Book picks similar to
The Garland of Letters by Arthur Avalon
tantra
yoga
hinduism
magic-sex-tantra
Walk Like a Man: Coming of Age with the Music of Bruce Springsteen
Robert J. Wiersema - 2011
He's a genuine voice of the people, the bastard child of Woody Guthrie and James Brown, and an elder statesman who has inspired generations of bands. He's won twenty Grammy Awards, an Oscar, two Golden Globes, and is a member of two Halls of Fame.There are dozens of books about Springsteen. What's left to say? Nothing objective, perhaps. But when it comes to music, objectivity is highly overrated. Robert Wiersema has been a Springsteen fan since he was a teenager, following tours to see multiple shows in a row, watching set lists develop in real time via the Internet, ordering bootlegs from shady vendors in Italy. His attachment is deeper than fandom, though: he's grown up with Springsteen's songs as the soundtrack to his life, beginning with his youth in rural British Columbia and continuing on through dreams of escape, falling in love, and becoming a father.Walk Like a Man is the liner notes for a mix tape, a blend of biography, music criticism, and memoir. Like the best mix tapes, it balances joy and sorrow, laughter seasoning the dark-night-of-the-soul questions that haunt us all. Wiersema's book is the story of a man becoming a man (despite getting a little lost along the way), and of Springsteen's songs and life that have accompanied him on his journey.
Soordas
Pushpa Bharati - 2004
Little did his family realize that Soordas could often see more than anyone else. He could direct a shepherd to his lost goat and a father to his missing son. He could describe exactly how the idol of his beloved Lord Krishna was dressed in the temple each day. The Mughal emperor Akbar personally came to invite him to his court. The poet Tulsidas visited him. The powerful, the wise and the ordinary flocked to him for his all-seeing wisdom and his soul-stirring songs of devotion.
Inward
Yung Pueblo - 2017
It serves as a reminder to the reader that healing, transformation, and freedom are possible.
Oceanic Mind - The Deeper Meditation Training Course
Tom Von Deck - 2009
Whether you are a beginner or an advanced student of meditation, Qigong or Yoga, this book is for you! The dozens of easy to follow warm up exercises and ancient meditation techniques alone is worth the cost of this course. However, Oceanic Mind introduces not only the finest techniques, but a complete meditation strategy training for consistently profound meditation. The strategy training transforms meditation into a much much easier and a more customized process. Regardless of your background, you will love this book.
Yoga Vasishta Sara
Vālmīki - 1973
It is a dialogue between Sage Vasishta and Sri Rama, during which Advaita (the doctrine of non-duality) in its pure form of ajatavada (theory of non-origination) is expounded, with illustrative stories in between. This vast work was abridged some centuries ago by Abhinanda Pandita, a Kashmiri scholar, into 6,000 couplets, which go by the name of Laghu Yoga Vasishta. This is a masterpiece in itself, like the original Brihat.Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi used to refer to Yoga Vasishta frequently and has even incorporated six couplets from it in His Supplement to Forty Verses (verses 21 to 27).A further condensation of this work was made long ago, by an unknown author, into about 230 couplets, divided into ten chapters, as Yoga Vasishta Sara (Essence of Yoga Vasishta). By making this condensation the author has rendered a great service to all sadhaks. This is indeed a goldmine fit for repeated reading and meditation.
Thought Is Your Enemy: Conversations With U.G. Krishnamurti
U.G. Krishnamurti - 2007
Krishnamurti, or just U.G., was a speaker and philosopher, often known as an "anti-guru" or as "the man who refused to be a guru." This book is a compilation of discussions between U.G. Krishnamurthi and various questioners in India, Switzerland, Australia, the Netherlands, and the U.K. According to U.G., "The religious states of bliss and ecstasy can never be experienced, can never be grasped, contained, much less given expression to you, by man. That beaten track will lead you nowhere. There is no oasis situated yonder; you are stuck in a mirage."
