedelic drugs. Consequently, books by Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, Huston Smith, Stanislav Grof, Frances Vaughan, Ram Dass, and other Perennialists were widely available and sold like hotcakes. However, during the 80s, their shared perspective fell out of fashion.

The Perennial Philosophy Reloaded corrects several common errors in understanding the perennial philosophy while providing a short, up-to-date overview of the general perspective. The goal is to reveal the continued relevance of perennial philosophy during this time psychedelic renaissance, when many are seeking ways to interpret their experiences, inside an engaging narrative free of philosophical shop talk.

The result is a demonstration of now perennial philosophy applies to all who are interested in self-realization. This book will appeal for the millions today who are involved with mindfulness meditation, hatha yoga, Transcendental Meditation, Tibetan Buddhism, Kabbalah, Zen, Sufism, Shamanic drumming, Christian Centering Prayer, or their own DIY approaches to spiritual awakening.

Succinct, inspiring biography of a bridge-building Jewish leader, supplemented by 15 black-and-white photographs

On March 21, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights organizers led 8,000 protesters on a 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery. They invited a distinguished group of national religious figures to join them in the front lines. One of these was Abraham Joshua Heschel—a gifted Jewish scholar, teacher, and speaker, whose recent book, The Prophets (1962)—a detailed study of the ancient biblical champions of justice and mercy—was a source of great inspiration to Dr. King and others.

As Heschel walked arm-in-arm with his colleagues, he was easy to spot in the crowd: He was a short, stocky man with flowing white hair, a bushy beard, who wore a dark yarmulke (Jewish head covering). Like the prophets of old, Heschel believed that standing up for others—particularly the most vulnerable members of society—is a sacred obligation. He later wrote, the religious person must seek to hold God and humankind “in one thought at one time,” suffering “harm done to others,” making “compassion” one’s “greatest passion.”

Heschel first learned these essential values as a child in Eastern Europe. This little book is his story.

Locates mysticism as the essential experiential center of any Christian faith

“Herein lies support for your deepest self. Mark illuminates for you that in the ordinary aspects of life there is an extraordinary way to live. Drink from these reflections and prepare to be awakened and transformed.” —Phileena Nikole, author of Pilgrimage of a Soul

The Holy Ordinary takes its inspiration from mystics, modern prophets, and saints, with surprising insights from Christian scriptures. “Mysticism is a stream of the experiential, flowing from the hearts of those who knew and know God,” explains Mark Longhurst, demonstrating the availability to every person of a mystical life.

Through topics such as “How to be contemplative and active” and “Live green like Hildegard of Bingen,” Longhurst speaks to each person’s need for transformation. This book is both profound and practical, a reflective guide for anyone—Nones, Dones, former Christians, and Christians open to learning from people of all backgrounds—seeking a vibrant, just, and inclusive spirituality.

“For years, I’ve been wishing for a book that could introduce ordinary people to the spiritual life in a healthy, honest, accessible way. Mark Longhurst has written what I’ve been waiting for.” —Brian D. McLaren, author of Faith After Doubt

Nautilus Book Awards 2022 Silver Award Winner in Religion/Spirituality of Western Thought

“In The Divine Heart, Colette Lafia invites us to enter the vastness and intimacy of God’s love, offering seven simple yet powerful ways to deepen our awareness and open our hearts. This small book with a big heart shows us how to live in the flow of Divine love.” — Richard Rohr, author of The Universal Christ, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation

“During these turbulent times, we need the steadying voice of feminine wisdom more urgently than ever. In this luminous book, spiritual guide Colette Lafia offers the fruits of her tenderly cultivated inner life to feed people of all genders who thirst for a direct encounter with the embodiment of love, which she recognizes as our own true nature.” — Mirabai Starr, translator of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, author of Wild Mercy

In The Divine Heart, spiritual director Colette Lafia shows how we can live in an ever-flowing love relationship with God, realizing that God is in us and we are in God. Beautifully expressed, sharing examples of her own journey, The Divine Heart offers seven “invitations” that can awaken us to this abundant flow of love at the core of our being.

Weaving prayers and practices, along with relevant contemporary and mystical teachings, Colette Lafia invites us to explore how connecting to Divine love helps us trust our own spiritual experiences and inspires us toward hope, healing, and wholeness.

The Divine Heart is a timely offering, outlining ways we can integrate loss and pain, and renew ourselves in the power and presence of love.

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s lectures on religion given at Oxford toward the end of his life, edited by Tagore himself.

This International Edition combines all existent English editions into a single volume, including the previous foreword by Philip Novak; the introduction to the British edition by Andrew Robinson; four appendices from an earlier American edition, featuring a brief conversation between Tagore and Albert Einstein, titled “Note on the Nature of Reality”, and a new foreword by religion writer and editor Jon M. Sweeney.

The Religion of Man is a compilation of lectures by Rabindranath Tagore, edited by Tagore and drawn largely from his Hibbert Lectures given at Oxford University in May 1930. A Brahmo playwright and poet of global renown, Tagore deals with the universal themes of God, divine experience, illumination, and spirituality. 

A rabbi’s lifelong journey to discover the source and inspiration of Hasidism.

As a student of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s at Jewish Theological Seminary sixty years ago, Burt Jacobson was moved to devote his life to the study of Israel Baal Shem Tov—the founder of Hasidism. Heschel considered the Baal Shem the greatest Jewish teacher and communal leader of the last 1,000 years. Living in the Presence: A Personal Quest for the Baal Shem Tov is a wide-ranging portrait, revealing numerous facets of the Baal Shem Tov’s biography and revolutionary thought previously unknown. Through his knowledge of the world’s wisdom traditions, and personal journey, Rabbi Jacobson is able to place the Baal Shem in the company of the great world spiritual teachers. He reveals the Baal Shem’s vision as an ecstatic mystical encounter that opened to the transcendent unity of existence. It was this that inspired his love and compassion for all creation, especially for the people he met. His disciples testified that their experience of these truths transformed how they understood their own identities as manifestations of the Divine, altered how they lived as spiritual leaders of their communities, and laid the foundations for Hasidism as a movement.

Throughout his book Jacobson presents and evaluates insights of historians and scholars, but it is also filled with personal stories about Jacobson’s own struggle with his Jewish identity and his encounter with the Baal Shem as his spiritual teacher. Both a tour de force and a labor of love, this book will quickly become the most essential work on the subject ever published in English.

