Download or read book The Buddha s Wizards written by Thomas Nathan Patton and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wizards with magical powers to heal the sick, possess the bodies of their followers, and defend their tradition against outside threats are far from the typical picture of Buddhism. Yet belief in wizard-saints who protect their devotees and intervene in the world is widespread among Burmese Buddhists. The Buddha’s Wizards is a historically informed ethnographic study that explores the supernatural landscape of Buddhism in Myanmar to explain the persistence of wizardry as a form of lived religion in the modern era. Thomas Nathan Patton explains the world of wizards, spells, and supernatural powers in terms of both the broader social, political, and religious context and the intimate roles that wizards play in people’s everyday lives. He draws on affect theory, material and visual culture, long-term participant observation, and the testimonies of the devout to show how devotees perceive the protective power of wizard-saints. Patton considers beliefs and practices associated with wizards to be forms of defending Buddhist traditions from colonial and state power and culturally sanctioned responses to restrictive gender roles. The book also offers a new lens on the political struggles and social transformations that have taken place in Myanmar in recent years. Featuring close attention to the voices of individual wizard devotees and the wizards themselves, The Buddha’s Wizards provides a striking new look at a little-known aspect of Buddhist belief that helps expand our ways of thinking about the daily experience of lived religious practices.
Download or read book Buddhist Magic written by Sam van Schaik and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2020-07-28 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating exploration of the role that magic has played in the history of Buddhism As far back as we can see in the historical record, Buddhist monks and nuns have offered services including healing, divination, rain making, aggressive magic, and love magic to local clients. Studying this history, scholar Sam van Schaik concludes that magic and healing have played a key role in Buddhism's flourishing, yet they have rarely been studied in academic circles or by Western practitioners. The exclusion of magical practices and powers from most discussions of Buddhism in the modern era can be seen as part of the appropriation of Buddhism by Westerners, as well as an effect of modernization movements within Asian Buddhism. However, if we are to understand the way Buddhism has worked in the past, the way it still works now in many societies, and the way it can work in the future, we need to examine these overlooked aspects of Buddhist practice. In Buddhist Magic, van Schaik takes a book of spells and rituals--one of the earliest that has survived--from the Silk Road site of Dunhuang as the key reference point for discussing Buddhist magic in Tibet and beyond. After situating Buddhist magic within a cross-cultural history of world magic, he discusses sources of magic in Buddhist scripture, early Buddhist rituals of protection, medicine and the spread of Buddhism, and magic users. Including material from across the vast array of Buddhist traditions, van Schaik offers readers a fascinating, nuanced view of a topic that has too long been ignored.
Download or read book 42 Mind Seals written by Nathan Coppedge and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-04-04 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept is borrowed from several pages in The Blue Cliff Record, one of the most venerable Zen Master teachings. A mind seal is essentially a magical communication similar to the legendary magical papers which can be used only once. Only these can be used more than once. They have lasting effects that tend to be subtle, global, or personal, and are often permanent. Forty-two mind seals are included in this collection, including magical themes as basic as life and constitution and as abstruse as immortality, time travel, and perpetual motion. The book features the magical properties of each mind seal in perfect four-part sets for each example, proving that mind seals are objective phenomena which meet particular magical criteria. Readers will be pleased with the depth and vivaciousness of this work, which attempts to turn an abstruse subject from Zen Buddhism into another type of subject---one worthy of aspiring wizards, with sufficient technicalism to convey real magic. The statements, which range from single sentences to long paragraphs, are stated in quotations to mark them off from the descriptive matter. The book is recommended for anyone interested in the occult.
Download or read book Champions of Buddhism written by Kate Crosby and published by NUS Press. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hidden at the margins of Burmese Buddhism and culture, the cults of the weikza shape Burmese culture by bringing together practices of supernatural power and a mission to protect Buddhism. This exciting new research on an often hidden aspect of Burmese religion places weikza in relation to the Vipassana insight meditation movement and conventional Buddhist practices, as well as the contemporary rise of Buddhist fundamentalism. Featuring research based on fieldwork only possible in recent years, paired with reflective essays by senior Buddhist studies scholars, this book situates the weikza cult in relation to broader Buddhist and Southeast Asian contexts, offering interpretations and investigations as rich and diverse as the Burmese expressions of the weikza cults themselves. Champions of Buddhism opens the field to new questions, new problems, and new connections with the study of religion and Southeast Asia in general.
