The Lamas of the Kalmyk People

The Lamas of the Kalmyk People PDF Author: Arash Bormanshinov
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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The Lamas of the Kalmyk People

The Lamas of the Kalmyk People PDF Author: Arash Bormanshinov
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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The Chess Artist

The Chess Artist PDF Author: J. C. Hallman
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1466852232
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
In the tradition of The Professor and the Madman, Longitude, and The Orchid Thief, Hallman transforms an obsessive quest for obscure things into a compulsively readable and entertaining weaving of travelogue, journalism, and chess history. In the tiny Russian province of Kalmykia, obsession with chess has reached new heights. Its leader, a charismatic and eccentric millionaire/ex--car salesman named Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, is a former chess prodigy and the most recent president of FIDE, the world's controlling chess body. Despite credible allegations of his involvement in drug running, embezzlement, and murder, the impoverished Kalmykian people have rallied around their leader's obsession---chess is played on Kalmykian prime-time television and is compulsory in Kalmykian schools. In addition, Kalmyk women have been known to alter their traditional costumes of pillbox hats and satin gowns to include chessboard-patterned sashes. The Chess Artist is both an intellectual journey and first-rate travel writing dedicated to the love of chess and all of its related oddities, writer and chess enthusiast J. C. Hallman explores the obsessive hold chess exerts on its followers by examining the history and evolution of the game and the people who dedicate their lives to it. Together with his friend Glenn Umstead, an African-American chessmaster who is arguably as chess obsessed as Ilyumzhinov, Hallman tours New York City's legendary chess district, crashes a Princeton Math Department game party, challenges a convicted murderer to a chess match in prison, and travels to Kalmykia, where they are confronted with members of the Russian intelligence service, beautiful translators who may be spies, seven-year-old chess prodigies, and the sad blight of a land struggling toward capitalism.

The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Volume 1)

The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Volume 1) PDF Author: Tsong-kha-pa
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1559398698
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
The first volume of the 15th-century spiritual classic that condenses Buddhist teachings into one easy-to-follow meditation manual The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Tib. Lam rim chen mo) is one of the brightest jewels in the world’s treasury of sacred literature. The author, Tsong-kha-pa, completed it in 1402, and it soon became one of the most renowned works of spiritual practice and philosophy in the world of Tibetan Buddhism. Because it condenses all the exoteric sūtra scriptures into a meditation manual that is easy to understand, scholars and practitioners rely on its authoritative presentation as a gateway that leads to a full understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. Tsong-kha-pa took great pains to base his insights on classical Indian Buddhist literature, illustrating his points with classical citations as well as with sayings of the masters of the earlier Kadampa tradition. In this way the text demonstrates clearly how Tibetan Buddhism carefully preserved and developed the Indian Buddhist traditions. This first of three volumes covers all the practices that are prerequisite for developing the spirit of enlightenment (bodhicitta).

Publishing in Tsarist Russia

Publishing in Tsarist Russia PDF Author: Yukiko Tatsumi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350109347
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
According to Benedict Anderson, the rapid expansion of print media during the late-1700s popularised national history and standardised national languages, thus helping create nation-states and national identities at the expense of the old empires. Publishing in Tsarist Russia challenges this theory and, by examining the history of Russian publishing through a transnational lens, reveals how the popular press played an important and complex Imperial role, while providing a “soft infrastructure” which the subjects could access to change Imperial order. As this volume convincingly argues, this is because the Russian language at this time was a lingua franca; it crossed borders and boundaries, reaching speakers of varying nationalities. Russian publications, then, were able to effectively operate within the structure of Imperialism but as a public space, they went beyond the control of the Tsar and ethnic Russians. This exciting international team of scholars provide a much-needed, fresh take on the history of Russian publishing and contribute significantly to our understanding of print media, language and empire from the 18th to 20th centuries. Publishing in Tsarist Russia is therefore a vital resource for scholars of Russian history, comparative nationalism, and publishing studies.

