Door C.S. Lewis (1898 – 1963), vertaling door Arend Smilde.

175 Bladzijden | Negende druk 2018 | Softcover | Uitgeverij Kok, Kampen | ISBN: 9789043526579.

Oorspronkelijke titel: The Screwtape Letters, copyright 2002, Uitgeverij Kok, Kampen.

Een ervaren duivel schrijft brieven naar zijn neefje (een duivel in opleiding) om hem de fijne kneepjes van het vak te leren: hoe je christenen en andere spirituele mensen kunt verleiden om hun geloof te verloochenen, Met The Screwtape Letters, verschenen in 1942 en opgedragen aan zijn vriend Tolkien, werd C.S. Lewis in een klap een bekende schrijver. Het boek is sindsdien voortdurend herdrukt. Hetzelfde geldt voor de Nederlandse vertaling, Brieven uit de Hel, die sinds 1947 meer dan twintig keer is herdrukt.

C.S. Lewis kende alleen het Christendom, maar elke occultist / esotericus zal uit dit werk veel kunnen leren van de machinaties van wat in algemene termen “de tegenstander” kan worden genoemd. Observeer je eigen gedachten en gevoelens en met dit boek kun je inzicht krijgen in je onbewuste drijfveren en “de tegenstander” in jezelf. Zeer leerzaam voor hen die Het Pad gaan.

By Dennis Lewis.

115 Pages | First Quest Edition 2009 | Softcover | The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 9780835608725.

Welcome to Breathe into Being, a book that can help you awaken to who and what you really are through the miracle of the breath as it manifests now in your body. Most books on breathing explain how and why you should work with your breath to improve your health, increase your energy or obtain some spiritual goal – all in the future. Most books on presence explain that there is really nothing to do to be who you really are except perhaps to open your eyes right now and see that you have always been what you have been searching for.

Of course, there are books on breathing that discuss the importance of presence and books on presence, that discuss the importance of breathing. There are very few (if any) contemporary books, however, that explore the depths to which breathing itself, natural breathing, is a portal to presence, an ever-present gateway to Awakening to and Being Who you Really Are.

From Chapter: ‘We Can Only Find Meaning and Happiness Now and Here’ (p. 24 & p. 25):

” Of course, not all of us want to go through this process of tranformation. Many of us are quite content to live with our beliefs and our ways of viewing ourselves and the world. So here, before we go on, I suggest you take some time to look into your heart and mind and ponder what it is that, beneath all your fleeting desires, you really want. A big help in this process would be to put it into words and write these words down. After you have written them down, it may be helpful to put one hand on your belly and the other on your heart and follow your breathing for a few minutes, letting yourself become one with it. Then look closely at the words again and see if they resonate with what you actually feel. Are the words true? Is what you wrote down what you really want? What do you really want? Try writing what you really want again in a more honest way. “

By Bernard Lewis (1916 – 2018) and Buntzie Ellis Churchill.

235 Pages | Second printing 2008 | Hardcover | Wharton School Publishing, by Pearson Education Inc. | ISBN: 9780132230858.

• An objective, easy-to-read introduction to Islam by Bernard Lewis.
• What Islam really teaches about God, Humanity, Jihad, Tolerance, Women, Democracy, Economics and Radicalism.
• How Islam shapes the lives of its followers.
• Islam’s challenge to the West.

For many people, Islam remains a Mystery. Here Bernard Lewis and Buntzie Ellis Churchill examine Islam: what its adherents believe and how their religion has shaped them, their rich and diverse cultures, and their politics over more than 14 countries. Considered one of the West’s leading experts on Islam, Lewis, with Churchill, has written an illuminating introduction for those, who want to understand the faith and global challenges it confronts and presents. Whatever your political, personal or religious views, this book will help you understand Islam’s reality.

From Chapter 3 – ‘Scripture, Tradition and Law’ (p. 27):

ISLAMIC HUMOR

” Someone said to Ash’ab: ‘Instead of wasting your time telling jokes, why don’t you relate traditions (hadith) concerning the Prophet? That would be a worthier and nobler thing’. ‘

‘By God’, replied Ashab, ‘I have heard many traditions and related them’. 

‘Then, tell us one’, said the man.

‘ I heard from Nafi’, said Ash’ab, on the authority of Ibn Umar, ’that the Prophet of God, may God bless and save him, said: There are two qualities, such that whoever has them both is among God’s chosen.’

‘That is such a fine tradition’, said the man. ‘What are these two qualities?’

‘Nafi forgot one and I have forgotten the other,’ said Ash’ab. “