The Other Side of Nothingness: Toward a Theology of Radical Openness

Provides an innovative theology based in mysticism, one that acknowledges the pain of spiritual repression and values religious pluralism. From the mystic’s experience of nothingness and the desert, The Other Side of Nothingness offers a theology of humility sensitive to religious pluralism and to the pain of spiritual oppression. With a passionate concern for contemporary interreligious issues, Beverly J. Lanzetta provides insight into how mystical consciousness overturns claims of dogmatic truth and prepares the self to experience the radical openness of divinity. The work draws on a variety of Christian mystical texts, including those of Meister Ekhart, Gregory of Nyssa, Pseudo-Dionysius, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Bonaventure, and the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing while also making reference to Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism and the thought of contemporary social mystics such as Heschel, Gandhi, Merton, Thurman, and Day. Lanzetta illustrates how the annihilatory mystical experience draws the seeker to a place beyond a tradition’s self-understanding to new dimensions of the sacred and, in some cases, to new revelatory paradigms. It is here that she provokes our thought in her statement that the divine nature is itself pluralistic, non-absolute, and continually giving birth to new traditions. By showing how nothingness functions in mystical experience as a catalyst for the liberation of our hearts, we are brought to a vision of theology that is nonviolent and inclusive of all creation.

Religion & Spirituality

Lanzetta, Beverly J.

Christian Books & Bibles

State University of New York Press

The 40-Day Journey with Joan Chittister introduces Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun who lives in Erie, Pennsylvania and is best known for her spiritual writing and her powerful actions for peace and justice. The 40-Day Journey series invites readers to take a personal spiritual journey with a Christian leader from the past or present. Each book begins with a short introduction to the life of the leader and then offers forty chapters, each of which includes a reading from the subject's writings, scripture selections from the Bible, a journal-writing exercise, and a prayer. Each book is a rich resource for personal meditation or small group discussion anytime, but is especially valuable during Advent or Lent.

40-Day Journey with Joan Chittister

Worship & Devotion

Augsburg Books

Path of the Heart is a modern spiritual classic, and the first written account of the life-changing mystical revelations of divine suffering and divine love that Beverly Lanzetta experienced in 1976. Completed in 1984, and published in 1985, the text describes the interior process of mystical intimacy or union, combining insights from her own transformation with those she witnessed in the souls of people who came to her for spiritual guidance. Now published in a new expanded edition with Beverly’s commentary on each chapter, Path of the Heart is a guide for those who deeply yearn for spiritual meaning in life. “I hope” she says, “that by passing on the underlying method of the mystical journey, my fellow seekers will be aided in their own search for the Unknown.” “This is a precise roadmap for the right brain, the chambers of the heart, and the pathways of the spirit. Those who seek to go from heart to heart, from human to divine will find it a reliable guide.” —Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish Renewal movement and Professor Emeritus of Religion, Temple University

Path of the Heart: A Spiritual Guide to Divine Union, Expanded Edition with Commentary

Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts

Blue Sapphire Books

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Books by Lanzetta, Beverly J.