“With a seeker’s profound curiosity, a journalist’s keen eye, and a potent combination of honesty, courage, intelligence, and tender-heartedness, Mark Matousek as written a beautiful book that is at once a spiritual autobiography and an exploration of one of the most mystical beings of our time.” —Dani Shapiro, author of Hourglass

Mark Matousek was a nonbeliever when he met Mother Meera in 1985. Yet, in her presence, he experienced inexplicable occurrences that forced him to challenge his worldview.

Mother Meera, born Kamala Reddy is believed by her thousands of devotees to be an embodiment of the Divine Mother. But who is Mother Meera, really? Now, in this deeply moving and wise book, Matousek takes us as close as possible to this extraordinary woman. Is divine incarnation truly possible, he asks, as most of the world’s religions insist? Speaking to members of her inner circle, working at her school for the poor in India, and interviewing the elusive master herself, Matousek takes the reader on a mysterious quest into the “unseen world” where the divine and human intersect.

“Sruti Ram is a fearless adventurer—a believer in miracles, mysticism and magic. His wondrous life proves that for the sincere seeker, the one who cultivates the highest intention, all roads lead to God, eventually but inevitably.” —Sharon Gannon, co-founder of Jivamukti yoga and author of the bestselling Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul (foreword by Sting)

“Sruti Ram reveals the road less travelled and the life of commitment to the journey within. One feels the unfolding of life’s magic that arises not from mental planning rather trusting the heart to show the way of true happiness in life. I admire Sruti Ram’s devotion to follow a spiritual path as an authentic way of life in a society focused too much on material concerns.” — Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, founder of Blue Spirit Costa Rica and the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY

For anyone drawn to spiritual love and devotion, and how to joyfully align one’s life to a soulful calling, All Roads Lead to Ram is a captivating and empowering true tale. Filled with Hindu deities, ancient temples, glittering festivals, and plenty of danger, it’s also entertaining and filled with humor and warmth. It’s part Indiana Jones adventure story and part spiritual memoir, with remarkable beating heart. Each chapter is a step in Sruti Ram’s profound and surprising personal journey. Chapters close with a sutra (lesson) by Sruti Ram himself—offering compassion and guidance founded in his own powerful teachings and the lessons of the ancient texts. The end of the book contains Sruti Ram’s teachings on the authentic Hindu texts and philosophy.

For the spiritual seeker, the avid reader, Hindu devotees or neophytes, yoga fans, for adventure-lovers and armchair travelers, for anyone interested in personal growth and mystical experience, All Roads Lead to Ram is bound to be a sure and rare delight.

Illustrated with rare and never before seen photos of Neem Karoli Baba, Ram Dass, Sruti Ram and many more.

Epistolary biography of a bridge-building 20th century Christian-Hindu spiritual leader

This fascinating biography of Swāmī Abhishiktānanda (Henri Le Saux) is based on a vast collection of letters written to friends and family over his twenty-five years in India.

Swāmī Abhishiktānanda (1910-1973)—a French Catholic monk, who came to India in 1948 and settled there till the end of his life in 1973—was one of the most fascinating spiritual figures of the twentieth century and a bridge-builder between Christian and Hindu traditions. After nineteen years of living in a Benedictine monastery in France, his passionate longing to realize the Truth brought him face-to-face with Indian spirituality and paved the way for him to meet one of the greatest contemporary sages of India, Shri Ramana Maharshi.

This book illustrates the spiritual trajectory of an extraordinary pioneer of interreligious dialogue and a bridge-builder between Christian and Hindu traditions, from his first arrival in South India in 1948 towards his spiritual Awakening in Rishikesh on July 14, 1973.

International Book Awards—Religion: Eastern | Top Award
AmericanBookFest's Best Book Awards Winner | Religion: Eastern
Nautilus Award | Gold
Benjamin Franklin Award | Silver
Independent Book Publisher's Award | Bronze
Named One of the Best Books of 2021 — Spirituality and Practice Magazine

“An intriguing, challenging crash course in Zen Buddhism.” — Kirkus Reviews

"A generation-defining rendering of one of the great Zen Buddhist scriptures." — Spirituality and Practice

For centuries, The Blue Cliff Record has stood as one of the preeminent scriptures of the Zen Buddhist tradition in China, Japan, and Korea. However, until now there has been no published commentary by a contemporary Zen Master to assist readers in understanding its counterintuitive and sometimes baffling teachings.

The Garden of Flowers and Weeds draws on contemporary scholarship and the author’s extensive experience with Zen in order to offer new insights for sophisticated students who are hoping to uncover the secrets of the koan tradition. At the same time, The Garden is jargon-free and uses personal stories to appeal to readers who are new to Buddhism. The theme of the book is simple: Accepting the unenlightened self with all its flaws is the most profound form of enlightenment.

Even with this clarity, finding a path into these old Zen stories is a challenge. They are designed to be roadblocks to intellectual understanding. Using personal memoire, the oral teachings of Zen, and meditation instruction, The Garden assists the reader in approaching the dialogues as spiritual exercises. The Blue Cliff Record contains an explosive power, but you can only access it by integrating its wisdom into your everyday experiences. As Zen Master Nanquan said, “Ordinary mind is the Way.”

The term “spiritual transmission” refers to the passing of the state of enlightenment from teacher to student, which takes place in many spiritual traditions. In itself, the transmission is synonymous with the experience of enlightenment. But the fact that the student’s experience is rooted in a relationship with a human teacher who is perceived to possess absolute knowledge lends the experience much of its intrinsic, yet hidden, nature.

Following the breakup of his 21-year relationship with his own spiritual teacher, Amir Freimann launched a quest to discover the deeper realities of the student teacher relationship, logging over 1,000 hours of interviews with students and teachers. These interviews reveal the promises and perils of the guru-to-student relationship and explore hot-button topics such as the differences and similarities between therapists and gurus; the role of trust vs. rationality in the spiritual quest; and how money, power and sex are dealt with during the course of a student’s training.

Spiritual Transmission includes never-before-published dialogues with many prominent spiritual teachers, plus a revelatory afterword by renowned integral theorist Ken Wilber. If you have ever been involved with a spiritual teacher or know someone who has, you need this book.

