Ocean State Libraries

The author relates her decision to leave her convent after failing to find religious fulfillment, her struggles with depression and epilepsy, her realization of her calling, and her career working with sacred texts.

"The autobiography of yogi Paramhansa Yogananda, the first yoga master of India whose mission was to teach in the West, covering his early childhood, years of training with a revered master, and time living and teaching in America beginning in the 1920s."--

Faith Beyond Belief gives a much-needed voice to the "good" people who have left their church but whose spirituality continues to mature. Johnston uses first-person stories as well as known spiritual authorities in describing various stages of religious growth. Some of these real-life accounts are by nonbelievers; others are by those among the growing numbers of the "spiritual but not religious." All are thoughtful people with too much integrity to...

"Join former NBC newsman and Meet the Press moderator David Gregory as he probes various religious traditions to better understand his own faith and answer life's most important questions: who do we want to be and what do we believe? While David was covering the White House, he had the unusual experience of being asked by President George W. Bush "How's your faith?" David's answer was just emerging. Raised by a Catholic mother and a Jewish dad, he...

In the United States, we often assume religious and spiritual identity are pure, static, and singular. But some people regularly cross religious boundaries. These "spiritually fluid" people celebrate complex religious bonds, and in the process they blur social categories, evoke prejudice, and complicate religious communities. Their presence sparks questions: How and why do people become spiritually fluid? Are they just confused or unable to commit?...

"Sue Monk was a 'conventionally religious, churchgoing woman, a traditional wife and mother' with a thriving career as a Christian writer until she began to question her role as a woman in her culture, her family, and her church. From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore to monastery retreats and rituals in the caves of Crete, Kidd takes readers through the fear, anger, healing, and transformation of her awakening. Retaining a meaningful...

A "tale of physical grandeur and emotional transformation, a journey around the world that ultimately explores the depths of the human heart. A journalist and young mother, Henion combines her own varied experiences as a parent with a panoramic tour of the world's most extraordinary natural wonders." --