"Mystical Resistance reveals the Kabbalistic masterpiece Sefer ha-Zohar as a rich source for understanding Jewish resistance to Christian authority. Composed against a backdrop of rising religious intolerance, the Zohar's subversive mystical narratives critique the changing relationship between Western Europe's Christian majority and its Jewish minority"--

Is MER (The Mystical Experience of Reality) What Humans Are All About? The Mystical Experience of Reality book and blog series by Keith Michael Hancock is a uniquely serious case history of newly emerging facts about the mystical experience of Reality (MER). It is presented here to add to the growing scientific and academic literature being produced around the world today–what human existence is really all about. Does God exist, or is much more revealing itself in our evolutionary progress? Many scientists and scholars are experiencing the answer–Yes! Mystical Experience of Reality Volume I, and now Volume II, are compiled of posts from Keith's Blog, Mystic Experiences. Volume II was thought necessary because Keith’s latest revelations have brought these historically important messages to a concluding realisation of what the human condition is all about. See Summing Up at the end of the book. Scholars, scientists and spiritual Seekers around the world who visit and follow his blog will appreciate Summing Up as a uniquely new, complete understanding of why we're here. In this book Keith has aimed to keep each topic shorter and on point, always leaving you with a new thought to ponder, always encouraging you to dig deeper and recall your own experiences thus far. WHY KEITH? He doesn’t know! He says he is not aware of any qualification he had or has for receiving the mystical experiences of Reality (MER), the truth of Reality’s existence. He says he wasn’t religious or spiritual and didn't even know the word ‘mystic’ when they started. The Mystical Experience of Reality, as Keith calls it, is a well-known, historical, non-biological, non-human historical phenomena that engulfed him as a 14-year-old several times every year until his late thirties, filling him with the experience of a Reality in which all things known and unknown exist at Its behest, guarding, guiding, accepting everything that exists, separately, personally, individually. It is benign and uninterested in human wants or constructs such as religions, politics, ideologies. It only deals with individuals. The experiences bring profound joy and love, with a knowledge beyond all human experience. Keith insists the experience of Reality is caught, not taught. The books are filled with posts from Keith’s blog, mysticexperiences.net, for the author to examine himself and his existence in accordance with the way of Reality. Accordingly, he says he found by comparison that there is nothing in humanity worth studying. The first book, Mystic Experiences of Reality Volume I, and this one, Volume II, are summations of years of using writing to explore the awareness given Keith by his mystical experiences, in the hope it will add to the literature on the subject, which is now being more seriously studied around the world than it has ever been. Keith’s writing also seeks to pass on Reality's personal message to him–All Is Well.

In the study of Judaism, the Zohar has captivated the minds of interpreters for over seven centuries, and continues to entrance readers in contemporary times. Yet despite these centuries of study, very little attention has been devoted to the literary dimensions of the text, or to formal appreciation of its status as one of the great works of religious literature. The Art of Mystical Narrative offers a critical approach to the zoharic story, seeking to explore the interplay between fictional discourse and mystical exegesis. Eitan Fishbane argues that the narrative must be understood first and foremost as a work of the fictional imagination, a representation of a world and reality invented by the thirteenth-century authors of the text. He claims that the text functions as a kind of dramatic literature, one in which the power of revealing mystical secrets is demonstrated and performed for the reading audience. The Art of Mystical Narrative offers a fresh, interdisciplinary perspective on the Zohar and on the intersections of literary and religious studies.

In recent years, many Christian clergy, laity and mental health professionals have rediscovered the ancient practices of spiritual direction. Seen as a refreshing alternative to the techniques and limitations of modern psychology, such practices offer new insights for pastoral care. But many remain unclear on what spiritual direction is and whether its methods are applicable to their own clients and parishioners. Spiritual direction is a practice of Christian soul care that is found most notably in the Catholic, Orthodox and Episcopal traditions but is also present in Wesleyan/Holiness, Pentecostal/charismatic, social justice and Reformed communities. Predating modern counseling and psychotherapy movements but sharing key principles and insights for spiritual formation, spiritual direction offers significant resources for today s pastors, counselors, therapists, chaplains and other caregivers attuned to the work of God in people s lives. In this landmark volume, editors Gary W. Moon and David G. Benner, along with a team of expert contributors, provide a comprehensive survey of spiritual direction in its myriad Christian forms. Specific chapters offer careful historical perspective and contemporary analysis of how Christians from various backgrounds have practiced spiritual direction, with particular attention to each tradition s definition of spiritual direction, the process of authentic transformation, the role of the spiritual director, indicators of mature spirituality and other aspects of the spiritual direction process. Chapters also provide psychological and clinical insight into how spiritual direction is similar to, different from and can be integrated with psychotherapy and pastoral counseling to help others experience spiritual transformation and union with God.

'Mystical Resistance' reveals the kabbalistic masterpiece Sefer ha-Zohar, commonly known as the Zohar, as a rich source for understanding Jewish resistance to Christian authority. Composed against a backdrop of rising religious intolerance, the Zohar's subversive mystical narratives critique the changing relationship between Europe's Christian majority and its Jewish minority.

Today, a kind of Rdemocratized mysticismS of those without much religious background flourishes. This mystical experience is not drawn so much of the tradition as out of contemporary experiences. In that sense, each of us is a mystic, and Soelle's work seeks to give theological depth, clarity and direction. This work conveys Soelle's deep religious knowledge and wisdom with her passion for social justice.

The Oxford Handbook of Mystical Theology provides a guide to the mystical element of Christianity as a theological phenomenon. It differs not only from psychological and anthropological studies of mysticism, but from other theological studies, such as more practical or pastorally-oriented works that examine the patterns of spiritual progress and offer counsel for deeper understanding and spiritual development. It also differs from more explicitly historical studies tracing the theological and philosophical contexts and ideas of various key figures and schools, as well as from literary studies of the linguistic tropes and expressive forms in mystical texts. None of these perspectives is absent, but the method here is more deliberately theological, working from within the fundamental interests of Christian mystical writers to the articulation of those interests in distinctively theological forms, in order, finally, to permit a critical theological engagement with them for today. Divided into four parts, the first section introduces the approach to mystical theology and offers a historical overview. Part two attends to the concrete context of sources and practices of mystical theology. Part three moves to the fundamental conceptualities of mystical thought. The final section ends with the central contributions of mystical teaching to theology and metaphysics. Students and scholars with a variety of interests will find different pathways through the Handbook.