The Inner Palace
Welcome from jinavamsa.
..... comments invited: see email, below .....
This web site is to give information on the book by Mitchell D. Ginsberg,
The Inner Palace: Mirrors of Psychospirituality in Divine and Sacred Wisdom-Traditions.
This was a work slow to evolve to its current definitive form: I began composing this in late 1993 and the sixth edition appeared almost seventeen years later, in Summer 2010.
The Inner Palace investigates Wisdom Traditions from around the world and the sacred realities they reveal. These include teachings with Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Taoist roots.
It is an investigation into the experiential basis of key transformative moments in the lives of some highly respected individuals from around the world. Its underlying interest is in determining what these experiences were that inspired these people to a new way of being in the world, and then to attempt to share their visions and realizations with other people.
In this way, this book is a phenomenological investigation (concerned with experience itself) into core psychological issues of spiritual traditions -- with a focus on the processes of psychospiritual transformation, as taught by various of the world's great spiritual traditions and the traditions that followed them.
Its discussions are grounded in primary sources from these traditions, with support from some 1500 books. These rich teachings are presented gradually, in a conversational tone, invoking a sense of intimacy and personal warmth, and gently encouraging inner reflection. The Inner Palace takes us into the underlying experiences that sages of these traditions have invited us to contemplate.
There are valuable tools here for describing spiritual paths and mystical experiences, placing them in the context of a more inclusive vision that reflects some of the highest aspirations and heart-felt insights of mankind. A work interweaving philosophy, the phenomenology of religion, the history of ideas, the psychology of spirituality, and transpersonal psychotherapy, it is a treasury of resources for teachers and students and for scholars and spiritual seekers alike.
Library call number: BL71 .G56
(perhaps with a date of publication following this).
The current published edition is the sixth printed edition (July 2010):
The covers are the same since the second edition (2003), while the contents differ in numerous places, with significant changes, and with a more complete index. The Inner Palace is sold as a two-volume set.
In this sixth edition, the book's first volume (lxxiv + 318 pp.) contains the introductory sections and the 20 chapters of the text; its second volume (pp. 319-794) contains the notes to the book, the bibliography, and a comprehensive index. The earlier editions' volumes were slightly shorter.
The material has slowly grown in each successive edition.
For comparison, this sixth edition has lxxiv + 794 pages; the first edition consisted of lxx + 746 pages.
The book's two volumes form an integrated whole.
I would like to announce the availability of the eBook
version (May 2011), based on the sixth printed edition, with some additional material.
The ISBN of the eBook is 978-1-57733-405-7.
The eBook is designed to be read using Adobe Digital Editions (ADE), available for free download at
Adobe Digital Editions.
A recent search (these things keep changing!) shows a number of websites that list the eBook version, including
Diesel eBooks,
Ditto Store,
eReadable,
Powell's,
Border's,
and even via Estonia (quoted in Euros):
Kriso.
Those interested in The Far Shore (1980, fourth edition, 2009) and this The Inner Palace (2002, sixth edition, 2010) may find more on these (including some selections) at the Books index listing these, while those interested in tantra may find more at the Tantra index.
And, at
sites
(for The Inner Palace in particular): For an overview of the book, see
Blue Dolphin Publishing: The Inner Palace. For reviews of the book, see Sketch and Reviews of The Inner Palace by Mitchell Ginsberg. For the publisher's presentation and full listings, see the Home Page of Blue Dolphin Publishing.
The ISBN (International Standard Book Number -- book identification numbers)
for each set is ISBN 978-1-57733-137-7 (hardcover set) and ISBN 978-1-57733-136-0 (paperback set).
For various brief comments and opinions about the book, see
Reviews of The Inner Palace. Also interesting might be the Table of Contents, either as an HTML file or in pdf formatting.
If you order any books, please confirm both on
ordering and upon receiving the books that you have been sent the
edition you were interested in. I know from experience that some sources for books are quite helpful in exchanging incorrectly
filled orders. (This is no guarantee of civility, of course, so: caveat
emptor, as they say.)
Please come back soon and visit my Home Page and linked pages, as I will updating and adding to them as time permits.
Links to selections from The Far Shore
Sketch and Reviews of the book The Far Shore
The flower
We want not to see
Spiritual Development
More to be added.... visit when inspired.
email:
jinavamsa@yahoo.com
C 2011
