East Asian religions and spiritual beliefs Books

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Book SynopsisIn China, the art and practice of drinking tea is about much more than merely soaking leaves in a cup of hot water. The tradition is rooted in Daoism, and emerged from a philosophy that honoured living a life of grace and gratitude, balance and harmony, and fulfilment and enjoyment - what the ancient Chinese called Cha Dao, or the Way of Tea.Cha Dao takes us on a fascinating journey through the Way of Tea, from its origins in the sacred mountains and temples of ancient China, through its links to Daoist concepts such as Wu Wei or non-striving and the Value of Worthlessness, to the affinity between Tea Mind and the Japanese spirit of Zen. Interspersed are a liberal helping of quotes from the great tea masters of the past, anecdotes from the author's own trips to China, and traditional tea stories from China and Japan. The unique health benefits of tea are also explored, and a chapter is devoted to describing the history, characteristics and properties of 25 different tea varieties. This book will interest tea lovers, as well as those who want to learn more about tea culture, Daoist and Zen thought and practice, and Asian history and culture.Trade ReviewCha Dao is not only a wonderful book on tea, its history, and the joy of appreciating its warmth, aroma, and its many flavours, but is also an excellent primer on Daoist thinking and living. I loved this book. It informed me about tea and the customs surrounding it, lifted my spirit, and sharpened my mind. For those who enjoy tea, it deserves a place on your bookshelf. -- The Empty VesselThere is a wealth of discovery in this small book; the understanding of ancient philosophy and the place for tea in this ideology. It is a book to dip into over time; a book to seek new learning and different ways of thinking or being. -- Margaret Thornby's tea & tea room talkThis book interweaves the simple pleasure of drining tea with the Way of Dao, the ancient Chinese philosophy... Sitting down and enjoying a cup pf tea is one of life's simple pleasures, and this book has given me even more reasons to reach for the teapot. -- Kindred SpiritApproaches the heavenly drink not from the point of view of a nutritionist, purveyor or aficionado, but from a cultural and philosophical perspective. Towler is an instructor of Daoist meditation and qigong living ni Eugene, Oregon, and has for many hears been the editor of the Daoist journal The Empty Vessel. As a consequence of the author's particular interests, this book is about "the art and practice of drinking tea." In short, it has as much to do with the tea drinker as it does with the tea... Solala Towler has given us 169 pages of ruminations, citations, exotic stories, and thought provoking references. -- Huffington PostSolala Towler describes the various tea ceremonies, types of tea and medicinal benefits of tea. It's a fun romp of a read, not too heavy, saturated with history and philosophy, and of course, Tea. -- Dojo Rat BlogTable of ContentsIntroduction. 1. Cha Dao: The Way of Tea. 2. A Brief History of Tea in China. 3. Lu Yu Meets a True Tea Master. 4. Tea Mind/Zen Mind. 5. Just One Flower. 6. The Slippery Art of Wu Wei: Or, the Art of Doing Nothing. 7. One Last Cup. 8. The Uncarved Block. 9. The Man Who Knew Too Much: A Tale of Tea and Enlightenment. 10. The Value of Worthlessness. 11. A Daoist Tea Ceremony. 12. Making a Cup of Tea. 13. A Gong Fu Tea Ceremony. 14. The Health Benefits of Tea. 15. Types of Tea. 16. Tea Time. 17. A Few Last Words. Sources for Tea. Bibliography. About the Author.

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Book SynopsisIn 1993, archaeologists unearthed a set of ancient bamboo scrolls that contained the earliest known version of the Dao de jing. Composed more than two thousand years ago, this life-changing document offers a regimen of self-cultivation to attain personal excellence and revitalize moral behavior. Now in this luminous new translation, renowned China scholars Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall bring the timeless wisdom of the Dao de jing into our contemporary world.In this elegant volume, Ames and Hall feature the original Chinese texts of the Dao de jing and translate them into crisp, chiseled English that reads like poetry. Each of the eighty-one brief chapters is followed by clear, thought-provoking commentary exploring the layers of meaning in the text. This new version of one of the world’s most influential documents will stand as both a compelling introduction to Daoist thought and as the classic modern English translation.

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Book SynopsisHelp others. Help yourself. Be a better person, and make the world a better place. Using the wisdom of the East to instruct and inspire, Instant Karma is a universe of things a reader can do, right now, to accumulate good karma. And, like pennies going into a piggy bank, each is a seemingly little thing-but feed the bank day after day and feel it grow richer and happier.Created by Barbara Ann Kipfer, the author whose books-including 14,000 Things to Be Happy About, 8,789 Words of Wisdom, and The Wish List-have 1.2 million copies in print, Instant Karma is a compulsive, densely packed, chunky little book of 10,000 or so suggestions, wishes, thoughts, and the occasional heartening quotation.Line after line, page after page, mesmerizing to read and filled with inspiration, it is the best kind of call to action-good for you and good for others.

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Book SynopsisMoral thought and ethical practice in South Asia, past and presentTrade Review[A] welcome addition to the growing body of literature on ethics in South Asia. While not losing sight of the significance of texts and religion, the essays move the discussion . . . The recurring theme of embodiment of ethical knowledge through memorization and recitation is as much an important and useful intervention in the study of ethics, as it is in the study of the interface between text and performance in South Asia. * JRNL ASIAN STUDIES *Setting a novel and exciting agenda for the understanding of ways through which 'ethical lives' in South Asia are produced, debated and experienced in the every day, this volume will no doubt take a prominent place on the bookshelves of scholars and students researching ethics and morality in the subcontinent and beyond. * Pacific Affairs *This book is a competent and credible illustration of the richness of south Asian ethical traditions and the resources to be found there for a reorientation and renewal of our ethical sensitivity in changing times. It will be valuable book for anyone studying ethics in the south Asian context, and especially for historians and moral philosophers. * Economic and Political Weekly *This stimulating book well rewards a close and careful reading, and lays the foundation for much future research. * Biblio *Table of ContentsIntroduction / Anand Pandian and Daud AliPart 1. Traditions in Transmission 1. The Subhas.ita as an Artifact of Ethical Life in Medieval India / Daud Ali 2. Disciplining the Senses, Schooling the Mind: Inhabiting Virtue in the Tamil Tin.n.ai School / Bhavani Raman 3. Ethical Traditions in Question: Diaspora Jainism and the Environmental and Animal Liberation Movements / James LaidlawPart 2. Ethics and Modernity 4. Vernacular Capitalists and the Modern Subject in India: Law, Cultural Politics, and Market Ethics / Ritu Birla 5. The Ethics of Textuality: The Protestant Sermon and the Tamil Public Sphere / Bernard Bate 6. Empire, Ethics, and the Calling of History / Dipesh ChakrabartyPart 3. Practices of the Self 7. Between Intuition and Judgment: Moral Creativity in Theravada Buddhist Ethics / Charles Hallisey 8. Young Manliness: Ethical Culture in the Gymnasiums of the Medieval Deccan / Emma Flatt 9. Ethical Subjects: Time, Timing, and Tellability / Leela Prasad 10. Demoralizing Developments: Ethics, Class, and Student Power in Modern North India / Craig JeffreyPart 4. Ethical Lives of Others 11. Living by Dying: Gandhi, Satyagraha, and the Warrior / Ajay Skaria 12. Moral and Spiritual Striving in the Everyday: To Be a Muslim in Contemporary India / Veena Das 13. Ethical Publicity: On Transplant Victims, Wounded Communities, and the Moral Demands of Dreaming / Lawrence CohenList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisAncestors, Kings, and the Dao outlines the evolution of musical performance in early China, first within and then ultimately away from the socio-religious context of ancestor worship. The focus of this study is on excavated texts; it is the first to use both bronze and bamboo narratives to show the evolution of a single ritual practice.