Interviewees in Spiritual Transmission include Peter (Hakim) Young, Andrew Cohen, Stephen Fulder, Christopher Titmuss, James Finley, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, Saniel Bonder, Mariana Caplan, Mooji, Lakshmi, Barry Magid, Claire Slemmer, James Swartz, Diane Hamilton, Bill Epperly, Aliya Haeri, Thomas Steininger, Peter Bampton, Carolyn Lee, Terry Patten, Steve Brett and Mary Adams.

This pioneering work harmonizes Hindu Vedanta philosophy with the Christian vision of the Word made flesh through the Spirit of God's love.

An introduction to the Vedic scriptures which shows that God has also lavished his riches on non-Christian people and how we must relate ourselves to these other sources of truth. “Without Christianity I don't think the oriental religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, can answer the needs of the modern world. But without the enrichment of the mystical tradition of Asia I doubt whether the Western Churches can really discover the fullness of Christ which we are seeking.” (Bede Griffiths)

Longtime Zen abbot shares the wisdom of his teacher, who brought Zen to the West and wrote the classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Les Kaye studied Zen with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in the 1960s and is now abbot emeritus of Kannon Do Zendo in Mountain View, California (where Norman Fischer is acting abbot). Born and raised in Manhattan, Kaye moved to what is now Silicon Valley in his twenties to work for IBM. While working full-time in the corporate world, he practiced Zen sitting and mindfulness, became an ordained disciple of Suzuki Roshi and the head of practice at what became Kannon Do.

I Had a Good Teacher interweaves dharma talks with personal stories to reveal the subtleties of integrating Zen practice into a life of work and family. It includes fascinating memories of Suzuki Roshi and short writings about events at the zendo, including the time Steve Jobs visited Les for guidance integrating work and spiritual practice.

Compiled and edited by Les’s disciple Giuseppe Prisco, an Italian tech entrepreneur and Zen priest, I Had a Good Teacher is an introduction to Zen in daily life, a warm portrait of a great Zen teacher, and a reminder to meditators to return to basics, to keep their meditation real, and to practice awareness all day long.

In a time when abuse at the hands of religious leaders is too common comes this guide to making the most of the Zen tradition while protecting and empowering yourself

“This is a thoroughly engaging exploration based on deep knowledge of the tradition as well as contemporary research.” —Martine Batchelor, author, Principles of Zen

While the liberation that Zen offers is real, it must be engaged with carefully, explains this sensei. Her book is neither a memoir about a single case of abuse nor a bloodless academic study. Nelson reflects on the multiple dangers in Zen, from firsthand experience in Boston—where documented abuse recently took place—integrating her discussion at every step with core Zen teachings.

“Practicing Safe Zen imparts a lesson we all will have to learn if we want to truly mature in our spiritual practice.” —Barry Magid, author, Ending the Pursuit of Happiness

This authoritative “go-to” publication aims to educate women on how to express their rights within Islam. Perfect for enabling activists to integrate an egalitarian Islamic belief system into their movements.  

The most effective means of improving Muslim women's lives is connecting them to their deeply held beliefs that affirm human dignity and gender equality at the core of the Islamic faith. But Muslim women lack this information that enlightens and vouches for their sacred rights, and they have no accessible tools that encourage faith-based activism consistent with the Islamic faith. To protect them from being misrepresented by or outside their communities, there is a need to provide pre-packaged, easy-to-understand literacy tools to women so they can lead lives of choice, dignity, and opportunity. 30 Rights of Muslim Women aims to fill this gap.

"Judaism Without Tribalism is a blessing, a much-needed challenge, and a deep well of wisdom and sanity." —Natalie Goldberg

This book investigates Judaism at its best—and sanest. It strips away outdated and harmful beliefs that have accrued over the centuries and returns to the essential truths that are too-often ignored in favor of tradition, tribal identity, or the claims of the powerful.

The result is a vibrant Judaism for the 21st century and beyond—a Judaism that draws deeply from history and scripture yet addresses the unmet needs of the present and the future. It is a Judaism that is open and accessible to everyone.

Judaism without tribalism is a call to be a light unto the nations, and a blessing to all the people of the earth. It is a Judaism free from legalism and tribalism—a Judaism that refuses to serve patriarchy and power.

Written by one of today's most respected—and most unconventional—Jewish thinkers, Judaism Without Tribalism is a manifesto, an invitation to completeness, and a call for inner and outer spiritual revolution. It is also a deeply practical guide to living authentically, breath by breath and day by day.

The spiritual journey is interior to each person, but not meant to be walked alone.

Much can be gained from trailing the spiritual narratives of those who have traveled ahead of us, for the God they have found, we may never have considered. How I Found God in Everyone and Everywhere, Volume 2 again captures for a general audience the spiritual shift away from popular notions of a God “up there” and “out there” and toward immanent and inclusive understandings of a God in our very midst. It is built around the fascinating personal journeys of a close-knit group of prominent contributors, leaders including Christopher M. Bache, Jude Currivan, Amit Goswami, Kabir Helminski, Karen Johnson with Hameed Ali (A. H. Almaas), Sheri Kling, Beverly Lanzetta, Ervin Laszlo, Jay McDaniel, Raymond Moody, Peter Russell, Rupert Spira, and Becca Tarnas.

From dark nights of suffering and despair, to the joy of scientific and intellectual discovery, to the aesthetic beauty of music and nature, and the blissful—and at times dreadful—shock of psychedelic, mystical and near-death experience, these spiritual memoirs reveal exceptional encounters with the Holy Mystery—a universal Mind that exceeds but also includes our very own. And, unlike the first volume, this new book is deliberately catered toward group study with its “Questions for Discussion” and “Sages to Explore” sections at the end of each chapter.

"This book is at once a love letter to Zen practice and a critique of late twentieth century American Zen. Judith inspires us to investigate our own karmic knots, and in the middle of this suffering, she invites us to walk quietly down to the neighborhood pond and take a cooling dip in the moonlight." —Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones, and many other books

Untangling Karma is a memoir of accepting and healing personal trauma, both on and off the meditation cushion. Author Judith Ragir, an American Zen teacher, has used her spiritual practice to overcome anger and self-imposed isolation and become more loving. 

