Mantras and chants have inspired, comforted and mended the lives of cultures, religious orders and individuals. This is the first book to explain and adapt ancient Sanskrit mantras to Western needs.In 'Healing Mantras' the author shows how and why mantras work, and how to use them for everything from curing specific ailments to finding inner peace. In each of more than fifty mantras, all translated from the Sanskrit, Ashley-Farrand unlocks the power of every word, explains its appropriate application and tells you how to pronounce it in easy-to-follow, phonetic symbols.The mantras can be repeated aloud or silently by everyone anywhere, to help and to heal. Beginners will find here a lucid and solid grounding in sound meditation, but even those who already practise some energy-based techniques will discover much to enrich their spiritual journey to healing and freedom.The book includes a free CD to help you on your way."

    An excerpt: "The simple process of chanting the names of Krsna will reveal what one is, what God is, what the material and spiritual universes are, why we are conditioned, how we can get out of that conditioning - and everything else, step by step."

         Taoism isn’t a spiritual extracurricular activity, it’s an integral practice for living all of  life to the fullest.  The modern Taoist adept Eva Wong is your guide to living well according to the wisdom of this ancient system.  She uses the ancient texts to demonstrate the Taoist masters’ approach to the traditional four aspects of life--the public, the domestic, the private, and the spiritual—and shows how learning to balance them is the secret to  infusing your life with health, harmony, and deep satisfaction.​

    The Impossible Question reveals the unique approach of a profound thinker and teacher; it will prove invaluable to those who wish to gain insight into his philosophy or into themselves. Jiddu Krishnamurti was born in southern India in 1895 and died in 1986. The essence of his teachings is that societal change and world peace can only occur through a complete change of individual consciousness.

    Since his death in 1987, countless readers have been challenged to encounter DeMellos message.

    A leading scholar and practitioner of Yoga in the West for more than 30 years, Feuerstein introduces you to the wonders beyond Yoga's postures and breathing techniques, and points the way to the "inner strength and mental peace" that is Yoga's first objective. Taught by Feuerstein himself, this full 12-session, 7-hour course reveals the true history of Yoga, the gifted masters who brought it to the West, its many branches and the rich fruit they yield, Yoga's virtues and disciplines that "flower into enlightenment," subtle anatomy and the energy of prana or life force, the origins of asanas, and much more.

    Written in a concise style which is knowledgeable, yet not overly-academic. The questions addressed are the most common and modern questions popularly asked.

    As profound and powerful as this classic text has been for generations of seekers, integrating its lessons into the ordinary patterns of our lives can ultimately seem beyond our reach. Now, in a fascinating series of reflections, anecdotes, stories, and exercises, Ram Dass gives us a unique and accessible road map for experiencing divinity in everyday life. In the engaging, conversational style that has made his teachings so popular for decades, Ram Dass traces our journey of consciousness as it is reflected in one of Hinduism's most sacred texts. The Gita teaches a system of yogas, or "paths for coming to union with God."In Paths to God, Ram Dass brings the heart of that system to light for a Western audience and translates the Gita's principles into the manual for living the yoga of contemporary life.While being a guide to the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, Paths to God is also a template for expanding our definition of ourselves and allowing us to appreciate a new level of meaning in our lives.

    These are the most important upanisads, the classical basic documents that have been accepted as authoritative by practically all Indian religious and philosophic traditions.These remarkable mystical and philosophical treatises have not only created the later wisdom of India, they have also played an important part in Western thought. While one many be doubtful of their claimed influence upon the Neoplatonists and the medieval Christian mystics, they still have greatly influenced later developments in Western philosophy, from the time of Schlegel, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Schelling. Probably written by various authors over several centuries before 500 B.C., they exhibit a remarkable uniformity of purpose: they strive — through parable, proverb, simile, and metaphor, and through a method similar to Socratic dialogue — to arrive at truth without erecting a formal system.Although there have been other translations of the upanisads, this edition of Max Müller has long enjoyed the reputation of being the most scholarly. Not only does the translation contain the mature reflections of the greatest Indologist and Sanskritologist of the nineteenth century (who was also a profound philosopher in his own right), it also contains his long introductions of more than 250 pages, discussing the position of the upanisads and their value for the modern world.These profound writings are necessary reading for all Indologists, philosophers, and historians of religion. They are also most valuable experiences for the modern reader who is interested in learning about a great field of thought with deep mystical and existential implications.

