Muhammad: A Story of the Last Prophet (Hardcover) – Deepak Chopra [updated June 13, 2013]

Product Description
Born into the factious world of war-torn Arabia, Muhammad’s life is a gripping and inspiring story of one man’s tireless fight for unity and peace. In a world where greed and injustice ruled, Muhammad created change by affecting hearts and minds. Just as the story of Jesus embodies the message of Christianity, Muhammad’s life reveals the core of Islam. Deepak Chopra shares the life of Muhammad as never before, putting his teachings in a new light. Following the historical record but offering a unique perspective, Chopra shows us why his teachings are more important now than ever before.

This title will be released on September 21, 2010.

Those interested can attend an evening lecture, Q & A and Book signing on Tuesday, September 21, 7-9pm at the New York Open Center. $35 ( Includes Book)

About the Author
Deepak Chopra is a world-renowned authority in the field of mind-body healing, a New York Times bestselling author, and the founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. Heralded by Time as the “poet-prophet of alternative medicine,” he is also the host of the popular weekly Wellness Radio program on Sirius/XM Stars.

Click here to browse inside.

Deepak Chopra about his new novel on the life of Muhammad

Full interview with Alan Steinfeld and Deepak Chopra about his latest book Muhammad: A Story of the Last Prophet

Waking the Global Heart: Humanity’s Rite of Passage from the Love of Power to the Power of Love~ Anodea Judith Ph. D. [Updated May 24, 2013]

Overview

Waking the Global Heart articulates a guiding vision for the transformational passage of our time. Positing that we are an adolescent culture in search of our future humanity, our maturation into the next era of human civilization will occur through an initiatory process that is at once both personal and collective. The agents of our initiation are the very by-products of our culture––from population expansion and environmental degradation to scientific breakthroughs and the blossoming of the World Wide Web. Such rites of passage force a shift in identity and awaken a fundamental change in values. A new identity must emerge that is based on planetary stewardship and global community, rather than ego-based individualism.

This requires the enchantment of a new myth––a fundamental awakening to an inspirational vision. Lasting transformation cannot be generated by fear, guilt, or control, but must be motivated from the heart. This comprises a shift from our current values based on the love of power to those motivated by the power of love. What awakens the heart is the soul of the world itself and the very real possibility of a wondrous future.

The primary focus of the current era, oriented to power, aggression, and personal ego must change. The old story of warring empires struggling for power must give way to a new myth of interdependent reciprocity. An era of the heart, based on values of integration, compassion, human rights, and environmental sustainability, is essential if we are to survive into the future. This shift takes us from opposition to synthesis, competition to cooperation, separation to integration, markets to networks, and most importantly: from power to love.

Waking the Global Heart chronicles the story of this passage. It takes the reader through an examination of three basic questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? The answers take us on a tour through 30,000 years of the human story, examining the mythic themes that guided past eras. Each era is compared to stages of individual psychological development from birth to adolescence, and correlates these stages of collective evolution to the levels of consciousness related to the chakra system and to masculine and feminine archetypal dynamics.

The book then describes the elements of a new organizing principle based on self-organizing networks, values of compassion and cooperation, synthesis of divorced polarities, and the awakening of both transcendent and immanent forms of spirituality. Through a fundamental shift from seeing our world as an object to embracing it as a complex and divine subject, we can fall back in love with the world once again, and join together in balance and respect with the original partner in our evolutionary journey. By this act we can send the message through the global brain that it is time to awaken the global heart.

Anodea Judith, Ph. D.

Long concerned with the future of humanity, and passionate about awakening our collective potential, Anodea Judith has dedicated her life to healing the wounds in our personal and collective psyches, by addressing the archetypal splits in our guiding mythologies. With the recognition that our world is teetering on a dangerous precipice, Dr. Judith decided to step back from bandaging the wounds that paraded through her private practice as a therapist, and instead take a stand against the beliefs and assumptions that were causing those wounds. With a proclivity for perceiving patterns, honed by two decades in the therapist chair, she now takes her lifetime study of history, psychology, mythology, and religion, to illuminate a guiding vision for humanity’s future.

Anodea Judith holds a doctorate in Health and Human Services, with a speciality in Mind-Body healing, and a Master’s in Clinical Psychology. Her best-selling books on the chakra system, marrying Eastern and Western disciplines, have been considered groundbreaking in the field of Transpersonal Psychology and used as definitive texts in the U.S. and abroad. With under 1 million books in print, and translations in 15 languages, her books have won her the reputation of solid scholarship and international renown as a dynamic speaker and workshop leader.

