Resources on Spiritual Books

Here are a few links I recently found useful:
http://spiritlibrary.com/books - free videos and book reviews
learnoutloud.com - free audio resources
ebook3000.com - free books and audio files
 Enjoy reading and/or listening!

A Warm Welcome - Discovering the Qu'ran

It looks like I will learn about Qu'ran much more than I expected. I have to thank Professor Devin Stewart from the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies and Emory University for the wonderful 6-session series offered every week from September 8 (today) to October 13. Each week the class will meet for two hours to study "The Qu'ran and Cristian Texts". I know that Professor Stewart is a true expert on Middle Eastern texts, speaks Arabic fluently, and is a wonderful story-teller because I attended a book-study group on "A Thousand and One Nights" with him last Spring. Here is a link to his web-site, where you can find his Bio. http://mesas.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/stewart.html
First I would like to start with a short introduction. I missed the first class today, because I was busy preparing for a meeting tomorrow. I was surprised to see that Professor Stewart has sent me an email at 10.00 pm after the class saying that they missed me at the lecture and providing a reminder for the next one. This was very unexpected. I asked for a syllabus, and was even more surprised to see a response offering a free copy of the Qu'ran. Then I understood that I WILL learn about the Qu'ran. There may be discrepancies between what we plan and what happens in reality, but not in this case. My firm resolution that I will attend every remaining class solidified even further after looking at the syllabus. It had 7 assignments!!! I love assignments where you have an opportunity to think about what you learn and express your thoughts on paper. I am happy!!! And I will have something to write about here. As I discover the sacred book of Islam through reading it, thinking about it, working on the assignments and listening to Professor Stewart, I will share my experiences with you.

To give a brief preview, the course is going to be based on the edition of the Qu'ran translated by Marmaduke William Pickthall, which is available at amazon.com for only 7.95. http://www.amazon.com/Glorious-Marmaduke-William-Pickthall-Translator/dp/1879402513/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284013992&sr=1-1 Other texts will be provided too. From the syllabus, I learned that the Christian texts are going to be used "to throw light on particular aspects of the Qur'an". The following topics will be covered:

• The Qur'anic theory of prophecy
• The relationship of the Qur'an to Jewish and Christian scripture and religious tradition
• The process of composition and transmission of the Qur'an
• The Qur'anic portrayal of Jesus

The first class, which I missed today, was about the introduction of the Quran and the prophecy in Qu'ran. Then Surah 54 was discussed and questions in assignments 1 and 2 were answered based on the readings from the Qu'ran. I'm excited to start doing this assignments tomorrow after I get a copy of the Qu'ran.
For those who want to follow and do the same I will post the assignments and reading below.


Assignment #1: Read Surah 27, "The Ant." Then answer the following questions. In
general, for these short assignments, I will try to judge your work on effort, so do not hold
back or be afraid of guessing or making outlandish claims. **Do, however, support the
claims you make by giving SPECIFIC EXAMPLES from the text.** Write in formal style
and use correct grammar, punctuation, diction, and so on. Please type or write clearly, and
staple the pages together.
1. Why is the Surah called "The Ant"?
2. How does the Surah begin?
3. How does the Surah end?
4. Does the Surah proceed chronologically?
5. Do we know anything about the date when it was revealed?
6. Who is speaking?
7. What characters or figures does the Surah mention?
8. How does the language of the translation strike you?
9. What are the topics treated in the Surah?
10. Can you divide the Surah into sections by content or theme? Outline the Surah.
11. Does the Surah have a central theme?
12. From your reading of this Surah, identify five important questions for further
investigation in the course of reading the rest of the Qur'an.


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Assignment #2: The Prophetic pattern.
Read Surahs 11, 29, 37, 54.
1. Make a detailed outline of Surah 54, giving specific verse numbers.
2. How did you determine when one section ended and another began? Give examples.
3. How are the middle sections in the outline related to each other? Explain in detail.
4. How is the introductory section related to the middle sections? Explain in detail.
5. How is the final section related to the middle sections?
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       Let's work on them together!!!

