Download or read book Autobiography of a Sadhu written by Rampuri and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-02-22 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first insider account of an ancient and secretive tradition • By the first foreigner to become a member, and later an elder, of the Juna Akhara, the oldest and largest grouping of Naga Babas • Filled with true accounts of magic, miracles, ghosts, and austerities • With lessons on Hindu gods, ayurveda, and Indian culture woven throughout After traveling at age 18 from his native California to India in 1969, Rampuri was drawn to the Naga Babas, an ancient and wild order of naked yogis whom he calls the “Hell’s Angels of Indian Spirituality.” Organized into a sect by Adi Shankara in the 5th century BC, the Naga Babas see themselves as the ultimate protectors of the Sanatan Dharma, or what we call the Hindu religion. Rampuri became a disciple of a Naga Baba--a master shaman sadhu--from Rajasthan and, as foretold by astrological prophecy, soon found himself the first foreigner to become an initiate of the Juna Akhara, the oldest and largest grouping of Naga Babas with more than 50,000 sadhu members. From drinking the “Nectar of Immortality” at the source of the Ganges River to allegations of tantric murder, this autobiography is filled with true accounts of magic, miracles, ghosts, and austerities, with lessons on Hindu gods, ayurveda, mantra, and Indian culture woven throughout. Through his journey of extremes, Rampuri takes us into the mystic heart of India.
Download or read book Wandering with Sadhus written by Sondra L. Hausner and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intimate portraits of the life of Hindu Sadhus.
Download or read book Sadhus written by Dolf Hartsuiker and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-10-09 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth photographic study of the ascetic holy men of India • Includes more than 100 striking color photographs of Sadhus, their extreme austerities, and their holy festivals, including the Kumbha Mela • Examines the practices and beliefs of Sadhus from several different sects • Traces the historical and mythological roots of the Sadhus and shows how they have fundamentally shaped Hinduism since remote antiquity Spiritual adventurers, philosophical monks, naked ascetics, or religious transvestites, the Sadhus of India form a vital and unbroken link between the birth of yoga millennia ago and its present-day expression. Numbering in the millions, these mystic holy men are worshipped by the Hindus as representatives of the gods, yet they remain largely unknown in the West because they often live in far-off places, hidden from everyday life. In this full-color study of Sadhus more than 20 years in the making, photographer Dolf Hartsuiker illustrates the Sadhus’ world of ancient magical rituals, religious symbols, and ascetic practices. In his photographic quest across India, the author visited many holy places, attended religious festivals including the Kumbha Mela, and encountered and photographed thousands of Sadhus, befriending several as he was drawn into their inner circle. Sharing more than 100 striking color photographs from his travels, he reveals the Sadhus’ utmost devotion to their spiritual path through meditation practices, yoga exercises, penance, and austerities--sometimes taken to the extreme of prolonged self-imposed silence, bodily mortification, such as holding an arm above the head for years, or even ritual suicide--as well as their profound involvement with the mundane world as healers and teachers or magicians and sorcerers. It is a path of knowledge and devotion, renunciation and realization, sexual energy and spiritual power, divine intoxication and mystical union. The author examines the different beliefs and behaviors of each Sadhu sect, including the “sky-clad” Naga Babas, and traces their historical and mythological roots to show how they have fundamentally shaped Hinduism since antiquity. Revealing the powerful “otherworldliness” of the Sadhus, the author also exposes the mystical beauty that emanates from those who have chosen the path of asceticism in pursuit of knowledge of the Absolute and liberation from all earthly bonds.
