Search results for ""karma""

HIGH RETURNS from LOW RISK If you lie awake at night worrying about your retirement, paying for your children’s schooling or your general financial security, High Returns from Low Risk is your solution to a sound sleep. This unique wealth management guide is written by a fund manager who oversees billions of dollars in portfolio assets, and who wants to share his approach with individual investors, advisors, bankers and everyone interested in the stock market. Despite all the appeal exciting stocks have, his evidence-based strategy repeatedly proves low-risk stocks historically beat high-risk ones going back well over eighty years. By how much? Over eighteen times the returns! Growing wealth doesn’t have to be stressful, and it shouldn’t be risky when you get High Returns from Low Risk. ‘The low-risk effect, that is the idea that historically, unlike many well-known theories, average return across stocks doesn’t appear to go up with most standard measures of risk, is one of the most important “anomalies” in modern finance. Pim van Vliet is one of the pioneers in studying this effect and using it to improve investor portfolios. Anyone interested in systematic equity investing should carefully read this important book.’ — Clifford S. Asness, Founder, Managing Principal and Chief Investment Officer at AQR Capital Management, USA ‘Pim van Vliet’s experience as one of the pioneers of low-volatility investing gives him unique insight into one of the most fascinating economic anomalies of our time. The idea that risk, properly defined, generates a positive return, is one of those ideas that becomes even more profound when we learn it is not true. There is no cosmic risk karma that pays people for taking risk, and this book will help people understand what types of investment risks generate premiums, and which will actually cost you money.’ —Eric Falkenstein, Author of The Missing Risk Premium: Why Low Volatility Investing Works, USA

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THE INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER A Spring 2020 Okra Pick Parade’s 20 Most Anticipated Books of Early 2020 Goodreads’ It Book of Summer Top Reviewers Pick SheKnows’ 10 of the Most Anticipated Books Coming in 2020 Mary Kay Andrews’ Reading Challenge Women’s Fiction Pick Travel + Leisure’s 20 Books to Gift This Mother’s Day Working Mother’s 20 Most Anticipated Books of 2020 for Working Moms Brit + Co 12 Books That Will Take You on a Literary Vacation From “the next major voice in Southern fiction” (Elin Hilderbrand) and the bestselling author of the Peachtree Bluff series comes an odd-couple tale of friendship that asks just how much our past choices define our happiness. It’s summertime on the North Carolina coast and the livin’ is easy. Unless, that is, you’ve just lost your mother to cancer, your sister to her extremist husband, and your husband to his executive assistant. Meet Gray Howard. Right when Gray could use a serious infusion of good karma in her life, she inadvertently gets a stranger, Diana Harrington, fired from her job at the local pharmacy. Diana Harrington’s summer isn’t off to the greatest start either: Hours before losing her job, she broke up with her boyfriend and moved out of their shared house with only a worn-out Impala for a bed. Lucky for her, Gray has an empty guest house and a very guilty conscience. With Gray’s kindness, Diana’s tide begins to turn. But when her first love returns, every secret from her past seems to resurface all at once. And, as Gray begins to blaze a new trail, she discovers, with Diana’s help, that what she envisioned as her perfect life may not be what she wants at all. In her warmest, wisest novel yet, Kristy Woodson Harvey delivers a discerning portrait of modern womanhood through two vastly different lenses. Feels Like Falling is a beach bag essential for Harvey fans—and for a new generation of readers.

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'Fundamentally, all of spiritual science ultimately aims to understand human beings in their essence, in their tasks and endeavours - in their necessary endeavours in the course of development.' - Rudolf Steiner In the midst of the division and destruction of the Great War, Rudolf Steiner speaks of the spiritual unification of all human beings. Rather than preaching a traditional morality, however, he states esoteric facts as he perceives them, based on spiritual-scientific research. These observations relate to the powerful universal impulse of Christ - a healing spiritual force that works through the various nations and races, irrespective of creed or colour - as a source of potential unity. Rudolf Steiner describes this impulse as the central core of human evolution. It allows for a conscious and newly-acquired connection between all human beings, in the context of the continuing diversification and fragmentation of the human race. The central motif in these lectures relates to the appearance of Christ on earth - knowledge of his historical incarnation, as well as Christ's manifestation in the present and future periods of human development. Rudolf Steiner creates an arc from the pre-Christian mysteries through Gnosticism and the older studies of the early Church Fathers, to Scholasticism and neo-Scholasticism. After ancient faculties of clairvoyance had began to fade, he explains, human beings could no longer see beyond the world of outer appearances, and direct perceptions of Christ were therefore no longer possible. And so the question arose as to how limitations on human knowledge could be overcome - a question which remains pertinent in our time. Steiner asserts that only a transformation of thinking, enabling a living and conscious inner conceptual life, can allow for a true understanding of the relationship between the earthly Jesus and the cosmic Christ. Such living thinking leads in turn to direct experience. Other topics in this volume include the birth date of the 'two Jesus children'; the wisdom of Gnostic teachings; the provenance of the Cross; the mysteries of the Christmas festival; insights into ancient Christmas plays, and reflections on individual consciousness of karma in the future

