Reddit mentions of The Marvels of the Heart: Science of the Spirit (Ihya Ulum Al-Din/ The Revival of the Religious Sciences)

Wow, talk about a wild assumption and attack.

Firstly, I suggest you read this book to get an idea of the philosophy behind belief in monotheist deity. Now theologically, the book discusses from the perspective of Islam, as the main tenant is the belief in the oneness of God.

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Now as for me, I came to the conclusion that it is more rational to believe that there is a creator/force/deity/god, whatever you want to call it, for existence as we know it. This assumes that we humans are limited in our scope and knowledge. Meaning we can forever expand our knowledge, but we cannot ever understand beyond what we can empirically measure in some form or manner.

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So from what we already know as humans is that infinite regress cannot be a reality. There needs to be an origin to everything (this is the basis to the big bang theory and even to an extent evolution (since creatures cannot spontaneously come into existence)). Personally, it is more rational to believe in a creator that commanded and willed the progression of what we know than it is to believe that a series of multiple random occurrences led to where we are today. Whether God or random occurrences, both are not supported with empirical evidence, so at worst you can say the likeliness of either is equal.

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Now I chose to believe it was God and not random. I base this belief on the validity of the Qur'an. Reading it, reflecting upon it, and making an honest attempt to understand it has brought me to a point where I sincerely believe this is from something that is beyond our knowledge. It is from beyond our knowledge because of the knowledge we do have as humans, that we have obtained whether in the hard sciences and social sciences, it has only strengthened the position of the Qur'an.

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Another worthy read is this book by Imam Ghazali as it really dives into the part of us that we ignore. I believe that to strengthen one's heart, it needs something just as our body needs food/water/exercise and our mind needs activity like reading and writing, our heart needs something too. Whether it's yoga, meditation, prayer, or whatever, it definitely needs something. I choose Islam because I feel it has the most balanced approach for everything I mentioned. It's moderate in it's rituals and it's moderate in it's practice.

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Peace be with you.

As someone mentioned the Ihya to you, I thought I would link a place where you can buy it on amazon.

The Marvels of the Heart: Science of the Spirit (Ihya Ulum Al-Din/ The Revival of the Religious Sciences)

I should note, the thing I linked is only a part of the whole book.

There is also the Kimiya-yi Sa'adat, which is " The Alchemy of Happiness" which you can buy here.

someone made a few short youtube videos with lessons from "The Alchemy of Happiness" where you can take a look at here.