In this tapestry of poetic and religious scholarship, Graves explores the stories behind the earliest of European deities—the White Goddess of Birth, Love, and Death—who was worshipped under countless titles. He also uncovers the obscure and mysterious power of "pure poetry" and its peculiar and mythic language.

    Qigong is an ancient practice for harnessing Qi and increasing one's vitality (Tai Chi is one of the best-known forms of Qigong). This book explains the concept behind Qigong and describes how to incorporate it into your daily life in order to awaken your life force and experience better health. The author reveals how Qigong can help you improve your health, stress management, longevity, peak performance, wellness and attainment of inner peace.

    Douglas Harding, the highly respected mystic-philosopher, describes his first experience of headlessness in "On Having No Head," the classic work first published in 1961. In this book, he conveys the immediacy, simplicity, and practicality of the "headless way," placing it within a Zen context, while also drawing parallels to practices in other spiritual traditions.If you wish to experience the freedom and clarity that results from firsthand experience of true Being, then this book will serve as a practical guide to the rediscovery of what has always been present.

    With examples from anatomy and physics, he demonstrates precisely how the postures and moves work, internally as energetic principles, and externally on opponents. Professor Cheng always emphasizes that disease (like an attack from an opponent) is an opportunity for training. The practitioner of T'ai Chi Ch'uan may serve as his (or her) own doctor and, likewise, as the physician (or trainer) of an attacker. This special text includes:-Thirteen essays on his insights into T'ai Chi Ch'uan.-Oral secrets from his teacher, Yang Cheng'fu.-Questions and answers giving his commentary to the classics.-Descriptions and mechanics of push-hands, San Shou, and Ta Lu.-Prefaces by both Madame Cheng and Bejamin Pang-Jeng Lo.

    Originally published in 1993, this book has become a classic that has inspired tens of thousands of Westerners to learn to activate their chi—life-force energy—to improve their health, reduce stress and reverse the effects of aging. This fully revised edition has more than 100 pages of new material, including Longevity Breathing methods; how cross-training in chi gung can enhance other exercises such as yoga, golf and weight training; and nei gung techniques for advanced practitioners. Chi gung exercises utilize a system of energy channels in the body that are similar to an electrical circuit. Frantzis’ thorough knowledge of energy arts and the Chinese language allow him to peel away the secrecy and metaphors. He presents this 300-page edition in easy to understand terms to suit beginners, with enough meaty detail and depth for the advanced martial artist, healer or meditator. Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body includes a comprehensive guide to chi gung theory and a systematic lesson plan with more than 100 illustrations. These low-impact exercises are suitable for almost any age or fitness level. They provide the foundation for learning any other chi practice, such as tai chi, martial arts, meditation or TAO Yoga. Frantzis explains not only how these inner aerobics are done, but why. Going beyond mere body movement, he teaches from the inside out, linking the biomechanics and anatomy of the physical body with the subtleties of chi. This book provides practical methods to help people become balanced, relaxed and joyful. Frantzis trained for more than a decade in China, became a Taoist Lineage Master—quite a rare occurrence—and came back to the West to teach. “My hope is that chi gung and tai chi can become mainstream exercises in the West,” says Frantzis. “We have a major health crisis looming; practicing chi gung or tai chi is one of the most effective ways people can reclaim control of their health and well-being.”

    These two astounding essays are among the most profound studies of the effects of mind-expanding drugs written in this century. Contains the complete texts of The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell , both of which became essential for the counterculture during the 1960s and influenced a generation's perception of life.

    In order to create a serious textbook that explains the philosophy behind the movements of tai chi chuan, he read all available books in both English and Chinese before writing The Dao of Taijiquan. Now this book can be used as a college textbook for courses in tai chi (whether as a philosophy or in Sports Studies).Jou, Tsung Hwa is also the author of The Tao of Meditation: Way to Enlightenment, and The Tao of I Ching: Way to Divination, both from Tuttle Publishing.

    While psychedelics of all sorts are demonized in America today, the visionary compounds found in plants are the spiritual sacraments of tribal cultures around the world. From the iboga of the Bwiti in Gabon, to the Mazatecs of Mexico, these plants are sacred because they awaken the mind to other levels of awareness--to a holographic vision of the universe.Breaking Open the Head is a passionate, multilayered, and sometimes rashly personal inquiry into this deep division. On one level, Daniel Pinchbeck tells the story of the encounters between the modern consciousness of the West and these sacramental substances, including such thinkers as Allen Ginsberg, Antonin Artaud, Walter Benjamin, and Terence McKenna, and a new underground of present-day ethnobotanists, chemists, psychonauts, and philosophers. It is also a scrupulous recording of the author's wide-ranging investigation with these outlaw compounds, including a thirty-hour tribal initiation in West Africa; an all-night encounter with the master shamans of the South American rain forest; and a report from a psychedelic utopia in the Black Rock Desert that is the Burning Man Festival.Breaking Open the Head is brave participatory journalism at its best, a vivid account of psychic and intellectual experiences that opened doors in the wall of Western rationalism and completed Daniel Pinchbeck's personal transformation from a jaded Manhattan journalist to shamanic initiate and grateful citizen of the cosmos.

