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Rami Shapiro
Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro is widely recognized as one of the most creative figures in contemporary American Judaism. A graduate of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, he also holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Union Graduate School. An award-winning poet, liturgist, and essayist, his prayers are included in worship services across the denominational spectrum of American congregations.
Shapiro was the founding rabbi of Temple Beth Or in Miami, Florida and senior rabbi of Metivta, a center for contemplative Judaism in Los Angeles, CA. He currently directs the One River Foundation, and is an adjunct professor of religious studies as Middle Tennessee State University. In addition he pursues his first love, writing, through books and a new column, Roadside Assistance for Your Spiritual Journey, in Spirituality & Health magazine.
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Lively and inspiring translations of ancient religious texts.
Cogent and thought-provoking commentary on wisdom traditions.
Practical suggestions on how to live a spiritual life every day.
Creative explorations of the interfaith territory that lies ahead.
A profile with bibliography and distinctive contributions to spirituality of Rami Shapiro, Jewish Rabbi, award-winning poet, liturgist, and essayist, best known for his creative translations and commentaries on Biblical and other ancient texts.
Alan Morinis
Alan Morinis is an anthropologist, filmmaker, writer, and student of spiritual traditions. He is an active interpreter of the teachings and practices of the Mussar tradition and regularly gives lectures and workshops. Born and raised in a culturally Jewish but non-observant home, he studied anthropology at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship.
Alan has written books and produced feature films, television dramas and documentaries and has taught at several universities. Although he took a deep journey into Hindu and Buddhist thought and practice, for the past seven years the nearly-lost Jewish spiritual discipline of Mussar has been his passion.
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A treasure trove of spiritual practices
Explications of the practical spiritual tradition of Mussar
Insights into how to change your behavior and bring out your soul
A profile with bibliography and distinct spiritual contributions of Alan Morinis, founder of the Mussar Institute, student and teacher of the teachings and practices of the Mussar tradition, anthropologist, and filmmaker.
Rachel Naomi Remen
Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen is one of the earliest pioneers in the mind/body holistic health movement and the first to recognize the role of the spirit in health and the recovery from illness. She is Co-Founder and Medical Director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program featured in the Bill Moyers PBS series Healing and the Mind and has cared for people with cancer and their families for almost 30 years. She is Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine and Director of the innovative UCSF course The Healer's Art, which was featured in US News & World Report. She is Founder and Director of the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness, a professional development program for graduate physicians.
She is also a nationally recognized medical reformer and educator who sees the practice of medicine as a spiritual path. In recognition of her work she has received several honorary degrees and has been invited to teach in medical schools and hospitals throughout the country. Her groundbreaking holistic curricula enable physicians at all levels of training to remember their calling and strengthen their commitment to serve life.
As a master storyteller and public speaker, Remen has spoken to thousands of people throughout the country, reminding them of the power of their humanity and the ability to use their lives to make a difference. She has a 48-year personal history of Crohn's disease and her work is a unique blend of the viewpoint of physician and patient.
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Touching stories about coping with illness and facing death
Rousing vision of service as a way of bringing meaning to all
Recognition of compassion, listening, and kindness as spiritual keys
A profile with bibliography and distinctive contributions to spirituality of Rachel Naomi Remen, a pioneer in the mind/body and holistic health movement who sees the practice of medicine as a spiritual path.
Litany for Listeners
Dearest Lord, companion on the road,
voice in the night, here we are, gathered to listen.
Open our ears, our whole being,
that we may become a listening presence to each other,
that we may enjoy the gift of our spiritual conversation.
Give us the generosity to listen with openness
Listen to us
the wisdom to understand what is heard
Listen to us
the strength to be changed by what is shared
Listen to us
the listening that never judges
Listen to us
the curiosity of a child.
Listen to us
Increase in us the peace to forgive and be forgiven
Listen to us
the reverence to honor both gift and loss
Listen to us
the acceptance that allows failure to be shared
Listen to us
the prudence to know when not to speak
Listen to us
the surrender that treasures silence after word.
Listen to us
Enliven in us the freedom to let mystery be
Listen to us
the joy to celebrate new discovery
Listen to us
the readiness for laughter when it rises
Listen to us
the grace to listen with humble love
Listen to us
the awe to hear you speaking in us.
Thank you.
Michael Hansen on becoming a listening presence to one another.
Prayer of the Heart
Use this "Prayer of the Heart" as a meditation to overcome negative thoughts toward others and to instill in yourself feelings of loving-kindness for family, friends, neighbors, strangers, and enemies, both at home and abroad. By doing so you can help loosen the bonds that hold unjust authority in place.
Prayer of the Heart
Let us keep our hearts focused.
Let me find kindness to negate resentment.
Let me show generosity to dissolve possessiveness.
Let me stand steady in the face of pain rather than live in fear.
Let me experience inquiry rather than reaction.
Let me be free from clinging and a narrow mind.
