John R. Mabry has 4 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 2 narrators. The most-rated is The Way of Thomas.
Starting Spiritual Direction
Summary
Starting spiritual direction for the first time? This audiobook tells you everything you need to know. Rev. Dr. John R. Mabry can help. He has been a spiritual director for nearly 20 years, and is the director of the interfaith spiritual direction certificate program at the Chaplaincy Institute in Berkeley, California. Starting Spiritual Direction is one of the first books on spiritual direction written for people who are receiving spiritual direction, rather than giving it. In a friendly, easy-to-listen style, Dr. Mabry tells you everything you need to know to make your spiritual direction sessions a sacred and fruitful time. In this book, you’ll discover: The history of spiritual direction What happens in a spiritual direction session How to prepare for a spiritual direction session Things your spiritual director is likely to say to you What your spiritual director expects from you Starting Spiritual Direction is an essential guide for anyone who is new to spiritual direction. If you like spiritual authors who understand what you are going through, and can talk to you like a trusted friend, you’ll love Starting Spiritual Direction. Buy Starting Spiritual Direction today and get ready for your spiritual direction session!
©2017 John R. Mabry (P)2020 John R. Mabry
God as Nature Sees God: A Christian Reading of the Tao Te Ching
Summary
The teachings of Jesus and the teachings of Lao Tzu are very much in sync... What can Christians learn from other religions? A great deal, says the Reverend John Mabry. He believes there are immense insights to be gained by comparing religions, if we approach other faith traditions with a humble spirit and a willingness to listen. Mabry’s translation reveals how the Tao Te Ching (also known as the Laozi) closely parallels the teachings of Jesus and illuminates core elements of the Christian faith that we often overlook or ignore. Moreover, this ancient Chinese sacred text by Lao Tzu hauntingly echoes the Christian Gospel throughout, expressing truths we are supposed to know but often do not. In showing us how the world perceives its creator, it reveals the Christian Bible, Gospels and New Testament as more compassionate, relevant and universal than we ever imagined.
©2012 John R. Mabry (P)2020 John R. Mabry
Growing into God: A Beginner's Guide to Christian Mysticism
Summary
For many people, the word mysticism conjures up occult, secretive rituals held after midnight in some dark cave. But true mysticism isn’t at all sinister or secretive, claims Growing into God: A Beginner’s Guide to Christian Mysticism author John Mabry, a United Church of Christ minister. In fact, he teaches, mysticism is at the heart of an authentic Christian life. It is nothing more and nothing less than the pursuit - and enjoyment - of union with God, which is the goal of all Christian spirituality. In Growing into God, Mabry “de-mystifies” mysticism, providing a friendly and accessible entry point to some of the teachings, practices and experiences of the Christian mystical tradition. Mabry’s great passion is to bring theology to everyday life by explaining complex ideas in everyday language that anyone can understand and find useful, and his matter-of-fact, pragmatic approach makes this beginner’s guide to Christian mysticism accessible and easy-to-follow. Mabry explores the classic mystical journey, which begins with the awakening of a unitive consciousness that experiences everything as divine and interconnected. The journey continues with purgation, in which we empty ourselves of illusion; illumination, in which we begin to see God in all things and all things in God; and, finally, union, in which we marry our lives with God’s life, thereby bringing help, comfort and healing to the world. Along the way, and with an entertaining teacher’s clarity, Mabry recounts the stories of many Christian mystics in a simple way and aptly relates them to modern times. He also enriches each chapter with questions and answers to simplify points, as well as experiential practices to help listeners embark upon the mystical journey themselves. In Growing into God, listeners will learn the discipline of growing the soul into God - shedding illusory identities, deepening prayer, seeing God in all things and acting as Christ in the world.
©July 6, 2012 John R. Mabry (P)2020 Theosophical Publishing House
The Way of Thomas
Summary
Want spiritual transformation, but turned off by dogmatic religion? Discover the original, mystical teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas, the most important book left out of the Bible. Are you looking for a life-giving spirituality, but feel disillusioned by organized religion? Does “the church” seem more like the problem than the solution? Are you attracted to Jesus, but not so much to the tradition built up around him? You’re not alone - the earliest and most reliable collection of Jesus’ teachings, The Gospel of Thomas, says much the same thing. Yet it also contains the seeds of a profound mysticism that can transform our view of the universe - and ourselves. Seminary professor Dr. John R. Mabry has been studying and teaching the lost Gospel of Thomas for 20 years and has discovered the key that unlocks the secret of Jesus’ earliest and most mystical teachings, revealing a Jesus who is more like a Zen master than a savior, and whose teachings present something very much like a native Jewish school of Buddhism. The Way of Thomas offers a crystal clear, easy-to-understand new version of the Gospel of Thomas. Dr. Mabry, an expert in the mysticism of the world’s religions, then unpacks the core teachings of the gospel in ways that can shift not only how we understand ourselves, but how we view reality. At the end of every chapter, Dr. Mabry provides step-by-step exercises for how to achieve the shifts in perception that lead to transformation and illumination. In this book, you’ll discover: There is only one thing in the universe, and you are that thing How to see what is right in front of you, so that what is hidden will be revealed What “the kingdom” means, and how you can live in it right now Truth does not come from outside ourselves, but from within
©2007 John R. Mabry (P)2019 John R. Mabry