The Sacred Art Of Soul Making

"The Sacred Art of Soul Making" offers an authentic and substantive spirituality for our time, one that leads the reader toward understanding the structure of the soul and its development through meditation, prayer, presence, and other practices. This book addresses the important questions of soul and spirit with the depth and subtlety they require and with the clarity they call for. Joseph Naft presents an integrated spiritual path that begins where we are and ultimately takes us beyond consciousness, toward the abode of the sacred. That sacredness can touch and transform each of us, if we make the necessary, devoted effort. And "The Sacred Art of Soul Making" shows the way toward that potential. This Second Edition incorporates numerous significant revisions to the original, plus two entirely new chapters: "Worlds of the Spirit" and "Modes of Will."

"Deep within each of us dwells the source of peace, purpose, and love. Yet we live in the chaotic dissonance of the superficial layers of our hearts and minds. A sea of the most precious spiritual energies surrounds us, inside and out, yet our thirst remains unquenched, our souls malnourished and unformed." (from the Introduction). Bridging East and West, "The Sacred Art of Soul Making" addresses the central questions of spiritual practice with the depth and subtlety they require and with unexpected clarity. As Westerners raised in Christianity or Judaism progress in their Eastern practices, they often find themselves drawn back toward their own religious roots and the search for the Divinity. They may rediscover their need for a personal relationship with the Divine, for the practice of prayer, openness to conscience and the understanding of will found in the monotheistic religions. Many people have not engaged Eastern meditative practices out of devotion to their own religion. Those may well find the inner work forms of presence and meditation, stripped of cultural trappings, to be important adjuncts to the practice of prayer, helping open the way to the sacred depths sought in Western religions. This authentic, substantive, and multi-faceted spirituality for our time begins where we are and ultimately takes us beyond consciousness, toward the abode of the sacred. That sacredness can touch and transform each of us, if we make the necessary, devoted effort. This book helps make that possible.

Gardens of the Soul explores the different ways sacred art can expand awareness and nourish the soul. Through her paintings and writings Faith Nolton shares the creative processes of sacred art — both the inner journeying work and the practical art techniques. She weaves together her own shamanic practice and spirit conversations with her skills as a painter and poet. Her paintings uniquely reflect a world of mystery and nourish the soul.

The work of a lifetime and the only work worth doing. What if there were a template that could be used over and over to develop, deepen, and reveal the human soul? The Art of Soulmaking has cracked the code with a step-by-step guide for excavating the basement and building a new home, an interior castle where the soul can live, growing and expanding throughout life. With daily practices and consciousness explorations, The Art of Soulmaking builds connection and creativity, purpose and fulfillment-the cornerstones of living inside ourselves and our true genius. The Art of Soulmaking, an interactive guide, maps out weekly plans for six months and includes hundreds of prompts and exercises to help cultivate a deep intimacy with the world of the interior, the soul. A revolutionary journey, step inside the invitation of your own soul, the alchemical path to unconditional freedom.

Bridging meditation, prayer, and presence, Becoming You: Cultivating Spiritual Presence presents an extensive array of 365 week-long methods for cultivating spiritual presence and the many facets of our soul. Offering ways to plumb the extraordinary depths of meditation and prayer, to enrich our daily life through presence, to awaken new perceptions, to develop our soul, and to become fully ourselves, this book brings simplicity of heart and clarity of mind to our spiritual pursuit. Following an arc of generally increasing subtlety, Becoming You cycles through the many aspects of a complete path, carrying us steadily deeper in our quest. Joseph Naft has taught meditation and spiritual practices since 1976. His other books include The Sacred Art of Soul Making: Balance and Depth in Spiritual Practice and two novels, Agents of Peace and Restoring Our Soul.

Break open this ancient contemplative practice of listening deeply for God's voice in sacred texts. Drawing on her own experience as a monk in the world, Christine Valters Paintner introduces the foundations for a practice of lectio divina. She closely examines each of the four movements of lectio divina as well as the rhythm they create when practiced as a process.

Through the power of everyday words, find and deepen your connection with faith and self in the spiritual practice of writing. Whether you approach this book primarily as a reader or a writer, you can open a rich correspondence with yourself and learn what your own heart has to say. Karen Hering offers a path of self-exploration and a contemplative practice of writing that engages memory and imagination, story and poetry, images and the timeless wisdom of world religions and myth-ology. It will open your ear to your own truths while opening your heart to the world around you. Blending writing prompts, meditations, and stories, this book invites you to begin wherever you are and discover your own unique relation­ship with language, spirituality, and the world around you. The next chapter is yours to write, and Writing to Wake the Soul offers all you need to write it.

The renowned author of eight books and abbess of the online retreat center Abbey of the Arts, Christine Valters Paintner takes readers on a new kind of pilgrimage: an inner journey to discover the heart of God. Eight stages of the pilgrim's way--from hearing the call to coming home--are accompanied by scripture stories of great biblical journeys and the author's unique and creative practices of prayer, writing, and photography. As she did in The Artist's Rule and Eyes of the Heart, Christine Valters Paintner once again helps readers travel to the frontiers of their souls to discover the hidden presence of God. In The Soul of a Pilgrim, Paintner identifies eight stages of the pilgrim's way and shows how to follow these steps to make an intentional, transformative journey to the reader's inner "wild edges." Each phase of the exploration requires a distinct practice such as packing lightly, being uncomfortable, or embracing the unknown. Paintner shows how to cultivate attentiveness to the divine through deep listening, patience, and opening oneself to the gifts that arise in the midst of discomfort. Each of the eight chapters offers reflections on the themes, a scripture story, an invitation to the practice of lectio divina, and a creative exploration through photography and writing.