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The New York Times Science Bestseller from Robert Wachter, Modern Healthcare’s #1 Most Influential Physician-Executive in the USWhile modern medicine produces miracles, it also delivers care that is too often unsafe, unreliable, unsatisfying, and impossibly expensive. For the past few decades, technology has been touted as the cure for all of healthcare’s ills. But medicine stubbornly resisted computerization – until now. Over the past five years, thanks largely to billions of dollars in federal incentives, healthcare has finally gone digital. Yet once clinicians started using computers to actually deliver care, it dawned on them that something was deeply wrong. Why were doctors no longer making eye contact with their patients? How could one of America’s leading hospitals give a teenager a 39-fold overdose of a common antibiotic, despite a state-of-the-art computerized prescribing system? How could a recruiting ad for physicians tout the absence of an electronic medical record as a major selling point? Logically enough, we’ve pinned the problems on clunky software, flawed implementations, absurd regulations, and bad karma. It was all of those things, but it was also something far more complicated. And far more interesting . . .Written with a rare combination of compelling stories and hard-hitting analysis by one of the nation’s most thoughtful physicians, The Digital Doctor examines healthcare at the dawn of its computer age. It tackles the hard questions, from how technology is changing care at the bedside to whether government intervention has been useful or destructive. And it does so with clarity, insight, humor, and compassion. Ultimately, it is a hopeful story. "We need to recognize that computers in healthcare don’t simply replace my doctor’s scrawl with Helvetica 12," writes the author Dr. Robert Wachter. "Instead, they transform the work, the people who do it, and their relationships with each other and with patients. . . . Sure, we should have thought of this sooner. But it’s not too late to get it right."This riveting book offers the prescription for getting it right, making it essential reading for everyone – patient and provider alike – who cares about our healthcare system.

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The New York Times Science Bestseller from Robert Wachter, Modern Healthcare’s #1 Most Influential Physician-Executive in the USWhile modern medicine produces miracles, it also delivers care that is too often unsafe, unreliable, unsatisfying, and impossibly expensive. For the past few decades, technology has been touted as the cure for all of healthcare’s ills.But medicine stubbornly resisted computerization – until now. Over the past five years, thanks largely to billions of dollars in federal incentives, healthcare has finally gone digital.Yet once clinicians started using computers to actually deliver care, it dawned on them that something was deeply wrong. Why were doctors no longer making eye contact with their patients? How could one of America’s leading hospitals give a teenager a 39-fold overdose of a common antibiotic, despite a state-of-the-art computerized prescribing system? How could a recruiting ad for physicians tout the absence of an electronic medical record as a major selling point?Logically enough, we’ve pinned the problems on clunky software, flawed implementations, absurd regulations, and bad karma. It was all of those things, but it was also something far more complicated. And far more interesting . . .Written with a rare combination of compelling stories and hard-hitting analysis by one of the nation’s most thoughtful physicians, The Digital Doctor examines healthcare at the dawn of its computer age. It tackles the hard questions, from how technology is changing care at the bedside to whether government intervention has been useful or destructive. And it does so with clarity, insight, humor, and compassion. Ultimately, it is a hopeful story."We need to recognize that computers in healthcare don’t simply replace my doctor’s scrawl with Helvetica 12," writes the author Dr. Robert Wachter. "Instead, they transform the work, the people who do it, and their relationships with each other and with patients. . . . Sure, we should have thought of this sooner. But it’s not too late to get it right."This riveting book offers the prescription for getting it right, making it essential reading for everyone – patient and provider alike – who cares about our healthcare system.

