This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The Interpretation of "Light on the Path." Contents: Self-Conquest; The Disciple; "Attend You Unto Them"; The Masters; Sight, Hearing; Speech; Stability; The Transmutation of Desire; Work and Effort; Separateness; Sensation; The Retreat; The Advance; The Blooming of the Flower; Contemplation; The Study of Mankind; The Study of the Self; The Logos; The Gifts of the Disciple; The Victory; "I and My Father." (see also our book, "Light on the Path" by the same author.)

Sawai Jai Singh, the statesman astronomer of 18th century India, designed astronomical instruments of masonry and stone, built observatories, prepared by Zij or a text for astronomical calculations. He opted for the naked eye masonary instruments when telescope had become quiet common with European astronomers.

This work by Prof. Haridas Bhattacharyya may be considered a landmark in the study of comparative Religion. The author has created a brilliantly authoritative and comprehensive work on five major religions, Viz., Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism. The scholar has also attempted a calm and critical examination of five principal living faiths, including the faith he personally professes.

Although East Asian religion is commonly characterized as "syncretic", the historical interaction of Buddhist, Confucian, and other traditions is often neglected by scholars of mainstream religious thought. In this thought-provoking study, Janine Sawada moves beyond conventional approaches to the history of Japanese religion by analyzing the ways in which Neo-Confucianism and Zen formed a popular synthesis in early modern Japan. She shows how Shingaku, a teaching founded by merchant Ishida Baigan, blossomed after his death into a widespread religious movement that selectively combined ideas and practices from these traditions. Drawing on new research into original Shingaku sources, Sawada challenges the view that the teaching was a facile "merchant ethic" by illuminating the importance of Shingaku mystical experience and its intimate relation to moral cultivation in the program developed by Baigan's successor, Teshima Toan. This book also suggests the need for an approach to the history of Japanese education that accounts for the informal transmission of ideas as well as institutional schooling. Shingaku contributed to the development of Japanese education by effectively disseminating moral and religious knowledge on a large scale to the less-educated sectors of Tokugawa society. Sawada interprets the popularity of the movement as part of a general trend in early modern Japan in which ordinary people sought forms of learning that could be pursued in the context of daily life.

In this interdisciplinary work, William L. Davis examines Joseph Smith's 1829 creation of the Book of Mormon, the foundational text of the Latter-Day Saint movement. Positioning the text in the history of early American oratorical techniques, sermon culture, educational practices, and the passion for self-improvement, Davis elucidates both the fascinating cultural context for the creation of the Book of Mormon and the central role of oral culture in early nineteenth-century America. Drawing on performance studies, religious studies, literary culture, and the history of early American education, Davis analyzes Smith's process of oral composition. How did he produce a history spanning a period of 1,000 years, filled with hundreds of distinct characters and episodes, all cohesively tied together in an overarching narrative? Eyewitnesses claimed that Smith never looked at notes, manuscripts, or books-he simply spoke the words of this American religious epic into existence. Judging the truth of this process is not Davis's interest. Rather, he reveals a kaleidoscope of practices and styles that converged around Smith's creation, with an emphasis on the evangelical preaching styles popularized by the renowned George Whitefield and John Wesley.

The practical sequel to Mother Earth Spirituality that applies Native American teachings and ritual to comtemporary living.

This is a textbook dealing with the living religions of India. It has been written by a scholar who has devoted more than fifty years in pondering over the subject. The account of each religion is accurate and reliable. The book aims at establishing harmony between religions.

Introducing the reader to ancient scriptures, this work provides a systematic and accesible overview of Daoism (c. 2nd-6th centuries). Representative works from each of the principle Daoist traditions comprise the basic structure of the book, with each chapter accompanied by an introduction that places the material within an historical context. Included are translations from the earliest Daoist commentary to Laozi's "Daode jing" (Tao Te Ching); historical documents relating the history of the early Daoist church; a petitioning ritual used to free believers from complaints brought against them by the dead; and two complete scriptures, one on individual meditation practice and another designed to rescue humanity from the terrors of hell through recitation of its powerful charms. In addition, Bokenkamp elucidates the connections Daoism holds with other schools of thought, particularly Confucianism and Buddhism.