In Buddhism, the personal and the systemic are interwoven. If we are to heal from trauma, we need to find and face our deeply held, often hidden pain. Because we have been raised in a society of greed, aggression, and confused values, this is something we all must do, regardless of our ethnic or racial background.

Ragir lets fall the stereotypical cool, calm Zen teacher’s demeanor to reveal her complicated, emotional self. She discusses what she has done to find greater inner peace as well as the personal impacts of transferring an Eastern philosophy onto her Western mind and applying a male-inspired monastic model to herself as an American woman, Jew, and mother. Untangling Karma is at once a love letter to Zen Buddhism and a critique of turn-of-the-century American Zen.

If we can be bold when facing our personal pain and traumatic experiences, says Ragir, and curious about our own karmic histories, then we can help build a more inclusive, healing-focused, 21st-century Buddhism.

Written as a concise handbook, this Practical Guide presents a novel paradigm for addressing the enduring questions of our existence, while providing a roadmap to the rational pursuit of spirituality in contemporary life.

Approaching our spiritual development as one would any experimental science, Bahram Elahi, MD, describes the nature of the human soul, or self, through a series of original diagrams and functional analogies to medicine, psychology, and physics. In so doing, he introduces a new medicine of the soul that not only establishes how to nourish and develop the soul through the practice of correct divine and ethical principles, but also how to diagnose and treat its various ailments. Explaining the purpose of our presence on earth as the completion of the first stage in our spiritual development, he summarizes this fundamental work in three main points: examining and mending one’s faith, sufficiently developing one’s sound reason, and cultivating one’s humanity. Ultimately, this timely Practical Guide offers readers of all backgrounds an accessible roadmap to our spiritual journey that is adapted to life in modern society.

The Song of Songs is among the most accessible of all biblical books. It is also the most deeply ecological text of the canon, yet few people are aware of the Song’s ecological message. The intention of Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in the Age of Climate Crisis is to illuminate that message. 

Today there is such urgency around our many earth crises—so much brokenness—that we need a vision of wholeness and an ecological language that can help inspire, soothe and reinvigorate us, and bring us together regardless of our various affiliations and ideologies. The Song offers both ecological language and a vision. It sets the natural world before us with intensity and beauty, bidding us to savor it with all of our senses so that we may return to the world with the renewed clarity, love and energy necessary to work toward a healthy future for the earth and all her inhabitants. 

The Song is a particularly powerful book since it never utters the name of the divine,  yet is a deeply spiritual work that may reach people who are interested in matters of the sacred, but prefer to steer clear of God language and conventional religious ideas. In both the Jewish and Christian worlds, where many people are disengaging from religion altogether, the Song—with its universal themes of love, justice and the integrity of nature—may help open the door to the possibilities which religion has to offer.

Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in an Age of Climate Crisis seeks to engage a wide readership including all people who love the earth and its inhabitants, outdoor enthusiasts, spiritual seekers, poets, feminists, and students of the humanities, religion and ecology. 

"These two extraordinary Zen Teachers offer a cutting-edge immersion into the koans of our actual lives, issue by issue, urging us to plunge in, and be intimate with what actually is, in this very moment. Flowing beneath the surface of these contemporary koans is an ocean of traditional koans and old Buddhist stories and themes, all intermingled with the immediacy of contemporary life. A guaranteed American Zen classic!" —Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, author of Most Intimate: A Zen Approach to Life's Challenges

"Radical, useful, and wild, this rich collection of householder koans opens a treasure house of wisdom for all. What a wonderful adventure in the practical mind and heart of true Zen and true life." —Rev. Joan Jiko Halifax, Abbot of Upaya Zen Center

“In The Book of Householder Koans Nakao and Marko wonderfully carry into contemporary life the spirit and color of the zen koan tradition in all its mystery and brazenness—and, at the same time, provide a wonderfully wise, knowing, and light-hearted look at how we can live this one precious unrepeatable human life in beauty. The koan stories they provide (submitted by many of their students) are pithy, funny, and perfectly apt for the times we live in. What a lively book!” —Norman Fischer, poet, Zen priest, and author most recently of The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path

“I was blown away by the force of The Book of Householder Koans as it establishes Western Zen as a new center of enlightenment. Roshis Myonen Eve Marko and Egyoku Wendy Nakao present Zen koans, exquisitely digested from everyday life, that retain the ancient and authentic power to stop you in your tracks while they beckon you onward. Read this book, emerging from two female Zen masters’ lifetimes of practice, and enter an intimate world that opens your awareness in relationship, work, and current worldly puzzles.” —Grace Schireson, author of Wild-Ass Zen, Enlightenment Wherever You Are, Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens and Macho Maters, and Naked in the Zendo: Stories of Uptight Zen, and editor of Zen Bridge: The Zen Teachings of Keido Fukushima

“In this wonderful collection, Eve Myonen Marko and Wendy Egyoku Nakao write that Zen is about letting go of our fixed opinions. One opinion about Zen, when it came to this country, is that it is for monks and priests who live in monasteries or as hermits. In fact, most Zen students nowadays are householders who have issues that are different from those of our ancestor monks in China. The training for priests cannot be the same as the training for householders. Householders’ lives are messy. Roshis Eve and Wendy use the ancient wisdom of Zen to illuminate modern-day practice. Their insight and compassion have provided us with an important collection of koan stories that illustrate how Zen can bring deep insight to all meditators, whether householders, the homeless, women, men, or even ordained priests.” —Roshi Gerry Shishin Wick, spiritual director of Great Mountain Zen Center, and author of The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans

“The Book of Householder Koans is like a sumptuous feast. The teachings, deep-rooted in Zen practice, bring to the table all the ingredients of our life, including heartbreak, fury, and joy. This book shows us that in each moment there is an opportunity to enter a gate to wakefulness, receptivity, and love. Savor each morsel!”—Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, author of Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up