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Book SynopsisAt once profound, spiritual, and witty, Master of the Three Ways is a remarkable work about human nature, the essence of life, and how to live simply and with awareness. In three hundred and fifty-seven verses, the author, Hung Ying-ming—a seventeenth-century Chinese sage—explores good and evil, honesty and deception, wisdom and foolishness, and heaven and hell. He draws from the wisdom of the “Three Creeds”—Taoism, Confucianism, and Zen Buddhism—to impress upon us that by combining simple elegance with the ordinary, we can make our lives artistic and poetic. This sense, along with a particular understanding of Zen that makes art from the simple in everyday life, has permeated Chinese and Japanese culture to this day. The work is divided into two books. The first generally deals with the art of living in society and the second is concerned with man''s solitude and contemplations of nature. These themes repeatedly spill over into each other, creating multiple levels of meaning.

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Book SynopsisChinese traditional culture cannot be understood without some familiarity with the I Ching, yet it is one of the most difficult of the worlds ancient classics. Assembled from fragments with many obscure allusions, it was the subject of ingenious, but often conflicting, interpretations over nearly three thousand years. Teaching the II Ching (Book of Changes) offers a comprehensive study at a time when interest in Asian philosophy and the culture of China is on the rise. Still widely read in China, it has become a countercultural classic in the West. Recent scholarship has radically altered our understanding of this foundational work. Geoffrey Redmond and Tze-Ki Hon present an up-to-date survey of recent studies including reconstruction of the early meanings, excavated manuscripts, the New Culture Movement, and the Cultural Revolution. To facilitate introducing the classic to students, the necessary background is provided for university teachers and students, even non-China specialists. Trade ReviewThis balance between the critical and the nonjudgmental is one of the more distinctive features of this book. The stance continues in the sections "How Does the Yijing Work?" and sections on how the text has been compared with science, mathematics, and computers... It covers the major English translations, describes more fully the various layers of text, and provides very complete instructions on consulting the Yi and interpreting the results. * Joseph A. Adler, Dao *Teaching the I-Ching (Book of Changes) is a reliable road-map for students to navigate the intriguing intellectual terrain of the ancient Chinese Classic, detailing the historical background and the texts structure and content. Redmond and Hons narratives are readable, and their scholarship underpins the accessible translation. This book should serve as an important reference book for undergraduates, graduates, and general readers, who want to explore the multifarious and mysterious world of Changes'. * Dennis K. H. Cheng, Chair Professor of Cultural History, Hong Kong Institute of Education; European Chair of Chinese Studies, Leiden University; Professor of Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University *A magnificent achievement, offering a well-written and judicious synthesis of existing scholarship on the origins, development, and transnational travels of the I Ching. In addition, Redmond and Hon offer their readers insightful suggestions about how to understand and productively use this fascinating document-not only in the classroom but also beyond. * Richard J. Smith, author of The I ching: 6IA Biography *The uniqueness of this book is its combination of scholarly rigor with a willingness to explore the phenomenology of divination practice. It is an excellent history of the I Ching as a book, including the ways it has been interpreted both in China and the West up to the present day. The two chapters (1 and 11) that cross the great water into divination practice do so without going overboard into the trendy realm of popular I Ching enthusiasm. * Joseph A. Adler, Author of Reconstructing the Confucian Dao: Zhu Xi's Appropriation of Zhou Dunyi *The authors are well-informed regarding the traditional Chinese context and modern issues alike...This volume belongs in all collections. * Russell Kirkland, Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsPreface ; Acknowledgements ; Chronology of Chinese Dynasties ; Structure of the Yijing ; List of Illustrations ; Introduction: Studying an Ancient Classic ; Chapter 1 Divination: Fortune-Telling and Philosophy ; Chapter 2 Bronze Age Origins ; Chapter 3 Women in the Book of Changes ; Chapter 4 Excavated Manuscripts ; Chapter 5 Ancient Meanings Reconstructed ; Chapter 6 The Ten Wings ; Chapter 7 Cosmology ; Chapter 8 Moral Cultivation ; Chapter 9 The Yijing in Modern China ; Chapter 10 The Yijing's Journey to the West ; Chapter 11 Reading the Book of Changes ; Chapter 12 The Future of the Yijing ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisIn a society that has seen epochal change over a few generations, what remains to hold people together and offer them a sense of continuity and meaning? In Songs for Dead Parents, Erik Mueggler shows how in contemporary China death and the practices surrounding it have become central to maintaining a connection with the world of ancestors, ghosts, and spirits that socialism explicitly disavowed. Drawing on more than twenty years of fieldwork in a mountain community in Yunnan Province, Songs for Dead Parents shows how people view the dead as both material and immaterial, as effigies replace corpses, tombstones replace effigies, and texts eventually replace tombstones in a long process of disentangling the dead from the shared world of matter and memory. It is through these processes that people envision the cosmological underpinnings of the world and assess the social relations that make up their community. Thus, state interventions aimed at reforming death practices have been deeply co

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Book SynopsisIn a society that has seen epochal change over a few generations, what remains to hold people together and offer them a sense of continuity and meaning? In Songs for Dead Parents, Erik Mueggler shows how in contemporary China death and the practices surrounding it have become central to maintaining a connection with the world of ancestors, ghosts, and spirits that socialism explicitly disavowed. Drawing on more than twenty years of fieldwork in a mountain community in Yunnan Province, Songs for Dead Parents shows how people view the dead as both material and immaterial, as effigies replace corpses, tombstones replace effigies, and texts eventually replace tombstones in a long process of disentangling the dead from the shared world of matter and memory. It is through these processes that people envision the cosmological underpinnings of the world and assess the social relations that make up their community. Thus, state interventions aimed at reforming death practices have been deeply co

