Spirituality Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Spirituality, including details on effects in health care, religion, psychology.

Recommended Books on Spirituality

The Seeker's Guide (previously published as The New American Spirituality) Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of the Omega Institute, speaks to America's cross-pollination of religious, psychological, metaphysical, and ancient traditions that have flowered into contemporary spirituality. Like many seekers, Lesser has discovered a deeply personal religious path--one that wandered through Zen Buddhist monasteries, meandered through Christian churches, dabbled in African and Native American traditions, and expanded into the teachings of the Great Mother. Using her own journey as the road map, Lesser discusses why so many Americans are coming to a deeply personal form of religion--one that does not prescribe to a specific doctrine or definition of God.

Although she expertly performs the role of memoirist and observer, Lesser has stretched this book into a useful tool for all seekers. She offers numerous suggestions, such as how to listen to your body, increase your spiritual bank account, "live the questions" rather than "seek the answers," and create a supportive community. This is a moving workbook for anyone who's hoping to find, claim, or simply maintain their spiritual truths. --Gail HudsonIn 1977, Elizabeth Lesser cofounded the Omega Institute, now America's largest adult-education center focusing on wellness and spirituality. Working with many of the eminent thinkers of our times, including Zen masters, rabbis, Christian monks, psychologists, scientists, and an array of noted American figures--from L.A. Lakers coach Phil Jackson to author Maya Angelou--Lesser found that by combining a variety of religious, psychological, and healing traditions, each of us has the unique ability to satisfy our spiritual hunger.

In The Seeker's Guid, she synthesizes the lessons learned from an immersion into the world's wisdom traditions and intertwines them with illuminating stories from her daily life. Recounting her own trials and errors and offering meditative exercises, she shows the reader how to create a personal practice, gauge one's progress, and choose effective spiritual teachers and habits. Warm, accessible, and wise, this book provides directions through the four landscapes of the spiritual journey:

THE MIND: learning meditation to ease stress and anxiety
THE HEART: dealing with grief, loss, and pain; opening the heart and becoming fully alive
THE BODY: returning the body to the spiritual fold to heal and
overcome the fear of aging and death
THE SOUL: experiencing daily life as an adventure of meaning and mystery

Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from The Power of Now This manual-style book instantly dives into Eckhart Tolle's principles of "living in the moment," which could be a jarring experience for readers who haven't read his preceding book, The Power of Now. For the initiated, though, this makes an excellent companion guide--rich in exercises and meditations to help readers get out of their minds so they can live more peacefully in their bodies. Sometimes it's hard to fathom what on earth Tolle is talking about: "To regain awareness of Being and to abide in that state of 'feeling-realization' is enlightenment." Be patient. All concepts will be revealed (or at least more carefully explained). Ultimately, Tolle leads readers into a new form of thinking (or actually not thinking) that erases the consuming habits of waiting, worrying, and being in fear. The first step is ending the "delusion of time." He asks, "Are you always trying to get somewhere other than where you are? ... Is most of your doing just a means to an end?" If so, Tolle has a book full of advice for you. As simplistic as this may sound, Tolle's work has spiritual merit and depth, especially for frantic Westerners who find their lives diminished by packed schedules and busy-ness. --Gail Hudson

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book Sit at the foot of a native elder and listen as great wisdom of days long past is passed down. In The Four Agreements shamanic teacher and healer Don Miguel Ruiz exposes self-limiting beliefs and presents a simple yet effective code of personal conduct learned from his Toltec ancestors. Full of grace and simple truth, this handsomely designed book makes a lovely gift for anyone making an elementary change in life, and it reads in a voice that you would expect from an indigenous shaman. The four agreements are these: Be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally. Don't make assumptions. Always do your best. It's the how and why one should do these things that make The Four Agreements worth reading and remembering. --P. Randall CohanFeatured in the premiere issue of O: The Oprah Magazine and on Oprah's Favorite Things 2000 segment, The Four Agreements reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob people of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the Four Agreements -- be impeccable with your word, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions, always do your best -- offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform life into a new experience of freedom, love, and true happiness. This jacketed linen-bound hardcover gift edition features two-color printing and a silk ribbon marker.

Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together

A dangerous, homeless drifter who grew up picking cotton in virtual slavery.

An upscale art dealer accustomed to the world of Armani and Chanel.

A gutsy woman with a stubborn dream.

A story so incredible no novelist would dare dream it.

It begins outside a burning plantation hut in Louisiana . . . and an East Texas honky-tonk . . . and, without a doubt, in the heart of God. It unfolds in a Hollywood hacienda . . . an upscale New York gallery . . . a downtown dumpster . . . a Texas ranch.

Gritty with pain and betrayal and brutality, this true story also shines with an unexpected, life-changing love.

Same Soul, Many Bodies: Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives through Progression Therapy

Through dozens of case histories detailing both past-life and future-life experiences, Dr. Weiss shows how the choices that we make now will determine our future quality of life. From Samantha, who overcame academic failure once she learned of her future as a great physician, to Evelyn, whose fears and prejudices ended after she envisioned prior and forthcoming lives as a hate victim, Dr. Weiss gives concrete examples of lives transformed by regression and progression therapy.

