Chronology   ix
Introduction  1

1. Toward the Inner Mountain   7
2. Welcome, the Stranger   18
3. Life of an Anchorite   37
4. Citizen of Heaven   49
5. The Law of Promise   61
6. A Worldless Journey   75
7. Crossing the Border   89
8. Eye of the Ostrich   104
9. In the Crucible of Fire   119
10. The Lion's Mouth   134
11. Conversations in the Desert    148
12. Garnering the Pearl    164
13. The Parting    180

Postscript    195

Appendix    201
Notes    205
Glossary of Terms    225
Glossary of Names and Places    229
Selected Bibliography    235