The Kalmyks

The Kalmyks PDF Author: Elza-Bair Mataskovna Gouchinova
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135778876
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
The Kalmyks are in a unique position among the peoples of Europe in several respects, most conspicuously as being the only Buddhist people group in Europe. Until recently they had been a nomadic people, grazing their flocks and herds in the steppe lands north of the Caspian Sea, between the Volga river and the Caucasus mountains. Nowadays, with Russia’s transition to a post-Communist state, the relatively young President of Kalmykia stands out as being a self-made millionaire who has helped put his region 'on the map' not only by promoting economic ties with Japan and the West but also by hosting an international chess Olympiad. This practical guide written by a Kalmyk anthropologist, provides a comprehensive introduction to the Kalmyk people. The wide-ranging chapters give an overview of the Kalmyks, focusing on many facets of the Kalmyk culture, including language use, the traditional nomadic economy and dwellings, Kalmyk family and gender relationships, rites of passage, food and clothing, folk crafts, Kalmyk religion and the role of folklore and epic in Kalmyk culture. The Kalmyks provides an original and fascinating perspective on little-known Asiatic people whose history and culture have become intertwined with that of Europe.

Gurus for Hire, Enlightenment for Sale

Gurus for Hire, Enlightenment for Sale PDF Author: Rinpoche Tsem Tulku
Publisher: Tsem Tulku Rinpoche
ISBN: 9834188781
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Central Asiatic Journal

Central Asiatic Journal PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Asia, Central
Languages : en
Pages : 692

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The Religions of Tibet

The Religions of Tibet PDF Author: Giuseppe Tucci
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520063481
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
This book provides the historical background and description of Buddhism in Tibet, clarifying the uniqueness of Tibetan Buddhism.

The Western Christian Presence in the Russias and Qājār Persia, c.1760–c.1870

The Western Christian Presence in the Russias and Qājār Persia, c.1760–c.1870 PDF Author: Thomas O'Flynn
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004313540
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1141

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Book Description
Winner of The 2018 Saidi-Sirjani Book Award In The Western Christian Presence in the Russias and Qājār Persia, c.1760–c.1870, Thomas O'Flynn vividly paints the life and times of missionary enterprises in early nineteenth-century Russia and Persia at a moment of immense change when Tsarist Russia embarked on an expansionist campaign reaching to the Caucasus. Simultaneously he charts the relationship between the new Persian dynasty of the Qājārs and missionary activity on the part of European and American missionaries. This book reconstructs that world from a predominantly religious perspective. It recounts the sustaining ideals as well as the everyday struggles of the western missionaries, Protestant (Scottish, Basel and American Congregationalist) and Catholic (Jesuit and Vincentian). It looks at the reactions of diverse tribal peoples, the Tatars of the North Caucasus, the Kabardians and Circassians. Persia was the ultimate goal of these missionaries, which they eventually reached in the 1820s. Altogether this study throws light on the troubled course of history in West Asia and provides the background to politico-religious conflicts in Chechnya and Persia that persist to the present day.

Kalmykia in Russia's Past and Present National Policies and Administrative System

Kalmykia in Russia's Past and Present National Policies and Administrative System PDF Author: Konstantin N. Maksimov
Publisher: Central European University Press
ISBN: 6155211493
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
Kalmykia is a constituent of the Russian Federation that shaped and has been developing within Russia for several centuries. Kalmykia was incorporated into the Russian state in the early second half of the 17 th century, it was officially recognized by the Russian authorities and constituted as an ethno-political entity in the form of feudal khanate with the status of a virtually autonomous unit. The Kalmyk Khanate's status as a largely self-ruling area within the Russian Empire gradually transformed into the status of a regular administrative territory under the Astrakhan governor. It received the status of a Republic from Stalin.Maksimov examines issues of interrelations between the Kalmyk people and Russia before and after the Kalmyks' accession to the Russian state. Analyzes the Soviet national policy and to the destiny of Kalmykia under the communist regime. The legal status of this republic and its development under the new Russian federalism are discussed in great details.