A great way to deepen your spiritual life is to take a deep dive into a tradition other than your own-especially if you have a competent guide, and Rabbi Rami is an extraordinary guide. Not into Zen? Not a Jew? Not a problem. Anyone on any path will benefit enormously from this profoundly illuminating book. --Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West
With reference to Shunryu Suzuki Roshi's classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Rami Shapiro begins with beginner's mind as empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. It is the kind of mind which can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything. Then, Rami ponders beginner's mind in the child of the Passover Haggadah who knows not how to ask. The parents of this child are told to open (patach) the child to the art of questioning. Asking questions is key to Jewish mind.
The questioning perennial beginner is central to both Zen and Jewish, Rami demonstrates: a daring, iconoclastic, often humorous mind devoted to shattering the words, texts, isms, and ideologies on which expert mind--closed to inquiry--depends.
Zen Mind / Jewish Mind is not a scholarly study of anything, let alone Zen or Judaism, and despite all the footnotes, the book rests solely on Shapiro's fifty-plus years of playing in the garden of Judaism, Zen, and advaita/nonduality. Chapters include Dharma Eye, God's I (1), Koan and Midrash (4), and The Yoga of Conversation (7).
In The Tao of Solomon, Rabbi Rami Shapiro unravels the golden philosophical threads of wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes, reweaving the vibrant book of the Bible into a 21st century tapestry. Shapiro explores the timeless truth that we are merely a drop in the endless river of time, and reveals a path to finding personal and spiritual fulfillment even as we embrace our impermanent place in the universe.
The Tao of Solomon is not a new translation of Ecclesiastes; rather, it is a re-visioning of the sacred text that acknowledges that the only constant in life is change, that nothing lasts forever, and that only by releasing our hold on permanence can we finding personal peace.
The pure and penetrating message of the Divine Feminine Wisdom can become a companion for your own spiritual journey
The first of God's creations and God's endless delight, Wisdom (also known as Chochma and Sophia) is the Mother of all life, the guide to right living. She is God manifest in the world you encounter moment to moment. Her teachings, embedded in the Holy Scriptures of Jews and Christians, are passionate, powerful calls to live in harmony, love with integrity and act joyously.
Through the Hebrew books of Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Job, and the Wisdom literature books of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon, the Divine Feminine speaks to you directly, and Her only desire is to teach you to become wise. Rami Shapiro's contemporary translations and powerful commentaries clarify who Wisdom is, what She teaches, and how Her words can help you live justly, wisely and with compassion. This is not a book about Wisdom but the voice of Wisdom Herself, liberating, uplifting and compelling.
Now you can experience the Divine Feminine and understand Her teachings with no previous knowledge of Wisdom literature. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents insightful commentary that explains Sophia's way of wisdom and illustrates the countless opportunities to experience Her creative energy through which God fashions all things.
To live the surrendered life-a life no longer centered on control and hence no longer at odds with the ordinary suffering of everyday living. Rabbi Rami closely examines the first three steps of Twelve-Step recovery to help us cut through the denial, illusions, and falsehoods that bind us in our fight with addictions of all kinds. He draws upon his half-century engagement with Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Islam, as well as his own and other people's struggles in Twelve-Step recovery, to guide us in our awakening to reality's freedom and the path to living joyously and well.
Fresh translation and facing-page annotations bring the compelling wisdom of the Hebrew prophets to life.
Hundreds of commentaries and dozens of Bible translations make the Hebrew prophets available to modern-day readers, but most often these sources focus on history or apologetics, losing the reader who is searching for spiritual insight.
The Hebrew Prophets: Selections Annotated & Explained makes the wisdom of these timeless teachers available to readers with no previous knowledge of the prophets. With fresh, contemporary commentary, Rami Shapiro reveals the central themes covered by all the prophets: moving from ignorance to wisdom, injustice to justice, cruelty to compassion and despair to joy.
This unique look at the Hebrew Prophets sharpens the personal nature of their message and highlights their critique of the spiritual errors we all face in life, challenging readers to correct those errors and experience a life of awakening and joy.