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Sometimes illumination occurs spontaneously or, as Ram Dass experienced, in a cosmic moment of the heart opening. More commonly, it happens when we remove the dust from the mirror of our spiritual heart with daily practice—to see beyond the illusion of our transient thoughts and emotions to the vast and luminous landscape of our true nature. For five decades, Ram Dass has explored the depths of consciousness and love and brought back insights as his service to others. With Polishing the Mirror, he gathers together his essential teachings for being and loving, here and now, in the eternal present. For those just starting on the path, this is a primer for living from the spiritual heart. For those already practicing it, is a reference point for daily life in the spirit. In this audiobook, read by coauthor Rameshwar Das, listeners will discover perennial wisdom, humor, teaching stories, and guidance into Ram Dass's own spiritual practices, including: Bhakti Yoga—devotion, opening our hearts to unconditional love • Practices for living, aging, dying, and embracing the natural flow of life • Karma Yoga—transformation through selfless service • Working with fear and suffering as a path to grace and freedom • Step-by-step guidance in devotional chant, meditation, mantra, and more Polishing the Mirror is Ram Dass's invitation to experience who we are and why we are here, and how to become beacons of unconditional love. This unabridged audiobook includes four bonus tracks: Pure Awareness—a guided meditation with Ram Dass • I Am Loving Awareness—a guided meditation with Ram Dass • An Introduction to Vipassana Meditation with Ram Dass • Sita Ram—kirtan chant music with Jai Uttal "This book is a blessing! Simply reading it will open your heart and bring you to mysterious, spacious, loving freedom. Ram Dass is one of the great sages of our time who can make us laugh, cry, and awaken!"—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart "Ram Dass has been the most influential person in my own spiritual development. I treasure his wisdom as well as his spirit. Let his words in this book enter your soul—for my friend Ram Dass is divine love personified."—Wayne Dyer, author of The Power of Intention

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A Heart-Centered Spiritual Classic for Your Ever-Changing Life The Bhagavad Gita is a gem so precious in India's spiritual treasury that many regard it not as a volume of sacred verse, but as a living manifestation of the Divine. In the summer of 1974, inside a balmy Boulder, Colorado, warehouse that served as the main hall of the fledgling Naropa Institute, some say that a minor miracle occurred: the reawakening of the Gita's living presence, as it unfolded in a series of wisdom teachings led by Ram Dass. With Love, Service, Devotion, and the Ultimate Surrender, you are invited to experience these legendary gatherings. The tale of the warrior Arjuna and his divine friend Krishna serves as metaphor for the recurring dilemmas that we encounter as we spiral into the depths of our spiritual journey. In these sessions, Ram Dass illuminates the Gita’s essential verses with insights spanning many traditions, from Rumi's ecstatic poetry to Basho's koans, from devotional chant to monastic silence, from Sri Ramana's self-inquiry to Saint Paul's devotion to Christ. The destination? A new perspective on the crucial moments of contradiction and questioning that all spiritual seekers must face again and again: If it's all Divine perfection, why bother with the search at all? Is it possible to awaken without a teacher or guru? Why am I experiencing these strange spiritual "gifts”? Will I get lost in their power? If I'm conscious and kind, why not indulge in all of life's pleasures? Since everyone suffers and dies, will my compassion ultimately matter? With irrepressible love and intellect (and a good dose of skillful mischief), this epic meeting with Ram Dass yields new answers with every revisit, like a lifelong friend that comes to meet us at each turning of our journey.Highlights: A 12-hour odyssey with Ram Dass into his timeless Yogas of the Bhagavad Gita Naropa sessionsThree ways to enter the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita • Karma yoga—reincarnation, dharma, service, sadhanas • Jnana yoga—inquiry, the critical mind, the koan • Mind, illusion, and Brahman • Sacrifice and mantra—trappings and benefits of ritual and form • Renunciation and purification—ashtanga yoga, kundalini, the chakras, austerities, the "witness," desire, sexual energy • Devotion and the guru—bhakti ("devotion"), surrender, siddhis ("powers"), Maharajji • Death and dying—What is born, what dies? How do you live in the present moment?

