Download or read book Vajrayogini written by Elizabeth English and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-02-08 with total page 607 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vajrayogini is a tantric goddess from the highest class of Buddhist tantras who manifests the ultimate development of wisdom and compassion. Her practice is prevalent today among practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. This ground-breaking book delves into the origins of Vajrayogini, charting her evolution in India and examining her roots in the Cakrasamvara tantra and in Indian tradition relating to siva. The focus of this work is the Guhyasamayasadhanamala, a collection of forty-six sadhanas, or practice texts. Written on palm leaves in Sanskrit and preserved since the twelfth century, this diverse collection, composed by various authors, reveals a multitude of forms of the goddess, each of which is described and illustrated here. One of the sadhanas, the Vajravarahi Sadhana by Umapatideva, depicts Vajrayogini at the center of a mandala of thirty-seven different goddesses, and is here presented in full translation alongside a Sanskrit edition. Elizabeth English provides extensive explanation and annotation of this representative text. Sixteen pages of stunning color plates not only enhance the study but bring the goddess to life.

Download or read book Imagery Ritual and Birth written by Anna M. Hennessey and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2018-12-11 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every human being is born and has gone through a process of birth. Yet the topic of birth remains deeply underrepresented in the humanities, overshadowed by a scholarly focus on death. This book explores how imagery is used ritualistically in religious, secular, and nonreligious ways during birth, through analysis of a wide variety of art, iconography, poetry, and material culture. Objects central to the book’s study include religious figurines, paintings about birth, and other items representative of pregnancy, crowning, or giving birth that have an historical or original meaning connected to religion. Contemporaryartists are also creating new art in which they represent birth and mothering as nonreligious events that are sacred or divine. Framed through the concept of social ontology, which examines the nature of the social world and studies how people create meaning out of the various objects, images, and processes that make up human social life, the book theorizes a social ontology of birth, focusing on how the meaning of imagery undergoes metamorphosis between the spheres of religion, secularity, nonreligion, and the sacred when used during birth as a rite of passage. Included in the study are more than thirty images of birth, some of which have never been written about before.

Download or read book Visualizing Theory written by Lucien Taylor and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-02-04 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Visualizing Theory is a lavishly illustrated collection of provocative essays, occasional pieces, and dialogues that first appeared in Visual Anthropology Review between 1990 and 1994. It contains contributions from anthropologists, from cultural, literary and film critics and from image makers themselves. Reclaiming visual anthropology as a space for the critical representation of visual culture from the naive realist and exoticist inclinations that have beleaguered practitioners' efforts to date, Visualizing Theory is a major intervention into this growing field.

Download or read book The Dance of Rituals written by Lily Cooper and published by Vellaz Publishing. This book was released on 2024-10-22 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dance of Rituals - Buddhism and the Connection with the Divine Buddhist Rituals is a mysterious invitation to explore the secrets of the spirit. It is not merely about repeated gestures or ancient traditions, but about secret doors that, once opened, reveal a dimension where the sacred and the everyday dance in eternal communion. Each ritual described is not just an act, but a path to awakening what is most authentic and dormant in the human soul. As you delve into the practices unveiled here, you are not just reading about Buddhism; you are called to feel the echo of ancient chants, to visualize offerings dissipating as symbols of detachment, and to touch the invisible that inhabits each breath. The descriptions evoke rituals where the toll of a bell can resonate through time and the aroma of incense not only perfumes the air but transforms the surrounding energy, dissolving the veil between the material and the immaterial. The Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions emerge from the pages like trails winding up the mountain of the spirit, each offering unique ways to reach the essential and the eternal. The practice is presented not as an end in itself, but as a map of forgotten paths, leading the practitioner to break free from illusions and glimpse the essence of all things. In this work, rituals are instruments to transcend the ordinary, capable of awakening an ancient echo in the reader's heart, reminding them that the search for meaning is not distant but latent in the present moment. Buddhist Rituals is not just a book; it is a key for those who dare to explore the unknown and align themselves with the mysteries that permeate life.

Download or read book Ritual and Representation in Chinese Buddhism written by Karil J. Kucera and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2016-01-28 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes 159 color images. Baodingshan consists of a monastic complex and two rock-carved areas, Little Buddha Bend and Great Buddha Bend, located in Dazu in western China and dates from the Southern Song period. The complex is fundamentally different from earlier Buddhist rock-carved sites in China in its construction and layout. Foregoing traditional niche-based iconography for large, deeply cut reliefs reaching dimensions as great as eight meters high by twenty meters wide, within Baodingshan's Great Buddha Bend, the carved works flow from one tableau into another. The site contains both texts and images related to the main schools of Buddhist thought. This book presents an integrated analysis of all of the components of Great Buddha Bend within the greater Baodingshan site, something that was lacking in earlier studies. Written to provide guidance to the site for a wide spectrum of readers-specialists and non-specialists alike-it provides a clear explanation of the major iconographic features of the imagery as well as translations of the numerous accompanying carved Buddhist texts. It also presents the basic tenets of Pure Land, Chan [Zen], Huayan and Esoteric Buddhism in order to explain the features of these sects as seen represented in visual as well as textual form at the site. Lastly, with its focus on ritual use and audience reception from the 12th to the 21st century, this study provides a new model for the discussion and evaluation of other religious sites as entities that organically evolve over time. This study also includes new translations of both the inscribed Buddhist texts and secular inscriptions carved at the site dating from the twelfth through the twenty-first centuries-inscriptions left by educated elite, soldiers, and government officials, highlighting regional issues related to continuity and change made visible at Baodingshan.

