Publication date:
10 November 2011Length of book:
200 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersDimensions:
228x148mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9781442213678
How do we find meaning in our life? This book explores how Martin Buber, one of the 20th century’s greatest religious thinkers, answers this timeless question. Author Kenneth Paul Kramer explains Buber’s Hasidic spirituality—a living connection between the human and the divine—and how it is relevant to all spiritual seekers.
According to Buber, we find meaning in life through wholeheartedly “letting God in." He developed this theme through six thought-provoking talks originally published as The Way of Man. In Martin Buber’s Spirituality, Kramer explains the accessible practices Buber outlined in these talks, shares the stories Buber used to illustrate each point, and explores how these teachings might apply in everyday life today.
The book features questions for personal or group reflection to help readers more fully explore Martin Buber’s approach to spirituality, along with a glossary of key terms.
According to Buber, we find meaning in life through wholeheartedly “letting God in." He developed this theme through six thought-provoking talks originally published as The Way of Man. In Martin Buber’s Spirituality, Kramer explains the accessible practices Buber outlined in these talks, shares the stories Buber used to illustrate each point, and explores how these teachings might apply in everyday life today.
The book features questions for personal or group reflection to help readers more fully explore Martin Buber’s approach to spirituality, along with a glossary of key terms.
Martin Buber (1878–1965) is perhaps more referenced than read; he was the originator of the I-Thou concept in religious philosophy, which opines, in part, that we must experience one another, and ultimately, God, as constituents in a dialog without limits. The inherent challenge in living out his ideas as well as his Hasidic background and use of Hasidic spirituality and tales to make his points contribute to preventing many readers from the very sort of engagement he would have championed. Kramer (comparative religious studies, emeritus, San Jose State Univ.; Martin Buber’s I and Thou) goes a long way to bridge that gap through his accessible explication of six of Buber’s crucial essays. VERDICT This brief, engaging analysis of an important Jewish writer’s spirituality is recommended for Jewish and non-Jewish readers.