The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind--A New Perspective on Christ and His Message

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The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind--A New Perspective on Christ and His Message Pub. Date: 8/12/2008 Publisher: Shambhala Publications, Inc.

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Overview

If you put aside what you think you know about Jesus and approach the Gospels as though for the first time, something remarkable happens: Jesus emerges as a teacher of the transformation of consciousness. Cynthia Bourgeault is a masterful guide to Jesus's vision and to the traditional contemplative practices you can use to experience the heart of his teachings for yourself.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Inspired by the Nag Hammadi discoveries and influenced by more than 30 years of study with Fr. Thomas Keating and other contemplatives in a variety of wisdom traditions, Bourgeault, an Episcopal priest, encourages seekers to reach beyond the Western tradition of Jesus-as-Savior to embrace Jesus more wholly as a wisdom teacher. Through a transformative lesson in vocabulary, giving new meaning to perceptions like "head," "heart" and "repentance," she offers a fresh reading of the Beatitudes, challenges us to explore the more complicated messages imbedded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and emphasizes a notion of "self-emptying love" that allows for a shift in consciousness from ego-based analysis to acceptance of divine abundance, which in turn sheds new light on examinations of the Passion, crucifixion and ensuing events. Guided chapter primers on centered meditation and chanting further prepare readers to test the open waters of welcoming the "flow of... deeper sustaining wisdom." Though strict legalists may not warm to this new spiritual perspective, other students of faith will find an especially intriguing and engaging path waiting for them. (Aug.)

Library Journal

Episcopal priest Bourgeault (Centering Prayer) offers a fluent, persuasive reimagining of Christian understanding through the lens of the Eastern search for wisdom. Although the publisher is best known for Buddhist works, Bourgeault's innovative approach results in a sound and authentic Christianity that takes into account historical discoveries and Eastern traditions; her vision of Jesus centers around "self-emptying." With five "wisdom practices" for Christians. Highly recommended.

—Graham Christian

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781590305805
Publisher: Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Publication date: 8/12/2008
Pages: 224
Sales rank: 56,962
Product dimensions: 5.40 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 0.70 (d)

Meet the Author

Cynthia Bourgeault, PhD, is an Episcopal priest, teacher, and retreat and conference leader. She is the author of several books, including Chanting the Psalms and Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening.

Acknowledgments     ix
The Teachings of Jesus
Jesus as a Recognition Event     1
Jesus in Context     13
"The Kingdom of Heaven Is within You"     28
The Path of Metanoia     41
A Gospel of Thomas Sampler     54
Kenosis: The Path of Self-Emptying Love     62
Jesus as Tantric Master     75
The Mysteries of Jesus
The Incarnation     91
The Passion     104
Crucifixion and Its Aftermath     113
The Great Easter Fast     125
Christian Wisdom Practices
Centering Prayer Meditation     141
Lectio Divina     150
Chanting and Psalmody     161
Welcoming     171
Eucharist     183
Notes     191
Selected Reading     211
Index     217

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rainermaria63

Posted July 9, 2010

I Also Recommend:

A Refreshing Renaming of the Problem

Abject moral depravity from birth as the problem for which Western Christianity is the answer has never struck me as an accurate naming of the problem. Given the growing number of people drifting away from church and the many more who pay no attention to the church at all, it appears I am not alone. If only we could do a better job naming the problem. Perhaps then we could see Jesus as the one who speaks to that problem in a way that makes him worthy of our deepest devotion of heart and mind.

Cynthia Bourgeault offers a wise and articulate naming of the problem that vexes every human being and for which Jesus as the answer makes complete and total sense. The Wisdom Jesus introduces the reader to an understanding of Christianity not familiar to most Western Christians, but one that has always been there, waiting to be rediscovered as the ancient, timeless, refreshingly practical perspective of the Wisdom Tradition of Christianity.

The Wisdom Jesus opens our eyes to the problem, to our binary way of viewing the world which, if not made conscious, holds us captive and unable to experience the liberating truth that though we are in the world, we are not of the world.

I do believe there is a future for the church and that the time is coming when those who have walked away from the church will be led to take another look. They will discover that Jesus knew us far better than we know ourselves and gave us all we need to enter into the fullness of who we are already in God's eyes. The excellent, very accessible writing and insights of Cynthia Bourgeault gives me totally renewed hope that Western Christianity has a whole other personality that we are going to be delighted and deeply grateful to meet.
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LucyTW

Posted December 27, 2009

still haven't received it !

still haven't received either books ordered early November for Christams !

0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Christianexistentialist

Posted March 23, 2009

more from this reviewer

"JC 360"

Bourgeault invites us into the other 270 degrees of Jesus so often missed by Western Christianity. Draw a circle around the Near East where Jesus lived and taught and only 90 degrees of that circle touches Italy and the West.

Those of us brought up in the Western Catholic tradition have a 90 degree creedal view of Jesus. Bourgeault reminds us that Jesus was a First Century Jew and a Wisdom Figure. Like most Near Eastern Wisdom Figures he told stories that were more like riddles than didactic teachings. Like most Wisdom Figures Jesus called people into a new reality - the Kingdom of God.

Bourgeault delves into 'extra-canonical' literature to prove the valid point that the church of the West has indeed suppressed and even distorted the Jesus of the Near East. The Gospel of Thomas is one source that she uses in her arguments. This and other writings are recent finds that bring to light a fresh look at Jesus.

Her arguments are sound and deepen our perspective on Christ. She invites us not to disown the 90 degree Jesus, but rather to embrace the 360 degree Jesus!

Her insights into the Sermon on the Mount and several of the more enigmatic sayings in the Gospels are most helpful.

Her last chapters give practical in-put for us to deepen our own spirituality through such spiritual practices as lectio divina, centering prayer, and chanting.

I found this book to be most helpful.

If you are a progressive Christian you will welcome its insights. If your are a fundamentalist, you will find it most disturbing.
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Anonymous

Posted October 15, 2011

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