Waking the Global Heart- book trailer

Winner of the 2007 Nautilus Book Award
-Best Book of the Year for Social Change

Winner of the 2007 Independent Publisher Award (IP)
-Silver Medal for Mind, Body & Spirit

Will we survive into the next age? If so, what will it look like and what will it take for us to get there? For the first time since the planet cooled, five billion years ago, humanity is capable of influencing—-for better or worse—-the trajectory of evolution. This requires a tremendous responsibility and maturity of the heart, and in this revolutionary book, best-selling author Anodea Judith charts the challenges and opportunities of our time.

Only through a rite of passage will humanity shift from the love of power to the power of love. This initiation will uproot and transform every aspect of human civilization. It will demand of humankind a new myth, one that insists on cooperation rather than competition, co-creation rather than procreation, networks rather than markets, and sustainability rather than exploitation. Waking the Global Heart is a handbook for this initiation, taking us on a journey through the twists and turns of our collective history to emerge with a guiding vision for our next awakening.
Anodea Judith, Ph. D.

Anodea Judith, Ph.D., is a prophet for our time. Her books include Wheels of Life and Eastern Body, Western Mind, with 500,000 books in print in 12 languages, as well as several audio products, and an award-winning video. A former therapist, she now teaches workshops nationally and internationally on cultural evolution, human psychology, spirituality, and healing.

Anodea Judith – Template for Transformation

Join author Anodea Judith in this one-minute video as she describes humanity’s shift from the love of power to the power of love as a new organizing principle, combining personal and collective transformation using the map of the chakra system .

The Law of Divine Compensation On Work, Money, and Miracles By Marianne Williamson [ Updated March 31, 2013]

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed author and lecturer. Four of her eight books, including A Return to Love, and, Everyday Grace, have been No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. Her most recent book is The Law of Divine Compensation. She also founded Project Angel Food, a meals-on-wheels program that serves over 1000 homebound people in the Los Angeles area daily, and co-founded the Global Renaissance Alliance (GRA), a worldwide network of peace activists.

Marianne Williamson is a bestselling author (Return to Love, Healing the Soul of America), a world-renowned teacher, and one of the most important New Age thinkers of our time. In The Law of Divine Compensation, she reveals the spiritual principles that help us overcome financial stress and unleash the divine power of abundance. A guru to anyone interested in New Age spirituality, Williamson’s words ring with power and truth as she assures us that, with faith in God’s promise of prosperity for all, we need never fear the future.

Book Excerpt: The Law of Divine Compensation by Marianne Williamson

Chapter Three: Making Love the Bottom Line

We carry a lot of misconceptions about love. Putting love first isn’t a life of “sacrifice,” for example, as many have been taught. In fact, putting love first means knowing who you are, which means accepting the fact that you’re entitled to miracles. Putting love first means knowing the universe supports you in creating the good, the holy, and the beautiful. It means knowing you’re on the earth for a purpose, and that the purpose itself will create opportunities for its accomplishment.

Making love your bottom line doesn’t make you “lose.” Putting love first is ultimately the way you inevitably gain. For what you give, you shall receive; and what you withhold will be withheld from you. Most of the world’s religions share this core idea. Or, as a friend of mine once described the idea to me, the universe keeps a perfect set of books. You give love; you get love.

Making love the bottom line doesn’t mean you have to give everything away or that you’ll never charge for your services. The principle of fair exchange gives love to both giver and receiver.

Making love the bottom line doesn’t mean you’re compelled to do anything anyone ever asks you to do. Love always gives the loving response, but sometimes the loving response is “No.”

But it does mean that we take seriously the idea that we are on the earth to do as Love would have us to do. I know from personal experience that when I’ve done this, I’ve gained financially as well as in other ways. And when I have not done this, I’ve lost.

The path of love might not lead to an immediate, short-term bundle of cash. That is not how the Law of Divine Compensation works. But following the path of love leads to trust, deeper relationships, and therefore greater probability of further good. Our internal abundance is ultimately the source of our external abundance. Who we are, not just the services we provide, creates money.

Someone who is positive and energetic when they show up for work; are they or are they not the person most likely to be promoted? Someone who is kind and helpful when you walk into their store; do they or do they not have a business to which you’re more likely to return? Someone who inspires genuine trust and faith in the excellence of their work; are they or are they not the person you are more likely to hire for your next project? You know that line about how nice guys finish last? It’s a lie.

Yet at times we fear that if we give ourselves to love, we will somehow devolve into a puddle of weakness—that love will make us vulnerable to hurt or to being less effective in the world. We think God can have our spiritual lives, but we better not hand over our finances! A woman once told me, “I don’t mind giving God my money, but if it’s over $200,000, I think I better handle it myself.” And here is what makes that such a joke: it is often in the area of our finances where we need miracles the most!

