Why am I passionate about this?

I've always been fascinated with the idea that humans have so many layers of consciousness, and reality is multi-faceted. I've studied Zen Buddhism, yoga, and for the past 43 years, Sufism. My experience of life has developed into a journey of changing difficult situations into exhilarating discoveries, finding hidden patterns in nature that delight me and tell me Iā€™m not alone in the universe, and helping many people transform into beings of joy and gratitude. Iā€™m beginning to see that our transformation delights and changes the Divine; we are not a passing phenomenon but contributors to new creation on a major scale.


I wrote

Awakening as a Human*Divine Being

By Donald E Weiner PhD, Diane Weiner MS,

Book cover of Awakening as a Human*Divine Being

What is my book about?

Our spiritual research, which included reading the books mentioned here, and our transformation through years of spiritual disciplines inspired usā€¦

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Alone with the Alone

Diane Weiner M.S. Why did I love this book?

This book, for serious students of mysticism, dances between the worlds of Persia a thousand years ago and the present. For me, it took the topic of creative imagination out of the realm of fantasy and established it as a cornerstone of the way we perceive and give meaning to reality, and the way we connect to God and inner worlds.

By Henry Corbin, Ralph Manheim (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Alone with the Alone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Henry Corbin's works are the best guide to the visionary tradition...Corbin, like Scholem and Jonas, is remembered as a scholar of genius. He was uniquely equipped not only to recover Iranian Sufism for the West, but also to defend the principal Western traditions of esoteric spirituality."--From the introduction by Harold Bloom Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240) was one of the great mystics of all time. Through the richness of his personal experience and the constructive power of his intellect, he made a unique contribution to Shi'ite Sufism. In this book, which features a powerful new preface by Harold Bloom, Henry Corbin bringsā€¦


Book cover of The Rumi Daybook: 365 Poems and Teachings from the Beloved Sufi Master

Diane Weiner M.S. Why did I love this book?

As I approach a book, I live in a world of separation. In each of Rumiā€™s poems, I fall first into a well-told tale and then am whirled into a mystery where you and God, humble gnat and whole universe are reflected in each other. My heart canā€™t help but be remade in the process.

By Kabir Helminski (editor), Camille Helminski (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Rumi Daybook as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The wisdom of the great Sufi master comes to life in this compendium of 365 Rumi poems and writings for daily contemplation and inspiration
 
My heart wandered through the world
constantly seeking after my cure,
but the sweet and delicious water of life
had to break through the granite of my heart.

When the words of Rumi enter your heart, something softens, breaks, and is subtly reborn. That he wrote the words seven hundred years ago in a medieval Persian world that bears little resemblance to ours makes their uncanny resonance to us today just that much more remarkable.
 
Hereā€¦


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Book cover of The Tao of Inner Peace

The Tao of Inner Peace by Diane Dreher,

With its lively, demystifying approach, The Tao of Inner Peace shows how the Tao can be a powerful and calming source of growth, inspiration, and well-being in times of conflict and anxiety.

This timely guide to the timeless wisdom of the Tao Te Ching shows how to: bring greater joy,ā€¦

Book cover of The Ecstasy Beyond Knowing: A Manual of Meditation

Diane Weiner M.S. Why did I love this book?

It is not enough to read about the existence of states of consciousness beyond what we have experienced. The practices in this book, many of which I have learned from this renowned spiritual teacher, offer a course of development to radically change your consciousness, open you to life experiences, and give you tools for further transformation.

By Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Ecstasy Beyond Knowing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Ecstasy Beyond Knowing represents the distilled wisdom of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khanā€™s long lifetime of spiritual seeking and experiences, his dialogues and deep friendships with other mystics and spiritual teachers, and his explorations into the nature of reality with scientists and philosophers.Meditation techniques are explained in detail along with the principles behind them, including practices with breath, light, energy, sound and mantram, inspired visualizations, and the Sufi dhikr. The Sufi process and stages of transformation are interwoven with those of Hinduism, Buddhism, the Jewish Kabbalah, the glorification of the Christian Mass, and the alchemical process of self-transfiguration. The height,ā€¦


Book cover of The World Turned Inside Out: Henry Corbin and the Angel Out Ahead

Diane Weiner M.S. Why did I love this book?

This book comes to our rescue for those of us who wish to delve more deeply into the work of Henry Corbin. Cheetham helped me see that my practices cleared my heart so that inner visions would appear in their essential nature His words guided me to integrate difficult themes such as levels of being or lists of angels such that I could incorporate them into my heart.

By Tom Cheetham,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The World Turned Inside Out as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book in English to synthesize the remarkable work of Henry Corbin, the great French philosopher,
Christian theologian, and scholar of Islamic mysticism. Corbin, a colleague of C. G. Jungā€™s at Eranos, and one the
most important visionaries of the twentieth century, had a seminal influence on the development of archetypal psychology,
especially through the idea of the ā€œimaginal world.ā€ Corbinā€™s work bridges the gap between the philosophy and theology of
the West and the mysticism of Islam and provides a radical and unified vision of the three great monotheistic religions based
upon the Creative Imagination. One obstacle forā€¦


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Book cover of Up the Down Escalator: Medicine, Motherhood, and Multiple Sclerosis

Up the Down Escalator by Lisa Doggett,

2024 Gold Winner, Benjamin Franklin Awards, Health & Fitness Category

2024 International Book Awards, Winner, Autobiography/Memoir Category and Health: Women's Health Category

A memoir of triumph in the face of a terrifying diagnosis, Up the Down Escalator recounts Dr. Lisa Doggett's startling shift from doctor to patient, as she learnsā€¦

Book cover of The Gift

Diane Weiner M.S. Why did I love this book?

This book is based on Middle Eastern poems from the 1300s which cuddle up close to you and turn you around, such that the world will never be the same again. You find yourself illuminated in new ways with every poem. How amazing to be so intimate with a great being from so far in the past.

By Hafiz, Daniel Ladinsky,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Gift as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Chosen by author Elizabeth Gilbert as one of her ten favorite books, Daniel Ladinskyā€™s extraordinary renderings of 250 unforgettable lyrical poems by Hafiz, one of the greatest Sufi poets of all time

More than any other Persian poetā€”even Rumiā€”Hafiz expanded the mystical, healing dimensions of poetry. Because his poems were often ecstatic love songs from God to his beloved world, many have called Hafiz the ā€œInvisible Tongue.ā€ Indeed, Daniel Ladinsky has said that his work with Hafiz is an attempt to do the impossible: to render Light into wordsā€”to make the Luminous Resonance of God tangible to our finite senses.ā€¦


Explore my book šŸ˜€

Awakening as a Human*Divine Being

By Donald E Weiner PhD, Diane Weiner MS,

Book cover of Awakening as a Human*Divine Being

What is my book about?

Our spiritual research, which included reading the books mentioned here, and our transformation through years of spiritual disciplines inspired us to find ways to put into practice many of the concepts we learned from great teachers. In Awakening as a Human*Divine Being we describe how to use this wisdom in our daily lives. The dialogue which formed the body of our book was taken from actual classes we taught during the pandemic (see YouTube link below). There are step-by-step meditations that give hints on how to reinterpret problems into opportunities for realization. You will find ways to relate ancient concepts to metaphors from science and daily experiences of life. 

Book cover of Alone with the Alone
Book cover of The Rumi Daybook: 365 Poems and Teachings from the Beloved Sufi Master
Book cover of The Ecstasy Beyond Knowing: A Manual of Meditation

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