9781585427444

The New Religions was the first full-scale study of alternative spirituality in America, and it remains unparalleled for the intellectual depth and seriousness with which it explores transplanted Eastern. New Age, and alternative faiths on the American landscape. Neeleman's writing, reasoning, and reportage are unfailingly thoughtful and incisive as he illuminates the dramatic impact of these new religions on our culture, recent history, and on how we view our common humanity. Book jacket.

Jacob Needleman is a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University, and a former director of the Center for the Study of New Religions at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.

Preface to the Cornerstone Edition	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
Suspicions	p. 1
What Is California?	p. 3
The Loss Of The Cosmic	p. 4
A Wider Sense Of Psychology	p. 6
The Agonies Of Religious ôRelevanceö	p. 9
The Sense Of Asian Teachings	p. 11
Why Now? Why Here?	p. 14
The Inclusion Of The Mind	p. 15
The Return Of The Practical	p. 17
The Modern Underestimation Of Man	p. 19
Hinduism, Buddhism And Sufism	p. 23
Hinduism	p. 23
Buddhism	p. 26
Sufism	p. 30
The Occult	p. 34
The Place Of California	p. 36
Zen Center	p. 39
The Embrace Of Zen Buddhism	p. 39
ôJust Sittingö	p. 41
Drugs and ôExtraordinaryö Experience	p. 45
Difficulties	p. 48
Suzuki Roshi	p. 52
What Is a Master?	p. 52
The Uses of Ritual	p. 56
The Place of the Intellect	p. 57
The Question of Discipline	p. 61
Tassajara	p. 67
An American Zen Monastery	p. 67
What It a Monk?	p. 69
A Monastery in the Midst of Life	p. 71
The Monastery as a Laboratory	p. 76
Meher Baba	p. 79
The Age Of The Avatar	p. 79
Psyche And Cosmos	p. 80
The Instrumentality Of Love	p. 82
The Life And Work Of Meher Baba	p. 84
The Silence	p. 89
The Baba-Lovers	p. 92
A Search For The Emotions	p. 102
Love From The Point Of Failure	p. 104
Subud	p. 111
The Experience Of Latihan	p. 111
An ôOrdinaryö Man	p. 116
Energies	p. 120
The Meaning Of Submission	p. 124
The Energies Of Sex	p. 129
Social Order And Self-Perfection	p. 132
Understanding Death	p. 135
Transcendental Meditation (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)	p. 139
Promises	p. 139
The Attracted Mind	p. 144
The Theory Of The Mantra	p. 149
ôIt's Easy!ö	p. 151
What Is A ôPractical Methodö?	p. 154
A Note on Krishnamurti	p. 157
Instantaneous Self-Observation	p. 157
A New Understanding Of Freedom	p. 159
Thought And Death	p. 163
The Surface Of Krishnamurti	p. 165
The Existence Of Psychological Help	p. 168
Relationship: An Example	p. 171
Right Education	p. 176
Tibet in America	p. 181
The Appearance Of Tibet	p. 181
The Compassion Of Reality	p. 183
Why Are They Here?	p. 186
Tarthang Tulku	p. 190
The Vajrayana	p. 192
Balanced Disillusionment	p. 194
The Path To The Path	p. 197
The ôAccumulation Of Meritö	p. 201
The Weight Of Tibet	p. 205
The Hunger for Ideas	p. 207
A More Fundamental World	p. 207
Astrology	p. 209
The Idea Of Influences	p. 209
Reincarnation	p. 212
Ideas Us Tools	p. 212
The Sacred In Nature	p. 215
The American Indian	p. 216
The Silence Of Nature	p. 218
Western Esotericism	p. 220
Civilization in the Midst of the Cosmos	p. 220
A Note about the Ideas of Gurdjieff	p. 225
In Search of a Central Question	p. 229
Other Groups And Teachings	p. 229
Drugs And The Problem Of Work	p. 232
Enthusiasm	p. 234
Spiritual Effortlessness	p. 235
The New Religions	p. 238
Conclusion	p. 245
References	p. 253
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 259
Index	p. 263
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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The New Religions

1585427446

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