Love is our sanity. It does not lead us to unwise behavior. It does not lead us to give our money away frivolously when there is a need to save it and provide for our family. It does not lead us into a lack of respect for principles of money management or the appropriate laws of commerce. It does not lead us into unreasonable or immoderate behavior. Love doesn’t ruin things; love makes all things right, by aligning mortal events with the natural patterns of an intentional and creative universe.

Love makes us wake up in the morning with a sense of purpose and a flow of creative ideas. Love floods our nervous system with positive energy, making us far more attractive to prospective employers, clients, and creative partners. Love fills us with a powerful charisma, enabling us to produce new ideas and new projects, even within circumstances that seem to be limited. Love leads us to atone for our errors and clean up the mess when we’ve made mistakes. Love leads us to act with impeccability, integrity, and excellence. Love leads us to serve, to forgive, and to hope. Those things are the opposite of a poverty consciousness; they’re the stuff of spiritual wealth creation.

In 1992, I published a book called A Return to Love. At the time, I was bit naive—I had never spent time thinking about things like book contracts, bestseller status or book royalties. I was excited to be able to live off the suggested donations at my lectures on A Course in Miracles, and while writing the book I don’t think I even thought about how well it might sell. In fact, due largely to the enthusiasm of Oprah Winfrey, it was the fifth bestselling book in America that year.

I had a strong sense at the time that the money hadn’t really come directly from the book—that it had come through it. It felt like the money was divine payment for something more than the book, particularly the charitable work I had been doing for years before, for no money at all. It was payment for how I had been trying to live my life, cleaning up any mess from my past and trying to be of service to others. The seeker isn’t looking to “get money,” but to exchange energy. And when the energy we’re putting out is filled with the consciousness of love, then the energy flowing back to us comes in whatever form most serves our good. I figured that if I lived a good life and worked hard, then I’d be taken care of somehow.

There was a level of naiveté to the life I was living before my book was published. It wasn’t that I was so pure or anything, so much as blessedly unaware of the more sophisticated principles by which wealth is supposedly created. There’s no way in the world that my activities during those years would have been thought to be good for business, because there was no business! But I was, in my own way, about my Father’s business. And then, when the book was published, I saw what I had done for love came back to me a thousand fold and more.

Such is the Law. Spiritual teacher Marianne Williamson says the golden rule of giving and receiving is part of a greater divine order.
Excerpted from THE LAW OF DIVINE COMPENSATION by Marianne Williamson with permission by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright 2012.

Marianne Williamson on THE LAW OF DIVINE COMPENSATION

Marianne Williamson reflects on her newest book, THE LAW OF DIVINE COMPENSATION.

The Law of Divine Compensation with Marianne Williamson

Published on Feb 8, 2013

A wide-ranging and very timely interview with internationally acclaimed spiritual author and lecturer Marianne Williamson. Leading off from her new book, THE LAW OF DIVINE COMPENSATION, we discuss the nature of miracles and the perceptual shift we need to make to manifest them in our lives.

To hear the full audio interview click HERE

Marianne Williamson Interview

Marianne talks new book, the universe, philosophy to live by and more!

For more of Marianne’s books and video View Here

The Way of Chuang Tzu (First Edition) – by Thomas Merton [Updated March 13, 2013]

Working from existing translations, Thomas Merton composed a series of personal versions from his favorites among the classic sayings of Chuang Tzu, the most spiritual of the Chinese philosophers.

Chuang Tzu, who wrote in the fourth and third centuries B.C., is the chief authentic historical spokesman for Taoism and its founder Lao Tzu (a legendary character known largely through Chuang Tzu’s writings). Indeed it was because of Chuang Tzu and the other Taoist sages that Indian Buddhism was transformed, in China, into the unique vehicle we now call by its Japanese name — Zen. The Chinese sage abounds in wit, paradox, satire, and shattering insight into the true ground of being. Father Merton, no stranger to Asian thought, brings a vivid, modern idiom to the timeless wisdom of Tao. Illustrated with early Chinese drawings.

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) entered the Cistercian Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, following his conversion to Catholicism and was ordained Father M. Louis in 1949. During the 1960s, he was increasingly drawn into a dialogue between Eastern and Western religions and domestic issues of war and racism. In 1968, the Dalai Lama praised Merton for having a more profound knowledge of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. Thomas Merton is the author of the beloved classic The Seven Storey Mountain.

