Sometimes illumination occurs spontaneously or, as Ram Dass experienced, in a heart-wrenching moment of opening. More commonly, it happens when we polish the mirror of the heart with daily practice—and see beyond the illusion of our transient thoughts and emotions to the vast and luminous landscape of our true nature. For five decades, Ram Dass has explored the depths of consciousness and love and brought them to life as service to others. With Polishing the Mirror, he gathers together his essential teachings for living in the eternal present, here and now. Readers will find within these pages a rich combination of perennial wisdom, humor, teaching stories, and detailed guidance on Ram Dass' own spiritual practices, including: Bhakti Yoga—opening our hearts to unconditional lovePractices for living, aging, dying, and embracing the natural flow of lifeKarma Yoga—how selfless service can profoundly transform usWorking with fear and suffering as a path to grace and freedomStep-by-step guidance in devotional chant, meditation and mantra practice, and much more For those new to Ram Dass' teachings, and for those to whom they are old friends, here is this vanguard spiritual explorer's complete guide to discovering who we are and why we are here, and how to become beacons of unconditional love.

Islamic philosophy and Sufism evolved as distinct yet interweaving strands of Islamic thought and practice. Despite differences, they have shared a concern with the perfection of the soul through the development of character. In The Polished Mirror, Cyrus Ali Zargar studies the ways in which, through teaching and storytelling, pre-modern Muslims lived, negotiated, and cultivated virtues. Examining the writings of philosophers, ascetics, poets, and saints, he locates virtue ethics within a dynamic moral tradition. Innovative, engaging, and approachable, this work – the first in the English language to explore Islamic ethics in the fascinating context of narrative – will be a valuable resource for both students and scholars.

This illustrated tale introduces children to the wondrous teachings from the Muslim theologian and mystic al-Ghazali (1058–1111CE) This enchanting tale illustrates how that the human heart is like a rusty mirror which, when polished through beautiful doings, is able to reflect the real essence of all things. In addition to this story is a poem by the renowned poet, Coleman Barks. Both draw on the same account found in Ghazali's The Marvels of the Heart, Book XXI, of his magnum opus,The Revival of Religious Sciences.

This insightful journal is an invitation to cultivate clarity for "what's next" in your life. It will help you listen to that voice within you, the voice that will nudge you along toward your right work in the world, your vocation. "Polishing the Mirror" becomes code for cultivating calm, stilling your thoughts, dusting off social conditioning, and letting go of worry about the future. These helpful writing techniques and clever questions help you uncover your hidden passions, psycho-social temperament and natural talents, which, in turn, give you an increasingly sharp focus for going forward. Give it 90-days-in-a-row and judge for yourself!

Charles S. Sahagian Chief, Electromagnetic Materials Technology Branch Deputy for Electronic Technology Hanscom AFB, MA 01731 I t should not be surprising that an event as significant as the discovery of the laser has had some con comitant impact on other areas of science and technology, but the extent of the impact was grossly unpredicted. Upon perusal of this bibliography, devoted to the subject of laser window and mirror materials, it becomes very apparent that the effect of the laser on materials R&D has been enormous. Several hundred papers and reports, representing millions of dollars of effort, have been promulgated over the past decade; and as new frequencies, improved tunability, higher power, and other charac teristics are achieved, we can expect even greater demands and requirements on the materials com munity. What are some of the highlights disclosec by this bibliography with regard to work already ac complished? First, one can note the extensive investigations into developing new materials while at the same time improving old ones. Among the latter, alkali halides, for example, have essentially had a rebirth. I n the past five years more progress has been achieved in the chemical and structural perfec tion of this class of materials than in the entire preceding century. Also carried along in the surge for improved laser materials have been the alkaline earth fluorides (prime candidates for 3-to 5-J,Lm ap plications), chalcogenides, semiconductors, oxides, and others.