Aspects of the Heart

Aspects of the Heart PDF Author: Joan Chittister
Publisher: Twenty-Third Publications
ISBN: 9781585958719
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 134

Book Description
In this lovely book, Sr. Joan looks at 50 "aspects," all of which in some way can fill our hearts and our lives. She talks about a prayerful heart, a peaceful heart, a risking heart, a wise heart, a cosmic heart, a compassionate heart. Each brief chapter offers abundant food for reflection and prayer, and each offers an opportunity to become persons who "produce Good from the treasure of the heart" (Luke 6:45).

Purity of Heart and Contemplation

Purity of Heart and Contemplation PDF Author: Bruno Barnhart
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 392

Book Description
This is the fruit of a weeklong intermonastic dialogue held at New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, California. Chinese traditions of Taoism, Confucianism, and Chan Buddhism are included, in addition to Zen Buddhism and Hinduism. Encounters between Christian and Hindu or Buddhist monastics have been occurring for several decades, most notably signalized in the 1998 book The Gethsemani Encounter. The themes purity of heart and contemplation are central to the monastic quest and they are also universal, offering a meeting point, an area of spirituality that is shared by all the traditions involved.

The Monastery of the Heart

The Monastery of the Heart PDF Author: Joan Chittister
Publisher: SPCK
ISBN: 0281066205
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 133

Book Description
Every age has answered the questions and challenges of spiritual living in its own particular ways through its languages, arts, and lifestyles, giving seekers various concepts for guidance. In this original manifesto, bestselling author Joan Chittister delivers a roadmap based on the ancient Rule of Benedict that stands as a practical model upon which to build a satisfying life, despite the seemingly limitless (and at times meaningless) supply of options in the modern world. By giving spiritual seekers - individuals, couples, families, and small groups - a new opportunity to live a better life from the very centre of their world without ever having to withdraw from it, Chittister's new approach redefines Benedictine living for modern day seekers while remaining firmly rooted in its monastic values.

Attracting the Heart

Attracting the Heart PDF Author: Jeffrey Samuels
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824860624
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 201

Book Description
An idealized view of the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk might be described according to the doctrinal demand for emotional detachment and, ultimately, the cessation of all desire. Yet monks are also enjoined to practice compassion, a powerful emotion and equally lofty ideal, and live with every other human feeling—love, hate, jealousy, ambition—while relating to other monks and the lay community. In this important ethnography of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Jeffrey Samuels takes an unprecedented look at how emotion determines and influences the commitments that laypeople and monastics make to each other and to the Buddhist religion in general. By focusing on "multimoment" histories, Samuels highlights specific junctures in which ideas about recruitment, vocation, patronage, and institution-building are dynamically negotiated and refined. Positing a nexus between aesthetics and affect, he illustrates not only how aesthetic responses trigger certain emotions, but also how personal and shared emotions, at the local level, shape notions of beauty. Samuels uses the voices of informants to reveal the delicately negotiated character of lay-monastic relations and temple management. In the fields of religion and Buddhist studies there has been a growing recognition of the need to examine affective dimensions of religion. His work breaks new ground in that it answers questions about Buddhist emotions and the constitutive roles they play in social life and religious practice through a close, poignant look at small-scale temple and social networks. Throughout, Samuels makes the case for the need to account for emotions in making intelligible the behavior of religious participants and practitioners. Drawing on a decade of fieldwork that includes numerous interviews as well as an examination of written and visual sources, Attracting the Heart conveys the manner in which Buddhists describe their own histories, experiences, and encounters as they relate to the formation and continuation of Buddhist monastic culture in contemporary Sri Lanka. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of religion, Buddhist studies, anthropology, and South and Southeast Asian studies.

The Heart of Russia

The Heart of Russia PDF Author: Scott M. Kenworthy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199736138
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 547

Book Description
Studies in particular monastic revivals in the 19th and 20th centuries, as epitomized by Trinity-Sergius.