Browse here

Thomas Merton & Chuang Tzu – The Active Life

Merton’s translation of the Taoist writer, Chuang Tzu, who lived in China during the 4th or 3rd Century BC, during the Chou Dynasty, sometimes called the Warring States Period. The visuals are scenes of Point Isabel on a late Sunday afternoon in Richmond, California.

copyright infringement not intended

Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being ~Sundance Burke [Updated March 8, 2013]

Free Spirit is speaking as freedom, which is our Consciousness, the sweet essence of our lives. The freedom spoken here is an inner knowing. We cannot realize this liberation by catering to our bodies, emotions or minds. No, this freedom is spiritual; an altitude of perception that only arises when we are lighter than our surroundings. We can realize this lightness of being if we are willing to abide as Awareness and let go of the ego, the one who suffers mind. For this enlightenment to happen, a quiet mind is all we need. Why do anything for this, when only our stillness will suffice. Be silent, be still, be free.

Within this book you will find answered and unanswered questions, humor, poetic prose, experimentation with consciousness and passages that illuminate the sense that we are more than our thoughts, emotions, senses, body, and energy. The entire venture is directed to our essence, that we might realize our Free Spirit.

Sundance demonstrates the light-hearted wisdom and spontaneous creativity that is the energy signature of liberated Consciousness. Every word in this book is sourced by the power of silent Truth. Without contradicting this source, the writing inspires our active participation in the realization of Spirit, as only our direct experience is of any value to awakening.

For those of us who desire to be free, Sundance takes us by the hand and walks with us through the entire landscape of the egoic mind, until we reach its outer boundary. Here, he invites us to take a leap of Self-faith into simply being awareness. Will we survive?

Sundance says: “Who you think you are will not survive and who you are is never threatened. However, only by the leap can this be realized. Truly, all you surrender is your suffering and Now is the time.”

Sundance Burke was born in Seattle, Washington under the given name, Donald Russell Burke III. He is a graduate of the University of Washington and the Gonzaga School of Law. While traveling for business in 1982, he experienced a profound spiritual awakening that fundamentally dissolved his concept of self.

In 1988, he met his future wife, Katie Davis, who had similarly experienced the miracle of Self-liberation. They immediately recognized their meeting as sacred and committed their lives to deepening in Loving Presence. Now an inseparable Spirit, they adventured the awakening in private until 1999 and then began to share the Truth of Being from their home. Soon, they were traveling up and down the West Coast of North America to meet with others.

In 2004, Sundance and Katie moved to Maui to marry and write the realization of Beloved Being. Side by side their books took form and expression. Currently, they are traveling throughout the world to share the realization of Free Spirit and Awake Joy.

Click here to browse inside.

Sundance Burke – Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

SUNDANCE BURKE, Spiritual Teacher and Author, was born in Seattle, Washington under the given name, Donald Russell Burke III. He is a graduate of the University of Washington and the Gonzaga School of Law. Sundance is a former lawyer and businessman. He is the father of two children and the grandfather of three.

Sundance Burke is the author of Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being, published in 2008. He offers public talks, meditation gatherings, video recordings, private meetings, intensive workshops and retreats for those who long to awaken from the fearful dream of human separation and suffering.

While traveling for law business in 1982, Sundance was graced with the profound spiritual experience of being the loving witness to the mind’s dream of personal existence. This awareness of impersonal being completely shattered his former understanding of self-identity and the nature of his world. In the years that followed, he found himself undertaking an intense inward journey into the heart of this realization.

In 1988, he met his future wife and teaching partner, Katie Davis, who had similarly experienced the miracle of Self-liberation. Recognizing their meeting as sacred, Sundance and Katie committed their lives to deepening in loving presence. An inseparable spirit, they adventured the awakening in private until 1999 and then began to share the Truth of Being from their home. Soon, they were accepting invitations to travel throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

In 2004, Sundance and Katie moved to Maui to marry and write the realization of Beloved Being. Sitting side by side, their books took form and expression. Currently, they are again residing in the Seattle area and they continue to point to our True Presence, as conscious freedom and causeless joy. Katie Davis is the author of Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment. Interviews with Sundance and Katie about awakening are included in the recently published book, Conversations on Non-Duality; Twenty-six Awakenings.

Sundance says, “Your being is not a personal or temporary existence. You are the very consciousness manifesting this life. Thus, you naturally love and embrace every perceived experience without fear. Unborn…you are timelessly awake for all the comings and goings within your conscious presence. Just by the mere turning of your attention to its source and foundation, you can awaken unto the truth of who you really are.”

The AWAKE SPIRIT TEACHINGS of Sundance and Katie have helped many people throughout the world to find inner peace, wise love and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of this teaching is a spiritual awakening that transcends the ego-based state of consciousness into the harmony and unity of pure awareness, a field of infinite possibility and the sacred heart of all Being.

