Minding the Temple of the Soul


Book Description

This new spiritual approach to physical health introduces us to a spiritual tradition that affirms the body and enables us to reconceive our bodies in a more positive light. Using Kabbalistic teachings and other Jewish traditions, it shows us how to be more responsible for our own spiritual and physical health. Each chapter explores the meaning of traditional Jewish prayers, providing a framework for new thinking about body, mind, and soul. Simple exercises and movements help our bodies "understand" prayer, and show how the body's energy centers correspond to the Kabbalistic concept of the ten divine "rays of light," the Sefirot. And meditations and visualizations allow us to further enhance our spiritual awareness. Using the structure of the Prayer Wheel, readers can move step by step toward wholeness of body, mind and spirit: Modeh Ani Awakening our body and our soul Mah Tovu Creating a temple for our soul Asher Yatzar Focusing on the gift of our body Bircat HaTorah Balancing our mind through the gift of Torah Elohai Neshamah Connecting with the soul using the Sefirot Elu D'varim Walking on a God-centered path Clearly illustrated with photos and diagrams to guide readers, this active, creative approach allows us to tap the power of the Jewish tradition—to awaken the body, balance the mind, and connect with the soul.




Minding the Temple of the Soul


Book Description

This new spiritual approach to physical health introduces us to a spiritual tradition that affirms the body and enables us to reconceive our bodies in a more positive light. Using Kabbalistic teachings and other Jewish traditions, it shows us how to be more responsible for our own spiritual and physical health. Each chapter explores the meaning of traditional Jewish prayers, providing a framework for new thinking about body, mind, and soul. Simple exercises and movements help our bodies "understand" prayer, and show how the body's energy centers correspond to the Kabbalistic concept of the ten divine "rays of light," the Sefirot. And meditations and visualizations allow us to further enhance our spiritual awareness. Using the structure of the Prayer Wheel, readers can move step by step toward wholeness of body, mind and spirit: ? Modeh Ani Awakening our body and our soul ? Mah Tovu Creating a temple for our soul ? Asher Yatzar Focusing on the gift of our body ? Bircat HaTorah Balancing our mind through the gift of Torah ? Elohai Neshamah Connecting with the soul using the Sefirot ? Elu D'varim Walking on a God-centered path Clearly illustrated with photos and diagrams to guide readers, this active, creative approach allows us to tap the power of the Jewish tradition?to awaken the body, balance the mind, and connect with the soul.




Entering the Temple of Dreams


Book Description

You spend one-third of your life sleeping. Is spirituality a part of that time? This book shows you how it can be. This inspiring, informative guide shows us how we can use the often overlooked time at the end of each day to enhance our spiritual, physical and psychological well-being. Each chapter takes a new look at traditional Jewish prayers and what they have to teach us about the spiritual aspects of preparing for the end of the day, and about sleep itself. Drawing on Kabbalistic teachings, prayer, the Bible and midrash, the authors enrich our understanding of traditional bedtime preparations, and show how, by including them in our bedtime rituals, we can gain insight into our lives and access the spiritual enrichment the world of dreams has to offer. Clear illustrations and diagrams, step-by-step meditations, visualization techniques and exercise suggestions for fully integrating body, mind and spirit show us the way to: Hashkivenu--Creating a safe space for sleep Hareni Mochel--Clearing our hearts through forgiveness Shema--Connecting to God in Love Bircat Cohanim--Experiencing the reality of blessing Hamapil--Thanking God for sleep and the illumination that comes in sleeps This perfect nighttime companion draws on the power of Jewish tradition to help us enhance our spiritual awareness--in both our waking and sleeping hours.




A Home for the Soul


Book Description

"Reveals how our houses and apartments can become havens of inspiration and renewal ... Offers practical suggestions for arranging or building soulful homes ... Explains how to use wood, tile, brick, and stone to express qualities of the spirit and how to use furniture and personal objects as allies in creating meaning."--Jacket.




God in Your Body


Book Description

Your body is the place where heaven and earth meet. The greatest spiritual achievement is not transcending the body but joining body and spirit together. But to do this, you must break through assumptions that draw boundaries around the Infinite and wake up to the body as the site of holiness itself. This groundbreaking book is the first comprehensive treatment of the body in Jewish spiritual practice and an essential guide to the sacred. With meditation practices, physical exercises, visualizations and sacred text, you will learn how to experience the presence of the Divine in, and through, your body. And by cultivating an embodied spiritual practice, you will transform everyday activities--eating, walking, breathing, washing--into moments of deep spiritual realization, uniting sacred and sensual, mystical and mundane.




