Author: Harvey Kraft
Publisher: SelectBooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1590792610
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 696
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Book Description
The sudden death of the Persian Emperor in 522 BCE is one of history’s great mysteries. Was his demise self-inflicted, accidental, an assassination or due to natural causes? The author contends that during this incident Siddhartha Gautama may have been the leader of Babylon's Magi, an interfaith order that assumes governance of the region. The situation explodes when Darius the Great seizes the throne. Simultaneously the Magi Order is purged as Siddhartha, prince of the Saka nation, heads back east to the Indus. Could this event have inspired the creation of Buddhism as a pacifist movement dedicated to the pursuit of self-transformation, goodwill, and universal compassion? The Buddha from Babylon: The Lost History and Cosmic Vision of Siddhartha Gautama uncovers new evidence that solves this ages-old mystery and discovers Babylonian influences in the Buddha's revelations.
Author: Igiaba Scego
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781931883832
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 464
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Book Description
"Describes Argentina's horrific dirty war, the chaotic final years of brutal dictatorship in Somalia, and the modern-day excesses of Italy's right-wing politics through the words of two half-sisters, their mothers, and the elusive father who ties their stories together"--
Author: Donald S. Lopez
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226493210
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 300
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Book Description
We have come to admire Buddhism for being profound but accessible, as much a lifestyle as a religion. The credit for creating Buddhism goes to the Buddha, a figure widely respected across the Western world for his philosophical insight, his teachings of nonviolence, and his practice of meditation. But who was this Buddha, and how did he become the Buddha we know and love today? Leading historian of Buddhism Donald S. Lopez Jr. tells the story of how various idols carved in stone—variously named Beddou, Codam, Xaca, and Fo—became the man of flesh and blood that we know simply as the Buddha. He reveals that the positive view of the Buddha in Europe and America is rather recent, originating a little more than a hundred and fifty years ago. For centuries, the Buddha was condemned by Western writers as the most dangerous idol of the Orient. He was a demon, the murderer of his mother, a purveyor of idolatry. Lopez provides an engaging history of depictions of the Buddha from classical accounts and medieval stories to the testimonies of European travelers, diplomats, soldiers, and missionaries. He shows that centuries of hostility toward the Buddha changed dramatically in the nineteenth century, when the teachings of the Buddha, having disappeared from India by the fourteenth century, were read by European scholars newly proficient in Asian languages. At the same time, the traditional view of the Buddha persisted in Asia, where he was revered as much for his supernatural powers as for his philosophical insights. From Stone to Flesh follows the twists and turns of these Eastern and Western notions of the Buddha, leading finally to his triumph as the founder of a world religion.
Author: Michael Seymour
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857736078
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 468
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Book Description
Babylon: for eons its very name has been a byword for luxury and wickedness. 'By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept', wrote the psalmist, 'as we remembered Zion'. One of the greatest cities of the ancient world, Babylon has been eclipsed by its own sinful reputation. For two thousand years the real, physical metropolis lay buried while another, ghostly city lived on, engorged on accounts of its own destruction. More recently the site of Babylon has been the centre of major excavation: yet the spectacular results of this work have done little displace the many other fascinating ways in which the city has endured and reinvented itself in culture. Saddam Hussein, for one, notoriously exploited the Babylonian myth to associate himself and his regime with its glorious past. Why has Babylon so creatively fired the human imagination, with results both good and ill? Why has it been so enthralling to so many, and for so long? In exploring answers, Michael Seymour' s book ranges extensively over space and time and embraces art, archaeology, history and literature. From Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar, via Strabo and Diodorus, to the Book of Revelation, Brueghel, Rembrandt, Voltaire, William Blake and modern interpreters like Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino and Gore Vidal, the author brings to light a carnival of disparate sources dominated by the powerful and intoxicating idea of depravity. Yet captivating as this dark mythology was and has continued to be, at its root lies a remarkable and sophisticated imperial civilization whose complex state-building, law- making and religion dominated Mesopotamia and beyond for millennia, before its incorporation into the still wider empire of the Achaemenid kings.