Illuminated Life

Illuminated Life PDF Author: Joan Chittister
Publisher: Orbis Books
ISBN: 1570758786
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Book Description
In this little dictionary of monastic wisdom, Joan Chittister offers an A-Z of how to 'be in the workd, but not of the world.' In her inimitable style, she eschews the quick fix in favor of a solid spiritual direction that has stood the test of time. Each chapter is devoted to a letter that illuminates a spiritual quality to be cultivated, from Awareness to Zeal, Community to Interiority, Enlightenment to Yearning--and many more. Every illumination opens with a story from the desert mystics, then seques into a practical application of that value to our tumultuous times.

Listen with the Heart

Listen with the Heart PDF Author: Sister Joan Chittister
Publisher: Sheed & Ward
ISBN: 0585483191
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 133

Book Description
Known as one of the most challenging and charismatic leaders in Christianity, Joan Chittister is a Benedictine sister with an ecumenical outreach and vision. Listen with the Heart is her insightful, personal call to reach beyond the immediacy of a moment in everyday life and savor the sacred rituals that underlie it. This volume encompasses such rituals as Blessing, Fasting, Prayer, Community, Music, and Waiting - Sr. Joan makes the ordinary gleam with light and meaning. Each of the 12 chapters begins with an introduction on that topic, followed by a collection of meditations. Listen with the Heart is an inspiring invitation to stretch the soul and understand the messages of rituals that are common to monasticism and, in many ways, to us all.

Domestic Monastery

Domestic Monastery PDF Author: Ronald Rolheiser
Publisher: Paraclete Press
ISBN: 1640603743
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 82

Book Description
What is a monastery? A monastery is a place set apart—a place to learn the blessings of powerlessness, and that time is not ours but God’s. Our home and our duties can, just like a monastery, teach us those things. The vocation of monastic men and women is to physically withdraw from the world. But the principle is equally valid for those of us who cannot go off to monasteries. Certain vocations offer the same kind of opportunity for contemplation, and provide a desert for reflection. These writings are beautifully presented in a special cloth packaging, hardcover edition. In ten brief and powerful chapters, Fr. Ron explores how the life of the monastery can apply to those who don't live inside the walls of the cloister: Monasticism and Family Life The Domestic Monastery Real Friendship Lessons from the Monastic Cell Ritual for Sustaining Prayer Tensions within Spirituality A Spirituality of Parenting Spirituality and the Seasons of Our Lives The Sacredness of Time Life’s Key Question

The Time Is Now

The Time Is Now PDF Author: Joan Chittister
Publisher: Convergent Books
ISBN: 1984823426
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 146

Book Description
A beloved nun and social activist offers a soul-stirring guide for all who feel disillusioned and dissatisfied with the power-hungry institutions and systems of this world “A cri de coeur against the status quo and for a bold spirituality to fight injustice.”—The New York Times In The Time Is Now, Sister Joan Chittister—a rabble-rousing force of nature for social justice and fervent proponent of personal faith and spiritual fulfillment—draws on the wisdom of prophets, both ancient and modern, to help us confront the societal forces that oppress and silence the sacred voices among us. Pairing scriptural insights with narratives of the truth-tellers that came before us, Sister Joan offers a compelling vision for readers to combat complacency and to propel ourselves toward creating a world of justice, freedom, peace, and empowerment. For the weary, the cranky, and the fearful, this energizing message invites us to participate in a vision for a world greater than the one we find ourselves in today. This is spirituality in action; this is practical and powerful activism for our times. Praise for The Time Is Now “For decades Chittister has been a prolific author and advocate for women and social justice inside and outside the realm of the Catholic Church. Here she shares her perspective on the current state of equity, social justice, and the environment and calls on all Christians to explore the traits of prophets, many of which they can find within themselves . . . offering motivation as well as ways to accomplish change.”—Booklist “A series of short essays to encourage and refresh the spirit of activists . . . applicable to both progressive and conservative Christians. Will appeal to spiritual readers seeking an encouraging book for social justice advocacy.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Wisdom Distilled from the Daily

Wisdom Distilled from the Daily PDF Author: Joan Chittister
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062284509
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 157

Book Description
Wise and enduring spiritual guidelines for everyday living –– as relevant today as when The Rule was originally conceived by St. Benedict in fifth century Rome.