The Lotus-Born: The Life Story of Padmasambhava: Shambhala Dragon Editions
Yeshe Tsogyal - 1993
Titles in the original Tibetan "The Sanglingma Life Story," it was recorded by the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, concealed in the ninth century at Sanglingma (Copper Temple) in Samye, and revealed by Nyang Ral Nyima Oser in the twelfth century. In addition to narrating the legendary story of a unique spiritual personality, the book contains oral instructions and advice that he left for the benefit of future generations. Also included are "A Clarification of the Life of Padmasambhava" by Tsele Natsok Rangdröl, an extensive glossary and index, and a bibliography of Tibetan and English sources.
The Art of Everyday Ecstasy: the Seven Tantric Keys for Bringing Passion, Spirit and Joy Into Every Part of Your Life
Margot Anand - 1998
"Ecstasy is about waking up and finding that you are in love with life."Most people think of ecstasy in terms of sexual ecstasy, which Tantric sex expert Margot Anand wrote about in her bestselling The Art of Sexual Ecstasy. Now, in The Art of Everyday Ecstasy, Anand expands our definition of ecstasy and shows how we can harness its energy to help us live, work, and love more passionately, joyfully, and with true spiritual focus. Our modern, work-obsessed, stress-filled culture--what Anand calls the "anti-ecstatic conspiracy"--has dulled our spirits, thrown us off balance, and alienated us from meaningful everyday experiences. In this inspirational journey toward finding the healing nature of ecstasy, Anand explains how the two types of ecstatic experiences--the moments of epiphany called Ecstatic Awakenings, and EveryDay Ecstasy, or the Ecstasy of Flow, a connection to our power and inner wisdom--can help us move beyond pain and doubt to reach our highest potential.Based on the spiritual path of Tantra, Anand shows how to use the natural energy system of our bodies--the seven chakras--as a map to ecstasy. As she guides us through the chakras, she explains how each one plays an important role in transforming energy into erotic passion, healing, empowerment, compassion, creativity, insight, and gratitude. Blocked chakras manifest themselves in surprising ways; wholeness can be achieved only when all of the chakras are open with energy flowing freely. By transforming negative behavioral patterns into positive ones and strengthening ourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually, we can improve our health, sex life, career, relationships, and find profound meaning in everyday moments.With personal anecdotes, exercises, meditations, and rituals, The Art of Everyday Ecstasy shows us how to bring ecstatic energy into the body, mind, heart, and spirit--"to embrace every moment in our totality, to respond bodily, feel from the heart, perceive with clarity, and be fully present to others and to life."Margot Anand is the bestselling author of The Art of Sexual Ecstasy and The Art of Sexual Magic. She founded the Sky Dancing Institute, a worldwide center for New Age learning, and has conducted her renowned Love and Ecstasy Trainings for the past fifteen years at Esalen, the Omega Institute, and Deepak Chopra's Center for Well Being. Anand lives in northern California.
Diagrams for Living
Emmet Fox - 1968
" Fox has inspired millions of people over the past forty years through his simple, practical guidelines. In Diagrams for Living he presents valuable keys to living a more fulfilled life drawn from the eloquent spiritual wisdom of the Bible.If we read the Bible literally, cautions Fox, we miss the eternal power and personal relevance found in its symbols, allegories, and parables. "Whether you realize it or not," he writes, "you are on every page from Genesis to Revelation." Fox shows how to read dramatic biblical stories as symbolic diagrams for living that can "show you how to overcome difficulties and problems, and how to give expression to the deep aspirations that lie hidden in your soul." This power to reveal, inspire, and guide makes the Bible's teachings adaptable to everyone at every stage of spiritual development.Sensible, contemporary, and full of reassurance, Diagrams for Living offers sage counsel from a gifted teacher.
