Download or read book Tibetan Literature written by Leonard van der Kuijp and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 1996-01-01 with total page 555 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tibetan Literature addresses the immense variety of Tibet's literary heritage. An introductory essay by the editors attempts to assess the overall nature of 'literature' in Tibet and to understand some of the ways in which it may be analyzed into genres. The remainder of the book contains articles by nearly thirty scholars from America, Europe, and Asia—each of whom addresses an important genre of Tibetan literature. These articles are distributed among eight major rubrics: two on history and biography, six on canonical and quasi-canonical texts, four on philosophical literature, four on literature on the paths, four on ritual, four on literary arts, four on non-literary arts and sciences, and two on guidebooks and reference works.
Download or read book Marihuana written by E.L. Abel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all the plants men have ever grown, none has been praised and denounced as often as marihuana (Cannabis sativa). Throughout the ages, marihuana has been extolled as one of man's greatest benefactors and cursed as one of his greatest scourges. Marihuana is undoubtedly a herb that has been many things to many people. Armies and navies have used it to make war, men and women to make love. Hunters and fishermen have snared the most ferocious creatures, from the tiger to the shark, in its herculean weave. Fashion designers have dressed the most elegant women in its supple knit. Hangmen have snapped the necks of thieves and murderers with its fiber. Obstetricians have eased the pain of childbirth with its leaves. Farmers have crushed its seeds and used the oil within to light their lamps. Mourners have thrown its seeds into blazing fires and have had their sorrow transformed into blissful ecstasy by the fumes that filled the air. Marihuana has been known by many names: hemp, hashish, dagga, bhang, loco weed, grass-the list is endless. Formally christened Cannabis sativa in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus, marihuana is one of nature's hardiest specimens. It needs little care to thrive. One need not talk to it, sing to it, or play soothing tranquil Brahms lullabies to coax it to grow. It is as vigorous as a weed. It is ubiquitous. It fluorishes under nearly every possible climatic condition.
Download or read book The Mystery of Numbers written by Annemarie Schimmel and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1994-04-07 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is the number seven lucky--even holy--in almost every culture? Why do we speak of the four corners of the earth? Why do cats have nine lives (except in Iran, where they have seven)? From literature to folklore to private superstitions, numbers play a conspicuous role in our daily lives. But in this fascinating book, Annemarie Schimmel shows that numbers have been filled with mystery and meaning since the earliest times, and across every society. In The Mystery of Numbers Annemarie Schimmel conducts an illuminating tour of the mysteries attributed to numbers over the centuries. She begins with an informative and often surprising introduction to the origins of number systems: pre-Roman Europeans, for example, may have had one based on twenty, not ten (as suggested by the English word "score" and the French word for 80, quatrevingt --four times twenty), while the Mayans had a system more sophisticated than our own. Schimmel also reveals how our fascination with numbers has led to a rich cross-fertilization of mathematical knowledge: "Arabic" numerals, for instance, were picked up by Europe from the Arabs, who had earlier adopted them from Indian sources ("Algorithm" and "algebra" are corruptions of the Arabic author and title names of a mathematical text prized in medieval Europe). But the heart of the book is an engrossing guide to the symbolism of numbers. Number symbolism, she shows, has deep roots in Western culture, from the philosophy of the Pythagoreans and Platonists, to the religious mysticism of the Cabala and the Islamic Brethren of Purity, to Kepler's belief that the laws of planetary motion should be mathematically elegant, to the unlucky thirteen. After exploring the sources of number symbolism, Schimmel examines individual numbers ranging from one to ten thousand, discussing the meanings they have had for Judaic, Christian, and Islamic traditions, with examples from Indian, Chinese, and Native American cultures as well. Two, for instance, has widely been seen as a number of contradiction and polarity, a number of discord and antithesis. And six, according to ancient and neo-platonic thinking, is the most perfect number because it is both the sum and the product of its parts (1+2+3=6 and 1x2x3=6). Using examples ranging from the Bible to the Mayans to Shakespeare, she shows how numbers have been considered feminine and masculine, holy and evil, lucky and unlucky. A highly respected scholar of Islamic culture, Annemarie Schimmel draws on her vast knowledge to paint a rich, cross-cultural portrait of the many meanings of numbers. Engaging and accessible, her account uncovers the roots of a phenomenon we all feel every Friday the thirteenth.