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A guide to discovering and developing the spiritual and mystical talents hidden in your astrological chart • Explores the 4th, 8th, and 12th houses of the natal astrological chart—those connected with the water signs, the deepest and darkest areas of the individual psyche, profound spiritual insights, and hidden knowledge • Explains how to interpret the signs and planets in the water houses of your birth chart, including how to develop the innate talents and spiritual powers you discover • Reveals the occult and psychic significance of water and shows how this significance is expressed in each of the three water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, the rulers of the water houses Your astrological birth chart, or natal chart, shows the positions of the planets, sun, and moon at the time of your birth. Shaped like a circle or wheel, it is divided into 12 sections, or “houses,” each connected with a different area of life or self. The positions of the planets within the houses offer deep and often complex insight into your unique gifts and your life’s path. In Astrology for Mystics, Tayannah Lee McQuillar explores the 4th, 8th, and 12th houses--those connected with the element of water and all things occult, mystical, and spiritual. The fourth house, ruled by water sign Cancer, is traditionally the house of family, home, ancestors, and suffering. The eighth house, ruled by water sign Scorpio, is the house of sex, death, secret powers, and transformation. The twelfth house, ruled by Pisces, is the house of karma, loss, unspoken expectations, fantasy, and confinement. As McQuillar explains, these are the houses that reveal the deepest and darkest areas of the individual psyche, which many people are reluctant to explore, yet this triad is the key to profound spiritual insights as well as the discovery of hidden knowledge and abilities. The author guides you through interpreting the signs and planets that inhabit the water houses in your natal chart and shows how they reveal specific innate talents. She describes how to develop the hidden powers revealed by your chart and offers practical advice for incorporating this knowledge into your daily life for spiritual growth and self-improvement. Sharing interpretation examples from her practice, she also explores how to embrace the challenge of the occult water houses so you can claim the many treasures that can only be found on the ocean floor of the psyche.

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"And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die." The Flood that God used to destroy the sinful race of man on the earth in Genesis 6:17 crystalizes--in its terrifying, dramatic, simplicity--the universally recognized concept of payback. For millennia human civilization has relied on such beliefs to create a moral order that threatens divine punishment on people who commit crimes or other bad deeds, while promising rewards-abstract or material-for those who do good. Today, while secularism and unbelief are at an all-time high, this almost superstitious willingness to believe in karma persists. We find ourselves imagining what our parents, spouse, or boss would think of our thoughts and actions, even if they are miles away and will never find out. We often feel that we are being monitored. We talk of eyes burning into the backs of our heads, the walls listening, a sense that someone or something is out there, observing our every move, aware of our thoughts and intentions. God Is Watching You is an exploration of this belief as it has developed over time and how it has shaped the course of human evolution. Dominic Johnson explores questions such as: How has a concern for supernatural consequences affected the way human society has changed, how we live today, and how we will live in the future? Does it expand or limit the potential for local, regional and global cooperation today? How will the current decline in religious belief (at least in many western countries) affect selfishness and society in the future? And what, if anything, is replacing our ancient concerns for supernatural punishment as the means to temper self-interest and promote cooperation? In short, do we still need God? Drawing on new research from anthropology, evolutionary biology, experimental psychology, and neuroscience, Johnson presents a new theory of supernatural punishment that offers fresh insight on the origins and evolution of not only religion, but human cooperation and society. He shows that belief in supernatural reward and punishment is no quirk of western or Christian culture, but a ubiquitous part of human nature that spans geographical regions, cultures, and human history.

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'Let us be courageous and not draw back in fear when realities of the world of spirit that play into human life are unveiled. You see, the future of humanity depends on us learning to live with the world of spirit in the same way that we live with the physical world here on earth.' - Rudolf Steiner In a wide-ranging series of lectures, Rudolf Steiner demonstrates the integral nature of spirit and matter and their manifold connections. Speaking to audiences in London, Holland, Germany and Switzerland, Steiner explains how, through a process of evolving consciousness, humanity lost its knowledge and direct experience of the spiritual sources of existence, but now needs to reconnect with them. Spirit is the essence and power of life which, in Steiner's vivid image, 'strikes a match in our whole being' when we allow it to inform us fully. Our world cannot be understood only in physical terms but is inseparable from the divine realities continually creating and sustaining it. Reconnecting with the spirit calls upon us to heal the fractures between everyday consciousness and the metaphysical realms in which we are already embedded. In Steiner's descriptions, there is no end to the numerous reconnections possible: between our past, present and future; between the active, individualizing principle of the 'I' and the physical human body it works upon and shapes; between our physical actions and limb movements in one life and the forming or sculpting of our head in a future one; and above all, between the moral actions and insights we develop whilst alive on earth and our developing 'eye' for spiritual reality in the life after death, with all that this can mean for the future of human evolution. Taking a truly holistic approach, Rudolf Steiner tackles an eclectic series of subjects throughout these sixteen lectures - all united by the common theme of rediscovering how spirit pervades life. Apart from a focus on education in several lectures, he discusses: experiences during sleep; the human spirit and soul between death and a new birth; how spirit 'sculpts' the human organism; Christ from the perspective of anthroposophy; the battle for human nature between luciferic and ahrimanic beings; karma and the creation of conditions for our return to a new life on earth; human experience of the etheric cosmos; and the human being's faculties of hearing, speaking, singing, walking, and thinking. Together, these lectures offer a cornucopia of spiritual insights and wisdom for the present day. 16 lectures, various cities, 1922, CW 218