A groundbreaking work, Same Soul, Many Bodies is sure to deeply affect peoples' lives as they strive toward their future."Noted psychiatrist Brian Weiss made headlines with his pioneering research on the healing power of past-life therapy in his million-copy bestseller, Many Lives, Many Masters. Now, in his astounding and groundbreaking new book, Dr. Weiss reveals how our future lives can actually transform us in the present. We all have lived past lives. We all will live future ones. What we do in this life will influence our lives to come as we evolve toward immortality. Dr. Weiss encourages this important recognition because recently he has not only regressed his patients into the past, but has progressed them into the future. And what they have discovered is that our futures are variable, so the choices we make now will determine the quality of life when we return. Using dozens of case histories, Dr. Weiss demonstrates the therapeutic benefits of progression, just as he has proved that journeys into our past lives can alleviate or cure our physical and emotional wounds in the present. Among the many patients who have benefited from the therapies are: Samantha, who overcame failures at school when she revisited her life as a Greek architect and later saw her future life as a great physician. Hugh, a psychic, tortured in the Middle Ages as a heretic, whose journey to the future brought him peace. Gary, whose glimpses into the future evaporated his depression and thoughts of suicide. Christina, whose past life and future memories enabled her to heal her relationship with her father and to finally find professional success and personal happiness. Evelyn, who, after reliving a past life as a Nazi officer and a future life as a teenage Arab girl, was able to release her fears and prejudices. Paul, whose love of Alison transcended past and future, transforming his current life and helping Alison to overcome a dangerous disease. Same Soul, Many Bodies is a revolutionary book, building on Dr. Weiss's discoveries about the past, a book that will take his millions of readers into an individual and collective future that they themselves will create. In the process, their present lives will be profoundly transformed, and they will find more peace, more joy, and more healing. "

Mere Christianity

A forceful and accessible discussion of Christian belief that has become one of the most popular introductions to Christianity and one of the most popular of Lewis's books. Uncovers common ground upon which all Christians can stand together.

Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day Book Description
Joel Osteen reaches one of the largest audiences in the U.S. and across the globe--more than 42,000 people attend his church every week, and millions more tune in by television to hear his words of inspiration and wisdom. His first book, Your Best Life Now, has sold over 4 million copies and is available worldwide in 17 languages. His message of hope is helping people find a closer connection with God by learning to apply the principles of Scripture to their everyday lives.

In this new book, Become a Better You, Joel Osteen offers seven simple yet profound action steps that will help readers discover the better things they were born for... their individual purpose and destiny. As charming and passionate on the page as he is in person, Osteen incorporates key biblical principles, devotions, and personal testimonies that will uplift and enlighten readers. He speaks directly to the hearts and concerns of people from every walk of life. People love Joel Osteen--they love to be in his presence, to hear him speak, and to read what he's written--they just can't get enough of him.

Become a Better You will encourage and inspire readers to reach their full, unique and God given potential.

I am very excited to be working with Amazon.com as an online bookseller and partner for the publication of my new book, Become a Better You. As a leader in e-commerce, Amazon.com is an informative and innovative online resource. Get ready to embark on a remarkable journey. One that will help you break free from the past and realize your full potential as a spouse, parent, or friend. Whether you realize it or not, miracles are happening all around you. I'm confident that reading this book will lead you to accept the gift of who you were meant to be and live a life filled with more hope, joy, and victory.

Believing for God's Best,

Joel Osteen

More to Explore

Your Best Life Now

Become a Better You [Abridged Audio CD]

Scriptures and Meditations for Your Best Life Now

The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness

Stillness Speaks Expanding on his mantra—Get out of your head and into the moment—Eckhart Tolle offers this new book on living in the now. Here Tolle emphasizes the art of "inner stillness"--the place where thoughts, ego and attachments fall always and we are left only with what the moment has to offer: "When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world." Don't expect this to be a quick skim or even a straight-through read. Like his previous bestselling book The Power of Now, Tolle uses brief entries and numerous white spaces to give readers easy in-and-out access into enticing spiritual insights that expound on inner stillness, such as learning the difference between surrender and resignation, overcoming the fear death, and how to end suffering. In fact, this is designed to be an ongoing conversation. Pick it up any time or any place, but be sure to allow for plenty of breaks for serious contemplation. Even as you occasionally abandon the book, don't abandon the teachings, pleads Tolle. Embracing and practicing inner stillness is no longer a luxury, he writes, "but a necessity if humankind is not to destroy itself. At the present time the dysfunction of the old consciousness and the arising of the new are both accelerating. Paradoxically things are getting worse and bett! er at the same time, although 'the worse' is more apparent because it makes so much noise." Devotees who have read all of Tolle's books and audio tapes probably won't find new ideas or information here. But they may appreciate the refresher course --revisiting familiar concepts in a slightly different package. --Gail Hudson

90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death & Life As he is driving home from a minister's conference, Baptist minister Don Piper collides with a semi-truck that crosses into his lane. He is pronounced dead at the scene. For the next 90 minutes, Piper experiences heaven where he is greeted by those who had influenced him spiritually. He hears beautiful music and feels true peace. Back on earth, a passing minister who had also been at the conference is led to pray for Don even though he knows the man is dead. Piper miraculously comes back to life and the bliss of heaven is replaced by a long and painful recovery. For years Piper kept his heavenly experience to himself. Finally, however, friends and family convinced him to share his remarkable story.

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