    One of the great spiritual masters of the modern age, Swami Muktananda, tells us, "Now is the time to get back on the main road." In the essays, stories, and conversations that compose this book, Swami Muktananda offers us an engaging and comprehensive introduction to the spiritual quest: how we can embark on it and how it will unfold. This is an essential guidebook for the spiritual journey.

    Underlying Jung's extraordinary body of work, and providing a foundation for it, there is a broad and sophisticated system of metaphysical thought. This system, however, is only implied in Jung's writings, so as to shield his scientific persona from accusations of philosophical speculation.The present book scrutinizes Jung’s work to distil and reveal that extraordinary, hidden metaphysical treasure: for Jung, mind and world are one and the same entity; reality is fundamentally experiential, not material; the psyche builds and maintains its body, not the other way around; and the ultimate meaning of our sacrificial lives is to serve God by providing a reflecting mirror to God’s own instinctive mentation.Embodied in this compact volume is a journey of discovery through Jungian thoughtscapes never before revealed with the depth, force and scholarly rigor you are about to encounter.

    When Sigmund Freud awakened modern interest in the dream a century ago, his theory of interpretation undermined the potential insights dreams had to offer. For Freud, dreams were little more than fragmented puzzle parts made up of events from our waking lives. Most of us today still live under Freud's far-reaching influence. When we wake up after experiencing a powerful series of images, we too readily explain them away or simply ignore them all together. Whatever emotion or insight the dream evokes slowly fades. But what if Freud was wrong? Unless we challenge his deeply-ingrained assumptions, we will forever lose the gift of our dreams.International bestselling author Rodger Kamenetz believes it is not too late to reclaim the lost power of our nightly visions. Kamenetz's exploration of the world of dreams reopens all the questions scientists and psychologists claimed to have settled long ago. The culmination of decades of research, The History of Last Night's Dream is a riveting intellectual and cultural investigation of dreams and what they have to teach us. We discover how the age-old struggle between what we dream and how we interpret our dreams has shaped Western culture from biblical times to today. Kamenetz introduces us to an eighty-seven-year-old female kabbalist in Jerusalem, a suave Tibetan Buddhist dream teacher in Copenhagen, and a crusty intuitive postman-turned-dream master in northern Vermont. He fearlessly delves into this mysterious inner realm and shows us that dreams are not only intensely meaningful but that they hold essential truths about who we are. In the end, each of us has the choice to embark on this illuminating path to the soul. But one thing is certain: our dreams will never be the same again.

    Editorial reviews: "Swami Bhaskarananda has written a compact, yet amazingly comprehensive treatment of the essentials of the Hindu view of life, emphasizing the very things one wishes most to know about when first approaching this complicated, and many-sided subject. While there is no lack of books on Hinduism, many are ill-suited to beginners because they do not adequately explain basic concepts. Swamiji's stlye is remarkable for its directness and lucidity, fresh and devoid of cliches to an extent that is truly rare nowadays." Walter Maurer, Professor of Sanskrit, University of Hawaii. "While I have taught an introductory Asian Religions course for some twenty years, I have never been able to find such a helpful work. I shall recommend it enthusiastically for use by our college students." Rev James Roberts, Catholic priest and professor, Religious Studies, Vancouver.

    Along the way, however, we tend to encounter the same perplexing questions again and again. Some are cosmic enigmas that have always tested the human mind: What is my purpose in life? What happens after I die? Others are puzzles presented by daily life in modern society: What, if anything, justifies assisted suicide? What is my personal responsibility to the homeless? According to Lama Surya Das, one of the foremost Western Buddhist scholars and teachers, the more we seek to resolve these mysteries, the more fully we live.Along with his own personal beliefs, the author presents a variety of thoughtful points of view representing different schools of Buddhism, other religions, spirituality in general, and pragmatism. The Big Questions challenges readers in the most stimulating and thoughtful way to formulate individual, authentic responses to life’s big questions.

    This is not that book! Hardcore Zen was a groundbreaking look at Zen Buddhism through the eyes of a Western punk rocker living in Japan who became an ordained monk while working for a company that made cheap monster movies. In this new sequel, Hardcore Zen Strikes Again, Brad returns to his roots and provides a glimpse into some of his early writings that formed the basis for that book. These essays, mostly from a long-defunct website Brad produced in the early 2000s, form a snapshot of the genesis of Brad’s first book. Brad has provided new introductions and afterwords to each essay as well as a complete chapter written for Hardcore Zen that did not make the final cut, plus an article about his experiences at the company he was working for when the book was written. Together they make an invaluable collection for anyone interested in Brad’s writing as well as those interested in his unique way of presenting the timeless truths of Zen in a contemporary idiom.