Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Fons Vitae

Peace on earth to men of good will
et in terra pax hominibus, bonae voluntatis

-Fons Vitae Staff

Tao Te Ching

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about the approval of people
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back—
The only path to serenity.

-Tao Te Ching 9

Water and Its Spiritual Significance - New Fons Vitae Title - Nov 2009

Water and Its Spiritual Significance

Editors, Gray Henry-Blakemore and Elena Lloyd-Sidle

Produced in honor of Louisville’s Festival of Faiths, November 5-14, 2009, organized by the Center for Interfaith Relations. This volume contains essays regarding the sacred and sustaining nature of water. Among the selections will be found, the following:

Essays

• Titus Burckhardt, “The Symbolism of Water”
• Thomas Merton, “Selections on Rain, Baptism, Tears, et.al.” compiled by Jonathan Montaldo
• Martin Lings, “The Quranic Symbolism of Water” and “The Spiritual Significance of Tears and Laughter,”
• Hamza Yusuf Hanson, “Words for Water”
• Wendell Berry, “Selections” 
• Coleman Barks, an essay and some Rumi Poems
• Graehme Castleman, “On the Symbolism of Baptism”
• Alexander Price “The Centrality of Water in the Hopi Tradition”,
• Ananda K. Coomeraswamy, “The Flood in the Hindu Tradition” and “The Sea”,
• Timothy Scott, “The Symbolism of Water and the Crossing of the Waters” from the book The Symbolism of the Ark.
• Mark Hogg (Edge Outreach), On Water and Social Justice (no title yet)
• Shantia Yarahmadian, “On the Etymology of the Word ‘Water’ in Many of World’s Languages” 

Poetry

• Wendell Berry, “The Book of Camp Branch”
• Coleman Barks, personal poetry on water
  
• Hamza Yusuf Hanson, “Walk on Water”
• Lisa Starr (Poet Laureate, RI), “Sandpipers, Again”, “For Mary Kane”, “Three Months Old, Scotch Beach”, “Searching for Poems by Kayak”, and “I Question the Seven Sacred Directions and They Answer”

Read more about 3 new Fons Vitae November Titles

1) Water and Its Spiritual Significance

2) Symbolism of the Ark - Universal Symbolism of the Receptacle of Divine Immanence 

3) Death & Transformation-  a conversation with Huston Smith (New DVD release)

Festival of Faiths Schedule

All events at the Henry Clay Building unless noted.

Festival of Faiths Schedule

Wednesday, October 7
6:00 pm Sacred Water: Spiritual Gardens with Dr. Delin Lai
The Crane House

Friday October, 16
12:00 pm The Burmese Water Festival with Dr. Patrick Pranke
at The Undercroft of the Cathedral of the Assumption

Sunday, October 19
12:00 pm 31st Annual Hunger Walk and Run
at Waterfront Park Festival Plaza

Sunday, November 1
2:00 pm Sacred Water: Sustaining Life Art Show
various locations

Monday, November 2
6:00 pm A Seder for the Earth
at The Temple on Hwy 42

Wednesday, November 4
6:00 pm Interfaith Prayer Service and Reception
at The Cathedral of the Assumption

Thursday, November 5
6:00 pm Night of a Thousand Stars
An inaugural celebration featuring live music, organic
and local foods, local art, native Kentucky flora, and
Festival exhibits. Cocktail attire and admission includes
appetizers, dinner and more.

Friday, November 6
12:00 pm Water: Sacred to All?
2:00 pm Healthy Farms, Healthy Water: panel and discussion
5:00 pm Festival of Faiths joins the First Friday Gallery Hop

Saturday, November 7
9 - 11:30 am Water Summit
12:00 pm How Anyone Can Protect Our Waterways, hosted
by EDGE OUTREACH and Kentucky Water Watch
2:00 pm Mountaintop Removal Road Show w/ Dave Cooper
3:15 pm Requiem for the Mountains chanted by Hunter Hensley
3:30 pm Get That Coal Out of My Water panel led by Peter Byck

Sunday, November 8
12:00 pm Healing Journeys over Water w/ Tori Murden McClure
1:30 pm Community Water Blessing with members of the
International Council of Indigenous Grandmothers
Waterfront Park
3:00 pm Film Premiere and Discussion: For the Next
7 Generations: the Grandmothers Speak
at The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts
for tickets click here
7:00 pm Evening Reception with the Visiting Indigenous
Grandmothers
at LPTS, Gardencourt Estate

Monday, November 9
9:00 am Water Summit Council between local leaders
and the visiting Indigenous Grandmothers
12:00 pm A Mighty Stream: LPTS Annual Luncheon with
Christiana Z. Peppard and Tyler Wigg-Stevenson.
2:30 pm Connecting the Spiritual and Material Worlds with
Sobonfu Somé
Due to circumstances beyond our control the
3:00 pm Panel Discussion on Water, Faith, and Healing,
hosted by Kiran Bhatraju of Kindred Health Care has been canceled.
5:30 pm Walking on Water: The Wisdom of Jesus from
Traditional Arabic Sources w/ Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