Let me express compassion rather than indifference.
So that my heart connects with the realities of others.
So that I stay true to an undying principle
of treating others as I wish to be treated.
So awareness and respect pervade
My thoughts, words and actions.
So that I live in a way that brings dignity and nobility to life
And reveals true freedom of being.
A meditation on compassion and loving-kindness for others.
A Mind at Home with Itself
Byron Katie is the internationally known bestselling author. In this new book, her first in 10 years, she shares the latest observations, exercises, and interpretations of "The Work," her life-transforming system of self-inquiry based on four questions:
1. Is it true?
2. Can you absolutely know that it's true?
3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
4. Who would you be without this thought?
Included are five dialogues in which people ask questions and reveal the probing thoughts that have been pestering them.
Stephen Mitchell, Katie's husband, provides an overview of the Inquiry method which he calls "self-realization" rather than "self-help." He is instrumental in structuring A Mind at Home with Itself around the Diamond Sutra, which he calls one of the great spiritual texts of the world. The interplay between Katie's comments and Mitchell's presentation of this ancient resource enables these two spiritual teachers to explore selflessness, generosity, love, enlightenment, bowing, giving, the gift of criticism, separation, freedom, wisdom, and the bounties of everyday spirituality.
Here is a sampler of some of Katie's quotations in this book:
"Every time I give something away, what comes back to me is freedom."
"The great spiritual texts describe the what. The Work is the how. It gives you direct entrance into the awakened mind."
"When inquiry is alive inside you, every thought you think ends with a question mark, not a period. And that is the end of suffering."
"Eventually, through practice, you no longer impose your thinking onto reality, and you can experience everything as it really is, as pure grace."
An exploration of the Inquiry method and its relevance to generosity, bowing, and everyday spirituality.
Practicing Spirituality with Sufis
Sufism, the mystical expression of Islam, has been called "the path of the heart" and that is a good description of this spiritual tradition that emphasizes the soul's love and yearning for God as the Beloved. For all those who have thrilled to Rumi's ecstatic poetry, this emphasis will make perfect sense. Sufi practices revolve around devotion to God through faith, humility, gratitude, courtesy, and generosity. In addition, Sufism is known as a school for knowledge of the inner self and an exploration of the route of self-transformation.
With its rich blend of mystical poetry, diverse literature, and spiritual ethics, Sufism provides us an awesome compendium of wisdom that is both practical and profound. We look into all these aspects of this path in "Practicing Spirituality with Sufis."
This is not a course on the history of Sufism or a summary of its basic teachings. It is virtually impossible to do justice to the richness and diversity of this tradition and Islam, the religion from which it emerged. Instead we will present passages from the writings of some of today's finest Sufi teachers including Kabir Helminski, Robert Frager, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Jamal Rahman, and Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee, as well as teachers from the long history of this tradition. They offer us many insights into Sufi practices for purifying the heart and activating spirit.
If you want to grow a bigger heart and stay in tune with the Beloved every day, this e-course is for you. You will receive 40 emails, each with a thought-provoking and soul-stirring quotation from a Sufi, past or present, for you to reflect upon. The email will also contain a suggestion for how you can practice the teaching in your everyday life.
(6 CEHs for Chaplains available.)
An awesome compendium of wisdom, both practical and profound, from the mystical expression of Islam.
The Liberating Promise of Mindfulness
No doubt you have heard of mindfulness. Visit any bookstore and you'll see books with that word in the title — mindful parenting, mindful gardening, mindful living, mindful management, mindful eating, and even mindful sex. There are mindfulness programs in hospitals, schools, and businesses. But what exactly is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a classical Buddhist practice that can dramatically enhance the way we live in the twenty-first century. It is needed now more than ever in our busy and often stressful daily lives because it offers us peace of mind no matter where we are or what we are doing. Mindfulness is learned and practiced not just in quiet meditation sessions, but also — perhaps even more so — when we are with our families and friends, and as we go about our day at work, in the grocery store, and even on the highway and stuck in traffic.
Sylvia Boorstein, one of the world's most esteemed teachers of Buddhist wisdom and practice, knows the value of this practice from personal experience and from the comments of her students during years of teaching at retreats and conferences. "Mindfulness is the balanced, ongoing attention to what is happening (physically and mentally), including the mind’s perceptions and reactions," she says. "I chose the word 'liberating' to name this retreat because the word carries with it the sense of newly acquired freedom. I used the word 'promise' because I want to include the truth that liberation requires work, that potential becomes fact through personal effort. Mindfulness is dedicated moment-to-moment clarity.' And with it comes something more. Sylvia explains:
"What the Buddha promised — and this is what is unique, and absolutely thrilling to me — is that human beings like himself, and like us, can change the habits of our mind by paying attention to these habits. And not just change our thoughts and views. We can actually change the way we process our thoughts and our views. We can become free of identities that are constricting and views that hold happiness hostage. We can be authentically and kindly wise."