Download or read book Visualizing Sensuous Suffering and Affective Pain in Early Modern Europe and the Spanish Americas written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-01-03 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Visualizing Sensuous Suffering and Affective Pain in Early Modern Europe and the Spanish Americas is a trans-cultural collection of studies on visual treatments of the phenomena of suffering and pain in early modern culture. Ranging geographically from Italy, Spain, and the Low Countries to Chile, Mexico, and the Philippines and chronologically from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, these studies variously consider pain and suffering as somatic, emotional, and psychological experiences. From examination of bodies shown victimized by brutal public torture to the sublimation of physical suffering conveyed through the incised lines of Counter-Reformation engravings, the authors consider depictions of pain and suffering as conduits to the divine or as guides to social behaviour; indeed, often the two functions overlap.

Download or read book Visualizing the Tragic written by Chris Kraus and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2007-06-07 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of essays that brings new insight to the question of the continuing, and inexhaustible, fascination of Athenian tragedy of the fifth century BCE. There is particular reference to the visual - the myriad ways in which tragic texts are (re)interpreted, (re)appropriated, and (re)visualized through verbal and artistic description.

Download or read book Askia s Spiritual Rituals written by Blue Dragoon Books and published by Blue Dragoon Books. This book was released on 2024-05-15 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book guides you on a journey to discover your inherent strength. You'll learn how to harness your energy and channel it through powerful rituals, designed to awaken the potential within you. Remember, these tools are meant to amplify your own will, not to manipulate or control others.

Download or read book RITUALS FOR PROSPERITY written by Marcel Souza and published by Gavea. This book was released on with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Embark on a transformative journey with this enlightening book, a treasure trove of rituals designed to attract wealth, success, and personal growth. Tailored for anyone seeking not just financial gain but also a richer, more fulfilled life, it blends ancient wisdom with modern insights. Discover a range of powerful practices, from deep meditations to simple daily exercises, all crafted to align your ambitions with the universe's energies. This guide is more than just a collection of rituals; it's a pathway to a more prosperous and abundant life. Whether you're looking to enhance your financial situation or enrich your spiritual well-being, these rituals offer a practical and mystical approach to achieving your dreams. Start your journey towards a life of prosperity and abundance today!

Download or read book Visualizing the Poetry of Statius written by Christopher Chinn and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-11-01 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars have long noted the strikingly visual aspects of Statius’ poetry. This book advances our understanding of how these visual aspects work through intertextual analysis. In the Thebaid, for instance, Statius repeatedly presents “visual narratives” in the form of linked descriptive (or ekphrastic) passages. These narratives are subject to multiple forms visual interpretation inflected by the intertextual background. Similarly, the Achilleid activates particularly Roman conceptions of masculinity through repeated evocations of Achilles’ blush. The Silvae offer a diversity of modes of viewing that evoke Roman conceptions of gender and class.

Download or read book Visualizing Jews Through the Ages written by Hannah Ewence and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-03-24 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores literary and material representations of Jews, Jewishness and Judaism from antiquity to the twenty-first century. Gathering leading scholars from within the field of Jewish Studies, it investigates how the debates surrounding literary and material images within Judaism and in Jewish life are part of an on-going strategy of image management - the urge to shape, direct, authorize and contain Jewish literary and material images and encounters with those images - a strategy both consciously and unconsciously undertaken within multifarious arenas of Jewish life from early modern German lands to late twentieth-century North London, late Antique Byzantium to the curation of contemporary Holocaust exhibitions.

Download or read book Language in the Buddhist Tantra of Japan written by Richard K. Payne and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-08-09 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Language in the Buddhist Tantra of Japan dismantles the preconception that Buddhism is a religion of mystical silence, arguing that language is in fact central to the Buddhist tradition. By examining the use of 'extraordinary language'-evocations calling on the power of the Buddha-in Japanese Buddhist Tantra, Richard K. Payne shows that such language was not simply cultural baggage carried by Buddhist practitioners from South to East Asia. Rather, such language was a key element in the propagation of new forms of belief and practice. In contrast to Western approaches to the philosophy of language, which are grounded in viewing language as a form of communication, this book argues that it is the Indian and East Asian philosophies of language that shed light on the use of language in meditative and ritual practices in Japan. It also illuminates why language was conceived as an effective means of progress on the path from delusion to awakening.

