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|  | | Borderlands of the Spirit
In today’s secular environment the two worlds of science and spirituality are alien worlds, distinguished primarily by a deep-seated antagonism in which the principles of spirituality and the pragmatism of modern science exist face to face in a perennial state of confrontation. This profoundly learned work searches the borderlands between these two worlds. Divided into three parts, this work begins by analyzing modern epistemological assumptions surrounding the faculty of reason and comparing it to traditional ideas concerning the intellect; the second and third parts deal masterfully with spiritual imagination and the light of faith.
Through a penetrating analysis of reason and intellect, spiritual imagination and the light of faith, this book addresses fundamental questions pertaining to our search for meaning. Countering the prevalent assumptions which determine our secular environment, these pages travel the borderlands between science and religion and open passageways to a higher understanding of spiritual life Countering the prevalent assumptions which determine our secular environment, this book travels the borderlands between science and religion and opens passageways to a higher understanding of spiritual life.
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P class=MsoNormal style="MA | |  | | Distant Islands and Sea Light (Travel Essays)
A collection of ten non-fiction travel essays that focus on various islands, including Malta, Bali, Sri Lanka and Cyprus. The collection also includes two articles on Turkey, two essays on Bosnia and Montenegro, as well as an unpleasant journey to the Bay of Montevideo in Uruguay.
Excerpt from the Preface
The Many Faces and Moods of Travel
This collection of travel essays makes for an unusual group of travel companions. Like seasoned travelers themselves, each essay paints a unique experience whose coloration is intended to inspire the reader with their mystery and their magic. Even in today’s prosaic world, with its all-pervasive uniformity encroaching on all sides, the dream of the island paradise still contains an attraction and a lure that is all but irresistible, especially to the voyagers to distant shores in search of the exotic and the unexpect | |  | | Earthrise
A selection of Haiku and Tanka Poems
For lovers of Haiku and Tanka, this collection offers a rare and exotic feast. Whether moonglow in an ancient well or a ladybug sipping dew on an autumn leaf, these poems capture the soul of an idea in the light of Nature. The poems have no true horizon; instead, the author brings the sun, moon and stars down into our everyday lives to shed light on the mystery of what it means to be human.
“The night was never so black, the moon never so bright, as in this rare collection of poems.” - an internet reader
“The mystery of beauty finally unveiled.” -an internet reader
| |  | | Feathers in the Dust
Traditional essays on a variety of everyday topics such as love, trust, silence, death, nature.
This collection of traditional essays explores the meaning of the human condition as we live in today’s post-modern world. The ten essays explore such commonplace ideas as trust, love, time, silence, death. We take these words for granted without really ever coming to terms with their true meaning and import into our lives. What does the idea of trust, love, and silence really mean and how do we apply these terms to our lives in a manner than is meaningful and significant. In the first Chapter on Trust, the author writes: “Locked within the experience of the world there lies the secret of some | |  | | Holy Qur'an: An Intimate Portrait
The journey of a sacred revelation from a cave in Makkah down through the centuries until the modern era when the book still serves to enlighten billions of people and guides them through the journey of their own lives.
Written by an American Muslim who converted to Islam over 40 years ago, this intimate portrait identifies the Qur’an as a companion and friend to the Muslims wherever they may be, especially in this anti-spiritual world with its emphasis on money, power and material possessions as the goal of life’s challenges and the answer to life’s mysteries. It recounts the journey of a book that began in 7th century Arabic in the darkness of a cave in the black mountains outside of Makkah in present-day Saudi Arabia. The author explains in depth the many reasons why the Muslims—and he himself—continue to | |  | | If Birds Could Talk
A Selection of Portfolio Poems
Some questions stir without being asked,
We sometimes wonder about lifting the mask.
If birds could talk, wouldn’t that be a miracle,
To both listen and hear, thus reaching a pinnacle.
The poems in this third collection further explore the world of nature and the people who live and thrive within that world of nature, partly because we humans have the capacity to listen and hear what the signs of nature can teach us, and partly because of its sheer beauty.
If the artefacts of nature such as the sun, moon and stars speak to us directly, we are obliged to listen ca | |  | | In Darkness Be Light: Poems on the Human Condition
I am pleased to announce the publication of a new collection of poetry, my second book of poems, in June 2017. The book is now available on www.amazon.com and the other online booksellers and on the publisher's website, www.createspace.com
The poems in this collection seek to find balance within the human condition between the two extremes of courage and cowardice, strength and weakness, virtue and vice, and above all light and darkness mentioned in the book's title. We experience the interplay of such forces every day of our lives, forces that we must come to terms with in order to better understand what it means to be human. "In this age of sound bites and selfies, it is a rare treat to have the spotlight shine down upon a collection of modern-day poems that explores with such depth and insight what it means to be human i | |  | | Journeys With Soul:
Adventures to strange and exotic places and traditional cures that came true.