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A contemporary dramatic take on a 4,000-year-old Sanskrit epic that is foundational to Indian culture. Why Not Theatre’s large-scale, once-in-a-generation retelling of Mahabharata brings together a cast of performers entirely from the South Asian diaspora, blending cultures and art forms in a spectacular production at the Shaw Festival and the Barbican Theatre in London. Over two parts (Karma and Dharma) and a communal meal (Khana), this translation and adaptation of Mahabharata spans generations and takes audiences into the hearts and minds of some of the most complex and enduring characters ever created. With warring families and devious revenge plots, Mahabharata tells the story of an ancient feud with philosophical and spiritual questions that are no less urgent today. In times of division, how do we find wholeness? Are we destined to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors? And how can we build a new world when we have nearly destroyed this one? Contains the full text of the play along with materials opening up the behind-the-scenes world of the production, including interviews with the creators, background and context about the source material, production photographs, a Mahabharata family tree, and glossary."Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes’s contemporary take on the Mahabharata is one of the most beautiful emotional journeys I have had the privilege to witness. It is inspiring, mind broadening, and speaks to all the senses. It even brings you back to the origins of theatre itself, when people would gather in the quarries around a bonfire to tell stories. With their tasteful use of technology, dance, and opera, the 4,000-year-old Sanskrit poem comes to life and feels more universal than ever. A captivating theatre experience, from the first flame to the last pixel." – Robert Lepage"In their stunning rendition of the great Indian epic Mahabharata, Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes brilliantly reverse the whole concept of what Bertolt Brecht famously advised theatre directors: to make the familiar, unfamiliar. Jain and Fernandes have turned the unfamiliar into the familiar. The 4,000-year-old saga most Indians grew up with is made accessible to a contemporary audience the world over. No mean feat. ‘The play, true to its source, crosses all boundaries of culture, class, and geography. Its timeless storytelling and evocative stage design is transformed into a saga for the world, with its fundamental emotions of human nature – power, hate, jealousy, greed, and lust. To be gob-smacked by this innovation would be an understatement. Immerse yourself in this take on the Mahabharata and travel with it in time into the past, present, and future of humanity." – Deepa Mehta

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'From poignant friendships to all-consuming crushes, this story has it all! Ellie's journey had me hooked from the very first page and I loved experiencing the high and lows of returning home with her. Fans of Never Been Kissed are sure to love this book!' Falon Ballard, author of Just My Type'A witty, sardonic visit with the ghosts of high school past' Abby Jimenez, NYT bestselling authorIn this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy, one woman finds that to keep her dream job, she'll have to face her worst nightmare: high school.Ellie Jenkins definitely didn't peak in high school. She was an outsider, the invisible girl with a desperate crush on a guy who hardly knew her name. But having worked her butt off to put her nerdy, outcast teen years behind her, she's finally got what she always wanted: a life in Los Angeles and a job as a writer for a hit tv show. Everything's going perfectly until an invitation for her high school reunion arrives. Ellie doesn't want to go, but her writing has been suffering and her boss gives her an ultimatum: go to this reunion or lose her big break forever. Taking the bait, Ellie heads back to school, but no one at the reunion is what she expected. Not her ex-best friend, who still has the ability to see right through Ellie. And not her secret crush, who has only gotten hotter, sexier, and way more complicated. The only way she's going to survive this whole weird ordeal is by fixing her bad high school karma, kissing the boy who got away, and getting the hell out of Ohio for good. But as Ellie soon discovers - in real life, you can't just rewrite the script.More acclaim for Ellie is Cool Now'Fulton and McClaren's voice sparkles in this iconic story of reunions, romance, and rewriting first impressions into new possibilities. Like a high-school yearbook in rom-com form, ELLIE IS COOL NOW is frothy, fun and unforgettable.' Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of Do I Know You?'Sarcasm meets nostalgia in this sardonic second-chance romance. At once wry and heart warming, ELLIE IS COOL NOW will make even the most school-spirit-averse reader consider a trip back to their home town for a chance at rekindling both love and friendship, as it reminds us that even cynics deserve a happily-ever-after.' Liz Parker, author of In the Shadow Garden'Top notch banter, high personal stakes, and all the swoons make ELLIE IS COOL NOW an unputdownable joy of a romcom! Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren dazzle in their range, and inspire through their thoughtful portrayal of what a second chance can do for the soul.' Courtney Kae, author of In the Event of Love

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