Download or read book The Mystics Ascetics and Saints of India written by John Campbell Oman and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Nine Lives written by William Dalrymple and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2010-06-07 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet - then spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the violence by hand printing the best prayer flags in India. A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her best friend ritually starve herself to death. Nine people, nine lives; each one taking a different religious path, each one an unforgettable story. William Dalrymple delves deep into the heart of a nation torn between the relentless onslaught of modernity and the ancient traditions that endure to this day. LONGLISTED FOR THE BBC SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE
Download or read book Two Little Wandering Monks written by Ben 'baba' Viatte and published by . This book was released on 2021-09 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To you, what defines happiness? A fine balance between material comfort, physical health, financial stability, political safety, family life, and livelihood all carefully equalized on God's turntable? But... what if it had nothing to do with any of these?A simple yet timeless question that Yi and Ben naively set out to answer as they left their homes in the Indian Himalayas with exactly... none of those things. No money or bank card, no phone and not much at all really, other than a tarp to sleep under, a set of brown-orange robes, and the stubborn determination to make it entirely on foot to the world's largest Hindu gathering, 500 km away. The Kumbha Mela, known to reunite the most revered Babas and the wildest Sadhus who have been embracing simplicity and homelessness themselves since the beginning of time.
Download or read book Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master written by Sri M and published by Penguin Random House India Private Limited. This book was released on 2022-07-18 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this tell-all autobiography, Sri M writes about his fascinating journey as a young man from the southern coast of India to the mystical Himalayan Mountains. At the age of nineteen and a half, he felt an irresistible urge to go to the Himalayas in quest for his great Master. He finally met his Master at the Vyasa Cave, beyond the Badrinath shrine. After spending three and half years with his Master, wandering freely across the length and breadth of the Himalayan ranges, he was instructed to go back to live in the plains and lead a normal life. He started working for a living, fulfilled his social commitments and prepared himself to teach others all that he had learned and experienced. This book reveals the spiritual journey of a young lad from Kerala, who by his sincerity and dedication evolved into a living yogi. Sri M shares his knowledge of the Upanishads and spiritual insights born out of first hand experiences in his autobiography. Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master will make for an engaging and riveting read for those interested in the life and teachings of Sri M.
Download or read book Living with the Himalayan Masters written by Swami Rama and published by Himalayan Institute Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inspirational stories of Swama Rama's experiences and lessons learned with the great teachers who guided his life including Mahatma Gandhi, Tagore, and more.
Download or read book Swami written by Doug Boyd and published by Himalayan Institute Press. This book was released on 2007-02-08 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Boyd explores the teachings, amazing mental powers, and very human personalities of modern mystics.
Download or read book Mystical Oneness and the Nine Aspects of Being written by Wayne Wirs and published by Wayne Wirs LLC. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sahib Sadhu written by Sushil Choudhury and published by Sunstar Publishing. This book was released on 2003-01 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sushil Choudhury was a Brahmin priest in a small village in the interior of East India when he met Swami Satyananda, an American sadhu who lived in the cremation grounds. He was thirteen years old when he joined the barefoot Sadhu in spiritual pilgrimages all around India, throughout the Himalayas, and ultimately around the world, following this Sahib Sadhu through some of the most fascinating spiritual adventures recorded in recent times. Swami Satyananda performed the disciplines of a wandering ascetic for over twenty years in India, chanting naked in the snow, meditating in hot springs, sitting for days at a time beside a sacred fire, walking the length and breadth of India, encountering snakes, miracle sadhus, rainmakers, healers, terrorists, palm readers, great saints and ultimately the Divine Mother.
Download or read book Lost in the Valley of Death written by Harley Rustad and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2022-01-11 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "By patient accumulation of anecdote and detail, Rustad evolves Shetler’s story into something much more human, and humanly tragic, into a layered inquisition and a reportorial force....suffice it to say Rustad has done what the best storytellers do: tried to track the story to its last twig and then stepped aside." —New York Times Book Review In the vein of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, a riveting work of narrative nonfiction centering on the unsolved disappearance of an American backpacker in India—one of at least two dozen tourists who have met a similar fate in the remote and storied Parvati Valley. For centuries, India has enthralled westerners looking for an exotic getaway, a brief immersion in yoga and meditation, or in rare cases, a true pilgrimage to find spiritual revelation. Justin Alexander Shetler, an inveterate traveler trained in wilderness survival, was one such seeker. In his early thirties Justin Alexander Shetler, quit his job at a tech startup and set out on a global journey: across the United States by motorcycle, then down to South America, and on to the Philippines, Thailand, and Nepal, in search of authentic experiences and meaningful encounters, while also documenting his travels on Instagram. His enigmatic character and magnetic personality gained him a devoted following who lived vicariously through his adventures. But the ever restless explorer was driven to pursue ever greater challenges, and greater risks, in what had become a personal quest—his own hero’s journey. In 2016, he made his way to the Parvati Valley, a remote and rugged corner of the Indian Himalayas steeped in mystical tradition yet shrouded in darkness and danger. There, he spent weeks studying under the guidance of a sadhu, an Indian holy man, living and meditating in a cave. At the end of August, accompanied by the sadhu, he set off on a “spiritual journey” to a holy lake—a journey from which he would never return. Lost in the Valley of Death is about one man’s search to find himself, in a country where for many westerners the path to spiritual enlightenment can prove fraught, even treacherous. But it is also a story about all of us and the ways, sometimes extreme, we seek fulfillment in life. Lost in the Valley of Death includes 16 pages of color photographs.