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Book SynopsisTracing Japan's religions from the Hein Period through the middle ages and into modernity, this book explores the unique establishment of Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism in Japan, as well as the later influence of Roman Catholicism, and the problem of Restoration--both spiritual and material--following World War II.Table of ContentsPreface to the Paperback Edition Preface Abbreviations Emperor, Shaman, and Priest Kami, Amida, and Jizo The Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen Kirishitan, Neo-Confucianism, and the Shogunate Modernity, Culture, and Religion Old Dreams or New Vision Chronological Table Glossary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn China’s Green Religion, James Miller shows how Daoism orients individuals toward a holistic understanding of religion and nature. Explicitly connecting human flourishing to the thriving of nature, Daoism fosters a “green” subjectivity and agency that transforms what it means to live a flourishing life on earth.Trade ReviewThis book presents a novel interpretation of Daoism as a 'green religion' that can transcend its premodern, Chinese origins and offer to the world a distinctive ecological orientation of wider relevance. Miller is arguably the world's leading scholar of Daoism and the environment, and China's Green Religion makes a striking and important contribution to the field of religion and ecology. -- Bronislaw Szerszynski, Lancaster University This book breaks new ground and may serve as a model for more sophisticated engagements with Daoism in terms of ecology. It is at the cutting edge of Daoist Studies. -- Louis Komjathy, Associate Professor of Chinese Religions and Comparative Religious Studies at the University of San Diego James Miller's book is a rich and deeply informed exploration of the relationships of Daoist religion and philosophy with nature and the environment. Miller discusses Daoist principles in new and exciting ways, often related to current ecological and ecocritical topics. He applies Daoist principles to current problems and possible futures, arguing that Daoism could help us develop not only sustainability but also flourishing. This is an important book with new and exciting ideas for environmentalists and citizens. -- Eugene Anderson, University of California, Riverside There is perhaps no scholar in the West who could have written such a valuable book on the contributions of Daoism to ecological thought and practice in China. Meticulously researched and clearly written, this is a book that will indispensable for academics and policy makers alike who are concerned about China's future. -- Mary Evelyn Tucker, Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Religion, Modernity, and Ecology 2. The Subjectivity of Nature 3. Liquid Ecology 4. The Porosity of the Body 5. The Locative Imagination 6. The Political Ecology of the Daoist Body 7. From Modernity to Sustainability 8. From Sustainability to Flourishing Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisJinhua Jia draws on a wealth of previously untapped sources to explain how Daoist priestesses marked themselves as a distinct gendered religious and social group. The first comprehensive study of the lives and roles of Daoist priestesses in Tang China, Gender, Power, and Talent restores women to the landscape of Chinese religion and literature.Trade ReviewAn incredibly important book for both scholars and students, one which will remain for years to come a pivotal resource for classrooms and related studies. * Reading Religion *Gender, Power, and Talent succeeds in demonstrating the breadth of achievement of Daoist priestesses in the Tang. -- Daniel Burton-Rose, Northern Arizona University, USA * Nan Nu *[This] volume presents an impressive wealth of material for historical studies on women as well as on religion. * Religious Studies Review *[Gender, Power, and Talent's] contributions to the scholarship on Chinese religion, literature, and women studies make it a useful reference for scholars and students interested in related areas. Overall, it is a worthy beginning to what we hope will be increased emphasis on women and Daoism, and it should stimulate further research on Daoism and gender studies. -- Yue Wu * Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews *Written by a rising leader in Chinese religious studies applying an interdisciplinary approach that combines religious, literary, and gender studies, and searching through all available sources and recovering many new texts, Gender, Power, and Talent examines both the conventional and ‘unconventional’ roles played by Tang Daoist priestesses in the historical context of the Tang dynasty. -- Nanxiu Qian, Rice UniversityGender, Power, and Talent argues that Daoist women of medieval China played an important role in the religion and in the society of the time; that their emergence as a major social force is unprecedented in Chinese history; and that they developed a new form of identity both as women and as Daoists. The gender-critical perspective of the book together with its meticulous historical research makes it a unique contribution to the field. -- Livia Kohn, Boston UniversityElite Daoist nuns of the Tang dynasty used to have a scandalous reputation. Jinhua Jia does them justice; the gossip is accounted for, but more important elements are added to the picture: the uneasy invention of Daoist monasticism, the debates around female religiosity and poetic expression, and the rise of early modern self-cultivation practices. This gendered history of medieval Daoism is a major addition to our understanding of Chinese religious cultures. -- Vincent Goossaert, Université PSL, École Pratique des Hautes ÉtudesUsing previously unknown mortuary inscriptions, rare Dunhuang manuscripts, and a broad range of received texts, Jia offers a revealing panorama of women's religious practices from medieval China. This study of Tang Daoist priestesses from various backgrounds brings the lives of these many remarkable women out of the shadows. Cultural and social history at its best. -- Paul W. Kroll, University of Colorado, BoulderBy making meticulous use of important new sources and re-viewing older ones with an informed and insightful gender-critical eye, Jinhua Jia has admirably succeeded in finally releasing Tang dynasty Daoist women from the traditional stereotypes, whether romantically idealistic or moralistically censorious, that have so long obscured their significant accomplishments in such diverse areas as scriptural exegesis, ritual practice, medicine, literature, and the arts. -- Beata Grant, Washington University in St. LouisTable of ContentsList of Figures and TablesAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. The Rise of Daoist Priestesses as a Gendered Religio-Social Group2. Destiny and Power of the Ordained Royal Women3. Religious Leadership, Practice, and Ritual Function4. Liu Moran and the Daoist Theory of Inner Cultivation5. Longevity Techniques and Medical Theory: The Legacy of Hu Yin6. The Yaochi ji and Three Daoist Priestess-Poets7. Unsold Peony: The Life and Poetry of the Priestess-Poet Yu XuanjiConclusionAppendix: Du Guangting and the Hagiographies of Tang Daoist WomenNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisHuaiyu Chen examines how Buddhist ideas about animals changed and were changed by medieval Chinese culture. He explores the entangled relations among animals, religions, the state, and local communities, considering both the multivalent meanings associated with animals and the daily experience of living with the natural world.Trade ReviewThe question of how humans treat, and should treat, non-human animals has become more urgent in the face of biodiversity loss, and we might find some answers by considering how we have lived with animals in other times and places. Huaiyu Chen’s In the Land of Tigers and Snakes. . . provides openings to do so. * The Times Literary Supplement *Huaiyu Chen makes a significant contribution to our understanding of human–animal interactions in medieval China…[He] tells a fascinating story of the changing boundaries between the “wild and untamed” and the “civilized” world. Particularly rich and cohesive…In the Land of Tigers and Snakes would be an excellent reading for either an undergraduate- or a graduate level class in religious studies and Asian history. * Journal of Chinese History *...by learning from the work presented in this book, we can promote deeper conversations and mutual understandings between religions, allowing scholars across multiple disciplines other than religious studies to gain inspiration for their respective fields of study. * Religion *. . . engaging and rich in detail. In all, this is a much-needed addition to the ever-growing field of Chinese animal studies, demonstrating the applicability and range of the “animal lens” in scholarship. * School of Oriental & African Studies *In the Land of Tigers and Snakes is meticulously researched, richly documented, and well contextualized. Chen shows excellent command of his source materials, and I really learned a tremendous amount from reading this book. A must-read for anyone interested in animals and religion! -- Barbara Ambros, author of Bones of Contention: Animals and Religion in Contemporary JapanAn unprecedented survey of some very rich sources, In the Land of Tigers and Snakes is a major contribution to the study of the interactions between the human and animal realms in a pivotal period of Chinese history. -- T.H. Barrett, author of Taoism Under the T'ang: Religion and Empire during the Golden Age of Chinese HistoryIn this fascinating and important study, Huaiyu Chen overturns facile beliefs that Buddhism and Daoism have long promoted ecologically beneficent attitudes and practices toward wild animals. Instead, he shows the complex ways religious leaders and laypeople viewed, controlled, killed, and according to legends, tamed and converted wild animals, in processes producing religious hierarchies, involving interreligious competition, and contributing decisively to the spread of agricultural civilizations at the expense of wildlife and wildlands. Highly recommended. -- Bron Taylor, Author of Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future and editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion and NatureBy learning from the work presented in this book, we can promote deeper conversations and mutual understandings between religions, allowing scholars across multiple disciplines other than religious studies to gain inspiration for their respective fields of study. * Religion *Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Buddhists Categorizing Animals: Medieval Chinese Classification2. Confucians Civilizing Unruly Beasts: Tigers and Pheasants3. Buddhists Taming Felines: The Companionship of the Tiger4. Daoists Transforming Ferocious Tigers: Practical Techniques and Rhetorical Strategies5. Buddhists Killing Reptiles: Snakes in Religious Competition6. Buddhists Enlightening Virtuous Birds: The Parrot as a Religious AgentEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisHuaiyu Chen examines how Buddhist ideas about animals changed and were changed by medieval Chinese culture. He explores the entangled relations among animals, religions, the state, and local communities, considering both the multivalent meanings associated with animals and the daily experience of living with the natural world.Trade ReviewThe question of how humans treat, and should treat, non-human animals has become more urgent in the face of biodiversity loss, and we might find some answers by considering how we have lived with animals in other times and places. Huaiyu Chen’s In the Land of Tigers and Snakes. . . provides openings to do so. * The Times Literary Supplement *Huaiyu Chen makes a significant contribution to our understanding of human–animal interactions in medieval China…[He] tells a fascinating story of the changing boundaries between the “wild and untamed” and the “civilized” world. Particularly rich and cohesive…In the Land of Tigers and Snakes would be an excellent reading for either an undergraduate- or a graduate level class in religious studies and Asian history. * Journal of Chinese History *...by learning from the work presented in this book, we can promote deeper conversations and mutual understandings between religions, allowing scholars across multiple disciplines other than religious studies to gain inspiration for their respective fields of study. * Religion *. . . engaging and rich in detail. In all, this is a much-needed addition to the ever-growing field of Chinese animal studies, demonstrating the applicability and range of the “animal lens” in scholarship. * School of Oriental & African Studies *In the Land of Tigers and Snakes is meticulously researched, richly documented, and well contextualized. Chen shows excellent command of his source materials, and I really learned a tremendous amount from reading this book. A must-read for anyone interested in animals and religion! -- Barbara Ambros, author of Bones of Contention: Animals and Religion in Contemporary JapanAn unprecedented survey of some very rich sources, In the Land of Tigers and Snakes is a major contribution to the study of the interactions between the human and animal realms in a pivotal period of Chinese history. -- T.H. Barrett, author of Taoism Under the T'ang: Religion and Empire during the Golden Age of Chinese HistoryIn this fascinating and important study, Huaiyu Chen overturns facile beliefs that Buddhism and Daoism have long promoted ecologically beneficent attitudes and practices toward wild animals. Instead, he shows the complex ways religious leaders and laypeople viewed, controlled, killed, and according to legends, tamed and converted wild animals, in processes producing religious hierarchies, involving interreligious competition, and contributing decisively to the spread of agricultural civilizations at the expense of wildlife and wildlands. Highly recommended. -- Bron Taylor, Author of Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future and editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion and NatureBy learning from the work presented in this book, we can promote deeper conversations and mutual understandings between religions, allowing scholars across multiple disciplines other than religious studies to gain inspiration for their respective fields of study. * Religion *Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Buddhists Categorizing Animals: Medieval Chinese Classification2. Confucians Civilizing Unruly Beasts: Tigers and Pheasants3. Buddhists Taming Felines: The Companionship of the Tiger4. Daoists Transforming Ferocious Tigers: Practical Techniques and Rhetorical Strategies5. Buddhists Killing Reptiles: Snakes in Religious Competition6. Buddhists Enlightening Virtuous Birds: The Parrot as a Religious AgentEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisSusan Snow Wadley is Ford Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies and Anthropology at Syracuse University. She is author of Struggling with Destiny in Karimpur, 19251984 and co-author of a revised edition of William and Charlotte Wiser's classic Behind Mud Walls.

