The Direct Path: Creating a Journey to the Divine Using the World's Mystical Traditions - Hardcover

Harvey, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0767902998 ISBN 13: 9780767902991

Publisher: Broadway Books, 2000

Synopsis

"The Direct Path is the Path to God without dogma or priests or gurus, the Path of DIRECT self-empowerment and self-awakening. Whether you know it yet or not, you have been on it since the day you were born."

Today more Americans than ever consider themselves to be "spiritual" people, and yet regular attendance at religious institutions is down, perhaps because many of us are searching for a way to encounter the divine on our own terms.  We long to connect with something greater than ourselves, but are often conflicted about the teachings and rituals of organized religions, or simply don't know where to begin.  In this groundbreaking, eloquently written work, renowned religious scholar Andrew Harvey builds on his twenty-five-year study of the world's various mystical traditions--including Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sufism, the Kabbalah, and Christian mysticism--to create an illuminating spiritual map that anyone can use to develop a direct path to the divine.

Andrew Harvey has devoted his life to the study and pursuit of the divine, and in The Direct Path he chronicles his own spiritual journey, revealing the events that led to his own disillusionment with the guru system, and the hierarchy and hypocrisy of many contemporary religious movements.  He then provides us with the tools we need to cultivate a personal relationship with the divine without relying on gurus, churches, or other institutions and intermediaries.  Drawing on mystical traditions from around the world, Harvey outlines eighteen sacred practices--including breathing, chanting, meditation, prayer, and the practice of lovingkindness--that readers can use to unite mind, body, and soul, and he streamlines them into a step-by-step guide to personalized spiritual development and enlightenment. He discusses the four stages of spiritual transformation--awakening, engagement, marriage, and birthing--and shows us how we can incorporate the sacred into everyday life through activities such as dieting and fasting, dancing, laughing, and healing exercises such as yoga and tai chi.  Through practical lessons and exercises, Harvey guides us in excavating our spiritual self, and creating not only a path to the divine but to the millions of other selves who walk the earth with us.

Perfect for anyone who, in this time of spiritual uncertainty, yearns for fresh teachings and wisdom that will bring them closer to their life's purpose and meaning, The Direct Path is an intelligent, beautifully crafted masterpiece from one of today's most celebrated and respected spiritual luminaries.

About this title

Review

Andrew Harvey is a renowned spiritual scholar and a master of the world's mystical traditions. He's the author and editor of more than 30 books, but The Direct Path can be viewed as the benchmark of his spiritual philosophy. "I feel I have been waiting all my life to write this book," he states, and at the core of The Direct Path are his clearly defined beliefs: organized religions and guru systems have largely failed to serve the spiritual needs of humanity. We are all children of God since we each contain a spark of God's divinity--i.e., we each have a soul, and as such, we do not require middlemen to mediate our way to God. What is required is the Direct Path, sacred practices of mind, body, and spirit through which we can each attain a personal union with the divine. The fruit of this union is the "birth" of energy, which is transformative and boundless and which must be shared with our fellows through active humanitarian work so that we each become "servant-warriors for peace and justice." And on this birth depends the future of humanity.

"This is a radical vision, of course," Andrew Harvey explains, "but it is not a new one." The prophets across all native and religious traditions have espoused the same essential teachings, that the divine dwells within each of us and that by accessing our divinity we will attain union and so comprehend the true meaning of human fellowship. Judeo-Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Islamic and native, Andrew Harvey draws on mysticism rather than dogma from across the spiritual spectrum. He gives us an eloquent and wholehearted explanation of the Direct Path and its necessary practices--such as breathing, meditation, and focused exercise--and he conveys a compelling vision of why the birth of transformative energy within each of us is so essential to the future of humankind. --Lucas LoBlack, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

Rather than depending upon gurus to mediate our way to God, a renowned spiritual scholar maintains that what is required is the Direct Path, sacred practices of mind, body & spirit through which we can each attain a personal union with the divine

Edition details

• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0767902998
• ISBN 13: 9780767902991
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 291