Interview recorded 5/5/2012.

Sundance Burke 1 – ‘Free Spirit’ – Interview by Iain McNay

Sundance Burke 2 – ‘Free Spirit’ – Interview by Iain McNay

Sundance Burke 3 – ‘Free Spirit’ – Interview by Iain McNay

Sundance Burke 4 – ‘Free Spirit’ – Interview by Iain McNay

Evolution’s Purpose: An Integral Interpretation of the Scientific Story of Our Origins ~ Steve McIntosh [updated Feb 28, 2013]

Evolution’s Purpose presents a fresh and compelling view of the scientific facts of evolution, and shows how a deeper understanding of evolution itself can lead directly to a more evolved world.

As we come to understand how evolution progresses, this reveals evolution’s purpose—to grow toward ever-widening realizations of beauty, truth, and goodness. And it is through the generation of these most intrinsic forms of value that evolution expresses its spiritual message. McIntosh argues that the purpose of evolution is not “intelligently designed” or otherwise externally controlled; rather, its purpose is being creatively and originally discerned through the choices of evolutionary creatures themselves. Without relying on any spiritual authorities, McIntosh demonstrates evolution’s purposeful progression and shows how the scientific story of our origins is actually a profound and sacred teaching compatible with many forms of contemporary spirituality.
Click Here To Read the Book Excerpts

Steve McIntosh on the Evolutionary Impulse, interview excerpt

In this 4 minute excerpt from Jeff Salzman’s hour-long interview, integral philosopher Steve McIntosh speaks about his new book: Evolution’s Purpose: an Integral Interpretation of the Scientific Story of Our Origins. Steve describes the significance of the “evolutionary impulse” and how this impulse itself evolves as humans seek ever-widening forms of self-actualization and come to realize deeper dimensions of intrinsic value.

Steve McIntosh presents his book, Evolution’s Purpose

Published on Dec 17, 2012
This hour and forty minute video presents Steve’s latest thinking, with a focus on his book Evolution’s Purpose. Recorded at the Caritas Center in Boulder, Colorado on November 16, 2012, this “book talk” is part of Steve’s international book tour.

In the video he describes the new picture of universal evolution that includes matter, life and mind. This leads to a discussion of how evolution’s progressive advance reveals its overall purpose, which is to grow toward ever-widening realizations of beauty, truth, and goodness. Despite setbacks and regressions, and despite the challenges of the modern world, Steve explains why the evolutionary story of our origins is actually a profound spiritual teaching. The presentation includes lively questions and discussion by the Boulder audience

From Here To Here: Turning Toward Enlightenment by Gary Crowley [updated Feb 21, 2013]

From Here To Here is a guidebook for the spiritual seeker.

It invites you to look at your spiritual path from a perspective that few consider and gives you the keys to understanding what few will ever realize. Its underlying message is that enlightenment’s only complication is its devastating simplicity. Rich with metaphors, examples, and teaching stories, the book also offers important, easy-to-understand concepts from psychology, brain science, and common sense.

From Here to Here is written for the earnest spiritual seeker who yearns to see through their illusions and encounter what already is. It guides you to a place where you can experience a message that is simple, yet profound; unique, but also ancient. It is a little book with a clear and powerful message.

The predicament of spiritual seekers can be likened to that of a man who rises each morning and faces West in hope of seeing a sunrise. Like this man “facing the wrong way,” the spiritual seeker also requires an understanding that will shift his or her orientation. With understanding, the seeker can finally turn and see that what they have been looking for has been right here all along.

Excerpt:

Enlightenment is devastatingly simple. Although questions regarding enlightenment often become complicated, the answer always remains simple: enlightenment is the direct result of freedom from the illusion of a separate self. A profound understanding of this ultimate simplicity provides all that is required for an awakening to enlightenment.

Gary Crowley was raised in Seekonk, Massachusetts, and lived in the same blue-collar Irish Catholic home in the same child-packed neighborhood for the next eighteen years. Then he moved to California to attend Stanford, graduating with a B.A.in Economics and another in Political Science. He now lives in Encinitas, California, which is near San Diego.

Gary is a bodyworker whose practice focuses on people with chronic structural pain. He was trained in Rolfing (also known as Structural Integration) eighteen years ago. He calls his work Functional Bodywork.

Click here to browse inside

In 2006, he published the book From Here to Here: Turning Toward Enlightenment. Gary’s website is http://www.garycrowley.com.

Gary Crowley – Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

Gary Crowley was born in 1965 and was raised in Massachusetts as a practical-minded New Englander. He graduated from Stanford University in 1987 with degrees in Economics and Political Science.