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Book SynopsisAn anthology that provides a view of the lives of ordinary citizens in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It explores key themes in understanding the region, including gender, caste, class, religion, globalization, economic liberalization, nationalism, and emerging modernities.Trade ReviewEveryday Life in South Asia . . . is extremely accessible and has plenty to offer as introductory material for a wide range of topics. * New Asia Books *[T]he book offers keenly observed ethnographic snapshots, theorized by the authors and contextualized by the engaging section introductions. Indeed, the varied, rich, and sensitive portrayal of the ordinary (and extraordinary) lives of South Asians of vastly diverse backgrounds is just one of the volume's many strengths. * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *Richly informative but accessible and user friendly for classroom use. . . . This excellent volume of essays belongs in many places—on the shelves of specialists and non-specialists alike. * Journal of Asian Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on TransliterationIntroductionMapI. The Family and the Life Course Introduction1. One Straw from a Broom Cannot Sweep: The Ideology and Practice of the Joint Family in Rural North India Susan S. Wadley2. Allah Gives Both Boys and Girls Patricia Jeffery and Roger Jeffery3. "Out Here in Kathmandu": Youth and the Contradictions of Modernity in Urban Nepal Mark Liechty4. Rethinking Courtship, Marriage and Divorce in an Indian Call Center Cari Costanzo Kapur5. Love and Aging in Bengali Families Sarah LambII. GendersIntroduction6. New Light in the House: Schooling Girls in Rural North India Ann Grodzins Gold7. Offstage with Special Drama Actresses in Tamilnadu, South India: Roadwork Susan Seizer8. Breadwinners No More: Identities in Flux Michele Ruth Gamburd9. Life on the Margins: A Hijra's Story Serena Nanda10. Crossing "Lines" of Difference: Transnational Movements and Sexual Subjectivities in Hyderabad, India Gayatri ReddyIII. Caste, Class and CommunityIntroduction 11. Seven Prevalent Misconceptions about India's Caste System12. God-Chariots in a Garden of Castes: Hierarchy and Festival in a Hindu City Steven M. Parish13. High and Low Castes in Karani Viramma, with Josiane Racine and Jean Luc Racine14. Weakness, Worry Illness, and Poverty in the Slums of Dhaka Sabina Faiz Rashid 15. Anjali's Alliance: Class Mobility in Urban India Sara Dickey16. Recasting the Secular: Religion and Education in Kerala, India Ritty LukoseIV. Practicing ReligionIntroduction17. The Hindu Gods in a South Indian Village Diane P. Mines18. The Feast of Love McKim Marriott19. The Delusion of Gender and Renunciation in Buddhist Kashmir Kim Gutschow20. Muslim Village Intellectuals: The Life of the Mind in Northern Pakistan Magnus Marsden21. In Friendship: A Father, a Daughter and a Jinn Naveeda Khan22. Vernacular Islam at a Healing Crossroads in Hyderabad Joyce Burkhalter FlueckigerV. Nation-making Introduction23. Voices from the Partition Urvashi Butalia24. A Day in the Life Laura Ring25. Living and Dying for Mother India: Hindu Nationalist Female Renouncers and Sacred Duty Kalyani Devaki Menon26. Political Praise in Tamil Newspapers: The Poetry and Iconography of Democratic Power Bernard Bate27. Mala's Dream: Economic Policies, National Debates, and Sri Lankan Garment Workers Caitrin Lynch28. Interviews with High School Students in Eastern Sri Lanka Margaret TrawickVI. Globalization, Public Culture and the South Asian DiasporaIntroduction29. Cinema in the Countryside: Popular Tamil Film and the Remaking of Rural Life Anand Pandian30. Dangerous Desires: Erotics, Public Culture, and Identity in Late-Twentieth-Century India Purnima Mankekar31. A Diaspora Ramayana in Southall Paula Richman32. British Sikh Lives, Lived in Translation Kathleen Hall33. Examining the "Global" Indian Middle Class: Gender and Culture in the Silicon Valley/Bangalore Circuit Smitha Radhakrishnan34. Placing Lives through Stories: Second Generation South Asian Americans Kirin Narayan35. Unexpected Destinations E. Valentine DanielReferencesContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisThe peoples and cultures of Southeast AsiaTrade ReviewThe pages [of Everyday Life in Southeast Asia] are packed with useful insight that can infuse the travelers [sic] journey (particularly if they explore areas off the beaten track) with an enlightening understanding of deeply rooted traditions still practiced throughout South East Asia. . . . [I]t is highly readable in both a casual and on-the-go context, and contains facts that will challenge the reader to re-assess their own cultural practices and observe those of others in a new light. * ExpatGoMalaysia.com *This book offers an exceedingly rich conucopia of stories, themes, and analytical insights into contemporary southeast Asia. Moreover, it is a pleasure to read. Many edited collections in the social sciences aim ar at least claim to appeal to an audience beyond specialists. Everyday Life in Southeast Asia is one of the rare collections compiled and written by academics that should indeed speak to a broad audience as an introduction to the societies and peoples of one of the world's most richly diverse regions. Specialists, too, will take pleasure and find insights in this book. * Sojourn *One of the main contributions of this volume is its ability to unite extremely disparate topics under clearly defined theoretical themes. As such, it makes a wonderful textbook, not just for anthropology students, but also for those taking courses in the sociology, history and politics of South East Asia. * South East Asia Research *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on TransliterationMapsIntroduction: Southeast Asia and Everyday LifePart 1. Fluid Personhood: Conceptualizing Identities 1. Living in Indonesia without a Please or Thanks: Cultural Translations of Reciprocity and Respect / Lorraine V. Aragon 2. Toba Batak Selves: Personal, Spiritual, Collective / Andrew Causey 3. Poverty and Merit: Mobile Persons in Laos / Holly High 4. A Question of Identity: Different Ways of Being Malay and Muslim in Malaysia / Judith NagataPart 2. Family, Households, and Livelihoods 5. Maling: A Hanunóo Girl from the Philippines / Harold C. Conklin 6. Marriage and Opium in a Lisu Village in Northern Thailand / Kathleen Gillogly 7. Merit and Power in the Thai Social Order / Lucien M. Hanks, Jr.Part 3. Crafting the Nation-State 8. Recording Tradition and Measuring Progress in the Ethnic Minority Highlands of Thailand / Hjorleifur Jonsson 9. Everyday Life and the Management of Cultural Complexity in Contemporary Singapore / John Clammer 10. Youth Culture and Fading Memories of War in Hanoi, Vietnam / Christina SchwenkelPart 4. World Religions in Everyday Life: Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity 11. The Ordination of a Tree: The Buddhist Ecology Movement in Thailand / Susan M. Darlington 12. Javanese Women and the Veil / Nancy Smith-Hefner 13. Everyday Catholicism: Expanding the Sacred Sphere in the Philippines / Katharine L. WiegelePart 5. Communicating Ideas: Popular Culture, Arts, and Entertainment 14. Cultivating "Community" in an Indonesian Era of Conflict: Toraja Artistic Strategies for Promoting Peace / Kathleen M. Adams 15. The Fall of Thai Rocky / Pattana Kitiarsa 16. Everyday Life as Art: Thai Artists and the Aesthetics of Shopping, Eating, Protesting, and Having Fun / Sandra Cate 17. Eating Lunch and Recreating the Universe: Food and Cosmology in Hoi An, Vietnam / Nir AvieliPart 6. War and Recovery 18. Living with the War Dead in Contemporary Vietnam / Shaun Kingsley Malarney 19. Producing the People: Exchange Obligations and Popular Nationalism / Elizabeth G. Traube 20. The Question of Collaborators: Moral Order and Community in the Aftermath of the Khmer Rouge / Eve Monique ZuckerPart 7. Global Processes and Shifting Ecological Relations 21. When the Mountains No Longer Mean Home / Chris Lyttleton 22. "They Do Not Like to Be Confined and Told What To Do": Schooling Malaysian Indigenes / Robert Knox Dentan, Anthony (Bah Tony) Williams-Hunt, and Juli Edo 23. Narratives of Agency: Sex Work in Indonesia's Borderlands / Michele Ford and Lenore Lyons 24. Just below the Surface: Environmental Destruction and Loss of Livelihood on an Indonesian Atoll / Gene AmmarellReferencesSelected Film ResourcesContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisThe political context in which historians of India find themselves is dominated by the advance of the Hindu Right and forms of capitalism, while the historian's intellectual context is dominated by the marginalization of all varieties of Marxism. This title offers a view of how the craft of history should be practiced in this conjuncture.Trade Review" ... a subtle and illuminating critique of 'post-modernist' influences on contemporary Indian historical writing."--Asian Affairs, November 2004Table of ContentsPreliminary Table of Contents: IntroductionI. Colonial Times: Clocks and Kali-yugaII. Identities and Histories: Some Lower-Caste Narratives from Early Twentieth-Century BengalIII. Intimations of Hindutva: Ideologies, Caste, and Class in Post-Swadeshi BengalIV. Two Muslim Tracts for Peasants: Bengal 1909-1910V. Nationalism and "Stri-Swadhinata": The Contexts and Meanings of Rabindranath's Ghare-BaireVI. Postmodernism and the Writing of HistoryVII. The BJP Bomb and NationalismVIII. Christianity, Hindutva, and the Question of ConversionsIX. Hindutva and History

