Philip Zaleski
Encyclopedia
Philip Zaleski is the author and editor of several books on religion
and spirituality
, including The Recollected Heart, The Benedictines of Petersham, and Gifts of the Spirit. In addition, he is coauthor with his wife Carol Zaleski
of Prayer: A History (a New York Times Notable Book and a Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Year) and The Book of Heaven. Zaleski is also the editor of the acclaimed Best Spiritual Writing series (1998 - present). His essays and reviews on religion, culture, and the arts appear regularly in national periodicals including The New York Times
, The Washington Post
, The Boston Globe
and First Things
. Zaleski was for many years a book critic for the Boston Phoenix, and later worked as executive editor and senior editor at Parabola Magazine
, where he contributed frequent essays on Christianity and other world religions. During this period he also published a pioneering essay on Vladimir Nabokov
's lepidoptery, which won him the David McCord Essay Prize. In 1999, Zaleski compiled, under the auspices of HarperCollins Publishers, an influential list of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century. Zaleski has taught religion, literature, film, and creative writing at Wesleyan University, Smith College, and Tufts University.
One of Zaleski's main subjects is prayer
, which he has described in a television interview as "communication between the human and transcendent realms, an act that for most people means talking with a personal God, coming into the presence of a Person who cares about them and loves them and can offer them help. This communication may in time become a two-way street, as God responds. Vast numbers of people report this sort of experience and make it the basis of their daily lives, people who wake up every morning, pray, and believe that they have been in communion with God. They pray to God and receive an answer. And this relationship makes people profoundly happy, which tells us that prayer is something essential to our nature, as if it were hardwired in us."
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
, including The Recollected Heart, The Benedictines of Petersham, and Gifts of the Spirit. In addition, he is coauthor with his wife Carol Zaleski
Carol Zaleski
Carol Zaleski, a religious scholar and writer, is the Professor of World Religions at Smith College.Zaleski previously taught at Harvard University, where she received her PhD in the Study of Religion...
of Prayer: A History (a New York Times Notable Book and a Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Year) and The Book of Heaven. Zaleski is also the editor of the acclaimed Best Spiritual Writing series (1998 - present). His essays and reviews on religion, culture, and the arts appear regularly in national periodicals including The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
and First Things
First Things
First Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...
. Zaleski was for many years a book critic for the Boston Phoenix, and later worked as executive editor and senior editor at Parabola Magazine
Parabola (magazine)
Parabola: Where Spiritual Traditions Meet, whose founder and editor was D.M. Dooling, began publishing in 1976 as a quarterly magazine on the subjects of mythology and the world's religious and cultural traditions. It is published by The Society for the Study of Myth and Tradition, a not-for-profit...
, where he contributed frequent essays on Christianity and other world religions. During this period he also published a pioneering essay on Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
's lepidoptery, which won him the David McCord Essay Prize. In 1999, Zaleski compiled, under the auspices of HarperCollins Publishers, an influential list of the 100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century. Zaleski has taught religion, literature, film, and creative writing at Wesleyan University, Smith College, and Tufts University.
One of Zaleski's main subjects is prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
, which he has described in a television interview as "communication between the human and transcendent realms, an act that for most people means talking with a personal God, coming into the presence of a Person who cares about them and loves them and can offer them help. This communication may in time become a two-way street, as God responds. Vast numbers of people report this sort of experience and make it the basis of their daily lives, people who wake up every morning, pray, and believe that they have been in communion with God. They pray to God and receive an answer. And this relationship makes people profoundly happy, which tells us that prayer is something essential to our nature, as if it were hardwired in us."