God Without Religion: Questioning Centuries of Accepted Truths

Sankara Saranam

BenBella Books, Inc., Jan 5, 2016 - Religion - 288 pages

The groundbreaking and enlightening book that offers “a more intelligent and thoughtful approach to the spiritual life” (Thomas Moore, New York Times–bestselling author).
 
Disillusioned with organized religion, millions of people turn to secular humanism, neo-atheism, New Age thinking, Eastern religious practices, and mysticism—while others retreat from spirituality altogether. A more satisfying and transformative option is to embark on a quest to discover what is real to you. Using time-tested tools of investigation into your own sense of self, you can examine your present beliefs, explore the nature of reality, and ultimately expand your identity and awareness.
 
God Without Religion introduces this age-old approach to self-inquiry for today’s readers. Step by step, it offers a bridge between organized religion and self-realization for anyone questioning traditional dogma or its legacy of divisiveness. It also assists in overcoming limitations and notions of exclusivity promoted by modern-day movements. Included are seventeen universal techniques for developing a personal understanding of the underlying substance of existence and broadening your view of yourself, others, and all of life.
 
This updated edition includes new details about the author’s personal experiences with each technique. These highly relatable new passages will help you connect with each concept in a personal way, so that you can discover—or rediscover—your own spiritual path to clarity.

Contents

• WHAT IS GOD?: 3
• GODS M ADE IN THE IMAGE OF MEN: 12
• MIRACLES AND THE MIND: 29
• REVELATION AND REASON: 43
• RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY: 58
• TERRORISM IN THE NAME OF GOD: 70
• A BIGGER PICTURE OF HUMAN PROGRESS: 81
• THE CYCLE THEORY: 83
• MOVING PAST THE DARK AGES: 101
• AVENUES TO KNOWLEDGE: 113
• AN ALTERNATIVE TO ORGANIZED RELIGION: 125
• A THEORY OF SELF: 127
• TO GOD THROUGH ENERGY CONTROL: 144
• THE SELF IN SOCIETY: 157
• A NEW MYTH TO SPARK SOCIAL REFORM: 184
• TESTING TODAYS CHOICES: 199
• CAN WE KNOW GOD?: 201
• MODERN SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS: 219
• VULNERABILITY OF THE SELF: 235
• CELEBRATING APOSTASY: 246
• CONCLUSION: 257
• NOTES: 263
• INDEX: 267
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 279

About the author

Author, poet, and philosopher; yogi, teacher, and rancher; guitarist, singer-songwriter, and recording artist, Sankara Saranam is the producer and host of the internet podcast Permanent Waves.

After four years as a monastic in the Self-Realization Swami Order of yogis, two years studying Hebrew in Israel and writing the book Yoga and Judaism, studying aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, and the classical guitar at the Manhattan School of Music, Sankara Saranam graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University as a student of religious studies and Hebrew. He went on to complete his masters in Eastern texts and Sanskrit at St. John's College in Santa Fe.

Saranam is the author of the multi-award-winning, internationally published, and groundbreaking "spiritual masterpiece," God Without Religion. He is also the author of the mystical science-fiction novel, Permanent Waves.

Saranam lives with his two children in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Bibliographic information

• Title: God Without Religion: Questioning Centuries of Accepted Truths
• Author: Sankara Saranam
• Contributor: Arun Gandhi
• Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc., 2016
• ISBN: 1942952031, 9781942952039
• Length: 288 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Philosophy; Religion / Spirituality; Self-Help / Spiritual