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Engaging and accessible. . . . A valuable contribution not only for its ability to fill a content gap in the study of modern South Asian religion, but for its successful use of this data to explore the inherent paradoxes that reformist spiritual movements face in such a context. Beyond scholars of South Asian and transnational Hinduism, the clarity and accessibility of this work will make it pertinent to anyone interested in the dynamics of modern religious syncretism." -- Anya P. Foxen * Reading Religion *"Karline McLain’s multilayered, multitextual, and multisited study, The Afterlife of Sai Baba, vividly and compellingly depicts the complex and evolving 100-year legacy since the death of famous Maharashtrian saint, Sai Baba from Shirdi." * H-Net Reviews *"A welcome, long-overdue scholarly account of the development of multiple modes of veneration of Shirdi Sai Baba. . . . McLain’s inviting and lively prose will appeal to a wide range of readers, including general readers interested in saint cults and religion, as well as to those with specialized interests in South Asian popular religion and history. . . . This book would be a wonderful text to use with university students in history, anthropology, and religious studies." -- Anne Elizabeth Hardgrove * Nova Religio *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Engaging and accessible. . . . A valuable contribution not only for its ability to fill a content gap in the study of modern South Asian religion, but for its successful use of this data to explore the inherent paradoxes that reformist spiritual movements face in such a context. Beyond scholars of South Asian and transnational Hinduism, the clarity and accessibility of this work will make it pertinent to anyone interested in the dynamics of modern religious syncretism." -- Anya P. Foxen * Reading Religion *"Karline McLain’s multilayered, multitextual, and multisited study, The Afterlife of Sai Baba, vividly and compellingly depicts the complex and evolving 100-year legacy since the death of famous Maharashtrian saint, Sai Baba from Shirdi." * H-Net Reviews *"A welcome, long-overdue scholarly account of the development of multiple modes of veneration of Shirdi Sai Baba. . . . McLain’s inviting and lively prose will appeal to a wide range of readers, including general readers interested in saint cults and religion, as well as to those with specialized interests in South Asian popular religion and history. . . . This book would be a wonderful text to use with university students in history, anthropology, and religious studies." -- Anne Elizabeth Hardgrove * Nova Religio *