Download or read book The Places in Between written by Rory Stewart and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2006 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rory Stewart recounts the experiences he had walking across Afghanistan in 2002, describing how the country and its people have been impacted by the Taliban and the American military's involvement in the region.
Download or read book Ascetics and Brahmins written by Patrick Olivelle and published by Anthem Press. This book was released on 2011-12-15 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together papers on Indian ascetical institutions and ideologies published by Patrick Olivelle over a span of about thirty years. Asceticism represents a major strand in the religious and cultural history of India, providing some of the most creative elements within Indian religions and philosophies. Most of the major religions, such as Buddhism and Jainism, and religious philosophies both within these new religions and in the Brahmanical tradition, were created by world-renouncing ascetics. Yet ascetical institutions and ideologies developed in a creative tension with other religious institutions that stressed the centrality of family, procreation and society. It is this tension that has articulated many of the central features of Indian religion and culture. The papers collected in this volume seek to locate Indian ascetical traditions within their historical, political and ideological contexts.
Download or read book Dharamsala Diaries written by Swati Chopra and published by Penguin Global. This book was released on 2007 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If There Is Thirst, Dharamsala Presents The Possibility Of Slaking It. In This Travelogue Of The Spirit Swati Chopra Brings Alive The Narrow Lanes Of Dharamsala Which Echo With Footfalls Of Seekers From All Over The World. Interacting With Them Old And Young, Tibetan And Non-Tibetan, Guru And Novice She Realizes It Is Possible In Dharamsala To Retreat Within, To Heal One S Spirit, To Learn Skills For The Inner Life And Perhaps Even Find Answers To Sticky Life-Questions Does God Exist? , Why Do I Suffer? , Does My Life Have A Deeper Meaning? Dharamsala Emerges As A Modern-Day Caravanserai On The Inner Journey, One Of The Few Places In The World Where One Can Access Transcendental Wisdom. His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Who Lives In A House On The Hem Of The Snow-Clad Dhauladhar Peaks In Mcleodganj, A Suburb Of Dharamsala, Has Provided This Place With A Certain Grace And Turned It Into A Pilgrimagefor Many. Tibetan Buddhism Forms A Part Of The Rich Tapestry Of Spiritual Traditions, Old And New, That Have Taken Root In Dharamsala And Are Manifest In Its Old Devi Temples, Wandering Sadhus And The More Recent Centres For Meditation, Yoga And Alternative Therapies. Through The Stories And Experiences Of Those That Pass Through Dharamsala, And Those That Find Their Refuge There, This Book Explores The Nature Of The Spiritual Journey And, Indeed, Of Life Itself.
Download or read book Durkheim in Dialogue written by Sondra L. Hausner and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One hundred years after the publication of the great sociological treatise, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, this new volume shows how aptly Durkheim1s theories still resonate with the study of contemporary and historical religious societies. The volume applies the Durkheimian model to multiple cases, probing its resilience, wondering where it might be tweaked, and asking which aspects have best stood the test of time. A dialogue between theory and ethnography, this book shows how Durkheimian sociology has become a mainstay of social thought and theory, pointing to multiple ways in which Durkheim1s work on religion remains relevant to our thinking about culture.
Download or read book A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya written by Swami Satyananda Saraswati and published by . This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 957 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