    Michael Newton takes you once again into the heart of the spirit world. His groundbreaking research was first published in the bestselling Journey of Souls, the definitive study on the afterlife. Now, in Destiny of Souls, the saga continues with 70 case histories of real people who were regressed into their lives between lives. Dr. Newton answers the requests of the thousands of readers of the first book who wanted more details about various aspects of life on the other side. Destiny of Souls is also designed for the enjoyment of first-time readers who haven't read Journey of Souls.  Explore the meaning behind your own spiritual memories as you read the stories of people in deep hypnosis, and learn fascinating details about: —Our purpose on Earth—Soul mates and spirit guides—Spiritual settings and where souls go after death—Soul travel between lives—Ways spirits connect with and comfort the living—The soul-brain connection         —Why we choose certain bodies

    No goal is more elusive. In How to Be a Stoic, philosopher Massimo Pigliucci offers Stoicism, the ancient philosophy that inspired the great emperor Marcus Aurelius, as the best way to attain it. Stoicism is a pragmatic philosophy that focuses our attention on what is possible and gives us perspective on what is unimportant. By understanding Stoicism, we can learn to answer crucial questions: Should we get married or divorced? How should we handle our money in a world nearly destroyed by a financial crisis? How can we survive great personal tragedy? Whoever we are, Stoicism has something for us–and How to Be a Stoic is the essential guide.

    The Master Key teaching has been published in the form of a Correspondence Course of 24 lessons, delivered to students one per week for 24 weeks. The reader, who now receives the whole 24 parts at one times, is warned not to attempt to read the book like a novel, but to treat it as a course of study and conscientiously to imbibe the meaning of each part - reading and re-reading one part only per week before proceeding to the next. Otherwise the later parts will tend to be misunderstood and the reader's time and money will be wasted. Used as thus instructed "The Master Key" will make of the reader a greater, better personality, and equipped with a new power to achieve any worthy personal purpose and a new ability to enjoy life's beauty and wonder.

     An exciting and comprehensive handbook, "Reiki for Life" contains everything readers need to know about the healing art of Reiki. This practical guide covers all points: basic routines, details about the power and potential of each level, special techniques for enhancing Reiki practice, and helpful direction on the use of Reiki toward spiritual growth. Penelope Quest also compares the origins and development of Reiki in the West and the East, revealing methods specific to the original Japanese Reiki tradition. Suitable for beginners, experienced practitioners, and teachers alike, this book: *explains what Reiki is and how it works; *gives detailed instruction in First and Second Degree techniques; *illustrates how to perform Reiki on yourself, as well as others; *advises on how to become a Reiki Master/teacher; and *includes special advanced methods for working with Reiki. Complete with illustrations and a useful section of resources, "Reiki for Life" is a must-have for the tens of thousands of Western seekers anxious to learn about this fast-growing healing practice.

    The Tao of Daily Life combines ancient Eastern wisdom with practical application-perfect for busy Western readers! Derek Lin, Taoist master and expert in Eastern philosophy, brings his deep knowledge of this time-honored Chinese spiritual thought system into the twenty-first century. "There is one simple reason for the Tao to have survived through the ages intact: it works," writes Lin. "The principles of the Tao are extremely effective when applied to life. The philosophy as a whole is nothing less than a practical, useful guide to living life in a way that is smooth, peaceful, and full of energy." Using the powerful medium of stories and short dharma talks, Lin illuminates the Taoist secrets and engages the reader in their inherent wisdom. As a result, the reader of The Tao of Daily Life will notice certain changes, including: - being more composed and more at ease in various situations; - being able to handle challenges and difficulties with less effort and achieving better results; - experiencing greater power and clarity in all areas of life. The spiritual journey, as described by Derek Lin, becomes the most worthwhile exploration anyone can take.

    Now, two of the world's most eminent thinkers -- University of London physicists David Bohm, a former protege of Einstein's and one of the world's most respected quantum physicists, and Stanford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram, one of the architects of our modern understanding of the brain -- believe that the universe itself may be a giant hologram, quite literally a kind of image or construct created, at least in part, by the human mind. This remarkable new way of looking at the universe explains not only many of the unsolved puzzles of physics, but also such mysterious occurrences as telepathy, out-of-body and near death experiences, "lucid" dreams, and even religious and mystical experiences such as feelings of cosmic unity and miraculous healings.

    Is it possible to be alone and not lonely? Where are the boundaries that define "lust" versus "love"...and can lust ever grow into love? In Love, Freedom, Aloneness you will find unique, radical, and intelligent perspectives on these and other essential questions. In our post-ideological world, where old moralities are out of date, we have a golden opportunity to redefine and revitalize the very foundations of our lives. We have the chance to start afresh with ourselves, our relationships to others, and to find fulfillment and success for the individual and for society as a whole.