The Sacred Quest takes a thematic and comparative approach to the study of religion. It gives equal weight to theoretical issues and practices reflected in the major world religions. The text identifies the theoretical issues surrounding the study of religion and focuses on fundamental topics such as ritual and sacred language.

Happiness. It is something we all say we want but so few possess. Why do some people seem to be so happy all the time while others struggle to find joy in their lives? Answers to these questions have come mainly from traditional psychological and religious understandings. The Sacred Quest looks at happiness through a spiritual lens as well but finds answers from a unique Pagan perspective.

A captivating history of one of the world's most iconic and mysterious flowers Bewitched by a lotus which flowered from three-thousandyear- old seeds in his English garden, Mark Griffiths set out to track the origins and significance of this sublime plant in this beautifully-illustrated book. The Lotus Quest takes Griffiths from the headquarters of the Linnaean Society in London to a mountain top in northern Japan. As he travels in search of this ancient flower, Griffiths looks at the lotus's significance in ancient Egypt and India, the plant's medicinal uses and the inspiration it has provided to Western artists. As he tracks the plant, its story unveils a stunning vision of Japan's feudal era with visits to shrines, ruins, gardens and wild landscapes as well as meetings with priests and archaeologists, philosophers and anthropologists, gardeners and botanists, poets and artists. He even dines on the lotus in a Tokyo cafe. By the end of Griffiths' journey, when he reaches the hauntingly beautiful Japanese temple of Chuson-ji, readers will finally understand why the lotus has obsessed people throughout the ages.

Why do we travel? Ostensibly an act of leisure, travel finds us thrusting ourselves into jets flying miles above the earth, only to endure dislocations of time and space, foods and languages foreign to our body and mind, and encounters with strangers on whom we must suddenly depend. Travel is not merely a break from routine; it is its antithesis, a voluntary trading in of the security one feels at home for unpredictability and confusion. In Bewildered Travel Frederick Ruf argues that this confusion, which we might think of simply as a necessary evil, is in fact the very thing we are seeking when we leave home. Ruf relates this quest for confusion to our religious behavior. Citing William James, who defined the religious as what enables us to "front life," Ruf contends that the search for bewilderment allows us to point our craft into the wind and sail headlong into the storm rather than flee from it. This view challenges the Eliadean tradition that stresses religious ritual as a shield against the world’s chaos. Ruf sees our departures from the familiar as a crucial component in a spiritual life, reminding us of the central role of pilgrimage in religion. In addition to his own revealing experiences as a traveler, Ruf presents the reader with the journeys of a large and diverse assortment of notable Americans, including Henry Miller, Paul Bowles, Mark Twain, Mary Oliver, and Walt Whitman. These accounts take us from the Middle East to the Philippines, India to Nicaragua, Mexico to Morocco--and, in one threatening instance, simply to the edge of the author’s own neighborhood. "What gives value to travel is fear," wrote Camus. This book illustrates the truth of that statement.

P. L. Root is a writer who hails from the Western Division of the Empire State. His first collection, The Scrambled, The Poached, and The Fried, included White Rats, the Story of The Year from the International English Honor Society Sigma Tau Deltas publication The Rectangle, as judged by the world-class writer Nikki Giovanni. He has gone on to write or co-write numerous screenplays, including the feature films 603 Holiday Lane, Cherry Crush, and Kings Faith. Additionally, he has written with his daughter Bridget Carolyn Root the childrens book S.O.S.: Save Old Santa, as well as a collection of novellas adapted from his screenplays: Moving Pictures.

Describing his own struggle with addiction and the resulting brokenness that led him to explore the teachings of both evangelical and charismatic spirituality, the author shares his journey seeking the word and power. Through key lessons from both traditions, Banister outlines his spiritual discoveries and applies them to various settings.