Prayers and Meditations: Selections by Gerald Heard, Aldous Huxley, and Others (Gerald Heard Reprint) [Paperback]

Gerald Heard (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Series: Gerald Heard Reprint | Publication Date: January 1, 2008

These prayers and meditations are traces of an experiment, writes Gerald Heard in his Introduction to Prayers and Meditations. Seven were written by one of our ablest authors. That experiment was Trabuco College, which Heard founded in California in 1941. The ablest author was Aldous Huxley, Heard's sometime co-adventurer in mystical voyages.

Along with Huxley's seven contributions are selections by St. Albert, St. Anselm, Dionysius the Areopagite, William H. Forthman, and Margaret Gage. Heard penned all the others. Altogether these powerful reflections, are present-day renderings of those thoughts and feelings which have been rising in men since they began to reach out to Him who is beyond the senses. Prayers and Meditations equips the contemporary spiritual aspirant with a wellspring of inspirational devotions, ever invoking, the desire to remember constantly the all-pervading, transcendent Presence of God.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Here is a book of almost white-hot spiritual intensity. The meditations are splendid...and often breath-taking in their spiritual insight. --Christian Advocate

There was a period in my early thirties when . . . books by Gerald Heard served almost as my bible. I read and reread them, and invariably found them to be uplifting and inspiring. --Professor Huston Smith

Gerald Heard was an inspiring voice for the life of the spirit. Wipf & Stock is to be commended that Heard's remarkable work is being made available to a new generation of spiritual seekers. --Dr. William H. Forthman

About the Author

Gerald Heard (1889-1971) was a well-known author, philosopher, and lecturer. Trained as a historian at Cambridge, he served as the BBC's first science commentator. Later, in California, he founded and directed Trabuco College, which advanced comparative religious studies. His broad philosophical themes and scintillating oratorical style influenced many people. Heard wrote thirty-eight books, including his pioneering academic works, several popular devotional books, and a number of mysteries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556350961
• ISBN-13: 978-1556350962
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,145,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gerald Heard (1889-1971), author, philosopher, lecturer, and historian of consciousness and its evolution, took honors in history at the University of Cambridge. He began lecturing at Oxford University in the 1920s. Heard's 1929 book The Ascent of Humanity won the British Academy's prestigious Hertz Prize. From 1930 to 1934 he served as the BBC's first science commentator, receiving accolades from H. G. Wells.

In 1937 Heard came to the United States, accompanied by Aldous Huxley. In the 1940s he founded and directed Trabuco College, which advanced comparative-religious studies and practices. In the 1950s his main activities were writing, lecturing, and occasional TV and radio appearances. Heard lectured at most major colleges and universities in the United States. Heard's broad philosophical themes and scintillating oratorical style attracted and influenced many people, including Huxley and Huston Smith. His visionary work earned him the title, "true grandfather of the New Age."

A prolific writer, Heard penned some 38 books, including his pioneering academic works (Pain, Sex and Time; The Five Ages of Man), several popular devotional books (The Creed of Christ; Training for the Life of the Spirit), and, as H. F. Heard, a number of mysteries (A Taste for Honey; The Great Fog).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS, February 4, 2008

By 

John R. Barrie "Heard Estate/GeraldHeard.com" (Nevada City, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prayers and Meditations: Selections by Gerald Heard, Aldous Huxley, and Others (Gerald Heard Reprint) (Paperback)

Here are several brief reviews of PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS:

Marvin Barrett from his Preface to the 2008 edition
"Upon my rediscovery of this lode of spiritual aspirations forty years later they seemed as potent and apt as they had when I first made their acquaintance."

Thomas Sugrue
"This quiet book is an event in publishing - prayers for intelligent laymen written by intelligent laymen. The spiritual person will find it as useful as a third hand. Some of the meditations are magnificent."

Christian Advocate
"Here is a book of almost white-hot spiritual intensity. The meditations are splendid - always suggestive and often breath-taking in their spiritual insight."

Glenn Clark
"Prayers and Meditations belongs to the perfect classics of the spirit, along with Practicing the Presence of God, Testament of Devotion, and The Greatest Thing in the World. It will carry the sincere seeker right into the Secret Place of the Most High."

John Oliver Nelson
"The exquisite line, the luminous theological thinking behind it all, the evident intensity of spirit - all place us again in the editor's debt. It can freshen prayer life for almost anyone."

Dr. (Hon.) Rhea A. White
"This slim but highly meaningful book consists of a number of prayers and meditations by Gerald Heard and others on key topics involving the human spirit. By immersing oneself in the readings contained in Prayers and Meditations, one will be tangibly moved in the deepest recesses of their being."