“The Book of Householder Koans is a remarkable, inspiring, and ground-breaking book that revolutionizes the age-old tradition of Zen koan practice and plunges it right into the heart of our contemporary, 21st-century lives. As Zen teachers, authors Nakao and Marko have been deeply immersed for decades in the practice of life clarifying itself right in the midst of its most knotty challenges and confusions. Along with 66 new koans gathered from householders around the world, they offer their profound insight and expertise to help contemporary readers spring open even the most seemingly unresolvable of personal, modern dilemmas. Beautifully written with a life-affirming wisdom and spirit, this book will come to be a modern classic that helps us to live with a clarity, freedom, and joy beyond what we had imagined possible. Open the covers, take the plunge!” —Peter Levitt, author of The Complete Cold Mountain: Poems of the Legendary Hermit Hanshan and One Hundred Butterflies, and guiding teacher of Salt Spring Zen Circle in British Columbia

“A wonderful book on koan comparable with koan books from the Song Dynasty China. Wendy and Eve pull no punches in laying out Zen practice in daily life and the challenges we face in leading a full and inclusive life. In fact, they leave no places to escape to. They deal with everything: relationship, work, family, aging, addiction, emotion, and ambiguity, to mention but a few. I don’t usually read Zen books, yet this one had me riveted from page one. All they left me after reading, was to just do it.” —Roshi Charles Tenshin Fletcher, abbot of Yokoji Zen Mountain Center and author of The Way of Zen

“I wish I’d been able to read the Book of Householders Koans to help integrate practice with my everyday life when I started Zen training. This book is not only for householders, it’s for everyone. Using both the rich stories of ancient Zen masters and current everyday people, the authors explore the human journey: relationships, raising children, work, illness, old age, death, how to ground spiritual practice. This book is a guide for collective awakening, as if one were sitting in a circle with friends with everyone being heard from—sharing their questions, dilemmas, learnings transparently and intimately. And from that sharing, the reader’s heart-mind-spirit is expanded through the common threads that unite us all, grounded in the everyday, no matter where we are in our life. The wisdom of these two Zen teachers, Egyoku Roshi and Myonen Roshi, is very accessible, encouraging and freeing. I highly recommend this book—it’s a treasure trove, a true find!" —Nicolee Jikyo McMahon Roshi, marriage and family therapist

“This beautiful book is an important resource for Zen in our time. This collection opens our eyes to the koan of our life right now. Easy and fun to read, the householder koans are not just for Zen students, but relatable for all. Maezumi Roshi would encourage his students to study the ancient texts, and then he would say ‘I want you to create the modern Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye).’ Reading the householder koans, I felt that I was encountering a fresh expression of true dharma that maintains the spiritual rigor of old texts. I love these new koans. I love how the layout is reminiscent of traditional koan presentation with verses and comments. And I love how relevant these koans are for our time. The authors are encouraging all of us to create our own householder koans, and I am finding myself seeing koan everywhere. It is a lot of fun and encourages me to see my whole life as spiritual practice. Congratulations to the authors for creating a seminal work. It is a gift for everyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of life.” —Anne Seisen Saunders, Abbot, Sweetwater Zen Center; President, White Plum Asanga

“Amidst the hustle, bustle, and fragmentation of today’s world—taking care of the kids, dealing with disappointments and relationships, facing illness and old age—The Book of Householder Koans reminds us that koans are not separate from our life but are, indeed, the stuff of living and loving. Filled with real-life situations shared by people around the world, this wonderful book takes koan practice to a new level, encouraging us to open to all aspects of daily life and to embrace its richness. This is a book to be savored.” —Diane Rizzetto, author of Waking Up to What You Do and Deep Hope

“Thank you, thank you, thank you…! At last, here is a book that highlights the awakenings of everyday people in the midst of heart-rending, courageous challenges. Grab a copy of The Book of Householder Koans and you will experience a remarkable shift in Zen literature, one that closes the gap between contemporary practitioners and our ancestors. What a revolution in Zen training, and yet how intimately these wise authors, Eve Myonen Marko and Wendy Egyoku Nakao, align to Buddha’s primary teaching—that Buddha nature resides and manifests within each one of us.” —Anita Feng (Jeong Ji), author of the novel Sid, and guiding teacher at Blue Heron Zen Community in Seattle, WA

Confronting the reality, habits, and healing of Jewish anxiety.

Jewish anxiety is not all in our heads. Nor is feeling anxious simply a Jewish stereotype, even though many Jews tout anxiety as a stereotypical virtue and ascribe it as a motivator for success. Jewish anxiety is real. We inherit it from our ancestors. We learn it simply by living in an unsafe world as Jewish people. We learn it growing up in Jewish communities. We unconsciously transmit Jewish anxiety to our children through how we remember the past, retell our stories, and celebrate Jewish holidays. We experience Jewish anxiety in how we habitually react to stress, fear, and uncertainty, whether that stress has anything to do with being Jewish. We receive painful messages from the wider world that we internalize as repetitive stress habits of fear, unworthiness, and shame, and then turn these hateful messages on ourselves and each other through the voices of unrelenting internal critics.

Jewish anxiety is real, but it is not inevitable. We don’t have to suffer simply because of the challenging history or learned patterns we’ve inherited. We don’t have to suffer simply because of who we are in the world, or how the world imagines, distorts, and treats Jews. I believe we have more choices about how to respond to life’s challenges than we think. I believe we can unlearn these habits with awareness, curiosity, compassion, and courage. I believe Jewish spirituality offers deep wisdom and simple practices for how to release these patterns from our minds and our bodies for good. We can learn how to calm down, suffer less, and get free. I believe we can choose to live with more joy, despite the conspiracy theories and hatred.

Longtime Zen abbot shares the wisdom of his teacher, who brought Zen to the West and wrote the classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

I Had a Good Teacher interweaves Les Kaye’s Dharma talks with personal stories to reveal the subtleties of integrating Zen practice into a life of work and family. It includes fascinating memories of Suzuki Roshi and short writings about events at the zendo, including the time Steve Jobs visited Les for guidance integrating work and spiritual practice. I Had a Good Teacher is an excellent introduction to Zen in daily life, a warm portrait of a great Zen teacher, and a reminder to meditators to return to basics, keep their meditation real, and practice awareness all day long.

