'An amazing compilation: this book is more than a typical poetry anthology ... Offers a balm, a consolation, a tune, in our desolate world.' - Ilya Kaminsky.

'An amazing collection of spiritual verse from many cultures and periods ... There cannot be any other anthology that ranges so widely, and anyone concerned with either poetry or spirituality will want to own a copy.' - John Barton.

An inspiring new selection of poems exploring faith and the divine, featuring poets from across the world, from antiquity to the present.

On 28 February 2013, a 600-year-old tradition was shattered: the conservative Pope Benedict XVI made a startling announcement. He would resign. Reeling from the news, the College of Cardinals rushed to Rome to congregate in the Sistine Chapel to pick his successor. Their unlikely choice? Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,200 years, a one time tango club bouncer, a passionate football fan, a man with the common touch. From the prize-winning screenwriter of The Theory of Everything and Darkest Hour , The Pope is a fascinating, revealing and often funny tale of two very different men whose destinies converge with each other - they both live in the Vatican - and the wider world. How did these two men become two of the most powerful people on Earth? What's it like to be the Pope? What does the future hold for the Catholic Church and its 1 billion followers? The Pope is a dual biography that masterfully combines these two popes' lives into one gripping narrative. From Benedict and Francis' experiences of war in their homelands - when they were still Joseph and Jorge - and the sexual abuse scandal that continues to rock the Church to its foundations, to the intrigue and the occasional comedy of life in the Vatican, The Pope glitters with the darker and the lighter details of life inside one of the world's most opaque but significant institutions.
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B>b>Beloved Buddhist nun Ayya Khema expertly guides the reader through ten meditations on generating loving-kindness and cultivating the fifteen wholesome qualities necessary for igniting compassion and boundless love./b>br>;/b>br>br>Having escaped Nazi Germany in 1938,;Ayya;Khema;has singularly profound perspective on creating peace, unconditional love, and compassion. She gently teaches that inner peace is not necessarily natural or innate. Instead, peace should be considered a skill that needs intentional practice--every day. Peace is the sum of many parts, namely the fifteen wholesome qualities the Buddha himself noted in the Metta Sutta,;including usefulness, mildness, humility, contentment,;receptivity, and;others.;Ayya;Khema;expertly guides us through each individual condition, using her trademark humor and personal narrative, to;help;each reader;shape;their own;path to self-transformation.;br>;br>The second part of the book includes an eye-opening discussion of;metta;(loving-kindness);as both a morality practice and a concentration practice as well as;ten;meditation practices that;use;visualizations rather than more traditional mantra repetition.;Edited by her student and retreat leader, Leigh Brasington, this book is a complete course in practical ways to calm and brighten our minds.;;
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Fascinated by the myth of Cupid and Psyche throughout his life, C. S. Lewis reimagines their story from the perspective of Psyche''s sister, Orual. ''I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer . . . Why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?'' Till We Have Facesis a brilliant examination of envy, betrayal, loss, blame, grief, guilt, and conversion. In this, his final - and most mature and masterful - novel, Lewis reminds us of our own fallibility and the role of a higher power in our lives.

A milestone in the history of popular theology, ''The Screwtape Letters'' is an iconic classic on spiritual warfare and the power of the devil.
This profound and striking narrative takes the form of a series of letters from Screwtape, a devil high in the Infernal Civil Service, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior colleague engaged in his first mission on earth trying to secure the damnation of a young man who has just become a Christian. Although the young man initially looks to be a willing victim, he changes his ways and is ''lost'' to the young devil.
Dedicated to Lewis''s friend and colleague J.R.R. Tolkien, ''The Screwtape Letters'' is a timeless classic on spiritual conflict and the invisible realities which are part of our religious experience.
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B>The simple, refreshing meditations of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh give us the tools to cultivate concentration. Practicing mindfulness brings concentration, and concentration brings insight and understanding.br/>;/b>br>br>With our world experiencing the deep effects of loneliness, digital overload, and a proliferation of potential distractions, this pocket-sized How To book reminds us of the value of developing our concentration, so we can let go of misperceptions and cultivate the clarity of mind that is the basis for understanding oneself, each other, and the world.br/>;br/>Written with characteristic simplicity and kindness, these wise meditations teach us that by practicing mindfulness in daily life, we are cultivating the power of concentration, and fostering the conditions that bring insight, liberating us from misperceptions and misunderstanding.br/>;br/>The Mindfulness Essentials series is a back-to-basics collection from world-renowned Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh that introduces everyone to the essentials of mindfulness practice.;All Mindfulness Essentials books are illustrated with playful sumi-ink drawings by California artist Jason DeAntonis.br/>; Lire la suite Fermer

