Best Selling Books by William Johnston

The Cloud of Unknowing was the work of an unknown 14th-century English writer with a powerful message of God''s unconditional love in the face of despair. Johnston''s theological treatment of this and other works by the same writer makes a conscious comparison with Oriental ways of contemplation.

When Christian Zen was first published in the early 1970''s, it was reviewed enthusiastically in many parts of the world. A subsequent edition added new material from the author''s experience. This latest edition, from Fordham University Press, includes a new Preface by the author and a letter to the author from the Christian mystic Thomas Merton, written shortly before Merton''s untimely death. William Johnston presents a study of Zen meditation in the light of Christian mysticism.

How this little book came about. Upon discharge from hospital on the second occasion after a battle with a brain tumour, my wife Ruth and I set about the first appropriate step in cleaning out the cupboard of our lives, as we termed it. Up until this point, we had paid little attention to the stresses in our lives, just accepting what is. Our first priority was to habitually harness more the developed awareness from our life experiences. We focused more on the idiosyncrasies of any acquaintance, looking past their persona to allow a greater accuracy of potential conformity to the collective personalities. This before any would make a profound entrance into our lives, opposed to having an ill-conceived come-all policy, to be whipped (metaphorically) by bad manner, lack of empathy or dishonesty. For some people, aggression seemingly forms a central part of their existence, creating their own epiphenomenon with its stress. Peace is an element of life that should be available for all to rightfully inherit. Many never achieve this state, as motivational paralysis or a shallow belief in themselves can keep them suspended in continued dysfunctional unhappiness. The majority of people would agree that they deserve to be treated well, but there are many who expect high esteem to be bestowed on them. They give very little in return, while playing out their different versions of an inferiority/superiority complex or ignorance on others. The subject headings in this book are well known. The content presents a simple and brief reminder to the aspects of mans inherent or contrived nature. To sit awhile in silence and reflect on the condition of ones own life is to enable the beginning, if needed, toward assuagement of a better dawn, no matter where one is placed in life. Pull the contemptuous thorn of others from your mind by the ability of distance. Ian Johnston

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

In a reprint of his 1978 volume published in San Francisco by Harper and Row, Johnston offers a contemporary theology of mysticism and a practical guide for meditation. He draws on the Gospels and early church writings to locate mysticism at the center of authentic religious experience and maps out the oceanic experience toward which meditation points. Paper edition (unseen), $17.00. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

In this wonderful resource for both novice and veteran carvers, two masters of the craft present detailed instructions and illustrations on how to confidently carve animals, flowers, figures, and more.

In 1902, modern function theory began when Henri Lebesgue described a new "integral calculus." His "Lebesgue integral" handles more functions than the traditional integral-so many more that mathematicians can study collections (spaces) of functions. For example, it defines a distance between any two functions in a space. This book describes these ideas in an elementary accessible way. Anyone who has mastered calculus concepts of limits, derivatives, and series can enjoy the material. Unlike any other text, this book brings analysis research topics within reach of readers even just beginning to think about functions from a theoretical point of view.

No IT server platform is 100% secure and useful at the same time. If your server is installed in a secure vault, three floors underground in a double-locked room, not connected to any network and switched off, one would say it was reasonably secure, but it would be a stretch to call it useful. This IBM® Redbooks® publication is about switching on the power to your Linux® on System z® server, connecting it to the data and to the network, and letting users have access to this formidable resource space in a secure, controlled, and auditable fashion to make sure the System z server and Linux are useful to your business. As the quotation illustrates, the book is also about ensuring that, before you start designing a security solution, you understand what the solution has to achieve. The base for a secure system is tightly related to the way the architecture and virtualization has been implemented on IBM System z. Since its inception 45 years ago, the architecture has been continuously developed to meet the increasing demands for a more secure and stable platform. This book is intended for system engineers and security administrators who want to customize a Linux on System z environment to meet strict security, audit, and control regulations. For additional information, there is a tech note that describes the best practices for securing your network. It can be found at: http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0981.html?Open

Through a historical and comparative analysis of modern Japan''s epidemic of tuberculosis, William Johnston illuminates a major but relatively unexamined facet of Japanese social and cultural history. He utilizes a broad range of sources, including medical journals and monographs, archaeological evidence, literary works, ethnographic data, and legal and government documents to reveal how this and similar epidemics have been the result of social changes that accompanied the process of modernization. Johnston also shows the ways in which modern states, private organizations, and individual citizens have responded to epidemics, and in the process reexamines the concept of the epidemic itself, showing that epidemics must be thought of not only in medical and biological terms but in political, social and cultural terms as well.

In 1936, Abe Sada committed the most notorious crime in twentieth-century Japan--the murder and emasculation of her lover. This detailed account of Sada''s personal history, the events leading up to the crime, and its aftermath steps beyond the simplistic view of Abe Sada as a sexual deviate or hysterical woman to reveal a survivor.

From the earliest centuries there has existed a Christian theology of mysticism, defining the state which Bernard Lonergan called a "being in love with God." St. John of the Cross wrote such a theology for the sixteenth century, calling it "the science of love." Now, William Johnston, one of the great spiritual writers of our time, attempts to do the same for the twenty-first century. In Part One of Mystical Theology Johnston surveys Christian mysticism through the centuries. Johnson shows that such a theology today must dialogue with modern science and with Eastern religions. Part Two provides this dialogue, where Johnston engages Einstein''s theories as well as Zen Buddhism. In Part Three, it becomes clear how the "science of love" is no longer an esoteric discipline for monks and nuns. In Johnston''s writing it becomes accessible to all modern people grappling with problems of our age.