Author: Charles Kovacs
Publisher: Wynstones Press
ISBN: 9780946206520
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 184
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Book Description
The meaning of some of the world's great myths and legends springs to life in this collection of stories, retold here for children. Through the epic adventures of colorful characters--from kings and beggars to gods and demons--the reader may glimpse the ancient wisdom of early humankind. Spanning the centuries from Atlantis to the civilizations of India, Persia, Babylonia, and Egypt, the author portrays human development, from primitive hunters to builders of magnificent cities and the great pyramids. Buddha, Krishna, Rama, Zarathustra, Gilgamesh, Isis, and Osiris are just a few of the lively participants in the unfolding historical narrative.
Author: Roger Zelazny
Publisher: N E S F A Press
ISBN: 9781886778795
Category : American poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
"This six volume collection includes all of Zelazny's know short fiction and poetry, three excerpts of important novels, a selection of non-fiction essays, and a few curiosities."--V. 1, p. 5
Author: Stephanie Dalley
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199662266
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 311
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Book Description
Where was the Hanging Garden of Babylon and what did it look like ? Why did the ancient Greeks and Romans consider it to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World? Renowned Babylonian expert Stephanie Dalley delves into the legends filled with myth and mystery to piece together the enigmatic history of this elusive world wonder.
Author: Victor Pelevin
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101175265
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 242
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Book Description
The collapse of the Soviet Union has opened up a huge consumer market, but how do you sell things to a generation that grew up with just one type of cola? When Tatarsky, a frustrated poet, takes a job as an advertising copywriter, he finds he has a talent for putting distinctively Russian twists on Western-style ads. But his success leads him into a surreal world of spin doctors, gangsters, drug trips, and the spirit of Che Guevera, who, by way of a Ouija board, communicates theories of consumer theology. A bestseller in Russia, Homo Zapiens displays the biting absurdist satire that has gained Victor Pelevin superstar status among today's Russian youth, disapproval from the conservative Moscow literary world, and critical acclaim worldwide.
Author: Rick Hanson
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0593135466
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 354
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Book Description
Reverse-engineer your brain to experience freedom from suffering with this radically bold yet practical seven-step plan from the New York Times bestselling author of Buddha's Brain and Hardwiring Happiness. Building on his classic bestseller Buddha's Brain, New York Times bestselling author and senior fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley Rick Hanson uses the Buddhist analysis of the mind as a roadmap for strengthening the neural circuitry of deep calm, contentment, kindness, and wisdom--qualities we all need to succeed in the face of adversity. Most books about transformations of consciousness are theoretical or religious, typically full of jargon, pep talks, and calls to believe on faith alone. Instead, this is a book of practice, immediately actionable with simple, powerful guided meditations--and despite this grounded approach, its promise is radically life-changing. This book is nothing short of a path to transcendence, a method for liberating the mind and heart, discovering freedom from suffering, and engaging life with a kind heart and inner peace. A step-by-step path of practical ideas and tools, Dr. Hanson guides readers with his usual encouragement, good humor, and personal examples.
Author: Ted Chiang
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 1101974427
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 43
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Book Description
A Vintage Shorts “Short Story Month” Selection Together with a crew of other miners and cart-pullers, Hillalum is recruited to climb the Tower of Babylon and unearth what lies beyond the vault of heaven. During his journey, Hillalum discovers entire civilizations of tower-dwellers on the tower—there are those who live inside the mists of clouds, those who raise their vegetables above the sun, and those who have spent their lives under the oppressive weight of an endless, white stratum at the top of the universe. “Tower of Babylon” is a rare gem—a winner of the prestigious Nebula award, the first story Ted Chiang ever published, and the brilliant opening piece to Chiang’s much-lauded first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others, which is soon to be a major motion picture starring Amy Adams. An ebook short.
