Eastern Religion Philosophy

Many men have written about Tibet and its secret lore, but few have actually penetrated it to learn its ancient wisdom. Among those few was Madame Alexandra David-Neel, a French orientalist. A practicing Buddhist...she actually lived in Tibet for more than 14 years. Magic and Mystery in Tibet tells the story of her experiences in Tibet, among lamas and magicians. It is neither a travel book nor an autobiography but a study of psychic discovery, a description of the occult and mystical theories and psychic training practices of Tibet.

In a world of iPhones and connectivity to social media and email, we are all in constant connection with one another. Then why are so many people feeling burned out, distant from colleagues, and abandoned by family and friends? In this new book from the best-selling author of Running with the Mind of Meditation, the Sakyong uses the basic principles of the Shambhala tradition - meditation and a sincere belief in the inherent wisdom, compassion, and courage of all beings - to help listeners to listen and speak more mindfully.

The wisdom goddesses of yoga who embody shakti, or sacred energy, continue to gain popularity as we become familiar with the ways they help us break through negativity, trauma, and dysfunction to attain self-love, peace, and abundance. Yet, we rarely hear about Sri Radha and her unique position as the primal Shakti because she is hidden deep within the Upanishads, Tantras, and Puranas as their most confidential spiritual subject.

Condensed from more than three million words, these conversations involve housewives and cabinet ministers, professors and assembly-line workers, on the subject of how traditional psychology can illuminate current human, social, and spiritual problems. More than 100 tales and extracts from Sufi lore, ranging from the eighth century (Hasan of Basra) to the modern Afghan poet Khalilullah Khalili, are woven into Shah’s narratives of how and why the Sufis learn what they learn and how spiritual understanding develops and deteriorates in all societies.

In Meri Gita, acclaimed mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik demystifies The Bhagavad Gita for the contemporary listener. His unique approach - thematic rather than verse-by-verse - makes the ancient treatise eminently accessible.In a world that seems spellbound by argument over dialogue, vi-vaad over sam-vaad, Devdutt highlights how Krishna nudges Arjuna to understand rather than judge his relationships. This becomes relevant today when we are increasingly indulging and isolating the self.

First published in 1957, The Secret Lore of Magic contains within it a series of major source books of magical arts. Many of them translated into English for the first time, these works are annotated. The book’s title in itself signaled the fact that the bulk of material in this bibliographical study had never been published openly before.

Hidden in your body is a set of 35 divine objects that represent aspects of God. They can grant immediate and sustained relief from everyday suffering. Shapes of Truth unveils this remarkable discovery and provides step-by-step instructions for encountering them yourself. With parallels in Platonist philosophy and Sufi mysticism, these eternal body-forms were discovered 40 years ago and are only now being shared broadly with the world.

In his thought-provoking and entertaining book, David Michie explains the nuts and bolts of meditation. As a busy professional, as well as long-term meditator, he also gives a first-hand account of how to integrate this transformational practice into everyday life. Combining leading edge science with timeless wisdom, Hurry Up and Meditate provides all the motivation and tools you need to achieve greater balance, better health and a more panoramic perspective on life.

Previously published only as separate essays, Sufi Thought and Action - assembled and introduced by Idries Shah - covers an extraordinary diversity of Sufi ideas and activities in many countries and cultures. Included in the volume are papers on Sufi principles and learning methods; ritual, initiation, and secrets in Sufi circles; and key concepts in Sufi understanding.

Consisting of fewer than 200 verses written in an obscure if not impenetrable language and style, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra is today extolled by the yoga establishment as a perennial classic and guide to yoga practice. As David Gordon White demonstrates in this groundbreaking study, both of these assumptions are incorrect. Virtually forgotten in India for hundreds of years and maligned when it was first discovered in the West, the Yoga Sutra has been elevated to its present iconic status.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s experience begins the night he has chosen to embark on a four-year wandering retreat, slipping past the monastery gates. Alone for the first time in his life, he sets out into the unknown. His initial motivation is to step away from his life of privilege and to explore the deepest, most hidden aspects of his being, but what he discovers throughout his retreat - about himself and about the world around us - comes to define his meditation practice and teaching.

The Commanding Self, in Sufic terminology, is that mixture of the primitive and conditioned responses, common to everyone, which inhibits and distorts human progress and understanding. This audiobook was described by Shah as the key to understanding his entire corpus of work. While complete in itself as an anthology of hitherto unpublished work, it serves to illustrate and amplify Idries Shah’s preceding books on the Sufi Way.

The Human Calling is a vigorously researched and profoundly spiritual narrative history of the world's religious movements as they relate to society's collective understanding of the nature of their relationships with others, looking ahead to what lessons from history can be applied as people navigate an age of technology worship.

The Book of Unknowing continues the leading-edge work begun in the The Book of Undoing and Awaken Now. Those books are about how to awaken, while this one is primarily about the post-awakening experience itself - how to "clear". Topics addressed include how to assess if you're awake or not, why you may need a teacher, how to deal with various experiences in post-awakening, experiments and inquiries, and dozens more.

We need a sense of myth for our individual and collective equilibrium. Sanity itself may be tied to having some kind of lively imagination so that one can feel the strange fantasies that continue to insist themselves into consciousness in both waking and dreaming states.... – from the Foreword by Robert Sardello The essential paradox is this: Myth points to a baseline that can never be fully drawn; there exists no lowest layer for myth. – from the Introduction by Glen Slater and Dennis Patrick Slattery ... rituals in fact do not require complementary myths to ’explain’ them, nor is ...

In this fascinating book, David Barash highlights an intriguing patch of common ground between scientific and religious thought, illuminating the many parallels between biology and Buddhism, allowing listeners to see both in a new way. Indeed, he shows that there are numerous places where the Buddhist and biological perspectives coincide. For instance, the cornerstone ecological concept - the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things - is remarkably similar to the fundamental insight of Buddhism.

Despite the widespread popularity of Buddhist practices (like meditation), there is little understanding of the complex philosophy behind Buddhism. The historical Buddha, Gautama, was a real person - a radical - who challenged the religious leaders of his day. Buddha for Beginners introduces the listener to the historical Buddha, to the ideas that made him change his life, and to the fascinating philosophical debates that engaged him and formed the core of Buddhism.

Isaac Asimov said that "whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse." Such quandaries are the bread and butter of philosophy of religion. Questioning why evil exists, whether God could create a stone he couldn't lift, and if the wonder of life suggests a Creator, this fascinating branch of philosophy is concerned with arguments for and against religion, and what form an immortal god (or gods) would take if in existence. Charles Taliaferro provides a clear exploration of the discipline, introducing a wide range of philosophers.

The chakras are the body's invisible energy centers that store information and distribute life force. When out of balance, they hold the root cause of a variety of physical illnesses, emotional disturbances, and general unhappiness with life. Understanding and awakening the chakras will help you achieve a state of well being on every level.

You don't have to be looking to convert to Hinduism to appreciate this audiobook. It is not an audiobook that is going to try to change you or convince you that Hinduism is the one true religion to believe in. This book simply goes over all the important aspects and traditions of the religion, as they are broken down into chapters. That way you can understand the Hindu concepts of God, prayer, meditation, animal sacrifices, and reincarnation. These are the key points that people often misinterpret because they see movies or television shows that misrepresent the real Hindu religion.