Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind Book

Comparative religion and similar academic disciplines have for years put religions side by side to study the common factors in their beliefs and practices, their myths and rituals, as well as their differences. It is very rare to find a book which does the same for spirituality, the inner heart of religion which makes it personal, special, deep and warm, meaningful and fulfilling to individual believers.In Essential Spirituality Roger Walsh draws on the major world religions to do exactly this. He finds that all religions have teachings on reducing craving, cultivating emotional wisdom, living ethically, calming the mind, awakening spiritual vision, developing spiritual intelligence and expressing spirit in action through the joy of service. He quotes throughout from the wisdom of the Buddha, Lao Tsu, Jesus and others to present-day teachers.The heart of the book is the exercises, from dozens of straightforward meditations and simple visualisations to simply aiming to think kindly of people for a few hours at a time. This is a very practical book. The emphasis throughout is perhaps closer to Buddhism than to other religions, in the concentration on right thought and right action and on compassion; but as Walsh demonstrates, the ethical teachings of the world religions are very similar.For anyone seeking to deepen their spirituality, this is one of the most useable, valuable and important books in the field, and is strongly recommended. --David V. BarrettRead More