The Bible is the most important book in the history of Western civilization, and also the most difficult to interpret. It has been the vehicle of continual conflict, with every interpretation reflecting passionately-held views that have affected not merely religion, but politics, art, and even science. This unique edition offers an exciting new approach to the most influential of all English biblical texts - the Authorized King James Version, complete with the Apocrypha. Its wide-ranging Introduction and the substantial notes to each book of the Bible guide the reader through the labyrinth of literary, textual, and

The Upanishads, the earliest of which were composed in Sanskrit between 800 and 400 bce by sages and poets, form part of the Vedas - the sacred and ancient scriptures that are the basis of the Hindu religion. Each Upanishad, or lesson, takes up a theme ranging from the attainment of spiritual bliss to karma and rebirth, and collectively they are meditations on life, death and immortality. The essence of their teachings is that truth can by reached by faith rather than by thought, and that the spirit of God is within each of us - we need not fear death as we carry within us the promise of eternal life.br>br>For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Lire la suite Fermer

Should we believe in God? In this new book, written for a new generation, the brilliant science writer and author of The God Delusion, explains why we shouldn't.

Should we believe in God? Do we need God in order to explain the existence of the universe? Do we need God in order to be good? In twelve chapters that address some of the most profound questions human beings confront, Dawkins marshals science, philosophy and comparative religion to interrogate the hypocrisies of all the religious systems and explain to readers of all ages how life emerged without a Creator, how evolution works and how our world came into being.

For anyone hoping to grapple with the meaning of life and what to believe, Outgrowing God is a challenging, thrilling and revelatory read.
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For centuries people have been tormented by one question above all - 'If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain?' And what of the suffering of animals, who neither deserve pain nor can be improved by it? The greatest Christian thinker of our time sets out to disentangle this knotty issue. With his signature wealth of compassion and insight, C.S. Lewis offers answers to these crucial questions and shares his hope and wisdom to help heal a world hungry for a true understanding of human nature.

John Barton was the Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1991 to 2014 and since 1973 has been a serving priest in the Church of England. He is the author of numerous books on the Bible, co-editor of The Oxford Bible Commentary and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation . He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2007 and is a Corresponding Fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Shows how do we find joy in the face of life's inevitable suffering? This title reveals how to live a life brimming with joy. IT offers an opportunity to experience their astonishing and unprecedented week together, from the first embrace to the final goodbye.

The Number One Bestsellerbr>br>Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards 2021br>br>''A great achievement . . . Brilliant, engaging and essential'' Colm Toibínbr>br>''At once intimate and epic, this is a landmark book'' Fintan O''Toolebr>br>When Dubliner Derek Scally goes to Christmas Eve Mass on a visit home from Berlin, he finds more memories than congregants in the church where he was once an altar boy. Not for the first time, the collapse of the Catholic Church in Ireland brings to mind the fall of another powerful ideology - East German communism. While Germans are engaging earnestly with their past, Scally sees nothing comparable going on in his native land. So he embarks on a quest to unravel the tight hold the Church had on the Irish.br>br>He travels the length and breadth of Ireland and across Europe, going to Masses, novenas, shrines and seminaries, talking to those who have abandoned the Church and those who have held on, to survivors and campaigners, to writers, historians, psychologists and many more. And he has probing and revealing encounters with Vatican officials, priests and religious along the way.br>br>The Best Catholics in the World is the remarkable result of his three-year journey. With wit, wisdom and compassion Scally gives voice and definition to the murky and difficult questions that face a society coming to terms with its troubling past. It is both a lively personal odyssey and a resonant and gripping work of reporting that is a major contribution to the story of Ireland.br>br>''Reflective, textured, insightful and original ... rich with history, interrogation and emotional intelligence'' Diarmaid Ferriter, Irish Timesbr>br>''An unblinking look at the collapse of the Church and Catholic deference in Ireland. Excellent and timely'' John Banville, The Sunday Timesbr>br>''Engaging and incisive'' Caelainn Hogan, author of Republic of Shamebr>br>''Remarkable ... Essential reading for anyone concerned about history and forgetting'' Michael Hardingbr>br>''Fair-minded ... thoughtful'' Melanie McDonagh, The Timesbr>br>''Very pacey and entertaining ... and it changed how I regard Ireland and our history for good. Fantastic'' Oliver Callanbr>br>''Original, thought-provoking and very engaging'' Marie Collinsbr>br>''A provocative insight into a time that many would rather forget'' John Boynebr>br>''Challenging'' Mary McAleesebr>br>''Explores this subject in a way that I''ve never seen before'' Hugh Linehan, Irish Times>
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