Tuesday, November 10
9:30 am EDGE OUTREACH Open House
at 1500 Arlington Ave.
12:00 pm You Want Water? Your Motion is Denied! Now Call
Your First Witness … Panel discussion hosted by
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell
4:00 pm Sacred Waters: The Significance of Water and Associated Rituals in the Great Faith Traditions - an Interfaith Panel led by Gustav Niebuhr

6:00 pm The Hidden Messages in Water with Masaru Emoto

Wednesday, November 11
10:00 am The Role and Significance of Water in the Garden
with Emma Clark
at Yew Dell Gardens
12:00 pm Rumi and the Sacraments of Friendship
Poetry Reading and Discussion with Coleman Barks
and Lisa Starr
2:00 pm Our Water is Sacred, with Medicine Man
and Sun Dance chief James Trosper
2:00 pm Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream
with Father Joseph Mitchell
6:00 pm Children of Abraham Service & Dinner
Temple Shalom

Thursday, November 12
7:30 am Interfaith Prayer Breakfast with Special Guest
Dr. Harold Attridge, Dean of Yale Divinity School
Topic: Pools of Water in a Barren Land, The Bible’s
Ecological Challenge
Returning to the Source: A Mountain Water Initiative on
Creation Care Best Practices
Eastern Kentucky region and Berea College campus.
By invitation. For further information call 502-895-6741

Friday, November 13
12:00 pm Ancient Gods and Sacred Waters with John Hale
Undercroft of The Cathedral of the Assumption
Returning to the Source: A Mountain Water Initiative on
Creation Care Best Practices
Eastern Kentucky region and Berea College campus.
By invitation. For further information call 502-895-6741

Monday, November 16
7:00 pm Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money,
Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters
with author Dr. Timothy J. Keller
Calvin Presbyterian Church

"Exhibits, lectures, music, film, art, and more
exploring the connection between the role of water
in our many faiths and how those roles inspire us to act in the world."


For the full Festival brochure - Click Here
For a Schedule at a Glance downloadable pdf file click here

FESTIVAL OF FAITHS - Nov. 4-13, 2009 Louisville, KY

Fons Vitae and the Center for Interfaith Relations presents:
FESTIVAL OF FAITHS
Nov. 4-13, 2009 Louisville, KY

Download catalog here
More information go here

Fons Vitae films- Excerpts from "Death & Transformation" DVD, a conversation with Huston Smith

Read more: http://www.fonsvitae.com/Huston-Smith-Interview-DVD.html

Fons Vitae - Brother Paul Quenon & Monkswear

Read More: http://www.fonsvitae.com/monkswear.html

Fons Vitae films - Excerpts from "Beads of Faith" DVD

Read more: http://www.fonsvitae.com/beads.html

New Fons Vitae Title: In Quest of God - Maneri's Second Collection of 150 letters

Introduction, Translation and Notes by Paul Jackson (READ MORE)

In India in the years 1346-47 Sheikh Sharafuddin Maneri, wrote an outline of the Sufi Path to God in the form of a hundred letters to a disciple called Qazi Shamsuddin. This collection quickly became well known and has been translated as Sharafuddin Maneri: The Hundred Letters. In 1368 a disciple collected all the letters he could find of Maneri’s replies written to various individuals in the intervening 21 years. This collection is presented here as In Quest of God: Maneri’s Second Collection of 150 Letters. They offer personalized spiritual and religious guidance and encouragement to a variety of individuals and serve as a complement to the first, more general collection.

There is pleasure in separation from You, and tyranny in Your presence:
That pleasure is better, for we have no strength to bear Your tyranny!
… If You welcome me, then I am Your accepted one:
If You do not, I am still Your rejected servant!
I should not be worried whether You accept or reject me:
My task, in either state, is to remain preoccupied with You!

Letter 53 ( from "Sharafuddin Maneri: The Hundred Letters")

"Shaykh Yahya Maneri is arguably the most important Sufi letter writer from Muslim South Asia after Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi. Those familiar with the 100 Letters will now find in this companion volume an echo of the same quest for understanding and connection that makes the writer a spiritual voice across centuries and in variant contexts. All students of India and its legacy of wisdom should delight in the wide accessibility now given to the pir of Bihar in this beautifully produced edition of his 'other' letters."

