The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism

Slavoj Zizek, Slavoj A1/2ia3/4ek

The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity

One of our most daring intellectuals offers a Lacanian interpretation of religion, finding that early Christianity was the first revolutionary collective. Slavoj Zizek has been called "an academic rock star" and "the wild man of theory"; his writing mixes astonishing erudition and references to pop culture in order to dissect current intellectual pieties. In The Puppet and the Dwarf he offers a close reading of today's religious constellation from the viewpoint of Lacanian psychoanalysis. He critically confronts both predominant versions of today's spirituality--New Age gnosticism and deconstructionist-Levinasian Judaism--and then tries to redeem the "materialist" kernel of Christianity. His reading of Christianity is explicitly political, discerning in the Pauline community of believers the first version of a revolutionary collective. Since today even advocates of Enlightenment like Jurgen Habermas acknowledge that a religious vision is needed to ground our ethical and political stance in a "postsecular" age, this book--with a stance that is clearly materialist and at the same time indebted to the core of the Christian legacy--is certain to stir controversy.

Marcus J. Borg

Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith

Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining.Drawing on his own journey from a naïve, unquestioning belief in Christ through collegiate skepticism to a mature and contemporary Christian faith, Borg illustrates how an understanding of the historical Jesus can actually lead to a more authentic Christian life--one not rooted in creed or dogma, but in a life of spiritual challenge, compassion, and community.In straightforward, accessible prose, Borg looks at the major findings of modern Jesus scholarship from the perspective of faith, bringing alive the many levels of Jesus's character: spirit person, teacher of alternative wisdom, social prophet, and movement founder. He also reexamines the major stories of the ...

William Buhlman

The Secret of the Soul: Using Out-Of-Body Experiences to Understand Our True Nature

0, In this remarkable book, William Buhlman, author of the bestselling Adventures Beyond the Body, offers the reader a comprehensive guidebook to understanding and exploring the fascinating phenomenon of out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Learn how you can: Explore your true spiritual self and attain profound transformation in your awareness and knowledge of the universe.Gain life-changing benefits as you break free from mental and physical limitationsContact departed loved ones using OBEs to move beyond the current limited understanding of death.Filled with engrossing stories based on the testimonies of people from all over the world, and offering forty new, easy-to-understand techniques, The Secret of the Soul will prepare human beings everywhere for the next major leap in the evolution of consciousness.