Download or read book Imagining the Course of Life written by Nancy Eberhardt and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagining the Course of Life offers a rich portrait of rural life in contemporary Southeast Asia and an accessible introduction to the complexities of Theravada Buddhism as it is actually lived and experienced. It is both an ethnography of indigenous views of human development and a theoretical consideration of how any ethnopsychology is embedded in society and culture. Drawing on long-term fieldwork in a Shan village in northern Thailand, Nancy Eberhardt illustrates how indigenous theories of the life course are connected to local constructions of self and personhood. In the process, she draws our attention to contrasting models in the Euro-American tradition and invites us to reconsider how we think about the trajectory of a human life. Moving beyond the entrenched categories that can hamper our understanding of other views, Imagining the Course of Life demonstrates the real-life connections between the "religious" and the "psychological." Eberhardt shows how such beliefs and practices are used, sometimes strategically, in people's constructions of themselves, in their interpretations of others' behavior, and in their attempts at social positioning. Individual chapters explore Shan ideas about the overall course of human development, from infancy to old age and beyond, and show how these ideas inform people's understanding of personhood and maturity, gender and social inequality, illness and well-being, emotions and mental health.
Download or read book The Wizard written by H. Rider Haggard and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2023-09-03 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.
Download or read book The Flower Ornament Scripture written by Thomas Cleary and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 1993-10-12 with total page 2759 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A masterful translation of one of the most influential Buddhist sutras—the Avatamsaka Sutra—by one of the greatest translators of Buddhist texts of our time Known in Chinese as Hua-yen and in Japanese as Kegon-kyo, the Avatamsaka Sutra, or Flower Ornament Scripture, is held in the highest regard and studied by Buddhists of all traditions. Through its structure and symbolism, as well as through its concisely stated principles, it conveys a vast range of Buddhist teachings. This one-volume edition contains Thomas Cleary’s definitive translation of all thirty-nine books of the sutra, along with an introduction, a glossary, and Cleary’s translation of Li Tongxuan’s seventh-century guide to the final book, the Gandavyuha, “Entry into the Realm of Reality.”
Download or read book Star Wars written by Mary S. Henderson and published by Spectra. This book was released on 1997 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The companion to the Star wars exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum explores the mythology used as the basis for the Star wars movie trilogy
Download or read book Journey to the West 2018 Edition PDF written by Wu Cheng'en and published by Asiapac Books Pte Ltd. This book was released on 2018-08-14 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bestselling Journey to the West comic book by artist Chang Boon Kiat is now back in a brand new fully coloured edition. Journey to the West is one of the greatest classics in Chinese literature. It tells the epic tale of the monk Xuanzang who journeys to the West in search of the Buddhist sutras with his disciples, Sun Wukong, Sandy and Pigsy. Along the way, Xuanzang's life was threatened by the diabolical White Bone Spirit, the menacing Red Child and his fearsome parents and, a host of evil spirits who sought to devour Xuanzang's flesh to attain immortality. Bear witness to the formidable Sun Wukong's (Monkey God) prowess as he takes them on, using his Fiery Eyes, Golden Cudgel, Somersault Cloud, and quick wits! Be prepared for a galloping read that will leave you breathless!
Download or read book The Book of English Magic written by Philip Carr-Gomm and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2010-10-14 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to England’s rich history of magical lore and practice “for readers of works like Harry Potter who have grown up a bit into wanting to know more” (The Hermetic Library). Through experiments to try and places to visit, as well as a historical exploration of magic and interviews with leading magicians, The Book of English Magic will introduce you to the extraordinary world that lies beneath the surface. Magic runs through the veins of English history, part of daily life from the earliest Arthurian legends to Aleister Crowley to the novels of Tolkien and Philip Pullman, and from the Druids to Freemasonry and beyond. Richly illustrated and deeply knowledgeable, this book is an invaluable source for anyone curious about magic and wizardry, or for sophisticated practitioners seeking to expand their knowledge. “Playful and serious, respectful and amused . . . this will remain the standard work for years to come.” —The Sunday Telegraph “A magical mystery tour.” —The Times “Fabulous.” —Daily Express “Lucid and wonderfully easy to read . . . While it is indeed a perfect book for the ‘intelligent novice’ it’s far more than that—it’s a serious, in-depth survey of a massive topic.” —WitchVox “An accessible and immensely readable book . . . A fascinating insight into a hidden world.” —Booksquawk
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Card Tricks written by Jean Hugard and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 1974-06-01 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides instructions for performing card tricks of varying levels of difficulty
Download or read book Belle the Birthday Fairy written by Daisy Meadows and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2012 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reading level: 2 ; Ages: 6-9.