At a young age, he was attracted to Eastern philosophy and spiritual writings that seemed to offer a glimpse of something greater than the life he had known growing up.

However, by 2001, Gary finally gave up on all forms of spiritual seeking after decades on the path. He surrendered under the weight of the many well-intended spiritual teachings he’d accumulated over the years. All the study had not caused the shift in awareness that he’d so earnestly sought and had been so often promised.

The problem, he then realized, was that he had been simply piling up concepts without addressing the very foundation — his sense of “self” — that was doing the seeking.

He discovered that it is only by dismantling our assumptions about “who we are,” rather than merely describing a state of being such as oneness or wholeness, that we can bring about a natural opening to a new way of experiencing life.

Gary’s site: http://garycrowley.com/

Gary’s books:

Pass the Jelly: Tales of Ordinary Enlightenment
From Here to Here: Turning Toward Enlightenment

Interview recorded 8/11/2010.

Rediscovering Values On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street – by Jim Wallis [updated Feb 15, 2013]

A moral compass for the new economy—one that will guide us on Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street.

When we start with the wrong question, no matter how good an answer we get, it won’t give us the results we want. Rather than joining the throngs who ask “When will this economic crisis be over?” Jim Wallis says the right question to ask is “How will this crisis change us?”

The worst thing we can do now, Wallis tells us in Rediscovering Values, is to go back to normal. Normal is what got us into this situation. We need a new normal, and this economic crisis is an invitation to discover what that means. Here are some of the principles Wallis unpacks for our new normal:

• Spending money we don’t have for things we don’t need is a bad foundation for an economy or a family.
• It’s time to stop keeping up with the Joneses and start making sure the Joneses are okay.
• The values of commercials and billboards are not the things we want to teach our children.
• Care for the poor is not just a moral duty but is critical for the common good.
• A healthy society is a balanced society in which markets, the government, and our communities all play a role.
• The operating principle of God’s economy says that there is enough if we share it.

In this wide-ranging discussion of the moral issues raised by our deep and wide economic crisis, Wallis argues that change needs to come from families, communities, and our whole society. These kinds of changes are never quick or easy solutions but, rather, long-term shifts that we must choose and rechoose every day.

The Great Recession: A Spiritual Crisis – Jim Wallis
The Great Recession is not just an economic crisis, it is the result of a loss of values, a moral crisis. And to say that it is a moral crisis is also to say that it is a spiritual crisis. At the center of most religions is the question of who and what we worship? Where is our deepest allegiance?

So the Great Recession bears some “religious” reflection, as the market has gradually become all pervasive–a replacement for religion and even for God. It is the Market now that now seems to have all the godlike qualities–all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful, even eternal–unable to be resisted or even questioned. Performing necessary roles and providing important goods and services are not the same things as commanding ultimate allegiance. Idolatry means that something has taken the place of God. The market can be good thing and even necessary; but it now commands too much, claims ultimate significance, controls too much space in our lives, and has gone far beyond its proper limits.

Idolatry comes in a lot of different forms. Today, it is much more subtle than bowing down to a golden calf. It often takes the form of choosing the wrong priorities, trusting in the wrong things, and putting our confidence where it does not belong.

Today, instead of statues, we now have hedge funds, mortgage-backed securities, 401(k)s, and mutual funds and, for some, bonuses. We place blind faith in the hope that the stock indexes will just keep rising and real estate prices keep climbing. Market mechanisms were supposed to distribute risk so well that even those who were reckless would never see the consequences of their actions. Trust, security, and hope in the future were all as close to us as the nearest financial planner’s office. Life and the world around us could all be explained with just the right market lens. These idols were supposed to make us happy and secure, and provide for all our needs. Those who manage them became the leaders, to whom we looked, not just for financial leadership, but direction for our entire lives. That is indeed idolatry.

Rich and poor alike were sucked into making heroes out of those who seemed to be able to turn everything they touched into gold. Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel lost virtually all of his personal wealth and his foundation’s, up to $37 million, to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. “We gave him everything, we thought he was God, we trusted everything in his hands,” Weisel said.

The market even has its priests, pastors, rabbis, imams, and shamans. These money and market commentators translate the often confusing signals of the Dow, international currency exchange rates, or futures indexes and tell us all what they mean and how they should act as a result. Sometimes they preach famine and the retribution of the market for the sins of the people, and other times they praise the market and the feast it provides. Those who question the market “god” are called heretics and lunatics and are burned at the stake on conservative talk radio.

