The Dragons' Mantle
The Dragons' Mantle

Author: Tracy Doherty

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2011-05-19

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 1462874185

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Into our world comes a much-needed story. Our world is such, that all of our futures depend on all of the children in it. In this world, the fear and hate of the past are the biggest stumbling blocks to a future that we cant yet see. Here comes a story that shows that by choosing life over death, and trust over fear we can create a new future that we all can live in together. A little girl and a purple dragon come to realize that the future is alive and that the past is dead. To survive, they will have to trust in each other. This story is for all those in our world who know that only by choosing life for everyone will there be a future for anyone.

The Taoist Experience
The Taoist Experience

Author: Livia Kohn

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1993-01-01

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 9780791415795

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Containing sixty translations from a large variety of texts, this is an accessible yet thorough introduction to the major concepts, doctrines, and practices of Taoism. It presents the philosophy, rituals, and health techniques of the ancients as well as the practices and ideas of Taoists today. Divided into four sections, it follows the Taoist Path: The Tao, Long Life, Eternal Vision, and Immortality. It shows how the world of the Tao is perceived from within the tradition, what fervent Taoists did, and how practitioners saw their path and goals. The Taoist Experience is unique in that it presents the whole of Taoist tradition in the very words of its active practitioners. It conveys not only a sense of the depth of the Taoist religious experience but also of the underlying unity of the various schools and strands.

Dragon's Deception
Dragon's Deception

Author: Nicolette Andrews

Publisher: Magpie Publishing

Published: 2022-08-22

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How could a fake engagement between royals go wrong? When one of them is secretly a were-dragon. When corrupt magic killed Princess Liane’s best friend, she swore she’d get revenge. Now she fights to stamp out the smugglers bringing poisonous magic into the capitol. Dedicated to her cause, she’s sworn never to marry until they’re eradicated. But her mother, the Empress, is desperate to see her settled. When Liane discovers a new lead that will eliminate the criminals for good, she’s prepared to risk it all for vengeance. But her mother’s meddling keeps getting in the way. To distract her, Liane needs a fake fiancé… Running from a past he can’t bear to face, Erich hides his were-dragon curse by avoiding humans. If his secret is revealed, he’ll be executed. After multiple failed attempts to break his curse, Erich risks entering the capitol to seek a miracle healer. Instead, he meets an elf who presents him with an enticing offer: steal the Empress’ enchanted blade for a cure. Erich has one month before his next transformation... but to get close to the royal family, he’ll need a disguise… After a chance meeting, Liane and Erich's lives become intertwined. Tangled up in secrets and lies, they agree to a pretend engagement. However, as the lines between pretense and reality blur, Liane’s conviction to never marry wavers. And if Erich’s truth comes out, it won’t be just their hearts and Liane’s trust on the line, but his life. While their motives are in conflict, they need one another more than they realize. And soon they’ll discover their meeting wasn’t mere coincidence, but rather a destiny written in the stars....

The Red Thread
The Red Thread

Author: Bernard Faure

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 1998-10-26

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 1400822602

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Is there a Buddhist discourse on sex? In this innovative study, Bernard Faure reveals Buddhism's paradoxical attitudes toward sexuality. His remarkably broad range covers the entire geography of this religion, and its long evolution from the time of its founder, Xvkyamuni, to the premodern age. The author's anthropological approach uncovers the inherent discrepancies between the normative teachings of Buddhism and what its followers practice. Framing his discussion on some of the most prominent Western thinkers of sexuality--Georges Bataille and Michel Foucault--Faure draws from different reservoirs of writings, such as the orthodox and heterodox "doctrines" of Buddhism, and its monastic codes. Virtually untapped mythological as well as legal sources are also used. The dialectics inherent in Mahvyvna Buddhism, in particular in the Tantric and Chan/Zen traditions, seemed to allow for greater laxity and even encouraged breaking of taboos. Faure also offers a history of Buddhist monastic life, which has been buffeted by anticlerical attitudes, and by attempts to regulate sexual behavior from both within and beyond the monastery. In two chapters devoted to Buddhist homosexuality, he examines the way in which this sexual behavior was simultaneously condemned and idealized in medieval Japan. This book will appeal especially to those interested in the cultural history of Buddhism and in premodern Japanese culture. But the story of how one of the world's oldest religions has faced one of life's greatest problems makes fascinating reading for all.

Ethical and Religious Classics of East and West
Ethical and Religious Classics of East and West

Author: A. J. Arberry

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-07-30

Total Pages: 1632

ISBN-13: 1000807711

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the belief that all the great religions have similarities that confirm and differences that enrich peoples’ spiritual outlook on the world, the editors inaugurated a series which they hoped would bring out the essential tenets of religion in what they perceived to be an age of doubt. The series was originally published in the 1950s and consisted of three kinds of books: translations of imaginative, devotional and philosophic works, with an introduction or commentary; reproductions of masterpieces of religious art; and background books showing the environment in which this literature and art arose and developed. The books overlap each other: Both Eastern and Western religious art often illustrates a religious text and many of the books seek the common ground in their cultural view of religion or philosophy.

The Dragon in the West
The Dragon in the West

Author: Daniel Ogden

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-09-09

Total Pages: 478

ISBN-13: 0192565877

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An exploration of how the image and idea of the dragon has evolved through history How did the dragon get its wings? Everyone in the modern West has a clear idea of what a dragon looks like and of the sorts of stories it inhabits, not least devotees of the fantasies of J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, and George R. R. Martin. A cross between a snake and some fearsome mammal, often sporting colossal wings, they live in caves, lie on treasure, maraud, and breathe fire. They are extraordinarily powerful, but even so, ultimately defeated in their battles with humans. What is the origin of this creature? The Dragon in the West is the first serious and substantial account in any language of the evolution of the modern dragon from its ancient forebears. Daniel Ogden's detailed exploration begins with the drakōn of Greek myth and the draco of the dragon-loving Romans, and a look at the ancient world's female dragons. It brings the story forwards though Christian writings, medieval illustrated manuscripts, and the lives of dragon-duelling saints, before concluding with a study of dragons found in the medieval Germanic world, including those of the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and the Norse sagas.