If in your experience you have recognized the need for a spiritual life that is invigorating and also one that strengthens and supports you in your everyday life, here is a book that may expand your journey. The ideas and experiences that have been rewarding to the author's life may help to enhance and open yours. The certainty associated with all belief systems is the foe of personal expansion. If we are to be fully human and experience the exultation of open ended spirituality, we have to find ways to open ourselves and our spiritual understandings to more profound possibilities of life. Life enhancement can come from any source, any relationship, time, place, encounter, event, book. There are no limitations. Dogmas to the contrary, the universe has chosen no exclusive means of revelation. What is required is the recognition of possibility and keeping oneself open, expectant, and available to receive - or give. Mr. Roberson's explorations of various philosophers, writers, religionists, humanists, and others has illuminated myriad other ways to view life and develop individually the spirit already embedded in our humanity. This book is an attempt to stimulate helpful thought, introspection, and the spiritual journey without the artificial confinements of finalized doctrine. "The greatest gift we have to give is the gift of ourselves."

Religious ritual is often seen as a way of bringing divine influences down into the material world. In this profound and stimulating work, Rudolf Steiner and Friedrich Benesch introduce the idea of "reverse ritual"--a way that each of us can raise our souls to the spiritual realm. In this process, the everyday world becomes a portal through which we can enter the dimension of the sacred. Here, each of us can be a "priest," and each of our actions can be a cosmic, ritual act. This stimulating collection of writings on spiritual communion of humanity includes two further lectures by Steiner that show how this process can engage our social lives. Also included are two additional essays as appendices: "Sacramental and Spiritual Communion" by Dietrich Asten and "Human Encounters and Karma" by Athys Floride. The introduction by Christopher Schaefer brings these ideas into focus for modern seekers. Contents: Part One: "The Spiritual Communion of Humanity" (5 lectures from GA 219) Part Two: "Preparing for the Sixth Epoch" Part Three: Commentaries by Friedrich Benesch Appendices: Selections from Dietrich Asten: "Spiritual and Sacramental Communion" & Athys Floride: "Human Encounters and Karma."

Omar Khayyam's Secret: Hermeneutics of the Robaiyat in Quantum Sociological Imagination, by Mohammad H. Tamdgidi, is a 12-book series of which this book is the 8th volume, subtitled Khayyami Robaiyat: Part 1 of 3: Quatrains 1-338: Songs of Doubt Addressing the Question "Does Happiness Exist?": Explained with New English Verse Translations and Organized Logically Following Omar Khayyam's Own Three-Phased Method of Inquiry. Each book, independently readable, can be best understood as a part of the whole series. In Book 8, Tamdgidi offers the first of a 3-part set of 1000 quatrains he has chosen to include in this series from a wider set that have been over the centuries attributed to Khayyam. Part 1 includes quatrains 1-338 for each of which the Persian original along with Tamdgidi's new English verse translation and a transliteration for the same are shared. Each quatrain is indexed according to the frequency of its inclusion in manuscripts, the earliest known date of its appearance in them, the extent to which it has "wandered" into other poets' works, and its rhyming scheme. Brief comments about the meaning of each quatrain in relation to other quatrains and works attributed to Khayyam are then offered along with any notes regarding its new translation as shared. Tamdgidi shows that the quatrains 1-338, in the beginning 30 of which Khayyam offers an opening to his book of poetry as a secretive work of art, address the question "Does Happiness Exist?" The latter question is the first of a set of three methodically phased questions Khayyam has identified in his philosophical works as being required for investigating any subject. The order in which the quatrains are presented shows that the quatrains included in Part 1 follow a logically inductive reasoning process through which Khayyam delves from the surface portraits of unhappiness to their deeper chain of causes in order to answer his question. The thematic topics of the quatrains of Part 1 as shared in Book 8 are: I. Secret Book of Life; II. Alas!; III-Times; IV-Spheres; V. Chance and Fate; VI. Puzzle; VII. O God!; VIII. Tavern Voice; and IX. O Wine-Tender! After the opening quatrains where Khayyam explains why he was composing a secretive book of poetry and what it aims to do, his inquiry starts with doubtful existential self-reflections on his life, leading him to first blame his times, then the spheres, then matters of chance and fate, soon realizing that he really does not have an explanation for the enigmas of existence, concluding that the answer only lies with God. So, he appeals to God directly for an answer. It is then that he hears the voice of the Saqi or Wine-Tender from his inner "tavern," to whom he replies in a series of quatrains closing Part 1. It is in the course of the inquiry in Part 1 that the idea of using Wine as a poetic trope is discovered by him, a matter that is separate from his interest in drinking wine, which he never denies but is secondary to the spiritual Wine discovered and advanced in his book of poetry that in fact represents his poetry, the Robaiyat, itself and its promise in answering his questions. The logical order of Khayyam's inquiry shows how seemingly contradictory views that have been attributed to him can in fact be explained as logical moments in the successively deeper inquiries he makes inductively when addressing the question whether happiness exists in the created world. We should, therefore, judge each quatrain as a logical moment in Part 1's inquiry as a whole, in anticipation of the two remaining parts of his book of poetry to be shared in Books 9 and 10 of the series, respectively addressing the two follow-up questions: "What Is Happiness?" and "Why Does (or Can) Happiness Exist?"

"This book is written with the sole objective of helping the reader achieve a happy, satisfying, and worthwhile life." -- Norman Vincent Peale The precursor to The Secret, The Power of Positive Thinking has helped millions of men and women to achieve fulfillment in their lives. In this phenomenal bestseller, Dr. Peale demonstrates the power of faith in action. With the practical techniques outlined in this book, you can energize your life -- and give yourself the initiative needed to carry out your ambitions and hopes. You'll learn how to: Expect the best and get it Believe in yourself and in everything you do Develop the power to reach your goals Break the worry habit and achieve a relaxed life Improve your personal and professional relationships Assume control over your circumstances Be kind to yourself