Taking on the practice of mindfulness does not require distancing from life experience. Quite the contrary. Another promise of mindfulness is a greater appreciation of the events and encounters in our daily lives. We learn how to live an engaged life in this increasingly complex world with a mind and a heart that is eager to respond with clarity and compassion.
This online retreat includes:
• 12 classes delivered via email, offering instructions on how to develop your own mindfulness meditation practice and how to tap into the promise of mindfulness to guide you throughout your life.
• Short audio clips with each email that has Sylvia’s calm yet lively voice reviewing the day’s practices. Sylvia’s inimitable teaching style is chock-full of timeless wisdom woven into her own unique insights and delightful stories.
• Recordings of two one-hour teleconferences from when the retreat was first offered in October 2010. You can hear Sylvia answer questions and tell more wonderful stories.
(4 CEHs for Chaplains available.)
Teachings about moment-to-moment awareness, a Buddhist practice that can dramatically enhance the way we live.
Michael Morwood, Praying a New Story
Jesus challenges us
to look into our hearts,
to examine the way we are neighbor,
to overcome our prejudices,
to put an end to divisions,
to stretch our generosity,
to overcome our fear of the mystery,
to see God present in our everyday loving,
and to make the "reign" of love visible
throughout the world.
Through Jesus
we believe we are all
"sons and daughters"
of the one God.
We believe
the same Spirit of God
that came to visibility in Jesus
yearns for visible expression in us.
This is our common dignity
whatever race or creed,
whatever our place or time.
We long to see our common dignity
proclaimed
and celebrated by all religions.
We pray that the one Spirit all people share
may be given free and generous expression
for the betterment of humanity
and our world. Amen.
Jesus challenges us to look into our hearts
Crafting Calm
For more than 15 years, Maggie Oman Shannon has explored cross-cultural forms of prayer and spiritual practice through her work as an interfaith minister, spiritual director, workshop and retreat leader, writer and blogger. She offers creative tools, resources, and guidance for walking the modern contemplative path. She currently serves as the Spiritual Director of Unity Spiritual Center of San Francisco. She also led a Spirituality & Practice online retreat on "Ways to Pray from Around the World," which is now available on-demand. Visit her website at www.maggieomanshannon.com and follow her on Pinterest and Facebook.
Oman Shannon has published two marvelous collections of prayers — Prayers for Healing and Prayers for Hope and Comfort — and other books on creative ways to understand and establish our connection with Spirit — The Way We Pray: Prayer Practices from Around the World; A String and a Prayer: How to Make and Use Prayer Beads and One God, Shared Hope. Her new book, Crafting Calm, falls in the second category.
One of Oman Shannon's special talents is the ability to seamlessly meld creativity, spiritual practice, devotional activity, and a love of the arts and crafts. In this exceptionally fine book, she quotes art teacher Shaun McNiff:
"Just as the religious person makes time for prayer during the day, the creative person makes time for expression. . . . Art as spiritual exercise suggests that any person can find a way to make time for the creative act each day."
Oman Shannon believes we are all creations of a Creator and have been graced with creativity. In her case, projects are ways to commune with or be a vehicle of the Divine. Her embrace of this path was catalyzed when her spiritual director observed, "You have a gift for seeing ways to create spiritual practices out of ordinary things." Now her home office/studio is full of things she has collected for spiritually oriented crafts: beads, mint boxes, bits of ribbon. Over the last decade, she has helped workshop participants make prayer beads, love boxes, pastel mandalas, tiny shrines, blessing baskets, and much more. As theologian Mary Daly put it: "It is the creative potential itself in people that is the image of God." We agree with that and would add that we are all co-creators with the Holy One, fashioning an evolving world with our spiritual projects and practices.
This book is organized into eight chapters that speak to different intentions one can hold when creating: crafting for calm, clarity, comfort, contemplation, creation, community, connection with others, and connection with Spirit. For added value, Shannon has included lists of resources for certain crafts, ideas for particular projects, and questions for journaling and reflection in preparation for a project. We also were pleased to see the variety of inspiring quotations that spice up the proceedings.
Here are some of our favorite projects and practices of the 40 covered in the paperback:
Annointing Oils
Sacred Bath Salts
Personal Prayer Flags
Prayer Cards
Power Pouches
Prayer Stones
Prayer Cards
Portable Shrines
Spiritual Toolboxes
Personal Holy Books
Maggie Oman Shannon is an enthusiastic guide through all these project possibilities. She often shares about her personal attempts with different crafts, openly admitting that some things are just not for her. We were relieved by this . . . and encouraged to try some new things anyway!
Crafting Calm is a practical resource we're sure you will enjoy dipping into when you feel inspired or are looking for inspiration. Here are some great ways to expand your repertoire of spiritual practices while discovering fresh ways to express your God-given creativity.
40 creative projects and practices for calm, comfort, contemplation, creation, and community.