Qu'ran and Jewish and Christian Texts

On Monday, I went to a lecture on the Relationship between the Qu'ran and Jewish and Christian texts. This lecture by Professor Gordon D. Newby from Islamic Studies Department is the first in a series of Spiritual Conversation at Emory University, where I work. It was a coincidence that I found out about it, although I don't believe in coincidences. I feel it is the answer to my desire to learn more about Islam. After my visit to Turkey this summer, and especially to Istanbul, I felt mesmerized by the power of Muslim traditions and the beauty of architecture. I want to learn more about this religion and see if the teachings of the Qu'ran are close to my understanding of spirituality.
It was nice to see that the room at Carlos Museum on Emory campus quickly became full. A nice touch was that the organizers respectfully mentioned that it's the month of Ramadan and provided dates and water at the end of the event to break the fast. The lecture was short but very insightful. I learned some facts about prophet Muhammad's life. It appeared that he only began teaching when he was in his 40's. I think there are many similarities between him and Jesus. Both liked to challenge existing rules and traditions. They were questioning existing truth and showing the new way of life. Both cured people and performed miracles by the name of God (or Allah).
I didn't know that Muhammad grew up in the area surrounded by different kinds of Jews. What striked me the most in this scientifically descriptive talk is the statistics on the number of times different names are mentioned in the Qu'ran. Professor Newby showed that the name Moses (Musa in Arabic) is mentioned 157 times, while the name Muhammad - only 4 times. The story of the creation of Earth is very similar. There is a difference in the fact that both Adam and Eve take equal responsibility for falling into the trap if the devil, and the woman is not taking the blame for seducing the man as in the Bible. I think this is more reasonable.

The Psychology of Love

What is Love?
Why Do We Love?
What Causes Attraction?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOHdZKDldIg

Hippotherapy

Today I learned a new word - "hippotherapy", which is a treatment strategy based on the movement of a horse. I never really rode a horse for more than a few minutes. Apparently, it's not only pleasant, but can help heal many illnesses including coordination and language disorders. How fascinating! I should add riding a horse to my list of activities I plan to do soon.

The Analogies Betweeen Buddhism and Psychology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI_dKxQ5qdc&feature=player_embedded#!

Science Meets Spirituality

Peter Russell (www.peterrussell.com) talks about the evolution of consciousness and the challenges and opportunities we face now as humanity in the inspirational film called "Global Brain". Its a mix of scientific facts and spiritual ideas. This is why I found it especially appealing. Different audience can easily relate to what is being discussed and at the very least learn interesting scientific facts about our planet and our bodies, and at most appreciate our beautiful Earth and feel the oneness with all that is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_73aFQGLcgQ&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh5M5ydajWI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWens7_zJPw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84VscUsLk3k&feature=related

Enjoy!

Buddhist Psychology

An inspiring set of talks on the roots of Buddhist Psychology by Jack Kornfield, Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and trained Buddhist monk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVvBxffvzkk - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T32YS7RjbM0&feature=related -Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sI3jmj84nI&feature=related  - Part3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwXim2I87Kk&feature=related  - Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCssZ-aS8w&feature=related  - Part5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F63ydFBa9YI&feature=related  - Part 6

Yoga Psychology Magazine

http://www.yogapsychologymagazine.com/
YPM seems to be a young Internet community with a potential to develop into a useful meeting place with rich educational content that is available free of charge. It has free books, audio, and articles on buddism, taoism, meditation, and psychology of buddism. 

Newfound Inspiration

Marcus Daniels is an artist who specializes in photographing prehistoric cave painting, ancient temple murals, and sacred landscapes around the world. When I opened his web-site (http://marcusdanielsarts.com), I immediately noticed that we share many interests in common. I love beautiful places, where the evidence of ancient times is still present. Photography is one of the art forms that I enjoy. Not only Marcus is photographing caves and painting, he appreciates natural landscapes and animals. He is also on a spiritual journey of his own. He is not just taking photographs, but wants to live the experience of each place he visits spending time in meditation and exploration of each location before photographing it. I like his approach a lot! And on top of this, he is teaching authentic feeling and healing methods. What a wonderful inspiration! Seeing his works made me think again that as long as you do what you love, your work will bring happiness to everyone including yourself.