Religion
Legends of the Mahasiddhas
Author:
Publisher: Inner Traditions
ISBN: 1620553651
Category: Religion
Page: 256
View: 945
A richly illustrated collection of stories about the mahasiddhas, spiritual adventurers who attained enlightenment and magical powers by disregarding convention • A modern translation of ancient legends that reveals the human qualities of the rebellious saints known as siddhas and the vital elements of their philosophy • Recounts stories of enlightened masters from all walks of life, including a washerman, a thief, a conman, a gambler, and a whore, and the magical and “crazy” deeds of each, such as walking through walls, flying, talking with birds, and turning people to stone • Richly illustrated with paintings of the tantric saints by artist Robert Beer Offering a modern translation of “The Legends of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas,” a 12th-century Tibetan text, translator Keith Dowman shares stories of the spiritual adventurers, rebellious saints, and enlightened tantric masters of ancient India known as “siddhas.” He shows how the mahasiddhas arose from the grassroots of society and represented an entire spectrum of human experience. Counted among the greatest of the siddhas are a washerman, a cowboy, a thief, a conman, a gambler, and a whore, all extraordinary men and women who attained the goal of their meditations, as well as enlightenment and magical powers, by disregarding convention and penetrating to the core of life. Recounting the magical and “crazy” deeds of the mahasiddhas, such as walking through walls, flying, talking with birds, and turning people to stone, Dowman reveals the human qualities of the tantric masters and the vital elements of the siddhas’ philosophy of nonduality and emptiness. Richly illustrated with paintings of the tantric saints by artist Robert Beer, these stories of the mahasiddhas show us a way through human suffering into a spontaneous and free state of oneness with the divine.
Body, Mind & Spirit
Buddhist Masters of Enchantment
Author:
Publisher: Inner Traditions
ISBN: 0892817844
Category: Body, Mind & Spirit
Page: 208
View: 366
A beautifully illustrated collection of the stories of the Mahasiddhas, the magicians and saints who founded the lineages of the Tantric tradition. A highly readable translation of legends from the Tibetan oral tradition. Recounts stories of the masters who embodied various paradigms for psychic and spiritual awakening. There is no better illustration of the nature of Tantric Buddhism than the lives of the masters who founded it. Extraordinary men and women who attained enlightenment and magical powers by disregarding convention and penetrating to the core of life, the Mahasiddhas show us a way through human suffering into a spontaneous and free state of oneness with the divine. Keith Dowman's highly readable translation of these legends from Tibetan oral tradition is enhanced by the beautifully realized illustrations of the Tantric saints by artist Robert Beer.
Religion
Masters of Enchantment
Author: Abhayadatta
Publisher: Destiny Books
ISBN: 089281053X
Category: Religion
Page: 205
View: 471
Fiction
Crystal Legends
Author: Moyra Caldecott
Publisher: Bladud Books
ISBN: 9781843193265
Category: Fiction
Page: 226
View: 879
Crystals and gemstones have been a source of fascination since Neolithic times; they endure when the bones of those they have adorned have turned to dust. Such was the profundity of crystal lore that ancient peoples incorporated crystals and gemstones as dynamic and potent symbols in their legends and myths. In Crystal Legends Moyra Caldecott approaches crystals from a new angle, retelling stories drawn from world mythology which show the significance of crystals and precious stones as symbolic icons in a variety of traditions. In addition, she gives in-depth commentaries on their esoteric meaning and significance for us. From Buddhist and biblical texts, European and Egyptian tales, Arthurian and Atlantean legends, this fascinating collection will appeal to anyone with an interest in the power of crystals and the eternal journey of the soul towards enlightenment.
Buddhist literature, Tibetan
Tibetan Histories
Author: Dan Martin
Publisher: Serindia Publications, Inc.
ISBN: 0906026431
Category: Buddhist literature, Tibetan
Page: 304
View: 461
Over 700 items are featured in this bibliography which attempts to provide a comprehensive listing in chronological sequence of Tibetan-language works belonging to the typical historical genres that have evolved between the 11th century and the present. As well as dates and details of composition or publication, authorship and title, there are also references to the secondary literature in other languages.
Philosophy
Masters of Mahamudra
Author: Keith Dowman
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 9781438401485
Category: Philosophy
Page: 479
View: 143
In Tibetan Buddhism, Mahamudra represents a perfected level of meditative realization: it is the inseparable union of wisdom and compassion, of emptiness and skillful means. These eighty-four masters, some historical, some archetypal, accomplished this practice in India where they lived between the eighth and twelfth centuries. Leading unconventional lives, the siddhas include some of the greatest Buddhist teachers; Tilopa, Naropa, and Marpa among them. Through many years of study, Keith Dowman has collected and translated their songs of realization and the legends about them. In consultation with contemporary teachers, he gives a commentary on each of the Great Adepts and culls from available resources what we can know of their history. Dowman’s extensive Introduction traces the development of tantra and discusses the key concepts of the Mahamudra. In a lively and illuminating style, he unfolds the deeper understandings of mind that the texts encode. His treatment of the many parallels to contemporary psychology and experience makes a valualbe contribution to our understanding of human nature. Keith Dowman’s many publications include: Sky Dancer: The Secret Life and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Sogyel (Routledge & Kegan Paul) and The Legend of the Great Stupa (Dharma Publishing). He lives and practices in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Body, Mind & Spirit
The Divine Library
Author: Rufus C. Camphausen
Publisher: Inner Traditions / Bear & Co
ISBN: 0892813512
Category: Body, Mind & Spirit
Page: 228
View: 798
Succinctly describes 140 sacred texts, dating from the earliest times to the present, in relation to the cultures that created them.
