You don't have to be a Sufi, to find inspiration in these lively talks given by one of the best-known and well-respected Western Sufi teachers, Robert Frager. Compiled from weekly sessions with students over the past decade and full of engaging stories, they represent Sufism as it is practiced in the United States. Frager, a student himself of the Sufi master Muzaffer Efendi, believes that the wisdom in such talks flows through a long line of teachers directly from God. They are not lectures but living connections between heart and heart. To answer the all-important question, "How can I put my knowledge into practice?" Frager teaches practices ranging from Right Action and Inner Work to Prayer, Marriage, and Hospitality. Sufi practice is twofold, he says: to develop love of God and to become less self-centered. We need both, just as a bird needs both wings to fly. Book jacket.

Robert Frager, Ph.D., received his doctorate in social psychology from Harvard University in 1967. In 1975, he founded the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, where he is currently Professor of Psychology and Director of the Spiritual Guidance Masters Program. Before founding the Institute, Frager taught psychology and religious studies for seven years at University of California Berkeley and University of California Santa Cruz. In 1985, Frager was ordained as a sheikh, or spiritual guide, in the Sufi mystical tradition. He is now the president of the Jerrahi Order of California and has been a Sufi spiritual guide for over 25 years. Frager has written three books on Sufism: Essential Sufism, Love is the Wine: Teachings of a Sufi Master in America and Heart, Self, and Soul: The Sufi Psychology of Growth, Balance, and Harmony. He is the editor of Sharing Sacred Stories: Current Approaches to Spiritual Direction and Guidance. A personal student of the founder of Aikido, Frager trained in the art in Japan and holds a 7th degree black belt—the highest honor ever awarded to a westerner. He has been an instructor in Aikido for over 45 years. Frager is also a transpersonal psychologist, consultant, and educator. He currently resides in Northern California.