“I Had a Good Teacher is a marvelous collection of Les Kaye’s talks and writings. I can feel his authenticity and deep understanding. Those who study with him—in person or through this book—have a good teacher.” —David Chadwick, author of Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teachings of Shunryu Suzuki and Tassajara Stories

“What a wonderful book.... direct and deep, real and rich, filled with down-to-earth wisdom. Enjoy reading about something that could change your life.” —Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center, and author of Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet

“In this lovely plainspoken book, Les offers the spirit of Suzuki Roshi Zen. Sometimes enigmatic, sometimes sweet, sometimes with stories of the past, sometimes timeless wisdom….all passed on to you with a kind heart.” —Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

Locates mysticism as the essential experiential center of any Christian faith

“Herein lies support for your deepest self. Mark illuminates for you that in the ordinary aspects of life there is an extraordinary way to live. Drink from these reflections and prepare to be awakened and transformed.” —Phileena Nikole, author of Pilgrimage of a Soul

The Holy Ordinary takes its inspiration from mystics, modern prophets, and saints, with surprising insights from Christian scriptures. “Mysticism is a stream of the experiential, flowing from the hearts of those who knew and know God,” explains Mark Longhurst, demonstrating the availability to every person of a mystical life.

Through topics such as “How to be contemplative and active” and “Live green like Hildegard of Bingen,” Longhurst speaks to each person’s need for transformation. This book is both profound and practical, a reflective guide for anyone—Nones, Dones, former Christians, and Christians open to learning from people of all backgrounds—seeking a vibrant, just, and inclusive spirituality.

“For years, I’ve been wishing for a book that could introduce ordinary people to the spiritual life in a healthy, honest, accessible way. Mark Longhurst has written what I’ve been waiting for.” —Brian D. McLaren, author of Faith After Doubt

2025 Nautilus Award Winner | Silver | Religion

A rabbi’s lifelong journey to discover the source and inspiration of Hasidism.

As a student of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s at Jewish Theological Seminary sixty years ago, Burt Jacobson was moved to devote his life to the study of Israel Baal Shem Tov—the founder of Hasidism. Heschel considered the Baal Shem the greatest Jewish teacher and communal leader of the last 1,000 years. Living in the Presence: A Personal Quest for the Baal Shem Tov is a wide-ranging portrait, revealing numerous facets of the Baal Shem Tov’s biography and revolutionary thought previously unknown. Through his knowledge of the world’s wisdom traditions, and personal journey, Rabbi Jacobson is able to place the Baal Shem in the company of the great world spiritual teachers. He reveals the Baal Shem’s vision as an ecstatic mystical encounter that opened to the transcendent unity of existence. It was this that inspired his love and compassion for all creation, especially for the people he met. His disciples testified that their experience of these truths transformed how they understood their own identities as manifestations of the Divine, altered how they lived as spiritual leaders of their communities, and laid the foundations for Hasidism as a movement.

Throughout his book Jacobson presents and evaluates insights of historians and scholars, but it is also filled with personal stories about Jacobson’s own struggle with his Jewish identity and his encounter with the Baal Shem as his spiritual teacher. Both a tour de force and a labor of love, this book will quickly become the most essential work on the subject ever published in English.

2025 Nautilus Award Winner | Gold | Religion

This authoritative “go-to” publication aims to educate women on how to express their rights within Islam. Perfect for enabling activists to integrate an egalitarian Islamic belief system into their movements.

The most effective means of improving Muslim women's lives is connecting them to their deeply held beliefs that affirm human dignity and gender equality at the core of the Islamic faith. But Muslim women lack this information that enlightens and vouches for their sacred rights, and they have no accessible tools that encourage faith-based activism consistent with the Islamic faith. To protect them from being misrepresented by or outside their communities, there is a need to provide pre-packaged, easy-to-understand literacy tools to women so they can lead lives of choice, dignity, and opportunity. 30 Rights of Muslim Women aims to fill this gap.

Dana Sawyer unpacks the philosophy-spirituality of Huxley, Watts, and Ram Dass (as well as our contemporaries, including Mirabai Starr and Richard Rohr) in ways readers will find intriguing, creating an original view of human nature, revealing why this mystical understanding of our world is called “perennial.”

During the 1960s and 70s, “Perennial Philosophy” was the most popular theory regarding what the world’s mystical traditions held in common, and it was touted as the best platform for understanding the nature of human consciousness, including how to expand it therapeutically with meditation, yoga, and psychedelic drugs. Consequently, books by Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, Huston Smith, Stanislav Grof, Frances Vaughan, Ram Dass, and other Perennialists were widely available and sold like hotcakes. However, during the 80s, their shared perspective fell out of fashion.

The Perennial Philosophy Reloaded corrects several common errors in understanding the perennial philosophy while providing a short, up-to-date overview of the general perspective. The goal is to reveal the continued relevance of perennial philosophy during this time psychedelic renaissance, when many are seeking ways to interpret their experiences, inside an engaging narrative free of philosophical shop talk.

The result is a demonstration of now perennial philosophy applies to all who are interested in self-realization. This book will appeal for the millions today who are involved with mindfulness meditation, hatha yoga, Transcendental Meditation, Tibetan Buddhism, Kabbalah, Zen, Sufism, Shamanic drumming, Christian Centering Prayer, or their own DIY approaches to spiritual awakening.

Matousek has written a beautiful book that is at once a spiritual autobiography and an exploration of one of the most mystical beings of our time.” —Dani Shapiro, author of Hourglass

Mark Matousek was a nonbeliever when he met Mother Meera in 1985. Yet, in her presence, he experienced inexplicable occurrences that forced him to challenge his worldview.

Mother Meera, born Kamala Reddy is believed by her thousands of devotees to be an embodiment of the Divine Mother. But who is Mother Meera, really? Now, in this deeply moving and wise book, Matousek takes us as close as possible to this extraordinary woman. Is divine incarnation truly possible, he asks, as most of the world’s religions insist? Speaking to members of her inner circle, working at her school for the poor in India, and interviewing the elusive master herself, Matousek takes the reader on a mysterious quest into the “unseen world” where the divine and human intersect.

"His life suggested that one could be spiritually grounded and thriving in more than one tradition at the same time.” —Marcus Braybrooke, for the Interfaith Observer

This pioneering work harmonizes Hindu Vedanta philosophy with the Christian vision of the Word made flesh through the Spirit of God's love.

An introduction to the Vedic scriptures and Christian mysticism that reveals how God lavished his riches on both Christians and non-Christians alike and the importance of our unity as a people if we are to become whole. 