In claiming the power to define what is real and true, and bowing to no limits beyond itself, the market now claims “a comprehensive wisdom that in the past only the gods have known,” according to theologian Harvey Cox. And like a god to be feared and worshipped, we now can even know the market’s moods on a daily basis–moody, angry, restless, or satisfied. And to even question the market’s “high priests” and their declarations is now to commit heresy. The worship of this false god, The Market, has become quite ecumenical. Across denominational and faith persuasions, herds of us are bowing down to the doctrines and dictates of The Market.

But this crisis presents us with an opportunity, not just to be smarter and more prudent about our economic lives, but to change something much deeper–to reject the idolatry of our market worship, to expose the idols that have ensnared us, and to reduce “The Market” to simply “the market,” asking the market to again serve us, rather than the other way around. According to John Deere CEO, Bob Lane, the market is to be “a means, and not an end.” That’s good theology.

Indeed, it could be that the religions of the world might help lead the way here, challenging the idols of the market and reminding us who is God and who is not–a traditional and necessary role for religion. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein,” say both Christianity and Judaism: it does not belong to the market. Let us also remember that human beings are merely stewards of God’s creation; not its masters. And we humans are the ones who preside over the market–not the other way around.

And despite our differences, the religion of the market has become a more formidable rival to every religion than we are to one another. But together now, we could challenge the dominion of the market, by again restoring the rightful worship of God. The market’s false promise of its limitless infinity must be replaced with the acknowledgment of our human finitude, with more humility and with moral limits–which are essential to restoring our true humanity. The market’s fear of scarcity must be replaced with the abundance of a loving God. And the first commandment of The Market, “There is never enough,” must be replaced by the dictums of God’s economy; namely, there is enough, if we share it.

For people of faith, there is another question: What is a Christian, Jewish, or Islamic response to a deepening economic crisis like this? What should people of faith be thinking, saying, and doing? What is the responsibility of the churches, synagogues, and mosques to their own parishioners, to their communities, to the nation, and the world? And where is God in all this?

What do pastors, lay leaders, activists, and practitioners say about creative opportunities and new solutions that could come out of all this: the possibilities of mutual aid, congregational and community credit unions, and new cooperative strategies for solving problems like health care, housing, and even jobs. How can an economic crisis reconnect religious congregations with their own communities? How might a crisis be an opportunity to clarify the mission of the faith community?

One good example of a response is the Vineyard Church of Columbus, Ohio. On Palm Sunday, Pastor Rich Nathan told his congregation, “We want to help families and individuals who have lost their jobs by taking a special offering.” The collection that followed was an amazing surprise to everyone – raising $625,000! The church is now using these funds to provide resources, coaching, counseling, and networking events to assist people with securing employment; to both its members and the wider community.

And at a larger level, the basic teachings of our faiths, from our many traditions, offer useful correctives to the practices that brought us to this sad place. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount instructs us not to be anxious about material things, a notion that runs directly counter to the frenzied pressure of modern consumer culture. Judaism teaches us to leave the edges of the fields for the poor to “glean” and welcome those in need to our tables. And Islam prohibits the practice of usury. And the core religious values of simplicity, stewardship, humility, patience, and modesty are now just what we need.

This is already a time of great anxiety for many. But it could also be a time of prayerful self-evaluation, redirection, and even new relationships with others in our congregations and communities, with our families and children, and even with our God.

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Bestselling author Jim Wallis on his new book, Rediscovering Values on Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street argues that the economic crisis affords us an incredible opportunity to rescue our culture from commercialism and create a moral social order. Wallis provides a moral compass for our new emerging economy.

Out of the Darkness From Turmoil to Transformation by Steve Taylor [updated Feb 09, 2013]

In Out of the Darkness, bestselling author Steve Taylor tells the stories of more than 30 people who have undergone permanent spiritual awakening after intense trauma and turmoil in their lives.

Read about the young woman who was reborn after suffering terrible injuries in the 7/7 bombings in London, the man who found enlightenment after becoming paralyzed in a fall, the man who underwent transformation after attempting suicide, and the recovering alcoholic who shifted to a permanent state of enlightenment after hitting ‘rock bottom’ and losing everything.

Steve has also interviewed several spiritual teachers whose awakening occurred after intense psychological turmoil, including Eckhart Tolle. In addition to telling these people’s stories, Out of the Darkness explains why turmoil has this transformational effect and illustrates the almost infinite capacity of human beings to overcome suffering. It shows how close – and how natural – spiritual awakening is to all of us.

Steve Taylor is an author and teacher whose main interests are spirituality and psychology. He taught courses on personal development at the University of Manchester in the UK for several years, and is now a researcher in transpersonal psychology at Liverpool John Moores University. He is the author of Waking from Sleep, The Fall and Making Time. Steve lives in Manchester with his wife and young children.