Bruce Lawrence - Duke University, Professor of Islamic Studies - Author of Introduction to first volume, "Sharafuddin Maneri: The Hundred Letters" (Classics of Western Spirituality)

READ MORE

E.W. LANE ARABIC-ENGLISH Lexicon CD-ROM has attracted enormous interest and is still a Best Seller for Fons Vitae books

The Lane's Lexicon is still a best seller for Fons Vitae books - This superlative masterpiece is now on CD-ROM. Access is by root followed by scrolling of a complete entry, with the option to print a desired portion. Also includes Preface by E.W. Lane and Memoir by Stanley Lane-Poole. Arabic is not required on your system since the software contains an embedded 'Virtual Arabic Keyboard'. GO TO PAGE

'It is a work of such fundamental importance and of such matchless excellence that praise for it is quite superfluous. Every Arabist since Lane has had good cause to bless him for his superhuman labours ... It is certainly true to say that every work produced in this century relating in any way to Arabic studies has drawn heavily on the Lexicon.'

Prof. A.J. Arberry

* * *

"The Lane lexicon on CD-ROM is a most welcome addition to our lexicographical inventory...and the producers have our gratitude for their highly commendable work. The electronic Lane contains the entire work as printed."

"I must say that as priced at $150...It is considerably less expensive than the print version, at about $350 for the two volume reduction."

"Lane’s lexicon on CD is an invaluable tool for the Arabist and is highly recommended for purchase by individuals and libraries."

Jonathan Rodgers
University of Michigan
MELA NOTES - The Journal of the Middle East Librarians Association (Fall 2002-Spring 2003)

READ MORE

Fons Vitae at "Journey to Ihsan" - 2nd International Conference on Islamic Spirituality

Fons Vitae books represented at "Journey to Ihsan"

2nd International Conference on Islamic Spirituality 2 & 3 September 2006 Sultan Mosque Auditorium, Singapore READ MORE

Organiser

The conference is organised by Abdul Aleem Siddique Mosque (Singapore), and supported by several Muslim organisations in Singapore.

Conference Objectives

The following are the main objectives of the conference:

* To develop a greater understanding of the concept of Ihsan and its significance in Islam.
* To rediscover the humanitarian traditions and values embodied in Islam and assimilating them for contemporary living.
* To initiate a conscious effort towards refinement of character and values, both as an individual and society.
* To appreciate the challenges facing the ummah towards the development of a peaceful, integrated and harmonious global society.
READ MORE

"Ihsan means beneficence, performance of good deeds, but in the religious sense it implies the doing of good deeds over and above what is just and fair. It is indicative of the intense devotion of man to his Creator and Master and his enthusiasm for virtue and piety. The aim of Ihsan is to create a sense of inner piety in man and to train his sensibilities in a way that all his thoughts and actions flow from the fountainhead of the love of God." from the site READ MORE

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, Secretary General, ISNA, on the San Francisco meeting between the Muslims and the Dalai Lama

The Tibetans and the Kashmiris have always been reminded that coming from the roof of the world, they should represent the highest human ideals. This may be the reason why God has been testing them the most. They may look down upon the rest of the world from the highest altitude but always with modesty and humility, the most valued virtues in both Buddhism and Islam.

The early memories of a pleasant historical relationship between my birth place Kashmir and Tibet have always been a source of inspiration. Tibet has been a welcoming host to Kashmiri Muslim immigrants throughout history. The Buddhist hospitality always opened arms of welcome to refugees seeking escape from different tyrants who have occupied the valley from time to time.

It is an irony of history that both Tibet and Kashmir have shared a recent experience of neighborly occupation for more than half of a century. It is during this period that Hon. Dalai Lama's role as a leader of non-violent resistance to occupation has inspired many of our generation in Kashmir.

In America today, where the emerging Muslim community is taking the role of a bridge-builder between our home country US and the rest of the Muslim world, it is refreshing to have a conversation with Hon. Dalai Lama. In a world torn by religious extremism, coming from different religious traditions, we stand committed to respect for religious diversity. This demands that we constantly explore sharing and strengthening the pluralist and tolerant traditions of all religions. Hon. Dalai Lama's whole life has been dedicated to this mission and we welcome the opportunity of being with him.

New Fons Vitae Title: Subtleties of the Ascension - The Isra wa Mi'raj; Early Mystical sayings on The Prophet Muhammad’s Heavenly Journey

This first time translation into any language of a recently discovered tenth century manuscript provides a window into the thought-world of the early Muslim mystics known as the Sufis, and offers a comparative case of mystical exegesis for those interested in mysticism more generally.

Fifty-six teachings on a variety of ascension-related issues illustrate the profoundly creative imagination of such early Sufi mystics as Hallaj, Junayd, and Bistami, demonstrating their remarkable ability to mine gems of insight from the deepest depths of spiritual experience, and highlighting their abiding love for the Prophet Muhammad. The book provides the essential framework for both novices and experts to understand how the early Sufis approached the Qur'an and the oral reports attributed to Muhammad, illustrated with stunning masterpieces of 15th century Persian miniature painting. READ MORE