Download or read book Rituals from Birth to Earth written by Rev Dawn Earthsong and published by Dan Williams. This book was released on 2021-10-06 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rituals From Birth to Earth: A Journey Through the Seasons is a collection of rituals and rites of passage that have been designed and performed over the last two decades by Rev. Dawn. They are a collection of rituals for honoring life’s changes and growth, both of people and Mother Earth. This book contains numerous examples of the hundreds of rituals and rites of passage she's created for both common situations as well as unique rituals for various alternative communities that she is passionate about. Not only does this book contain a wealth of rites and rituals you can use, but it also includes the author's guide on how to create your own rituals! This book contains rituals the author has created for: seasonal celebrations; weddings and handfastings; baby blessings; funerals; cleansings; and more!

Download or read book Tantric Visual Culture written by Sthaneshwar Timalsina and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-11-19 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indian culture relies greatly on visual expression, and this book uses both classical Indian and contemporary Western philosophies and current studies on cognitive sciences, and applies them to contextualize Tantric visual culture. The work selects aspects of Tantric language and the practice of visualization, with the central premise to engage cognitive theories while studying images. It utilizes the contemporary theories of metaphor and cognitive blend, the theory of metonymy, and a holographic theory of epistemology with a focus on concept formation and its application to the study of myths and images. In addition, it applies the classical aesthetic theory of rasa to unravel the meaning of opaque images. This philosophical and cognitive analysis allows materials from Indian culture to be understood in a new light, while engaging contemporary theories of cognitive science and semantics. The book demonstrates how the domains of meaning and philosophy can be addressed within any culture without reducing their intrinsic cultural significance. By addressing these key aspects of Tantric traditions through this approach, this book initiates a much-needed dialogue between Indian and Western theories, while encouraging introspection within the Indic traditions themselves. It will be of interest to those studying and researching Religion, Philosophy and South Asian Culture.

Download or read book Visualizing Medieval Performance written by Elina Gertsman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking a fresh look at the interconnections between medieval images, texts, theater, and practices of viewing, reading and listening, this explicitly interdisciplinary volume explores various manifestations of performance and meanings of performativity in the Middle Ages. The contributors - from their various perspectives as scholars of art history, religion, history, literary studies, theater studies, music and dance - combine their resources to reassess the complexity of expressions and definitions of medieval performance in a variety of different media. Among the topics considered are interconnections between ritual and theater; dynamics of performative readings of illuminated manuscripts, buildings and sculptures; linguistic performances of identity; performative models of medieval spirituality; social and political spectacles encoded in ceremonies; junctures between spatial configurations of the medieval stage and mnemonic practices used for meditation; performances of late medieval music that raise questions about the issues of historicity, authenticity, and historical correctness in performance; and tensions inherent in the very notion of a medieval dance performance.

Download or read book Visual Consulting written by David Sibbet and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-09-17 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Visualization—in your own imagination, on the wall, and with media—supports any consultant who is learning to design and facilitate transformational change, leadership development, stakeholder involvement processes, and making sense of complex challenges. This book, from leaders in the field, shows you how. Building on Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting, it explains how to visually contract and scope work, gather data, provide feedback, plan interventions, implement, and support on-going sustainability in organizational and community settings. Unlike Block’s work, Visual Consulting addresses the challenging problems of guiding organizational and social change processes that involve multiple levels and types of stakeholders, with interests in both local and global environments. It demonstrates how visualization and design thinking can be used to get more creative and productive results that are “owned” by everyone. The practices described apply to organizational as well as diverse, cross-boundary consulting projects. In this book, you will. . . Learn powerful visual tools for all key stages of the consulting process, including marketing your services Understand the predictable challenges of change and how to successfully guide organizations and communities through them Learn how to collaborate with clients to get sustainable results Find tools for using visualization comprehensively, for both inner and outer work Successfully guide change in both organizations and communities The fourth installment in the Visual Facilitation series, this book teaches you how to activate the full range of visual tools, methods, and models to support stepping into successful, contemporary consulting relationships.

Download or read book Visual Anthropology written by Fadwa El Guindi and published by Rowman Altamira. This book was released on 2004 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: El Guindi provides a comprehensive guide to the methods of visual anthropology and the use of film in cross-cultural research and ethnography. She shows how visual media -- photographic, filmic, interactive -- is now an accepted part of the anthropological process, a vital tool that reflects and produces knowledge about the range of cultures and about culture itself. It preserves the integrity of people, objects, and events in their cultural context, and expands our horizons beyond the reach of memory culture. El Guindi places visual anthropology within an empirically-based, analytic framework, built on systematic observation, identifying the research cycle that begins with data gathering and leads to visual ethnographic construction that is anthropological in method, process, and product. She explains how indigenous, professional, and amateur forms of pictorial/auditory materials are grounded in personal, social, cultural, and ideological contexts, and describes the non-Western critique of the Western traditions of visual anthropology. Her book is an excellent guide for ethnographic research, and for film and other media instruction concerned with cross-cultural representation.