Kabbalah


Book Description

An insightful exploration of Jewish mysticism—written especially for Christians. Kabbalah is well known as the foundation of the Jewish mystical tradition, but few are aware that Kabbalah’s spiritual applications extend beyond Jewish life. In this accessible, intelligent guide, Tamar Frankiel, PhD, a leading teacher of Jewish mysticism, demystifies the intricate world of Kabbalah. You will find that the teachings of Kabbalah are not only for Jewish scholars—anyone can incorporate this enduring wisdom into everyday life if they have an open mind and a willing heart. Unlike the faddish books that discuss Kabbalah as simply a “magical system,” this book discusses the evolution of Kabbalah from its origins in Judaism and gives Christian readers the vocabulary and tools to begin to understand this long-standing mystical tradition. It also explores the similarities and differences between Jewish and Christian mysticism, placing both in a larger and more comprehensive framework. Explore the kabbalistic Tree of Life to discover how God is expressed in the world around us. Examine your life and discover how it can be understood as part of an unfolding spiritual path. Travel through your personal and collective histories to find a more personal perspective on the principles of Kabbalah. ... and more




The JGirls Guide


Book Description

The Essential Survival Manual for Growing Up Jewish! What does it mean to become a Jewish woman? Did you ever think that Judaism had any advice on how to deal with pressure from your friends? Arguing with your parents? Feeling stressed out? Well, this book shows you that Judaism can help you deal with all these things—and a whole lot more. The JGirl's Guide is a first-of-its-kind book of practical, real-world advice using Judaism as a compass for the journey through adolescence. A fun survival guide for coming of age, it explores the wisdom and experiences of rabbis, athletes, writers, scholars, musicians and great Jewish thinkers, as well as lots of girls just like you—girls who share your worries and concerns, and your joys. Here’s a place to turn to for honest, helpful discussion about the things that really matter to you: • Friendship • Eating • Health • Sexuality • Getting involved • Dealing with authority • Coping with stress • Self-esteem • Communication • Jewish Identity Now’s the time when you are thinking: Who am I? What do I believe in? Who will I become? The JGirl’s Guide provides Jewish writings, traditions and advice that can help.




The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind


Book Description

National Book Award Finalist: “This man’s ideas may be the most influential, not to say controversial, of the second half of the twentieth century.”—Columbus Dispatch At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes's still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only three thousand years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion—and indeed our future. “Don’t be put off by the academic title of Julian Jaynes’s The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Its prose is always lucid and often lyrical…he unfolds his case with the utmost intellectual rigor.”—The New York Times “When Julian Jaynes . . . speculates that until late in the twentieth millennium BC men had no consciousness but were automatically obeying the voices of the gods, we are astounded but compelled to follow this remarkable thesis.”—John Updike, The New Yorker “He is as startling as Freud was in The Interpretation of Dreams, and Jaynes is equally as adept at forcing a new view of known human behavior.”—American Journal of Psychiatry




Hineini in Our Lives


Book Description

One simple, powerful word--hineini--contains the key to deepening your relationship with God and with others. Hineini (Here I am!). This single spoken word appears only fourteen times in the Bible-each time in a memorable and meaningful story: Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice to God, Jacob deceiving his father for Esau's birthright, Moses answering the call that comes from the Burning Bush. Scholar and popular teacher Norman Cohen explores each of these powerful stories and shows what each can reveal about you as parent, spouse, sibling, lover and friend. By probing these dynamic biblical relationships, Cohen challenges you to think about the ways you relate to the people in your life and God. And, to add other fascinating perspectives to the conversation, eleven insightful authors and teachers share personal reflections that exemplify each of the hineini passages.




Traces of God


Book Description

A Probing and Powerful Look at the Role You Play in Shaping Your Relationship with God “No matter how hard we look, the God of Israel cannot be seen. Looking is not seeing, and seeing God is not like seeing an apple. It is much more like making a medical diagnosis on the basis of looking at a complex set of symptoms. Each of the symptoms is a dot. We can look at the dots and still miss the pattern.” —from Part I The Torah is replete with references to hearing God but precious few references to seeing God. Seeing is complicated. What we look for and see are traces of God’s presence in the world and in history, but not God. In order to identify those traces as reflections of divine presence, we need to re-examine how we see, what we see, and how we interpret that information. In this challenging and inspiring look at the dynamics of the religious experience, award-winning author and theologian Neil Gillman guides you into a new way of seeing the complex patterns in the Bible, history, and everyday experiences and helps you interpret what those patterns mean to you and your relationship with God. Examining faith and doubt, revelation and law, suffering and redemption, Gillman candidly deconstructs familiar biblical moments in order to help you develop and refine your own spiritual vision, so that you are able to discern the presence of God in unanticipated ways.