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Book SynopsisThis unique book explores how graphocentrism affects Chinese education and culture. It moves away from the contemporary educational practices in China of following the Western model of phonocentrism, to demonstrate that each perspective interacts and counteracts with each other, creating a dialogue between Eastern and Western thought.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Prologue: Seeing is Believing? 1. Thinking Education Through the Spoken and the Written Word 2. Chinese Graphocentrism: A Search through Texts 3. Graphocentric Education: The Cultivation of the Writing Subject 4. The Paradox of Graphocentrism: Dao-Logocentrism 5. Post-Graphocentrism: dao-deconstruction 6. Post-Graphocentric Education Epilogue: Playing the Word References

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Book SynopsisIn 2005, Carole Hillenbrand was the first non-Muslim to be awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies, and in 2009 she received an OBE for Services to Higher Education. She is currently Professor Emerita in Islamic History at the University of Edinburgh and Professor of Islamic History at the University of St Andrews. She is the author of the internationally successful The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives.Trade Review'This book is well argued and well structured. It is balanced, judicious, and based on a wealth of erudition and astute observations' - Youssef Choueiri, University of Manchester'I cannot remember the last time I so much enjoyed reading a text on Islam. It is extremely well researched and the flowing writing style makes you want to finish it in one sitting' - H.R.H. Wijdan (Ali Al-Hashemi, Ph.D, diplomat and founder of the Jordan National Gallery)'What Carole Hillenbrand has achieved in her magnificent new book is breathtaking. The book is brilliantly organized and written with compelling clarity, which will make it the indispensable introduction to the subject for a long time to come' - Dr Richard Holloway, author of Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and DoubtTable of Contents1 Introduction • 2 Muhammad • 3 The Qur’an • 4 Faith • 5 Law • 6 Diversity • 7 Thought • 8 Sufism • 9 Jihad • 10 Women • 11 Tomorrow

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Book Synopsis“You can attain an understanding with which to win against ten thousand.”Toward the end of his life, the great samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi set down the secrets of his legendary success—the timeless principles of craft, skill, timing, and spirit that result in victory. His emphasis on strategic thinking, concentration, appropriate caution, choice of weapon, and the work ethic reflects the traditional Japanese approach to life. Today The Book of Five Rings has become an underground classic in the American business community, where it is studied as a text on Japanese management techniques. At once pragmatic and philosophical, The Book of Five Rings is an enduring guide to enlightenment that enriches all aspects of life—both public and private—and provides the tools and wisdom necessary for success in any human endeavor. This acclaimed English translation was prepared jointly by a team of Western and Japanese scholars for the Nihon Services Corporation, and interpreting, translating, and business counseling service dedicated to breaking down cultural and communication barriers between Japan and the United States. This edition includes explanatory notes ad commentary on each chapter.

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Book SynopsisDespite Taiwan's rise as an economic force in the world, modernity has not led to a Weberian process of disenchantment or curbed religiosity. To the contrary, other factorssocial, economic, politicalhave stimulated religion. How and why this has happened are central issues in this book.Trade ReviewThis is an excellent study of Taiwanese religious culture. Combining a thorough knowledge of Chinese historical and religious writings with camcorder ethnography, Sutton explores the face painted 'ghostly generals'—the entourage of the Five Emperors/Plague Gods that 'step the void,' dancing cosmic patterns of Daoism in modern Taiwan...This important work proves that Taiwanese culture must be understood as distinct from Mainland China culture. -- F. B. Bessac * Choice *

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, Mount Tai has been a magnet for both women and men from all classesemperors, aristocrats, officials, literati, and villagers. This book examines the behavior of those who made the pilgrimage to Mount Tai and their interpretations of its sacrality and history, as a means of better understanding their identities and mentalities.Trade ReviewProbably no one understanding of why the mountain mattered would have been shared by all the pilgrims Dott describes. But all visitors would have been aware that people unlike themselves shared the view that this particular place mattered, and that visitors over the centuries had deposited many different layers of meaning. They would have recognized themselves as part of an ‘us’ for whom Taishan was a crucial site. Understanding that ‘us’ remains an important task for scholars who want to probe the mountain’s significance or paint a general picture of late imperial culture. Scholars interested in either task will benefit greatly from reading this book. -- Kenneth Pomeranz * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *

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Book SynopsisIn this study, the author contends that early Chinese ancestor worship was not merely mechanical and thoughtless. Rather, it was an idea system that aroused serious debates about the nature of postmortem existence, served as the religious backbone to Confucianism, and may even have been the forerunner of Daoist and Buddhist meditation practices.