Download or read book Relating to a Spiritual Teacher written by Alexander Berzin and published by Snow Lion Publications, Incorporated. This book was released on 2000 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the sources of misunderstanding and reexamines traditional Buddhist teachings to receal methods that can heal wounds.
Download or read book Asceticism and Healing in Ancient India written by Kenneth G. Zysk and published by Motilal Banarsidass Publishe. This book was released on 1998 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rich Indian medical tradition is usually traced back to Sanskrit sources, the earliest of which cannot much antedate the common era. In this book Kenneth Zysk shows that Buddhist scriptures some centuries older than this contain abundant information about medical practice, and are our earliest evidence for a rational approach to medicine in India. He argues that Buddhism and the medical tradition were mutually supportive: that Buddhist monks and people associated with them contributed to the development of medicine, while their skills as physical as well as spiritual healers enhanced their reputation and popular support. Drawing on a wide range of textual, archaeological, and secondary sources, Zysk first presents an overview of the history of Indian Medicine in its religious context. He then examines primary literature from the Pali Buddhist Canon and from the Sanskrit treatises of Bhela, Caraka, and susruta. By close comparison of these two bodies of literature Zysk convincingly shows how the theories delineated in the medical classics actually became practice.
Download or read book An Introduction to Buddhism written by Peter Harvey and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1990-05-25 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unlike other studies, this work not only explores Buddhism's world views but attempts to show how it functions as a set of practices based on devotion, ethics, and meditation.
Download or read book The Encyclopedia of Complementary and Alternative Medicine written by Tova Navarra and published by Facts on File. This book was released on 2004 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than four hundred alphabetically arranged entries provide information on various types of alternative, complementary, and integrative healing methods.
Download or read book Yoga in Transformation written by Karl Baier and published by V&R unipress GmbH. This book was released on 2018 with total page 631 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores aspects of yoga over a period of about 2500 years. In its first part, it investigates facets of the South Asian and Tibetan traditions of yoga, such as the evolution of posture practice, the relationship between yoga and sex, yoga in the theistic context, the influence of Buddhism on early yoga, and the encounter of Islam with classical yoga. The second part addresses aspects of modern globalised yoga and its historical formation, as for example the emergence of yoga in Viennese occultism, the integration of yoga and nature cure in modern India, the eventisation of yoga in a global setting, and the development of Patañjali’s iconography. In keeping with the current trend in yoga studies, the emphasis of the volume is on the practice of yoga and its theoretical underpinnings.
Download or read book Illuminating the Goal written by Albion M. Butters and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Gelug Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra written by Dalai Lama and published by Shambhala. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mahamudra, the great sealing nature, refers to systems of meditation on both the conventional and ultimate natures of the mind. These have been transmitted through the Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Within the Gelug, Mahamudra teachings occur in a combined Gelug/Kagyu tradition exemplified in the First Panchen Lama's Root Text for the Precious Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra. The work presented here contains two brilliant commentaries by the Dalai Lama. The first is a teaching based directly on the First Panchen Lama's root text. In the second, His Holiness bases his discussion on the First Panchen Lama's own commentary to this text. The book opens with an overview of Mahamudra by Alexander Berzin that discusses the relation of mind appearances and reality and offers practical techniques for overcoming problems of excessive worry, anxiety, and disturbing thoughts. This treasury of practical instruction contains extensive teachings on the nature of mind, the development of shamata, sutra and tantra levels of Mahamudra, and the compatibility of Dzogchen and Anuttarayoga Tantra.
Download or read book Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod written by Jerome Edou and published by Snow Lion. This book was released on 1996 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chod refers to cutting through the ego and emotional entanglements.