“Without Christianity I don't think the oriental religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, can answer the needs of the modern world. But without the enrichment of the mystical tradition of Asia I doubt whether the Western Churches can really discover the fullness of Christ which we are seeking.” (Bede Griffiths)

Zen koans, beginning some 1500 years ago, refer to stories or questions arising in encounters between monks and old Chinese and Japanese masters, and include commentaries designed to help the Zen practitioner awaken. Koans like Hakuin’s What is the sound of one hand clapping? are well-known, and the word koan has even gone mainstream.

Thousands of classic koans emerged from the lives of monks living inside a Chinese or Japanese culture, and the commentaries on those koans contain poetic elements and images that have proved challenging for many Westerners.

The Book of Householder Koans is a collection of koans created by 21st century Zen practitioners living a lay life in the West. The koans deal with the challenges of relationships, raising children, work, money, love, loss, old age, and death, and come from practitioners across three continents, and with commentaries by two Western teachers.

The collection is based on the premise that our lives as householders contain situations rich with challenge and grit, the equivalents of old Zen masters’ shouts or blows meant to sweep the ground right from under their students. They become koans, or koan practice, when they jolt us out of our usual way of thinking, when we’re no longer observers of our lives but plunge in, closing the gap between ourselves and the situation we face.

Nautilus Book Awards 2022 Silver Award Winner in Religion/Spirituality of Western Thought

“In The Divine Heart, Colette Lafia invites us to enter the vastness and intimacy of God’s love, offering seven simple yet powerful ways to deepen our awareness and open our hearts. This small book with a big heart shows us how to live in the flow of Divine love.” — Richard Rohr, author of The Universal Christ, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation

“During these turbulent times, we need the steadying voice of feminine wisdom more urgently than ever. In this luminous book, spiritual guide Colette Lafia offers the fruits of her tenderly cultivated inner life to feed people of all genders who thirst for a direct encounter with the embodiment of love, which she recognizes as our own true nature.” — Mirabai Starr, translator of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, author of Wild Mercy

In The Divine Heart, spiritual director Colette Lafia shows how we can live in an ever-flowing love relationship with God, realizing that God is in us and we are in God. Beautifully expressed, sharing examples of her own journey, The Divine Heart offers seven “invitations” that can awaken us to this abundant flow of love at the core of our being.

Weaving prayers and practices, along with relevant contemporary and mystical teachings, Colette Lafia invites us to explore how connecting to Divine love helps us trust our own spiritual experiences and inspires us toward hope, healing, and wholeness.

The Divine Heart is a timely offering, outlining ways we can integrate loss and pain, and renew ourselves in the power and presence of love.

Inspiring, mystical, and often surprising Chassidic tales combine with teachings and favorite Jewish recipes to nourish body and soul.

Stories and food have always been central to Jewish life, and in this book, they are uniquely tied together. Thirty-nine Chassidic tales, revolving around food and eating and accompanied by spiritual teachings, delve into the mysteries of the Kabbalah, the joy of the Chassidim, and the power of religious faith and acts (mitzvot). Sixty-three recipes highlight Kosher cooking and the special foods traditionally prepared for Shabbat and the major Jewish holidays, including such favorites as knishes, latkes, gefilte fish, brisket, kugel, bagels, and challah bread. Many of the recipes are suitable for children to learn to cook.

The term “spiritual transmission” refers to the passing of the state of enlightenment from teacher to student, which takes place in many spiritual traditions. In itself, the transmission is synonymous with the experience of enlightenment. But the fact that the student’s experience is rooted in a relationship with a human teacher who is perceived to possess absolute knowledge lends the experience much of its intrinsic, yet hidden, nature.

Following the breakup of his 21-year relationship with his own spiritual teacher, Amir Freimann launched a quest to discover the deeper realities of the student teacher relationship, logging over 1,000 hours of interviews with students and teachers. These interviews reveal the promises and perils of the guru-to-student relationship and explore hot-button topics such as the differences and similarities between therapists and gurus; the role of trust vs. rationality in the spiritual quest; and how money, power and sex are dealt with during the course of a student’s training.

Spiritual Transmission includes never-before-published dialogues with many prominent spiritual teachers, plus a revelatory afterword by renowned integral theorist Ken Wilber. If you have ever been involved with a spiritual teacher or know someone who has, you need this book.

Interviewees in Spiritual Transmission include Peter (Hakim) Young, Andrew Cohen, Stephen Fulder, Christopher Titmuss, James Finley, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, Saniel Bonder, Mariana Caplan, Mooji, Lakshmi, Barry Magid, Claire Slemmer, James Swartz, Diane Hamilton, Bill Epperly, Aliya Haeri, Thomas Steininger, Peter Bampton, Carolyn Lee, Terry Patten, Steve Brett and Mary Adams.

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s lectures on religion given at Oxford toward the end of his life, edited by Tagore himself.

This International Edition combines all existent English editions into a single volume, including the previous foreword by Philip Novak; the introduction to the British edition by Andrew Robinson; four appendices from an earlier American edition, featuring a brief conversation between Tagore and Albert Einstein, titled “Note on the Nature of Reality”, and a new foreword by religion writer and editor Jon M. Sweeney.

The Religion of Man is a compilation of lectures by Rabindranath Tagore, edited by Tagore and drawn largely from his Hibbert Lectures given at Oxford University in May 1930. A Brahmo playwright and poet of global renown, Tagore deals with the universal themes of God, divine experience, illumination, and spirituality. 

Written as a concise handbook, this Practical Guide presents a novel paradigm for addressing the enduring questions of our existence, while providing a roadmap to the rational pursuit of spirituality in contemporary life.

Approaching our spiritual development as one would any experimental science, Bahram Elahi, MD, describes the nature of the human soul, or self, through a series of original diagrams and functional analogies to medicine, psychology, and physics. In so doing, he introduces a new medicine of the soul that not only establishes how to nourish and develop the soul through the practice of correct divine and ethical principles, but also how to diagnose and treat its various ailments. Explaining the purpose of our presence on earth as the completion of the first stage in our spiritual development, he summarizes this fundamental work in three main points: examining and mending one’s faith, sufficiently developing one’s sound reason, and cultivating one’s humanity. Ultimately, this timely Practical Guide offers readers of all backgrounds an accessible roadmap to our spiritual journey that is adapted to life in modern society.