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Book SynopsisIn her study of medieval Chinese lay practices and beliefs, Valerie Hansen argues that social and economic developments underlay religious changes in the Southern Song. Unfamiliar with the contents of Buddhist and Daoist texts, the common people hired the practitioner or prayed to the god they thought could cure the ill or bring rain. As the economTable of Contents*FrontMatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. vii*ILLUSTRATIONS, pg. viii*ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, pg. xi*CHAPTER I. Introduction, pg. 3*CHAPTER II. Lay Choices, pg. 29*CHAPTER III. Understanding the Gods, pg. 48*CHAPTER IV. The Granting of Titles, pg. 79*CHAPTER V. Popular Deities in Huzhou, pg. 105*CHAPTER VI. The Rise of Regional Cults, pg. 128*CHAPTER VII. Conclusion, pg. 160*Appendix I: Comparison of The Record of the Listener and a Temple Inscription Recording the Same Miracle, pg. 167*Appendix II: Selected Translations from The Record of the Listener, pg. 171*APPENDIX III. Tables, pg. 176*GLOSSARY, pg. 201*BIBLIOGRAPHY, pg. 217*INDEX TO TEMPLE INSCRIPTIONS, pg. 243*INDEX, pg. 247

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Book SynopsisPerhaps the most important book yet written on meditation, the process of inner transformation, and the integration of spiritual practice into our Western way of life, A Path With Heart brings alive the possibilities of inner peace, wholeness and the achievement of happiness. Written by a teacher, psychologist and meditation master of international renown, this is a warm, inspiring and, above all, practical book. Its gentle Buddhist wisdom will guide you through the ups and downs of contemporary living, such as addiction, psychological and emotional healing, problems with relationships and the difficulties of achieving a balanced life of simplicity.Trade ReviewA warm, inspiring and, above all, practical book * Pride Magazine *It's encouraging to find Westerners who've sufficiently assimilated the traditions of the East to be able to share them with others as Jack is doing. May such efforts further the peace of all beings. -- His Holiness the Dalai LamaThis important guidebook shows in detail and with great humour and insight the way to practise the Buddha's universal teachings here in the West. Jack Kornfield is a wonderful storyteller and a great teacher. -- Thich Nhat HanhJack Kornfield is a remarkable and thoughtful teacher. -- Sogyal Rinpoche

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Book SynopsisGustafsson's rich ethnographic research explores the world of spirit possession in Vietnam, focusing on the source of the pain, the physical and mental anguish the spirits bring, and various attempts to ameliorate their anger through ritual offerings.Trade ReviewIn this engrossing account of spirit-possession illness caused by war ghosts in and around Ha Noi, Mai Lan Gustafson demystifies what are often perceived as mystical experiences without reducing them entirely to well-worn conceptual tropes. No doubt the book's greatest strength can be found in the vibrant and sympathetic ethnography of the wide cast of social actors involved in spirit possession. One theme that emerges as the book progresses involves the connections between angry ghosts and their victims as ways for the living to process wartime experiences, whether their own or not, through idioms of kinship, suffering, and social and moral responsibility. War and Shadows is a pleasure to read and a success in its own right. The book is also a clear introduction and guide to many issues salient to Vietnam Studies and would be an excellent teaching resource for lower and upper division courses on Vietnam. -- Allen L. Tran * Journal of Vietnamese Studies *The work is a straightforward discussion of a phenomenon evidently experienced by hundreds of people. The narratives supplied by Gustaffson's informants are allowed to stand on their own, supplemented by contextual information that positions them in the broader framework of contemporary Vietnamese social life...Human relationships and human conflicts are given new meaning by the supernatural, and the presence of spiritual phenomena in daily life forces the engagement of individuals, families, and nations with the very real and very pressing legacies of violence. * Journal of Folklore Research *Table of Contents1. The Problem2. Foundations3. Revelations4. The Living and the Dead5. Afterlives6. Problem Solving7. "Superstition" in a Secular State8. Revivals9. ConclusionEpilogueAppendix 1: Table of SufferingAppendix 2: Chronology oft he WarNotesReferencesIndex

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Book SynopsisThe Way That Lives in the Heart is a richly textured ethnographic analysis of the practice of Chinese religion in the modern, multicultural Southeast Asian city of Penang, Malaysia.Trade Review"This is an excellent study on Chinese spirit medium and on Chinese popular religion in Malaysia."—Asian Folklore Studies"I wholeheartedly endorse the text; its most powerful quality for me is that it is a superbly crafted piece of ethnography that transcends the merely descriptive capacity. The theorizing is sophisticated and self-reflexive, and it offers for reflection a number of critical questions and problematics about how to theorize the persistence of folk/popular religious practices... in an urban, modern capitalist society."—Pacific Affairs"This richly detailed study of spirit mediums manages at once to portray an ethnically mixed society in the throes of modern change, and to illuminate the millennial role of spirit-medium performance in Chinese popular cultural traditions."—Donald S. Sutton, Carnegie Mellon University"Except for the detailed observations of de Groot made in the southern provinces in the late nineteenth century, few reports of spirit mediumship in modern China have appeared in print Jean DeBernardi now contributed a richly detailed ethnographic analysis of the practice of Chinese popular religion and spirit mediums in Penang, Malaysia. This newly added title regarding Malaysian Chinese spirit mediumship is most welcome, and will be beneficial to both the general reader and the specialist." —Journal of Chinese ReligionsTable of ContentsContents Preface i Introduction 1 Part I Heaven on Earth Introduction to Part I 1. Mending Luck 2. Spiritual Collisions 3. Possessed by the Past Part II Spirit Mediums Introduction to Part II 4. Domesticating the Dead 5. Self-Cultivation and the Dao 6. The Teachings of a Modern Master 7. Drawing on the Dark Side Conclusion Chinese Glossary Bibliography

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Book SynopsisFor ?spiritual explorers? ready to travel beyond Western bounds, a beginner?s guide to Asian spiritual traditions spanning regions, cultures, and historyAsian spiritual practices, from yoga and tai chi to qigong and mindfulness meditations, permeate our culture. But these practices are often casually used in the West, and sometimes little understood. As informative as it is inviting, A Lamp unto Yourself introduces ?spiritual explorers? of all experience levels to embodied Eastern spiritual practices.Employing decades of personal and professional experience with Asian spiritualities, C. Pierce Salguero explains the origins of key Asian spiritual practices. He grounds them in their historical and philosophical contexts and provides information on how the reader can begin and deepen their personal practices. Salguero also discusses the focus of the path (heart, body, or perception) and describes what one might experience as they develop their practice. In A Lamp unto Yourself, readers will learn more about such traditions as mindfulness meditation, insight meditation, and loving-kindness meditation yogas, tai chi, and qigong Taoism and Advaita mantras, chakras, and tantra Those looking to begin practicing for the first time or to simply expand their ever-growing spiritual tool kits will feel empowered to explore Eastern spirituality with knowledge and autonomy. With Salguero as their guide, readers can confidently embark on their journeys to becoming, as Buddha would encourage, a lamp unto themselves.

