A multifaceted portrait of Lakshmi, Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. Includes translations of verses used to invoke this goddess. Beautiful, beloved Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, happiness, and abundant good fortune. This fascinating book is the first comprehensive guide to this celebrated goddess, her worship, and the deeper spiritual domain of prosperity she reveals. Constantina Rhodes presents over five hundred elegantly translated Sanskrit verses, including devotional songs, mantras, visualizations, and ceremonial instructions that devotees use to invoke Lakshmi. Rhodes uses these texts to develop a richly detailed portrait of Lakshmi, revealing unexpected dimensions of this enigmatic deity. Even as Lakshmi is best known as a goddess of wealth and well-being, she also maintains a strong esoteric presence, expressing herself as Siddhi, the magnificent Tantric goddess of spiritual power, and as Kundalini Shakti, the transformative cosmic force that exists within each individual. These identities express the prosperity consciousness that is the essential nature of the goddess and the divine source of all wealth. Invoking Lakshmi is not only a matter of calling upon the external form of the goddess but also of aligning ones consciousness with the very essence of prosperity. Constantina Rhodes teaches in the Program in Religion at the City University of New Yorks Hunter College. Her books include Shaiva Devotional Songs of Kashmir: A Translation and Study of Utpaladevas Shivastotravali and Meditations on Shiva: The Shivastotravali of Utpaladeva.

Invoking Lakshmi: The Goddess of Wealth in Song and Ceremony

Constantina Rhodes

Dev Publishers and Distributors

An exploration of the history, religion, and folklore of the Nths, a Hindu lineage known for Hatha yoga practice. This book provides a remarkable range of information on the history, religion, and folklore of the Nth Yogis. A Hindu lineage prominent in North India since the eleventh century, Nths are well-known as adepts of Hatha yoga and alchemical practices said to increase longevity. Long a heterogeneous group, some Nths are ascetics and some are householders; some are dedicated to personified forms of Shiva, others to a formless god, still others to Vishnu. The essays in the first part of the book deal with the history and historiography of the Nths, their literature, and their relationships with other religious movements in India. Essays in the second part discuss the legends and folklore of the Nths and provide an exploration of their religious ideas. Contributors to the volume depict a variety of local areas where this lineage is prominent and highlight how the Nths have been a link between religious, metaphysical, and even medical traditions in India. There is no book on the market now that can compete directly with this volume. It brings out new data for a fresh understanding of the religious landscape of medieval India. Pashaura Singh, author of Life and Work of Guru Arjan. Yogi Heroes and Poets expands our knowledge of historical, textual, and ethnographic issues related to the Nth Yogis. These essays provide a strong sense of the context that helped them emerge, as well as their later evolution. Gurinder Singh Mann, author of The Making of Sikh Scripture. David N. Lorenzen is Professor of Asian and African Studies at the College of Mexico. He is the author or editor of several books, including Praises to a Formless God: Nirguni Texts from North India, also published by SUNY Press, and Who Invented Hinduism: Essays on Religion in History. Adrián Muñoz is Associate Professor of Comparative Religion at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Yogi Heroes and Poets: Histories and Legends of the Naths

David N. Lorenzen and Adrian Munoz

Visions of Unity: The Golden Pandita Shakya Chokden's New Interpretation of Yogacara and Madhyamaka

Yaroslav Komarovski

Language: EnglishPages: 307Back of The BookBuddhist intellectual discourse owes its development to a dynamic interplay between primary source materials and subsequent interpretation, yet scholarship on Indian Buddhism has long neglected to privilege one crucial series of texts. Commentaries on Buddhist scriptures, particularly the sutras, offer rich insights into the complex relationship between Buddhist intellectual practices and the norms that inform-and are informed by-them. Evaluating these commentaries in detail for the first time, Richard F. Nance revisits-and rewrites-the critical history of Buddhist thought, including its unique conception of doctrinal transmission.Attributed to such luminaries as Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Dignaga, and Santideva, scriptural commentaries have long played an important role in the monastic and philosophical life of Indian Buddhism. Nance reads these texts against the social and cultural conditions of their making, establishing a solid historical basis for the interpretation of key beliefs and doctrines. He also underscores areas of contention, in which scholars debate what it means to speak for, and as, a Buddha.Throughout these texts, Buddhist commentators struggle to deduce and characterize the speech of Buddhas and teach others how to convey and interpret its meaning. At the same time, they demonstrate the fundamental dilemma of trying to speak on behalf of Buddhas. Nance also investigates the notion of “right speech” as articulated by Buddhist texts and follows ideas about teaching as imagined through the common figure of a Buddhist preacher. He notes the use of epistemological concepts in scriptural interpretation and the protocols guiding the composition of scriptural commentary, and provides translations of three commentarial guides to better clarify the normative assumptions organizing these works.

Speaking for Buddhas: (Scriptural Commentary in Indian Buddhism)

Politics & Social Sciences

Richard F. Nance

Philosophy

The Great Fear of 1857: Rumours, Conspiracies and the Making of the Indian Uprising

History

Kim A. Wagner

World

In light of recent concern over Shari'ah, such as proposed laws to prohibit it in the United States and conflict over the role it should play in the new Egyptian constitution, many people are confused about the meaning of Shari'ah in Islam and its role in the world today. In Reasoning with God, renowned Islamic scholar Khaled Abou El Fadl explains not only what Shari'ah really means, but also the way it can revitalize and reengage contemporary Islam. After a prologue that provides an essential overview of Shari'ah, Abou El Fadl explores the moral trajectory of Islam in today's world. Weaving powerful personal stories with broader global examples, he shows the ways that some interpretations of Islam today have undermined its potential in peace and love. Rather than simply outlining challenges, however, the author provides constructive suggestions about how Muslims can reengage the ethical tradition of their faith through Shari'ah. As the world's second largest religion, Islam remains an important force on the global stage. Reasoning with God takes readers-both Muslim and non-Muslim-beyond superficial understandings of Shari'ah to a deeper understanding of its meaning and potential.

Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari'ah in the Modern Age

Khaled, Abou El Fadl

The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times (Freshly recomposed edition)

René, Guénon

Yoga in Transformation: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Karl Baier,Phillipp A.Maas and Karin Preisendanz

The Lankavatara Sutra is a prominent Mahayana Buddhist text. The present translation by Suzuki is a translation of Bunyu Nanjo’s Sanskrit edition published in 1923. The title roughly translates as ‘Entering into Lanka’. The Lankavatara Sutra draws upon the concepts and doctrines of Yogacara and Buddha-nature. It is notably an important sutra in Chan Buddhism and Japanese Zen. Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki was a well known Buddhist scholar, known for his important publications on Zen Buddhism. He was a professor at Otani University, Japan. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1963.

The Lankavatara Sutra: A Mahayana Text

Religion & Spirituality

D.T. SUZUKI

Buddhism

History of Indian Music: With Particular Reference to Theory and Practice, with 3 expandable tables of Ragas (Revised, newly composed text edition)

Bhavanrav A. Pingle

Hinduism

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