How is it possible to reconcile two facts which seem irreconcilable, and an immersion in the world of Tantra even to the point of initiation? This intriguing account describes an usual spiritual journey which responds honestly and deeply to this mysterious experience, of spirit and body, of discernment and grace, of divine energy and love in all its aspects, during the course of an adventure which links a person to what is essential, unveiling the whole scope, both cosmic and divine, of Life. The author shows how, beyond their obvious differences, the Christian themes of the Word which is expressed as an eternal I am, or of the divine Energy, find striking correspondences in the Tantra, allowing them to resonate together and enrich each other. This work, therefore, follows in the wake of other pioneers such as Henri Le Saux or Christian de Cherg as regards the dialogue with Hinduism and Islam. Conciousness is the Self because God is Love. The essence of tantra is Love.

Shaping our journey into the Divine This moving and enlightening book presents us with a compelling vision of what can happen when we take the opportunity to connect stories and rituals--a vision of individuals and communities transformed through a deeper sense of connection to our loved ones, our communities, and God. Herbert Anderson and Edward Foley reveal how when stories and rituals work together, they have the potential to be both mighty and dangerous--mighty in their ability to lift us up and help us make these connections beyond ourselves and dangerous in challenging us to learn to live with complexity and contradiction. They show how much more meaningful a baptism, wedding, or funeral can be when liturgy is made to include and recognize the personal stories of those involved. Suddenly, these familiar life-cycle rituals are infused with new life as participants become connected in a narrative web linking past and present, human and divine. Newly created rituals can also help us connect our stories to the divine story, giving meaning to what we experience and bringing us closer to God. Ministers, worship leaders, and pastoral caregivers can use this approach to storytelling and ritual to find ways to bring together worship and pastoral care.

Mario Paz has, in the Romantic Agony, acutely analyzed the effect of the traditions of Byron and De Sade upon poets and painters from 1800 to 1900. It is the analysis of a mood in literature. The mood may ve been transient, but it was widespread, and it was expressed in dreams of "luxurious cruelties," "fatal women," corpse-passions, and the sinful agonies of delight. Professo Praz has described the whole Romantic literature under one of its most characteristic aspects, that of erotic sensibility.

Born to Russian emigres and brought up in an atmosphere of intellectual and aristocratic anachism, in her short life Isabelle Eberhardt (1877-1904) came to be known as the ultimate enigma and a representative of everything that seemed dangerous in 19th century society. She was a transvestite and sensualist, an experienced drug-taker and a transgressor of boundaries: a European reborn as a desert Arab and devout Muslim, a woman who reinvented herself as a man, wandering the Sahara on horseback.

The articles in this volume of Documenta Missionalia are for that reader who is not just a curious learner of Tantrism and Christianity but who is also willing to allow the interaction of two religious worldviews to finally arrive at a unique realization and admiration of the ineffable mystery of God. Any reader interested in this theme would find in these articles great intellectual and spiritual depth that could eventually be highly profitable for one's academic and personal life. The authors of the articles in this volume, bearing in mind the perennial necessity of interreligious dialogue for mutual enrichment, have sought a comparative presentation of Tantric and Christian beliefs and practices like the Eucharist, divinization, mystical non-dualistic consciousness, male-female unity, Logos-Vac (Word) "inter-reading", freedom, fullness of joy, and corporeality. To our knowledge, such a diverse thematic presentation of Tantrism and Christianity in one single volume is the first of its kind to date