This practical guide shows how both men and women can participate actively and with heightened awareness in the supreme mystery of conception. The authors explore the importance of rituals and other methods of conscious conception in various spiritual traditions. They also present clear and succinct advice on the process of preparing for parenthood.
From time immemorial, the mandala has been an expression of inner reality—for individuals, groups, and whole cultures. When you draw or paint a mandala of your own, you’re making a portrait of your unconscious at a particular moment in your life, which when carefully regarded, can provide astonishing insights into your own deepest truth. The Mandala Workbook offers a complete guide to mandala work, based on the Great Round—the twelve archetypal stages that represent a complete cycle of personal growth. Each stage offers a new way to connect with yourself and to discover the transformative powers of the mandala. Explore a full range of activities throughout the book and for each stage—including coloring, drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, and more—in this engaging and hands-on guide. You’ll have fun doing it—and you may discover things about yourself that will surprise you.
This is a workbook designed to guide and support participants of the Life Spiral Process℠, a holistic twelve-week art, writing, and witnessing journey for people at mid-life. The Life Spiral Process℠ is focused on various points of choice, chance, challenge, and change in one's life, and provides new insights for exploring the second half of life. The workbook provides clear step-by-step instructions and images for creating the art piece, reflective questions and text for each stage of life, and two sections on setting intentions and envisioning the future.
This is the fifth Volume of the Rigveda samhitha Mandala Seven (Manthras 5133 to 5974) and mandala Eight (manthras 5975 to 7112) . Rigveda can be read at random . Every hymn (manthra ) is power packed with power and pregnant with knowledge . Every manthra of the Rigveda is in praise of the Creator Lord . Oh Fire divine , may you not condemn us to indulgence ; may not these flaming fires, which nature's forces have kindled , harm us . Oh source of strength , let not your displeasure even at our fault , fall upon us . No selfishness and no self indulgence . so says the Manthra . When we are devoid of fire of awareness , we indulge in crime and sinful acts . Conscious awareness , truth and nothing but the truth is our real nature . Not following what someone says and does . Follow your heart and instincts . Mind is your slave . It is also a body organ . Soul / Atma is the king and the master . Slave cannot become the master . If the slave becomes a master , it treats everybody a a slave . Indra is the god of all gods . He is the mind , he is the soul , He is the king , He is the one who causes rain and prosperity . He is the head in different aspects . Maximum number of manthras are ascribed to Indra . Ashwins are the gods of beauty and balance . They are the gods of speed and harmony . They are the divine doctors who cure all diseases . Rudra is the god of truth and justice . He maintains perfect order in the universe from an atom to a planet and a star . Yama or Kaal is the god death , who equalises everything .
An exploration of the practice of samatha, the style of meditation devoted to focus and attention Geshe Sopa continues his elucidation of Lama Tsongkhapa's masterwork on the Buddhist path with an explanation of the core meditative practice of samatha, or calm abiding. Showing how it is absolutely essential for--and goes hand in hand with--the achievement of insight into reality, he gives practical tips for countering sleepiness, agitation, and their more subtle counterparts. Leading us step by step toward deeper levels of concentration, volume 4 of the Steps on the Path to Enlightenment series brings readers closer to the ultimate goal of samatha: unlimited and effortless focus.
In recent years maṇḍalas have attracted much interest among a wider public. The main focus of such interest has been directed toward Tibetan maṇḍalas, specimens of which have been included in numerous publications. But maṇḍalas are found across a wide spectrum of South Asian religious traditions, including those of the Hindus and Jains. Hindu maṇḍalas and yantras have hardly been researched. This book attempts to fill this gap by clarifying important aspects of maṇḍalas and yantras in specific Hindu traditions through investigations by renowned specialists in the field. Its chapters explore maṇḍalas and yantras in the Smārta, Pāñcarātra, Śaiva and Śākta traditions. An essay on the vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala and its relationship to architecture is also included. With 13 colour plates.
This book is the first comprehensive treatment of the Huayan school of East Asian Buddhism in a Western language. This school, which received its name from the Chinese translation of the important Mahayana scripture, the Buddhavatam sakasutra, flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907) and spread to Korea and Japan as well. The reader gains an insight into the development of Huayan Buddhism: The compilation of its base text, the Buddhavatam sakasutra, the establishment of Huayan tradition as a special form of East Asian Buddhism and its visual representations. The book consists of five chapters: 1. State of Field, 2. The Buddhavatam. sakasutra, 3. Huayan in China, 4. Hwaom/Kegon in Korea and Japan, and 5. Huayan/Hwaom/Kegon Art. The following scholars contributed to this volume: Aramaki Noritoshi, Jana Benicka, Choe Yeonshik, Bernard Faure, Frederic Girard, Imre Hamar, Huang Yi-hsun, Ishii Kosei, Kimura Kiyotaka, Charles Muller, Jan Nattier, Otake Susumu, Joerg Plassen, Wei Daoru, Dorothy Wong, Zhu Qingzhi. Included are bibliographies of secondary sources on Huayan Buddhism in Western languages, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
This book is a social–scientific interpretation of the 15 centuries-old Hindu and Buddhist traditions of tantra. It is a self-reflexive study, informed by an insider’s empathy and the apprehension of an Indologist-cum-anthropologist who is also a mystic and an initiated practitioner of the cult himself. Using his personal praxis to inform his research, the author examines three core themes tantra: a ‘holonic’ mandalic individuality that conduces to the mystical experience; a positive valorisation of pleasure and play; and cultural attitudes of gender-mutuality and complementarity as neatly encapsulated in the icon of Shiva as Ardhanariswara. This analysis —as captured by the tantric mandalas of deities in intimate union who vividly enact the three themes — leads to his compelling metathesis, that of tantra serving as a permanent counterculture within Indic civilisation. This book should be of interest to those in anthropology, South Asian studies, religious studies, gender studies, psychology, and philosophy, as also the general reader.
The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia is a multi-authored treatment of the whole of mainland and island Southeast Asia from Burma to Indonesia. Unlike other histories of the region, it is not divided on a country-by-country basis and is not structured purely chronologically, but rather takes a thematic and regional approach to Southeast Asia's history, aiming to present the current state of historical research on Southeast Asia as well as stimulating further thought and investigation.--Publisher description.
