Karma, Dharma and Butterflies is a mind opening, and at times hilarious account of the inevitable ups and downs that are part of the path to inner happiness through Vipassana meditation practice. The book begins with the author reluctantly spending three days of a Hawaii dream vacation at a New Year's retreat at a Zen center in Honolulu. Little does she know that the meeting with a teacher at the retreat will have a dramatic life changing impact on her. Along with the inner journey, there is an exotic outer journey taking place, which brings the reader from Florence, to Hawaii, French Polynesia, Burma and back to Florence again. Karma, Dharma and Butterflies is a truly inspiring book about meditation as a way to inner happiness and peace. Happiness is like a butterfly, which when pursued is always beyond grasp, but if you sit down quietly, happiness may slight upon yo
Max Roper is one of the new-fangled breed who includes murder in his arsenal of security activities. In The Pushbutton Butterfly, he has to track a missing girl through a myriad of fascinating, violent, and potentially evil people, including an idealistic student rebel at Berkeley; the most fashionable of gurus; young coeds who augment their income by pushing heroin; a motorcycle gang leader who is flying high all the time; and a staid, liberal pillar of the Establishment who secretly collects pornographic pictures. Roper is a compelling man who carries his own standards of behavior into every society he encounters. He fits best with the local police who are his friends, with an aspiring Mr. America, whom he can throw with karate, indeed with all types of evildoers and guardians against evildoers. He’s an adaptable fellow, though, and manages to get on well—when he has to—with millionaires and murderers of all classes. The Pushbutton Butterfly begins when Max Roper’s boss, head of an organization called EPT, sends him out to investigate the report of a missing girl, a security project. EPT, an offshoot of a wartime operation, occasionally does top, top secret jobs for the CIA and other legal espionage groups. In this case, the girl’s father is manufacturing some highly important electronic gadgets, and there’s some danger that pressure could be exerted o him through his daughter to release secret formulas. The father, who is understandably inimical to Roper’s presence in the case, gives grudging cooperation. The girl is a student at Berkeley, and there Max goes to learn what he can from her friends. He finds one of them almost immediately, an attractive girl whose charms are not improved the condition in which Max finds her, which is very dead. From this opening, there is no letdown to the pace and excitement of The Pushbutton Butterfly, Max Roper’s first case, a provocative introduction.
Professor Delta Quinn teams with investigative reporter Caleb Barthes to unravel the mystery of the zombie seed, the genetically-modified follow-up to the “terminator seed.” This fact-based fiction is an academic novel that relies on fast-paced action as well as theoretical insights. Using the cultural icon of the zombie to address work alienation and contemporary apathy is perfect for the purposes of having the reader examine corporate greed in a global world. The cast of characters brings this global aspect to life. In the backdrop of the novel, a history of the zombie unfolds—a history of the violence that Haiti and African diaspora have suffered. Yet, it is Delta’s research into narratives of partner abuse that lead her to grapple with her own tragic past and take brave steps toward ending the abuse of others. This social justice book is based on award-winning research in rhetorical ethnography and is being assigned for courses in rhetoric, ethnography, narrative, organizational communication, and diversity, but would fit with others (e.g., ethics, interpersonal, public relations, journalism, sociology, philosophy) where examining the individual’s role in the life-world is not only promoted but expected. If the novel doesn’t do it, then the facts found at the end of the book should “wake up” any remaining zombies. Robin Patric Clair is a Full Professor, Diversity Fellow and a Fellow to the Center of Creative Endeavors at Purdue University. She has won research awards in rhetoric, narrative, ethnography and organizational communication, including two ‘Outstanding Book of the Year’ awards, two ‘Best Research Article of the Year’ awards, the ‘Golden Anniversary Award’ and multiple ‘Top Paper’ Awards for her research.
"Since 1979 the international magazine Hinduism Today has been producing a treasury of educational features on all aspects of Sanatana Dharma. Guided by the founder, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, the magazine's editors, who are initiated monks of Kauai's Hindu Monastery, collaborated with holy men and women and experts around the world in creating graphically rich guides to virtually every important aspect of Hinduism. The best of those works are assembled in "What Is Hinduism?" for Hindus and non-Hindus alike to discover the culture, beliefs, worship and mysticism that is India's greatest gift to humanity." --Back cover.
An engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the world's oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds. The Hindus brings a fascinating multiplicity of actors and stories to the stage to show how brilliant and creative thinkers have kept Hinduism alive in ways that other scholars have not fully explored. In this unique and authoritative account, debates about Hindu traditions become platforms to consider history as a whole.
The current Western interest in Buddhism and other Eastern religions is--among other reasons--both the result of and the stimulation for an entire library of books purporting to bring the Wisdom of the East to an audience for whom the wisdom of the West has failed. This book is not an example of that genre. It is an attempt to interpret Buddhism in the light of some current theories about religion. As a work of scholarship, rather than a homiletic tract or an apologetic treatise, its aim is to understand Buddhism as one historical variant of the generic human attempt to find meaning and hope in a sacred order that transcends the mundane order of existence; its aime is not to encourage or discourage either a devotional or a soteriological interest in Buddhism.
El propósito de este libro es, fundamentalmente, dar esperanza a aquéllos que atraviesan por la misma situación que una vez vivió la autora Darielys Tejera. Pretende además sacar a la luz una historia con la cual el lector pueda identificarse, y crear una conciencia entre los demás de que el suicidio sí ocurre, y que cuando ocurre, la víctima nunca está sola porque hay muchos que pasan por lo mismo. A algunos se les dan talentos, mientras que otros tienen que encontrar por sí solos su razón de ser. Mis talentos los descubrí. Mi razón de ser la tuve que buscar hasta que la encontré. Mi razón de ser era y es ayudar a otros. Por eso decidí escribir este libro. Creo que todos estamos en este mundo para, en un momento u otro, de una manera o otra, salvar a alguien, aunque no siempre tengamos conciencia de ello.
Tremaine's spiritual journey as sparked by her encounter with a medium who channels information about past lives, coming earth changes, and the lessons we are here to learn.