Religion
The Doctrine of Awakening
Author: Julius Evola
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9781620558553
Category: Religion
Page: 272
View: 220
In a probing analysis of the oldest Buddhist texts, Julius Evola places the doctrine of liberation in its original context. The early teachings, he suggests, offer the foremost example of an active spirituality that is opposed to the more passive, modern forms of theistic religions. This sophisticated, highly readable analysis of the theory and practice of Buddhist asceticism, first published in Italian in 1943 , elucidates the central truths of the eightfold path and clears away the later accretions of Buddhist doctrine. Evola describes the techniques for conscious liberation from the world of maya and for achieving the state of transcendence beyond dualistic thinking. Most surprisingly, he argues that the widespread belief in reincarnation is not an original Buddhist tenet. Evola presents actual practices of concentration and visualization, and places them in the larger metaphysical context of the Buddhist model of mind and universe. The Doctrine of the Awakening is a provocative study of the teachings of the Buddha by one of Europe's most stimulating thinkers.
Body, Mind & Spirit
The Book of Miracles
Author: Kenneth L. Woodward
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9780743200295
Category: Body, Mind & Spirit
Page: 436
View: 890
A collection of stories about miracle workers explores scriptural contexts of each religious tradition and discusses traditions relating to the Sufi mystics, Hindu and Buddhist saints, Christian hermits, Talmudic wonder-workers, and Muslim ascetics.
Philosophy
Summa Dharmalogica
Author: Maik Sulmaya Pehrsson
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 9781499088953
Category: Philosophy
Page: 441
View: 699
In our modern world technological world, many western people are finding new meaning in ancient eastern traditions. But many people are not aware of the shear philosophical immensity and unfathomable antiquity of these traditions, the roots of which challenge our current view of the world and its history. Coming from a bygone age and evolving over thousands of years, the 'dharma' - spiritual teachings on the way things are - has come down to the present in an unbroken lineage of practical philosophy. This is a lineage in spiritual logic which has been producing scientific teachings on the true nature of the world, our place in it and, ultimately, the solutions to the universal problem of suffering. This book summarises the history of dharma through the Vedic and Buddhist traditions, builds a bridge to the western theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, investigates the core principles of their teachings and highlights the similarities and differences. Enter the mysticological field of merit where Vedanta, Yoga, Madhyamaka and Tantric Thomism meet...
Philosophy
Indic Manuscript Cultures through the Ages
Author: Vincenzo Vergiani
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 9783110543124
Category: Philosophy
Page: 801
View: 518
This collection of essays explores the history of the book in pre-modern South Asia looking at the production, circulation, fruition and preservation of manuscripts in different areas and across time. Edited by the team of the Cambridge-based Sanskrit Manuscripts Project and including contributions of the researchers who collaborated with it, it covers a wide range of topics related to South Asian manuscript culture: from the material dimension (palaeography, layout, decoration) and the complicated interactions of manuscripts with printing in late medieval Tibet and in modern Tamil Nadu, to reading, writing, editing and educational practices, from manuscripts as sources for the study of religious, literary and intellectual traditions, to the creation of collections in medieval India and Cambodia (one major centre of the so-called Sanskrit cosmopolis), and the formation of the Cambridge collections in the colonial period. The contributions reflect the variety of idioms, literary genres, religious movements, and social actors (intellectuals, scribes, patrons) of ancient South Asia, as well as the variety of approaches, interests and specialisms of the authors, and their impassionate engagement with manuscripts.
Religion
Tilopa's Wisdom
Author: Khenchen Thrangu
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 9781559394871
Category: Religion
Page: 225
View: 447
Accessible and practical teachings on both the life of Tilopa, who founded the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and one of his most important texts on the practice of Mahamudra. Most traditions of Mahamudra meditation can be traced back to the mahasiddha Tilopa and his Ganges Mahamudra, a “song of realization” that he sang to his disciple Naropa on the banks of the Ganges River more than a thousand years ago. In this book, Khenchen Thrangu, a beloved Mahamudra teacher, tells the extraordinary story of Tilopa’s life and explains its profound lessons. He follows this story with a limpid and practical verse-by-verse commentary on the Ganges Mahamudra, explaining its precious instructions for realizing Mahamudra, the nature of one’s mind. Throughout, Thrangu Rinpoche speaks plainly and directly to Westerners eager to receive the essence of Mahamudra instructions from an accomplished teacher.