A guide to Buddhism's rich variety of traditions and cultural expressions for educators who would like to include Buddhism in their undergraduate courses. Over its long history, Buddhism has never been a simple monolithic phenomenon, but rather a complex living tradition-or better, a family of traditions-continually shaped by and shaping a vast array of social, economic, political, literary, and aesthetic contexts across East Asia, South Asia, and...

Terry Johnson is a trouble shooter in the aviation industry working on business trips to the far east. Suddenly his driver said he had killed baby fetuses to make baby spirits go to work for him. 'We do it all the time said the driver.' 'How do you get a real baby?' Asked Terry. We pay a real women to get pregnant then after eight months have gone by, we make her have the baby. Then we put the baby on the roof in the sun and pray and chant over the...

Now considered a classic among readers interested in Tibetan Buddhism and pilgrimages of the spirit of all kinds, A Journey in Ladakh is Andrew Harvey's spiritual travelogue of his arduous journey to one of the most remote parts of the world--the highest, least populated region in India, cut off by snow for six months each year. Buddhists have meditated in the mountains of Ladakh since three centuries before Christ, and it is there that the purest...

To the Western imagination, Tibet evokes exoticism, mysticism, and wonder: a fabled land removed from the grinding onslaught of modernity, spiritually endowed with all that the West has lost. Originally published in 1998, Prisoners of Shangri-La provided the first cultural history of the strange encounter between Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Donald Lopez reveals here fanciful misconceptions of Tibetan life and religion. He examines, among much else,...

"Sacred Paths" invites readers to embark on a profound exploration of the origins and beliefs of Shinto and Buddhism in Japan. From the ancient reverence for kami to the enlightenment teachings of the Buddha, the book navigates the intricate tapestry of spiritual traditions that have shaped the cultural identity of Japan. Through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis, readers gain a deep understanding of the interconnectedness, coexistence, and...

Tiantai Buddhism emerged from an idiosyncratic and innovative interpretation of the Lotus Sutra to become one of the most complete, systematic, and influential schools of philosophical thought developed in East Asia. Brook A. Ziporyn puts Tiantai into dialogue with modern philosophical concerns to draw out its implications for ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. Ziporyn explains Tiantai's unlikely roots, its positions of extreme affirmation and...

Morrison offers an illuminating study of two linked traditions that have figured prominently in 20th-century thought: Buddhism and the philosophy of Nietzsche. Nietzsche admired Buddhism, but saw it as a dangerously nihilistic religion; he forged his own affirmative philosophy in reaction against the nihilism that he feared would overwhelm Europe. Morrison shows that Nietzsche's influential view of Buddhism was mistaken, and that far from being...

An excellent introduction to the thinking of Tarthang Tulku, these fifty essays are reflections based on Tarthang Tulku's more than 50 years of living and working in America. Topics include Conversations on Mind and Faith; Into the Depth of Reality; Challenging Basic Patterns; The Question of Time; At Play in the Bubble Worlds, and more. Very accessible and thought provoking, Challenging Journey, Creative Journey touches on more traditional Buddhist...

For nearly forty-five years, Arnaud Maitland has devoted himself to the teachings of Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche, one of the last surviving Nyingma lamas to receive a complete education in Old Tibet. In this candid, wide-ranging book, Arnaud delves into what it has meant to him to follow his teacher, exploring the experiences that deepened his self-knowledge and led him to commit himself to Tarthang Tulku's mission to preserve the wisdom of his tradition...

Get the Summary of Erik Jampa Andersson's Unseen Beings in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. "Unseen Beings" by Erik Jampa Andersson is a profound exploration of the human-centric perspective that has led to detrimental effects on Earth's quality of life. The book encourages a shift from this anthropocentric view to better our future by acknowledging the errors of our past and altering our outlook to reinforce our...