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Book SynopsisKnown for his ultraconservatism and eccentricity, Gu Hongming (1857-1928) remains one of the most controversial figures in modern Chinese intellectual history. A former member of the colonial elite from Penang who was educated in Europe, Gu, in his late twenties, became a Qing loyalist and Confucian spokesman who also defended concubinage, footbinding, and the queue. Seen as a reactionary by his Chinese contemporaries, Gu nevertheless gained fame as an Eastern prophet following the carnage of World War I, often paired with Rabindranath Tagore and Leo Tolstoy by Western and Japanese intellectuals.Rather than resort to the typical conception of Gu as an inscrutable eccentric, Chunmei Du argues that Gu was a trickster-sage figure who fought modern Western civilization in a time dominated by industrial power, utilitarian values, and imperialist expansion. A shape-shifter, Gu was by turns a lampooning jester, defying modern political and economic systems and, at other times, an aveTrade Review"Du's goal is to help us understand the influences that produced such a paradoxical character. In the end, as Du acknowledges, Gu Hongming stubbornly defies analysis. Still, her account of his life is fascinating, particularly for what it reveals about global currents of thought in the early twentieth century . . . The book's real strength is in its exploration of a transnational history of ideas that emphasizes the global nature of circuits of intellectual exchange in the early twentieth-century." * Modern Chinese Literature and Culture *"Gu Hongming matters, as this engaging and sophisticated book shows, because in an age when he has been 'revived as an icon of Chinese nationalism and cultural conservatism', and when 'clash of civilization' essentialisms are grasped at ever more fervently, there is great value in this sort of study of how East and West became 'coconstructed concepts that are fundamentally interactive and mutually transformative', how they are 'imagined together'." * Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies *"Gu Hongming is one of the most controversial and complicated figures in modern Chinese history. Chunmei Du has the broad knowledge, multiple language skills, and keen understanding required to situate Gu and the cultural phenomenon he represented in the international intellectual environment of his time." * Xiaoping Cong, University of Houston *"Gu Hongming's Eccentric Chinese Odyssey is the place to start for anyone interested in intellectual idiosyncrasy or cultural polemics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Gu Hongming, who was born in Penang, educated in Scotland, and made a career out of China, fit no mold except that of his own making, much to the chagrin of his contemporaries and biographers. With concision and clarity, Chunmei Du traces this legendary figure's unique trajectories and legacies, not least as a shape-shifting performer attuned to the enduring allure of cultural authenticity." * Christopher Rea, author of The Age of Irreverence: A New History of Laughter in China *Table of ContentsChapter 1. An Inscrutable Eccentric PART I. INTELLECTUAL JOURNEY Chapter 2. In Search of the Spirit of the Chinese People Chapter 3. The Rise of a Spokesman from the East Chapter 4. Clash of Religions PART II. PSYCHOLOGICAL PASSAGE Chapter 5. How an Imitation Western Man Became a Chinaman Again Chapter 6. Projections on a Chinese Screen Chapter 7. To Reverence the King Chapter 8. A Trickster's Trip on a Möbius Strip Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisAn ecumenical exploration of the bases of Zen and Christian mysticism, this book intends to enable Christian and Buddhist to communicate. The author re-thinks basic concepts of Catholic mystical theology in the light of the Zen experience and attempts to encourage contemplative prayer.Trade Review"The book ... has much of great weight to offer not only to the Christian but to the Westerner who wishes to understand Zen better." -Library Journal

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Book SynopsisThis work seeks to break down the barriers between science and religion, as well as between religions themselves, in order to extrapolate a comprehensive understanding of the science of meditation. It reveals ways of understanding the mystical and our search for wisdom in the modern world.Trade Review“In a simple, clear, engaging style that nicely balances necessary fact and edifying anecdote, [Johnston] propounds his belief that the greatest problem in the world today ‘is the imperfection of our love; that is to say, our lack of mysticism.’” * —Choice *

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Book Synopsis"Part I ... is an economical recapitulation of mystical writing ... Part II explores the theological dialogue between East and West...Part III shares personal experience of the two traditions... an excellent primer for introduction to the wellsprings of spirituality."-Christian CenturyTrade Review"Part I ... is an economical recapitulation of mystical writing ... Part II explores the theological dialogue between East and West...Part III shares personal experience of the two traditions... an excellent primer for introduction to the wellsprings of spirituality. " -Christian Century

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Book Synopsis"Draws on sacred scripture and the writings of John of the Cross and other Christian mystics to indicate how one who practices Christian meditation, engaging with the Christ-ministry, is transformed by it."-MonosTrade Review“Draws on sacred scripture and the writings of John of the Cross and other Christian mystics to indicate how one who practices Christian meditation, engaging with the Christ-ministry, is transformed by it.” * —Monos *

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Book SynopsisThe Cloud of Unknowing was the work of an unknown 14th-century English writer with a powerful message of God's unconditional love in the face of despair. Johnston's theological treatment of this and other works by the same writer makes a conscious comparison with Oriental ways of contemplation.Trade Review"Mystics have groped for words in which to account for the supreme reality of this experience... All this is said in classic and unforgettable pages by The Cloud of Unknowing, the work of an anonymous fourteenth-century English writer...Johnston [provides] the first extended and coherent theological treatment ... a most welcome and valuable contribution." -- -Thomas Merton

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Book SynopsisThis study uses the I Ching (Book of Changes) to investigate the role of Chinese learning in the development of thought and culture in Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868). I Ching scholarship reached its apex during the Tokugawa.

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Book SynopsisThis title shows how you can promote health and natural well-being by modifying everyday actions to improve the flow of qi (the universal principle of energy). Breathing, eating, drinking, resting, and washing, - if carried out in the right way - can result in profound changes in body function.

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Book SynopsisKarma has become a household word in the modern world, where it is associated with the belief in rebirth determined by one’s deeds in earlier lives. This belief was and is widespread in the Indian subcontinent as is the word “karma” itself. In lucid and accessible prose, this book presents karma in its historical, cultural, and religious context.Trade ReviewIt provides an elegantly presented, synthesizing tour of “Greater Magadha” and its legacy in Indian religions and philosophies through the lens of theories of karma (the idea that one’s actions determine future rebirths and are thus at the crux of the problem of suffering and its potential remedy). The issues raised are still complex, covering all the major traditions of ancient and classical India, but all the terms are explained, core positions are illustrated with passages from the primary sources, and the “lucid and accessible prose” (as promised on the back cover) smooths the way.- Religious Studies Review

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