Download or read book Riven by Lust written by Jonathan A. Silk and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2008-10-31 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Riven by Lust explores the tale of a man accused of causing the fundamental schism in early Indian Buddhism, but not before he has sex with his mother and kills his father. In tracing this Indian Buddhist Oedipal tale, Jonathan Silk follows it through texts in all of the major canonical languages of Buddhism, Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese, along the way noting parallels and contrasts with classical and medieval European stories such as the legend of the Oedipal Judas. Simultaneously, he investigates the psychological and anthropological understandings of the tale of mother-son incest in light of contemporary psychological and anthropological understandings of incest, with special attention to the question of why we consider it among the worst of crimes. In seeking to understand how the story worked in Indian texts and for Indian audiences—as well as how it might work for modern readers—this book has both horizontal and vertical dimensions, probing the place of the Oedipal in Indian culture, Buddhist and non-Buddhist, and simultaneously framing the Indian Oedipal within broader human concerns, thereby contributing to the study of the history of Buddhism, the transmission of narratives in the ancient world, and the fundamental nature of one aspect of human sexuality. Starting from a brief reference in a polemical treatise, Riven by Lust demonstrates that its authors borrowed and intentionally adapted a preexisting story of an Oedipal antihero. This recasting allowed them to calumniate their opponents in the strongest possible terms through the rhetoric of murder and incest. Silk draws on a wide variety of sources to demonstrate the range of thinking about incest in Indian Buddhist culture, thereby uncovering the strategies and working methods of the ancient polemicists. He argues that Indian Buddhists and Hindus, while occupying the same world for the most part, thought differently about fundamental issues such as incest, and hints at the consequent necessity of a reappraisal of our notions of the shape of the ancient cultural sphere they shared. Provocative and innovative, Riven by Lust is a paradigmatic analysis of a major theme of world mythology and a signal contribution to the study of the history of incest and comparative sexualities. It will attract readers interested in Buddhism, Indian studies, Asian studies, comparative culture, mythology, psychology, and the history of sexuality.
Download or read book A Flowering Tree and Other Oral Tales from India written by A. K. Ramanujan and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book of oral tales from the south Indian region of Kannada represents the culmination of a lifetime of research by A. K. Ramanujan, one of the most revered scholars and writers of his time. The result of over three decades' labor, this long-awaited collection makes available for the first time a wealth of folktales from a region that has not yet been adequately represented in world literature. Ramanujan's skill as a translator, his graceful writing style, and his profound love and understanding of the subject enrich the tales that he collected, translated, and interpreted. With a written literature recorded from about 800 A.D., Kannada is rich in mythology, devotional and secular poetry, and more recently novels and plays. Ramanujan, born in Mysore in 1929, had an intimate knowledge of the language. In the 1950s, when working as a college lecturer, he began collecting these tales from everyone he could--servants, aunts, schoolteachers, children, carpenters, tailors. In 1970 he began translating and interpreting the tales, a project that absorbed him for the next three decades. When Ramanujan died in 1993, the translations were complete and he had written notes for about half of the tales. With its unsentimental sympathies, its laughter, and its delightfully vivid sense of detail, the collection stands as a significant and moving monument to Ramanujan's memory as a scholar and writer.
Download or read book Kalachakra Tantra written by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey and published by Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Kalacakra initiation has now been given in the west on a number of occasions, yet authentic teachings of this ancient tradition remain rare. Here is presented a commentary given by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, which contains explanations and advice concerning the various commitments and initial practices peculiar to the Kalacakra system within the context of Highest Yoga Tantra and Mahayana Buddhist practice in general
Download or read book Mangrove Ecosystems of Asia written by I. Faridah-Hanum and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-01 with total page 477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides an up-to-date account of mangrove forests from Asia, together with restoration techniques, and the management requirements of these ecosystems to ensure their sustainability and conservation. All aspects of mangroves and their conservation are critically re-examined. The book is divided into three sections presenting the distribution and status of mangrove ecosystems in Asia, the challenges they are facing, their issues and opportunities, and the management strategies for their conservation.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Hinduism written by Constance Jones and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated A to Z reference containing more than 700 entries providing information on the theology, people, historical events, institutions and movements related to Hinduism.
Download or read book The Philosophical Foundations of Classical RDzogs Chen in Tibet written by David Higgins and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