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Steve Taylor: Out of the Darkness: Part 1

Steve Taylor is a lecturer in psychology at Leeds Metropolitan University and researcher in transpersonal psychology at Liverpool John Moores University. He has written for many magazines, newspapers and academic journals, including Psychologies, The Daily Express, The Guardian The Journal of Humanistic Psychology and The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. Steve lives in Manchester with his wife and young children.

Out of the Darkness tells the stories of more than 30 people who have undergone permanent psychological rebirth after intense trauma and turmoil in their lives. From suffering terrible injuries or developing life-threatening diseases, to hitting rock bottom as a result of addiction, these people have all shifted into a state of appreciation, connection and intense well-being.
Steve Taylor: Out of the Darkness: part 2

Steve Taylor – Out of the Darkness and The Fall (Turmoil to Enlightenment)

Steve’s research looks at how humanity suddenly changed from being peaceful to war like from around 6000 years ago. Humanity suddenly had an ego explosion where people became more individualistic and separate. Also in his new book “Out of the Darkness” Steve discusses a number of cases where people were going through some of kind of inner turmoil to then suddenly transform into an enlightened state of awareness. Where the ego collapses and allows a higher awareness of consciousness to shine through.

Listen to Steve’s fascinating interview and learn about his popular books on the subject.

Paranormal:My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife By Raymond Moody, Paul Perry

The bestselling author of Life After Life, Raymond Moody, offers a stunning, myth-busting memoir of everything he has learned in a lifetime studying “the other side” and our connection to it. The grandfather of the NDE (near death experience) movement, Raymond Moody has, in the words of Dr. Larry Dossey, author of The Power of Premonitions, “radically changed the way modern humans think about the afterlife.” Paranormal, essential reading for fans of Dannion Brinkley and Jeffrey Long, is “a thrilling and inspiring literary experience. Anyone who is not grateful for Moody’s immense contribution to human welfare ought to check his pulse.”

Book Description

From the bestselling author of Life After Life and pioneer researcher and leading authority on near-death experiences comes Paranormal, an intimate look at a lifetime spent fearlessly wrestling with humankind’s most important and perplexing question:

What happens when we die?

Paranormal begins with a harrowing account of Moody’s suicide attempt—due to an undiagnosed illness that led him into depression—and proceeds to explore his lifelong fascination with life beyond our bodies. Moody traces the roots of his obsession with the point of death and how, at age twenty-three, he launched the entirely new medical field of near-death studies. He went on to explore the world of past lives and possible reincarnation before stumbling into the fascinating realm of facilitated visions.

Moody’s rural research center, Theater of the Mind, dramatically advances paranormal research by melding ancient and modern techniques to arouse many of the transformative elements of the near-death experience in people who are still living.

After more than four decades of studying death and the possibility of an afterlife, Moody still sees endless promise in the fringes of psychological sciences, where he continues to seek answers to what happens to our souls after death.

Biography
Raymond Moody

Raymond Moody, M.D., Ph.D. is the bestselling author of eleven books which have sold over 20 million copies. His seminal work, Life After Life, has completely changed the way we view death and dying and has sold over 13 million copies worldwide. His latest book is GLIMPSES OF ETERNITY: Sharing a Loved One’s Passage from this Life to the Next.

Dr. Moody is the leading authority on the “near-death experience”–a phrase he coined in the late seventies. He is best known for his ground-breaking work on the near-death experience and what happens when we die. The New York Times calls Dr. Moody “the father of the near-death experience.”

Dr. Moody has enlightened and entertained audiences all over the world for over three decades. He lectures on such topics as: Near Death Experiences, Death With Dignity, Life After Loss, Surviving Grief & Finding Hope, Reunions: Visionary Encounters With Departed Loved Ones, The Healing Power of Humor, The Loss of Children, The Logic of Nonsense, and Catastrophic Tragedies & Events causing collective grief response.

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PARANORMAL: My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife by Raymond Moody

Uploaded on Feb 2, 2012

The bestselling author of Life After Life, Raymond Moody, offers PARANORMAL: a stunning, myth-busting memoir of everything he has learned in a lifetime studying “the other side” and our connection to it. The grandfather of the NDE (near death experience) movement, Raymond Moody has, in the words of Dr. Larry Dossey, author of The Power of Premonitions, “radically changed the way modern humans think about the afterlife.”

PARANORMAL: My Life in Pursuit of the Afterlife
By Raymond Moody

What can we expect after we die? – Dr Raymond Moody, US

Published on Sep 22, 2012

Raymond Moody (born June 30, 1944) is a psychologist and medical doctor. He is most famous as an author of books about life after death and near-death experiences (NDE), a term that he coined in 1975. His best-selling title is Life After Life.