The journeys described in this volume cut across a number of diverse counties and represent very different experiences. They have one thing in common, however, that binds them together in the spirit of which they were written, namely SOUL. Whether visiting the mountainous regions of the Karakorum in Northern Pakistan, or making the ritual circumambulation in the Grand Mosque at Makka, the author of these tales became a pilgrim soul in search of experiences in distant lands that have the power to touch the pilgrim soul within us all. “Much more than just an engaging book of travel essays and | |  | | Living a Muslim Life
A sweeping introduction into various aspects of Islamic Studies, including Islamic culture and spirituality.
A comprehensive introduction to Islam, including such topics as the origin of the religion, the descent of the Quran, Islamic Science, Science in the Quran, Islamic Spirituality, the Five Duties of Islam, including prayer and fasting, and Quranic recitation as holy worship. | |  | | Mirror Poems
A unique collection of mirror poems.
A collection of over 100 mirror poems, each set of two poems reflecting similarities, differences, and opposites of shadow and light on themes pertaining to the human condition. These poems explore the intricacies and intimacies of loyalty and love, friendship and treachery, happiness and sorrow, all the emotions in the human repertoire that make us distinctly who we are in this modern era of today's world. My readership on social media have always expressed a special interest in my "mirror poems", a stylistic and trendy genre new and uniquely original to the pantheon of poe | |  | | Modern Man at the Crossroads
The image of the crossroads refers to the encounter of modern science and traditional knowledge, two parallel worldviews that have converged and now intersect in unexpected ways today. This work questions the hidden faith in the assumptions that define the modern scientific inquiry and highlights the explanatory power of the traditional perspective with its reliance on a transcending faith that bridges the gap between proven facts and cosmic mysteries. The stark image of modern man at this crossroads emphasizes the dilemma of rational intelligence and sacred emotion, of mind and heart, that confronts every person today who must face the truth within him or herself in order to uncover the truth at the heart of the universe.
It has become increasingly clear to many "modern" individuals today that the paradigm of knowledge that is set forth by modern science as the prevailing worldview, while it bedazzles us with its intricacy, its precision, and its technological edge, has led to a crisis of identity and fails on fundamental levels to answer the perennial questions that lie at the heart of man's being.
In the present work, the author surveys the traditional knowledge of the religions and the findings of modern science in the light of the two prevailing questions of our time, namely the Origin of Life/Man | |  | | Near and Distant Horizons
A compelling case for the need to identify the sources and authenticity of a traditional knowledge that still has the explanatory power to shape and enrich people’s lives in today’s materialistic and anti-spiritual world. To that end, he takes the reader out of the modern era and its scientific worldview back through traditional history to the edge of time in order to raise and reflect upon the following questions:
* What are the true sources of knowledge?
* Are they valid, authentic and objective beyond any human doubt?
* Is there a headwater of knowledge or a wellspring of truth that serves as the first source of all human knowing?
*Is all knowledge relative and all truth conditioned by the molecular impulses of human minds such as contemporary scientists would have us believe?
* Is there a source so transcendent and an origin so profound that it can eliminate all human doubt and uncertainty?
* Is there a supreme-power with the potential to synthesize into a single web the disp | |  | | Somewhere a Flower Blooms (Poetry)
A wide variety of poems whose themes focus primarily on the human condition and what it means to live in today's modern and fast-paced world.
This rare collection of poems offers a wide variety of subject matter and poetic styles. Each poem, in its own unique way, seeks to capture within its tone and phrasing the spirit of the modern world. John Herlihy as poet concerns himself primarily with the human condition and what it means to be both a human and a spiritual person in today's modern, fast-paced, materialistic and secular world.
The poems are separated into four different categories, including a separate section for poems that explore the human intimacy with nature, portfolio poems that represent the heart and soul of | |  | | Wisdom of the Senses
The Untold Story of their Inner Life
We know what the senses can do for us. They bring us colorful images of the natural order through sight, offer up the harmonies of the universe through sound, tantalize us with the smells and tastes in the world of culinary delights, and wrap us in the textures of the physical world. But what about the other side of reality? This work explores the untold story of the secret life of the senses, the inner seeing, hearing and smelling that take us beyond the physical realm into a higher order of experience.
"In a world that is increasingly dominated by technology, it is important | |  | | Wisdom's Journey
Why do more than one billion people claim Islam as their religion? American convert John Ahmed Herlihy provides his personal answer and takes readers on a journey to the heart of Islam, the fastest growing religion in the world. Weaving details of Islam's central beliefs and practices-its Five Pillars-with intimate autobiographical details of his more than thirty years in the religion, Herlihy presents readers with an insightful glimpse into a religion that remains so often misunderstood.
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