Enlightenment Dialogues


Book Description

Preface This combined narrative dialogue and play is about the uncreated, unborn and undying transcendent Self of God-consciousness and Buddha-nature. It describes an odyssey of transcendent Consciousness Awakening and Remembrance, as viewed from transpersonal and primarily post-metaphysical Onliness Way of Enlightenment perspective. The conversational interaction between the two characters of this book, which concerns their shared journey of transcendental Nondual Spirit-as-Spirit Consciousness Realization, is primarily intended to be read as a narrative dialogue. However, it is also created and structured in play format, and is intended to be presented to an audience as a play. And herein lies a formidable presentation problem. As a play, it almost certainly has a very limited audience appeal. In relation to the current content tastes of people of a general audience, the play has no scenes of violence, gun-play, murder, fighting, battles, sex scenes, yelling, screaming, car chases, flying saucers, and no bad guys versus good guys, monsters, vampires, aliens or cyborgs. The play simply involves the quiet dialogue between two characters over a sixteen year period, set in various scenic locations. So, speaking from the more cynical and pessimistic side of egoic self, I would say, to borrow the phrase of the burly “Mr. T” of the old TV series called “The A Team”, “I pity the fool” who tries to present this play to a general audience. This would almost certainly be a disaster. On the other hand, I suspect that there is a small, or should I say very small, and select audience of people who would variously enjoy and appreciate this play, and derive useful meaning and insight from it. So, speaking from the more optimistic and supportive side of egoic self, I would praise and encourage anyone, any producer, director, cast and crew, who had the courage, chutzpah, and theatrical nerve and skills to present this play to any audience, selective or otherwise.




Spiritual Enlightenment:: The Damnedest Thing


Book Description

A MASTERPIECE of illuminative writing, Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing is mandatory reading for anyone following a spiritual path. Part exposé and part how-to manual, this is the first book to explain why failure seems to be the rule in the search for enlightenment, and how the rule can be broken. :: Book One of Jed McKenna's Enlightenment Trilogy. Contains Bonus Material.




Philosophical Dialogue in the British Enlightenment


Book Description

This book offers the first full-length study of philosophical dialogue during the English Enlightenment. It explains why important philosophers - Shaftesbury, Mandeville, Berkeley and Hume - and innumerable minor translators, imitators and critics wrote in and about dialogue during the eighteenth century; and why, after Hume, philosophical dialogue either falls out of use or undergoes radical transformation. Philosophical Dialogue in the British Enlightenment describes the extended, heavily coded, and often belligerent debate about the nature and proper management of dialogue; and it shows how the writing of philosophical fictions relates to the rise of the novel and the emergence of philosophical aesthetics. Novelists such as Fielding, Sterne, Johnson and Austen are placed in a philosophical context, and philosophers of the empiricist tradition in the context of English literary history.




Music and the French Enlightenment


Book Description

"Prompted by controversial views of the composer-theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau, the leading figures of the French Enlightenment engaged in a vigorous philosophical debate about the nature of music. Their dialogue was one of extraordinary depth and richness, and dealth with some of the most fundamental issues of the French Enlightenment. In the newly revised edition of 'Music and the French Enlightenment', Cynthia Verba updates this fascinating story with the prolific scholarship that has emerged since the book was first published." -- rear cover.




The Power of Now


Book Description

Celebrating 25 Years as a New York Times Bestseller — Over 16 Million Copies Sold It’s no wonder that The Power of Now has sold over 16 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages. Much more than simple principles and platitudes, the book takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light. In the first chapter, Tolle introduces readers to enlightenment and its natural enemy, the mind. He awakens readers to their role as a creator of pain and shows them how to have a pain-free identity by living fully in the present. The journey is thrilling, and along the way, the author shows how to connect to the indestructible essence of our Being, “the eternal, ever-present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.” Featuring a new preface by the author, this paperback shows that only after regaining awareness of Being, liberated from Mind and intensely in the Now, is there Enlightenment.




The Dialogues of the Dead of the Early German Enlightenment


Book Description

Starting from the little reliable information available, Riccarda Suitner conducts an exciting investigation of the authors, production, illustrations, circulation and plagiarism of a series of anonymous "dialogues of the dead" in the intellectual world of the early eighteenth century, proposing a new image of the German Enlightenment.