Enlightened Contemporaries is the first book to compare the lives and teachings of three of the world's most admired spiritual masters: Francis of Assisi, the Christian saint; Dogen, the great Zen Buddhist teacher; and Rumi, the Islamic Sufi master. They lived during the same turbulent century. They integrated mystical experiences of the sacred into their lives, and they can inspire us to do the same.

Enlightened Contemporaries combines robust scholarship with brisk, engaging, lyrical prose. Offering a thorough introduction for the general reader as well as specialists, it will appeal to those who enjoy an interfaith approach to spiritual exploration, one that links Christian, Buddhist, and Islamic mystical teachings within a vibrant historical context and shows how they not only complement each other but remain profoundly relevant in the twenty-first century.

Bringing Saint Francis, Dogen, and Rumi vividly to life as complex and compelling human beings, Enlightened Contemporaries lucidly explains their spiritual paths, explores the dynamic age in which these three pioneering teachers struggled and triumphed, and investigates their remarkable poetry. It also deftly examines how Francis, Dogen, and Rumi engaged the world in the context of five shared themes: spiritual love, nature, the body, the role of women, and balancing retreat from society with active involvement. By interweaving the spiritual lives of these Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim teachers, Enlightened Contemporaries will help readers enhance their own lives and find new paths of spiritual understanding.

“Barnhart seeks and desires no less than a wholehearted rediscovery and reinvigoration of the mystical wisdom tradition that was once a powerful component of Christian spirituality.”—Library Journal

Much like Thomas Merton’s writings, this book recalls that a sapiential (wisdom) consciousness is central to the New Testament and remained the primary mode of theological understanding for more than twelve centuries. It proposes a new birth of this theology and understanding but with a new scope and new power for our time.

Bruno Barnhart was the spiritual director of New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, California. He authored several books including Second Simplicity: The Inner Shape of Christianity. He died in 2015.

“As priceless as discovering a previously unknown time capsule.”—Peter Coyote (Hosho Jishi), actor, director, author

This is what happened at the famous Zen monastery south of San Francisco.

From the best-selling author of the biography of Shunryu Suzuki (Crooked Cucumber), comes a memoir and oral history of Tassajara—a monastery founded in 1967 by Shunryu Suzuki, abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center. Peopled like a Sixties film of Buddhist invasion, with hippies, dreamers, lovers, a wave of serious practitioners. Nyogen Senzaki, D.T. Suzuki, Alan Watts, Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, and of course Shunryu Suzuki and Richard Baker are all here. This is the story of what happened at and surrounding the founding of the first Zen monastery in the West.

Confronting the reality, habits, and healing of Jewish anxiety.

Jewish anxiety is not all in our heads. Nor is feeling anxious simply a Jewish stereotype, even though many Jews tout anxiety as a stereotypical virtue and ascribe it as a motivator for success. Jewish anxiety is real. We inherit it from our ancestors. We learn it simply by living in an unsafe world as Jewish people. We learn it growing up in Jewish communities. We unconsciously transmit Jewish anxiety to our children through how we remember the past, retell our stories, and celebrate Jewish holidays. We experience Jewish anxiety in how we habitually react to stress, fear, and uncertainty, whether that stress has anything to do with being Jewish. We receive painful messages from the wider world that we internalize as repetitive stress habits of fear, unworthiness, and shame, and then turn these hateful messages on ourselves and each other through the voices of unrelenting internal critics.

Jewish anxiety is real, but it is not inevitable. We don’t have to suffer simply because of the challenging history or learned patterns we’ve inherited. We don’t have to suffer simply because of who we are in the world, or how the world imagines, distorts, and treats Jews. I believe we have more choices about how to respond to life’s challenges than we think. I believe we can unlearn these habits with awareness, curiosity, compassion, and courage. I believe Jewish spirituality offers deep wisdom and simple practices for how to release these patterns from our minds and our bodies for good. We can learn how to calm down, suffer less, and get free. I believe we can choose to live with more joy, despite the conspiracy theories and hatred.

“A beautifully written tale of spiritual growth.”—James Martin, SJ, author of the New York Times bestsellers Jesus: A Pilgrimage and Learning to Pray

Not every Catholic mother wants her son to be a priest.

The true story of a young man’s journey to become a Jesuit priest—written by his mother, a fallen-away Catholic who must come to terms with her son’s decision or risk losing him. It is an intimate, sometimes irreverent, and often searing examination of faith, family, and reconciliation.

“You send your son off to college and you think that in a few years you might get a call, and he’ll announce that he has someone he’s bringing home, someone he wants you to meet. But then that someone turns out to be a recruiter hawking a lifetime of poverty, chastity and obedience. What college kid in his right mind would sign up for that?”

The book offers a rare, often entertaining, glimpse into the highly unusual Jesuit formation process—which includes sending would-be priests off on pilgrimages with $35 in their pockets. It also takes on tough issues, from the church’s history of sexual abuse to its treatment of women, and asks tough questions: Is it possible to be Catholic, liberal, and a feminist all at the same time? What does it mean to call yourself a Catholic?

“We have a contemplation problem,” and here’s what to do about it.

Jacob Riyeff draws on 1,600 years of contemplative tradition in the West to show how humans are contemplative beings, what it means to contemplate in different areas of life, and how embracing a contemplative life can help lead anyone to a fuller experience of self, world, and communion with the Divine.

This is a volume of “spiritual theology,” using theological principles and understandings but exploring how to apply those principles and understandings to shape one’s daily living. Drawing on the ways that John Cassian, St. Benedict, Gregory the Great, William of Saint-Thierry, Dame Gertrude More, and others shaped and passed on the Christian inheritance, Contemplate brings this directly to bear on contemporary social and cultural situations. It seeks to answer the question, what does the contemplative tradition of the Latin west have to offer Christians living post-industrial, digitally-saturated, ecologically fraught lives?

This book is first in a new series, “Beyond Our Instincts”: succinct, multi-disciplinary, countercultural stances in an environment that sells us the idea that happiness is whatever you want now. These authors—all scholars of religion who are also religiously involved—suggest there are more important things, including some we may have forgotten.
     Coming in future publishing seasons:
     *Join (being together; refusing too much solitariness)
     *Imagine (on opting out of technique-obsessed culture)
     *Wait (the lost value of open questions and not-knowing)