This memoir of a woman who joined the Rajneeshi community in a search for ultimate fulfillment, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the cult, describing its beginning to its demise in the 1980s.

The West has long attracted visionaries and schemers from around the world. And no other region in North America can outstrip British Columbia for the number of utopian or intentional settlement attempts in the past 150 years. Andrew Scott delves into the dramatic stories of these fascinating, but often doomed, communities. From Doukhobor farmers to Finnish coal miners, Quakers and hippies, many groups have struggled to build idealistic colonies in BC’s inspiring landscape. While most discovered hardship, disillusionment and failure, new groups sprang up—and continue to spring up—to take their place. Meet the quick-tempered, slave-driving Madame Zee (partner of the infamous Brother XII), who reportedly beat followers with a riding crop. Hear from Richard “The Troll” Schaller, who founded the Legal Front Commune, General Store and Funny Food Farm on the Sunshine Coast, setting off a storm of hostility from locals. Congregate with Jerry LeBourdais and fellow members of the Ochiltree Organic Commune, who rebelled from hippie communes by embracing meat eating and coffee drinking. With careful research and engaging first-person accounts, Scott sifts through the wreckage of the utopia-seekers’ dreams and delves into the practices and philosophies of contemporary intentional communities. This book is a compendium of astounding misadventures as well as an intriguing analysis of what moves people to search for paradise.

The Promise of Paradise is an extraordinary little guidebook that will give you the tools, the attitude, and the diving board to make the greatest move of your life. This simple, clear, and often funny book is a gift that will change your life for the better. Powerful and practical, these short chapters take you through the true life lessons of wellness expert and spiritual teacher Dr. Jonathan Ellerby, CEO of the Tao Wellness Center & Inspired Living Community Mexican Caribbean. Jonathan released his commitment to a quickly growing career as an author, media expert and traveling speaker, to move with his family to the Riviera Maya of Mexico to help design and lead the "Tao" wellness center and residential development. Tao is a community and event center dedicated to the pursuit of health through the celebration of connection, personal passion, inner peace and the imperative to make the world a better place. The "Tao Inspired Living Community" blends the magic of the local landscape with global influences to offer programs, international events, and a sense of community beyond compare. In one of the safest and most sought after tropical destinations in the world, Dr. Ellerby reclaims age old lessons and promises of health, happiness, longevity and peace. On his journey to make this paradise like setting his home, Jonathan also faces the turbulent waters of relocation, tourism, societal fear, stereotypes and cultural evolution in a time of global, financial, and spiritual upheaval. The resulting wisdom is inspiring, a joy to read, and a truly life changing path to put into practice.

Luke Fury was Jessica's last hope! Jessica's only desire was to find out the truth about her husband's death but everywhere she turned for help she met a brick wall of secrecy. Luke had been her husband's colleague, and clearly knew more than he pretended. But he considered Jessica a self–indulgent socialite and he wasn't about to do her any favours! Jessica was determined to convince Luke that he'd misjudged her; suddenly her growing attraction for him was becoming the most burning desire of all.

Josephine will discover more than she bargained for as her world collides with the Plain people of Lancaster County. Josephine Dronberger was a scared teenager when she left her baby in the care of an Old Order Amish couple. But seventeen years have passed and Josie longs to reconnect with her daughter. Lindaùas the couple named the childùis promised to Stephen Ebersol, the bishopÆs grandson. They plan to marry in the fall. When her birth mother comes to Paradise, Linda is drawn to a world sheÆs never known. Will the direction sheÆs been heading since birth be suddenly derailed, and who will stand by her convictionsùmother or daughter?

This text has been a popular introduction to the Pentateuch for over fifteen years, offering a unique alternative to the critical approaches that focus on the composition of these books rather than the actual content. With this new edition, T. Desmond Alexander keeps the book fresh and relevant for contemporary students by updating the references and adding material that reflects recent pentateuchal research as well as the author's maturing judgments. The result is a revision that will prove valuable for many years to come.

It is 1981. Jean Landing secretly plans to flee her beloved Jamaica–the only home her family has ever known, a place now rife with political turmoil. But before she can make her final preparations, she receives devastating news: Lana, her sister, is dead. The country’s state of emergency leaves no time to arrange a proper funeral. Even Jean’s mother, Monica, who hadn’t spoken to Lana in more than a decade, cannot fully embrace her grief. The tragedy only underscores Jean’s need to leave an island that holds no promise of a future. Her harrowing journey to freedom across a battered landscape takes Jean through a terrain of memories: of her childhood, with a detached mother at odds with an adoring father, of her complex bond with Lana, and of the friends and lovers who have shaped and shared her days. Epic in scope, The True History of Paradise poignantly portrays the complexities of family and racial identity in a troubled Eden.