On the Path to Enlightenment


Book Description

An anthology of the most inspiring and instructive texts on spiritual enlightenment from great Tibetan masters—handpicked by a best-selling author and Tibetan Buddhist monk Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard has selected and translated some of the most profound and inspiring teachings from the eight traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The selected teachings are from the Buddha himself, Nagarjuna, Guru Rinpoche, Atisha, Shantideva, and Asanga; the great masters of the past, Thogme Zangpo, the Fifth Dalai Lama, Milarepa, Longchenpa, and Sakya Pandita; and contemporary masters, including the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and Mingyur Rinpoche. The teachings address such topics as: • The nature of the mind • The foundations of taking refuge, generating altruistic compassion, acquiring merit, and following a teacher • View, meditation, and action • How to remove obstacles and make progress on the Buddhist path Inspired by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Ricard creates his anthology with Khyentse’s religious philosophy in mind: “When we come to appreciate the depth of the view of the eight great traditions [of Tibetan Buddhism] and also see that they all lead to the same goal without contradicting each other, we think, ‘Only ignorance can lead us to adopt a sectarian view.’”




The Mystique of Enlightenment


Book Description

"People call me an 'enlightened man' — I detest that term — they can't find any other word to describe the way I am functioning. At the same time, I point out that there is no such thing as enlightenment at all. I say that because all my life I've searched and wanted to be an enlightened man, and I discovered that there is no such thing as enlightenment at all, and so the question whether a particular person is enlightened or not doesn't arise. I don't give a hoot for a sixth-century-BC Buddha, let alone all the other claimants we have in our midst. They are a bunch of exploiters, thriving on the gullibility of the people. There is no power outside of man. Man has created God out of fear. So the problem is fear and not God."




Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment


Book Description

Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment Isn't One Kind of Enlightenment - It's the Only Kind THE MARK OF A TRUE MASTER is that he can express a subject of the utmost complexity with uncanny simplicity. Jed McKenna is such a master, and spiritual enlightenment is his subject. His first book, Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing, was an instant classic and established him as a spiritual teacher of startling depth and clarity. Now, his second book, Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment, takes us on a fascinating tour of the enlightened state - what it is and what it's not, who's there and who's not, how to get there and how to get somewhere better. Delightful surprises abound, including the dramatic unveiling of perhaps the greatest spiritual masterpiece of all time - long hidden in plain view and well known to all. Whitman, Melville, Thoreau, Mark Twain and U.G. Krishnamurti all appear, and a student from the first book returns to share her Spiritual Autolysis journals. Also surprising are the author's gentle efforts to guide the reader away from enlightenment toward a more desirable and accessible state. Failing to fetch me at first, keep encouraged, Missing me one place, search another, I stop somewhere, waiting for you. - Walt Whitman Jed McKenna's books aren't for everyone. They're for people who are tired of the spiritual merry-go-round and ready to confront the unadorned reality of the awakening process. If you like your teachers with all the spiritual trimmings and trappings, Jed may not be right for you, but when you're ready to jump off the merry-go-round and begin your journey, Jed McKenna is the guy you want to see standing there, waiting for you.




The Islamic Enlightenment


Book Description

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2017 'An eye-opening, well-written and very timely book' Yuval Noah Harari 'The best sort of book for our disordered days: timely, urgent and illuminating' Pankaj Mishra 'It strikes a blow...for common humanity' Sunday Times The Muslim world has often been accused of a failure to modernise and adapt. Yet in this sweeping narrative and provocative retelling of modern history, Christopher de Bellaigue charts the forgotten story of the Islamic Enlightenment – the social movements, reforms and revolutions that transfigured the Middle East from the early nineteenth century to the present day. Modern ideals and practices were embraced across the region, including the adoption of modern medicine, the emergence of women from purdah and the development of democracy. The Islamic Enlightenment looks behind the sensationalist headlines in order to foster a genuine understanding of Islam and its relationship to the West. It is essential reading for anyone engaged in the state of the world today.