Spirituality is a unique account of spirituality from traditional religion to the present that reveals the common thread that joins Mahayana Buddhism and Hasidic Judaism, the Sufi Rumi and the Catholic St. Thomas a Kempis, people of all faiths and those who are "spiritual but not religious." Roger S. Gottlieb argues that spirituality is the simple but extraordinarily difficult attempt to face life's rigors and disappointments by becoming more mindful, accepting, grateful, compassionate, and lovingly connected to others. These virtues oppose both the social ego's attachment and arrogance, and any habitual, unreflective religiosity; and the path towards them can be shared equally by people inspired by belief in one God or many, the divinity of nature or the sacredness of life. Spirituality examines the promises and perils of spiritual life as understood both within and outside of traditional faiths, explains the rise of the widespread spiritual detachment from institutional religion, and offers illuminating accounts of yoga, meditation, and prayer. There are also insightful studies of spirituality's relation to modern medicine, nature and the environmental crisis, and political activism.

The New York Times bestselling author of A Return to Love turns to contemporary thinkers for a wide-ranging collection of essays on topics from relationships to religion, education and the environment.

With clarity, humor, detailed scholarship, and passionate eloquence, Roger S. Gottlieb uses a unique range of resources to portray a spiritual path keyed to caring for the earth. This personal and powerful book speaks to anyone who has ever wondered how to be happy when there is so much suffering in the world-anyone who seeks a peaceful heart in a dark time. Its unique combination of spiritual insight, political commitment, and environmental knowledge reveals the deep ties between spiritual aspiration and ecological activism; and makes a critical contribution to both environmentalism and religious studies. Gottlieb begins by describing the gifts which spirituality offers, and how those gifts cannot be realized if we flee into avoidance or denial in the face of ecological peril. In a startling and compelling comparison between the Holocaust and the environmental crisis, he shows how a psychic dependence on "work" can lead us-even against our wills-to take part in genocide or ecocide. Addressing questions about our obligations to the earth, he deepens our understanding of what it is to live an "environmentally correct" life and what we really mean by "nature." Finally, by connecting personal fulfillment to social activism, he shows how a truly peaceful heart is only possible if we devote some of our energies to resisting the forces of destruction.

Never before in our history as a human race have we been confronted with such grave concerns: the devastation of the environment, global terrorism, vast abuse of political and religious powers, destruction of species and threats to every life form upon this planet. How do we sustain our hope, and our vision of a viable future? Inevitably such disasters are opportunities to draw us together as a people to try to heal ourselves and the Earth. Deena: It is a difficult and sorrowful story that we are in. It requires everything of each of us who have enough love, sorrow and courage in our hearts. We have to find the pieces of this story that may yet sustain creation. Deena s journey, as chronicled in Entering the Ghost River, continues as she returns to Africa and is once again visited by the male elephant elder she calls The Ambassador . Inspired by this continued connection, she interweaves the threads of her community s stories, dreams and visions to create a new form of council on the page, as an offering to us of the wisdom that the circle creates.