Transcendental Meditation: The Essential Teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The classic text revised and updated
Jack Forem - 1973
Widely known and prescribed by physicians for its powerful stress-reducing effects, TM is much more than that. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1918–2008), who brought TM to the West, said that TM offers any individual not only a gateway to the highest spiritual unfoldment (Enlightenment), but also “sound physical and mental health, greater ability in action, a greater capacity to think clearly, increased efficiency in work, and more loving and rewarding relationships with others.” Five million TM practitioners around the world and more than 360 published, peer-reviewed scientific studies have consistently corroborated these lofty claims. Described as “a great book, by far the most comprehensive on the TM Program” when it was a bestseller in its original version, Jack Forem’s study of TM became a much-loved classic. This updated edition contains all the features of the original plus much more. Clear, easy-to-read diagrams explain scientific research showing TM’s beneficial effect on the brain and a broad spectrum of contemporary concerns, from health, self-actualization, and development of intelligence to post-traumatic stress (PTSD), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and much more. In these pages, Oprah Winfrey tells how she has offered TM to everyone on her staff. Dr. Mehmet Oz explains the benefits of TM for heart health. School principals describe the dramatically positive effect on their students when TM is introduced in the classroom. Interviews with celebrities as well as men and women of every age, background, and religion provide a lively testimonial to the efficacy of TM in making anyone’s life happier, healthier, and more creative.
The Holy Vedas
Pandit Satyakam Vidyalankar - 1998
, 546 pages, 448 pages with index in English followed by Hyms in Hindi, colour and black and white illustrations
Nachiketa
Adurthi Subba Rao
The song of birds, the thunder of rain clouds, and the glow of the morning sun revealed life's secrets to Satyakama. Coming face to face with the lord of death, Nachiketa found the key to immortality. The lessons the two seekers learned were priceless, for they opened to others the door to eternal bliss.
Why We Dream: The Transformative Power of Our Nightly Journey
Alice Robb - 2018
Finding these forays both puzzling and exhilarating, Robb dug deeper into the science of dreams at an extremely opportune moment: just as researchers began to understand why dreams exist. They aren’t just random events; they have clear purposes. They help us learn and even overcome psychic trauma. Robb draws on fresh and forgotten research, as well as her experience and that of other dream experts, to show why dreams are vital to our emotional and physical health. She explains how we can remember our dreams better—and why we should. She traces the intricate links between dreaming and creativity, and even offers advice on how we can relish the intense adventure of lucid dreaming for ourselves.Why We Dream is a clear-eyed, cutting-edge examination of the meaning and purpose of our nightly visions and a guide to changing our dream lives—and making our waking lives richer, healthier, and happier.
Bali: Sekala and Niskala : Essays on Religion, Ritual, and Art (Bali--Sekala & Niskala)
Fred B. Eiseman Jr. - 1989
The essays cover a wide range of topics, from magic and trance healing to cockfighting and seaweed farming. The author, who has lived on Bali for 28 years, is widely recognized as a self-taught guru of Balinese folk traditions.
Gurudev: On the Plateau of the Peak: The Life of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Bhanumathi Narasimhan - 2018
It was at such a time that, in a quaint village in south India, a young boy was found in deep meditation. He would say, ‘I have family everywhere. People are waiting for me.’ Nobody believed him then. Time revealed the destiny of the millions who came to him to discover themselves. Over the years, his sublime presence and pragmatic teachings would foster the values of joy, peace and love across the world. His transformative art of breathing, the Sudarshan Kriya, became a household practice, an alternative way of life that inspired people to seek self-realization. He became the guru who made the ethereal tangible, who brought about a profound shift in every sphere of human endeavour—from art to architecture, health care to rehabilitation, inner peace to outer dynamism. From a carefree child to a teenager often found in the company of saints, from a young meditation teacher to a revered spiritual Master, this book is an intimate and affectionate account of the life of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar by his sister Bhanumathi Narasimhan, who witnessed his mystical life unfold up-close. Gurudev: On the Plateau of the Peak is an attempt to fit the ocean in a teacup, offering readers a sip of infinity.