Eerdmans Publishing Co
Welcome to the Wisdom of the World and Its Meaning For You
Welcome to the Wisdom of the World and Its Meaning For You
Certain questions are common to all of us as human beings. Why was I born? What's important in life? How do I know the right thing to do? What does it mean to "make a difference"? What's wrong with me -- why can't I change? Such questions are so deeply human that they transcend time and place, religions and cultures. In this inviting book Joan Chittister presents the insights of others from different cultures throughout history who have grappled with the same kinds of life questions that plague us here and now. Through stories and wisdom literature from major religious traditions -- Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- Chittister highlights practical, universal truths and deftly shows how each spiritual tradition brings a special gift to the art of living a meaningful, spiritually aware life. A rich exploration of spirituality, Welcome to the Wisdom of the World addresses some of our most challenging issues -- ambition, security, romance, abandonment, failure, and more -- acknowledging the truth we can find in the wisdom of our human past and the connections we can make through our differences. This is a book for anyone who wants to grow spiritually and to become more fully human.
What Readers Say...
"Exemplary inspiration from one of the foremost contemporary writers on spirituality."
—Booklist.
"…a bouquet of sacred texts and personal stories filled with wonder, insight and love from seekers in the world’s great religions—all refracted and refined by one of the great spiritual teachers of our generation."
—Lawrence Kushner
"This is an embodiment of the spiritual renewal that our world so badly needs."
—Michael Lerner
Reader Resources
Read an Excerpt
Each spiritual tradition, in its own way, suggests a model of what it means to be a holy person. Each of them shines a light on the human ideal. Each of them talks about what makes it grow, to endure, to develop, to live a spiritual life in a world calculatingly material and sometimes maddeningly unclear.
Yet, most of the responses to these great life questions do not come from catechetical manuals or theological treatises. In each of the traditions, we find the kind of wisdom literature that transcends both spiritual techniques and sacred theory. This kind of wisdom literature sets out simply to illuminate those passing moments in life that too often seem to be transitory, even worthless, but in which, underneath it all, some of the most disturbing, most challenging personal themes of life—ambition, success, security, exhilarations, endurance, romance, abandonment, depression, failure—are crystallized.
It is an enlightening experience, this wandering into the spiritual insights of other whole cultures, other whole institutions of the spiritual life. It depends for its fruitfulness on openness of heart and awareness of mind. But the journey is well worth the exertion it takes to see old ideas in new ways because it can bring us to the very height and depth of ourselves. It can even bring fresh hearing, new meaning to the stories that come down to us through our own tradition.
A Sufi story defines the process clearly:
“Tell us what you got from enlightenment,” she seeker said. “Did you become divine?”
“No, not divine,” the holy one said.
“Did you become a saint?”
“Oh dear, no,” the holy one said.
“Then what did you become?” the seeker asked.
And the holy one answered, “I became awake.”
It is the task of becoming awake to our God, to our world, to the wisdom that even now lies within us, waiting to be tapped, that is the real meaning of our questions. It is, more than that, the one great task of life.
Discussion Questions
Engage in meaningful discussions, think critically, and explore deeper insights with these thought-provoking questions.
Awards
2008 Catholic Press Association, First Place Book Award