Download or read book The Immortals written by Guillaume Rozenberg and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2015-04-30 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1952 a twenty-six-year-old man living in a village in Central Burma was possessed by weikza—humans with extraordinary powers, including immortality. Key figures in Burmese Buddhism, weikza do not die but live on in an invisible realm. From there they re-enter the world through possession to care for people's temporal and spiritual needs while protecting and propagating Buddhism. A cult quickly formed around the young peasant, the chosen medium for four weikza ranging in age from 150 to 1000 years. In addition, these weikza appeared regularly in the flesh. The Immortals plunges us into the midst of this cult, which continues to attract followers from all over the country who seek to pay homage to the weikza, receive their teaching, and benefit from their power. The cult of the four weikza raises a number of classic anthropological issues, particularly for the anthropology of religion: the nature of the supernatural and of belief; the relations among religion, magic, and science; the experience of possession. It also provides a window on contemporary Burmese society. To contemplate both, the author adopts an unconventional approach, which itself reflects representation in anthropology, or, more precisely, how anthropology uses description and the interpretations description occasions to make sense of what it studies. The writing makes clear both the indigenous take on reality and the work of anthropological understanding as it is being elaborated, along with the ties that connect the latter to the former. Mixing narration of the incredible with reflection on the forms religious experience takes, The Immortals offers us a way to accompany the author into the field and to grasp—to take up and make our own—the anthropologist's interpretations and the realities to which they pertain.
Download or read book The Book of Phoenix written by Nnedi Okorafor and published by Astra Publishing House. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fiery spirit dances from the pages of the Great Book. She brings the aroma of scorched sand and ozone. She has a story to tell.... The Book of Phoenix is a unique work of magical futurism. A prequel to the highly acclaimed, World Fantasy Award-winning novel, Who Fears Death, it features the rise of another of Nnedi Okorafor’s powerful, memorable, superhuman women. Phoenix was grown and raised among other genetic experiments in New York’s Tower 7. She is an “accelerated woman”—only two years old but with the body and mind of an adult, Phoenix’s abilities far exceed those of a normal human. Still innocent and inexperienced in the ways of the world, she is content living in her room speed reading e-books, running on her treadmill, and basking in the love of Saeed, another biologically altered human of Tower 7. Then one evening, Saeed witnesses something so terrible that he takes his own life. Devastated by his death and Tower 7’s refusal to answer her questions, Phoenix finally begins to realize that her home is really her prison, and she becomes desperate to escape. But Phoenix’s escape, and her destruction of Tower 7, is just the beginning of her story. Before her story ends, Phoenix will travel from the United States to Africa and back, changing the entire course of humanity’s future.
Download or read book Esoteric Theravada written by Kate Crosby and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2020-12-22 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking exploration of a practice tradition that was nearly lost to history. Theravada Buddhism, often understood as the school that most carefully preserved the practices taught by the Buddha, has undergone tremendous change over time. Prior to Western colonialism in Asia—which brought Western and modernist intellectual concerns, such as the separation of science and religion, to bear on Buddhism—there existed a tradition of embodied, esoteric, and culturally regional Theravada meditation practices. This once-dominant traditional meditation system, known as borān kammatthāna, is related to—yet remarkably distinct from—Vipassana and other Buddhist and secular mindfulness practices that would become the hallmark of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century. Drawing on a quarter century of research, scholar Kate Crosby offers the first holistic discussion of borān kammatthāna, illuminating the historical events and cultural processes by which the practice has been marginalized in the modern era.
Download or read book Samsara Nirvana and Buddha Nature written by Dalai Lama and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-01-22 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature takes up centrally important premises of Buddhism: the unsatisfactoriness (duhkha) of cyclic existence (samsara), the determination to be free of cyclic existence, and the mind as the basis for both the extreme duhkha of samsara and the bliss of nirvana. This volume shows us how to purify our minds and cultivate awakened qualities. Knowledge of buddha nature reveals and reconciles the paradox of how the mind can be the basis for both the extreme duhkha of samsara (the unpurified mind) and the bliss and fulfillment of nirvana (the purified mind). To illustrate this, Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature first takes readers through Buddhist thought on the self, the Four Noble Truths, and their sixteen attributes. Then, the Dalai Lama explains afflictions, their arising and antidotes, followed by an examination of karma and cyclic existence and, finally, a deep and thorough elucidation of buddha nature. This is the third volume in the Dalai Lama’s definitive and comprehensive series on the stages of the Buddhist path, The Library of Wisdom and Compassion. Volume 1, Approaching the Buddhist Path, contained introductory material that sets the context for Buddhist practice. Volume 2, The Foundation of Buddhist Practice, describes the important teachings that help us establish a flourishing Dharma practice. Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature can be read as the logical next step in this series or enjoyed on its own.
Download or read book The Books of Kiu te Or The Tibetan Buddhist Tantras written by David Reigle and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
