An Encounter Between Quaker Mysticism and Taoism in Everyday Life


Book Description

In this lecture, Cho-Nyon Kim explores his spiritual journey in the Korean religious environment, in which Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity have all influenced cultural practices and been integrated into daily life. He is inspired by the life and thoughts of Ham Sok Hon, a prominent Korean peace activist and Quaker. He asks how we can live a simple life in a complex world. He wants to focus on how we can create a peaceful society in the face of nationalism and self-centredness. Quakerism has similarities to Taoism in its mysticism and its sense of waiting in a meditative way. Cho-Nyon Kim concludes that he must lead his life 'in the manner of those who always seek truth with an open mind'.




An Encounter Between Quaker Mysticism and Taoism in Everyday Life


Book Description

In this lecture, Cho-Nyon Kim explores his spiritual journey in the Korean religious environment, in which Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity have all influenced cultural practices and been integrated into daily life. He is inspired by the life and thoughts of Ham Sok Hon, a prominent Korean peace activist and Quaker. He asks how we can live a simple life in a complex world. He wants to focus on how we can create a peaceful society in the face of nationalism and self-centredness. Quakerism has similarities to Taoism in its mysticism and its sense of waiting in a meditative way. Cho-Nyon Kim concludes that he must lead his life ‘in the manner of those who always seek truth with an open mind’. p.p1 {margin: 5.7px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12.0px; font: 31.0px 'Adobe Caslon Pro'} p.p2 {margin: 5.7px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12.0px; font: 9.5px 'Adobe Caslon Pro'} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17.0px; line-height: 12.0px; font: 9.5px 'Adobe Caslon Pro'}




Seeking Union with Spirit


Book Description

For over twenty years, Fiona has participated in facilitating the Meeting for Learning (a year-long program for spiritual nurture, designed to explore Spirit and Quaker ways), and lives with her partner in a small intentional community that has been a place of spiritual nurture and learning. She has worked as a social worker for many years and now as a university teacher, particularly in fostering critical reflection and spirituality for social workers and critical spirituality for pastoral care workers. A continuing challenge in her spiritual life has been how to integrate her spiritual being in all of these aspects of her life.In the 2010 Lecture, Fiona asks Why seek to live life in union with Spirit? Such a life, in my experience and that of many others, is a fuller, richer, meaning filled and deeper life, connected to that which is eternal. It means moving from what is often called the divided life, beyond opposing forces to a place of wholeness, to integrating all of who we are in all that we do. To do this means holding together these opposites.




Animating freedom: Accompanying Indigenous struggles for self-determination


Book Description

In the 2019 Backhouse Lecture, Jason MacLeod shares what he has learnt about accompanying West Papuans – and to a lesser extent Aboriginal people, Bougainvilleans and East Timorese – in their struggle for self-determination.  Through personal stories, he tries to make sense of this experience in ways that might speak more broadly to Quakers.  His lecture is a deeply personal re ection on what one person thinks it takes to animate freedom and accompany Indigenous peoples on a journey from empire to the ‘good life.’




God's ways, not our ways: a dissident Quaker's response to disability


Book Description

The 2024 Backhouse Lecture God’s ways, not our ways: A dissident Quaker response to disability was delivered by Jackie Leach Scully on Monday July 8th 2024 in Adelaide. Disability has shaped Jackie’s family, career, personal and professional life, and her engagement with faith and spirituality. Drawing on her personal and professional experience, she looks at traditional and contemporary theological engagement with disability. She uses Quaker testimony to explore how Friends are called to respond to disability and impairment and shares some “dissident thinking” about disability with Australian Friends, and others, to help build a world more inclusive of all kinds of difference and diversity.




Creating Hope: Working for justice in catastrophic times


Book Description

In the 2022 James Backhouse Lecture, Yarrow Goodley looks at the critical issue of climate justice—at how our responses to the climate emergency have the potential for great suffering, as well as great redemption. In a world where the rich pollute, and the poor suffer, we do not just need to address our rapidly-warming planet, but also the injustices which drive this environmental catastrophe. In conversation with Quaker and non-Quaker activists, Yarrow explores the history of this crisis, and the despair and hope we must negotiate in coming to grips with a problem of planetary proportions. This crisis offers us an unparalleled opportunity to remake our political, economic and social systems, in ways that support a liveable planet, while addressing the profound injustices of our age, especially racial inequality. Yarrow asks us ‘What can we do?’ and seeks to offer ways forward that create hope not just for all people, but for all the living creatures on our small bluegreen planet.




The Perennial Philosophy


Book Description

An inspired gathering of religious writings that reveals the "divine reality" common to all faiths, collected by Aldous Huxley "The Perennial Philosophy," Aldous Huxley writes, "may be found among the traditional lore of peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions." With great wit and stunning intellect—drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam—Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.




Wilderness Mysticism: A Contemplative Christian Tradition


Book Description

As the percentage of unaffiliated seekers or Spiritual But Not Religious people or "Nones" increases in America and in the world at large, a sizable number are drawn toward a spirituality of Nature. And while many of these seekers emphasize simply the physical challenge and ignore the theological or philosophical aspect of their relationship to Nature, Wilderness Mysticism seeks to offer a spiritual / theological interpretation for those who want it. In the process, it employs insights and meditation practices gleaned from an ancient tradition - that of Christian Mysticism - and updated in a modern context. Publisher:




Mystics of the Christian Tradition


Book Description

From divine visions to self-tortures, some strange mystical experiences have shaped the Christian tradition. Full of colourful detail, this book examines the mystical experiences that have determined the history of Christianity.




The Neurology of Religion


Book Description

Examines what can be learnt about the brain mechanisms underlying religious practice from studying people with neurological disorders.