Meetings with Remarkable Men, Gurdjieff's autobiographical account of his youth and early travels, has become something of a legend since it was first published in 1963. A compulsive 'read' in the tradition of adventure narratives, but suffused with Gurdjieff's unique perspective on life, it is organized around portraits of remarkable men and women who aided Gurdjieff's search for hidden knowledge or accompanied him on his journeys in remote parts of the Near East and Central Asia.

This is a book of lives, not of doctrines, although readers will long value Gurdjieff's accounts of conversations with sages. Meetings conveys a haunting sense of what it means to live fully - with conscience, with purpose, and with heart. Among the remarkable individuals whom the reader will come to know are Gurdjieff's father (a traditional bard), a Russian prince dedicated to the search for Truth, a Christian missionary who entered a World Brotherhood deep in Asia, and a woman who escaped white slavery to become a trusted member of Gurdjieff's group of fellow seekers. Gurdjieff's account of their attitudes in the face of external challenges and in the search to understand the mysteries of life is the real substance of this classic work.

Five volumes (Volume 5, 18, 24, 32 and 47) of the series on the 'Sacred Books of the East' have been devoted to study the Pahlavi texts. Easch volume covers a specific aspect of it and is a sequel to the previous one.;Though we must look to the Avesta for information regarding the main outline of the Parsi religion, it is to Pahlavi writings we refer for most of the details relating to the traditions, ceremonies and customs. To understand the relationship between these two classes of Parsi sacred writings, it must be observed that the Avesta and Pahlavi of the same scripture, taken together, forms its Avesta and Zend which are nearly synonymous with 'Revelation and Commentary'.

This exceptionally well-written book is good reading, not only for specialists but also for beginning students interested in women, Korean culture, and shamanism.

The central actors in this book are some reclusive forest-dwelling ascetic meditation masters who have been acclaimed as 'saints' in contemporary Thailand. These saints originally pursued their salvation quest among the isolated villages of the country's periphery, but once recognized as holy men endowed with charisma, they became the radiating centres of a country-wide cult of amulets. The amulets, blessed by the saints, are avidly sought by royalty, ruling generals, intelligentsia and common folk alike for their alleged powers to influence the success of worldly transactions, whether political, economic, martial or romantic.

Since its publication in 2000, The Early Christian World has come to be regarded by scholars, students and the general reader as one of the most informative and accessible works in English on the origins, development, character and major figures of early Christianity. In this new edition, the strengths of the first edition are retained. These include the book's attractive architecture that initially takes a reader through the context and historical development of early Christianity; the essays in critical areas such as community formation, everyday experience, the intellectual and artistic heritage, and external and internal challenges; and the profiles on the most influential early Christian figures. The book also preserves its strong stress on the social reality of early Christianity and continues its distinctive use of hundreds of illustrations and maps to bring that world to life. Yet the years that have passed since the first edition was published have seen great advances made in our understanding of early Christianity in its world. This new edition fully reflects these developments and provides the reader with authoritative, lively and up-to-date access to the early Christian world. A quarter of the text is entirely new and the remaining essays have all been carefully revised and updated by their authors. Some of the new material relates to Christian culture (including book culture, canonical and non-canonical scriptures, saints and hagiography, and translation across cultures). But there are also new essays on: Jewish and Christian interaction in the early centuries; ritual; the New Testament in Roman Britain; Manichaeism; Pachomius the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. This new edition will serve its readers for many years to come.

This selection of lectures offers insights into the complexity of evil as a phe-nomenon that arises when an event or process appears outside its true context. As a result, something that is "good" initially may become "evil" because it occurs in the wrong place. Steiner tells us that this as an effect of Lucifer and Ahriman, spiritual beings who work as polar forces and hinder human evolution by opposing our appropriate development. Confronting these difficulties, however, ultimately furthers our spiritual development. CONTENTS Editor's Introduction 1. Origin and Nature of Evil Evil Illuminated through the Science of the Spirit Good and Evil: Creation and Death 2. All Life Unfolds between the Polarities of Luciferic and Ahrimanic Forces Christ, Ahriman and Lucifer in Relationship to the Human Being The Relation of Ahrimanic and Luciferic Beings to Normally Evolved Hierarchies 3. The "Fall" Consequences and Counterbalance The Midgard Snake, the Fenris Wolf, and Hel The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil 4. The Intensification of Evil and the Task of Our Present Consciousness Soul Age Supersensible Aspects of Historical Research The Three Streams of Materialistic Civilization 5. "666" and the Future of Humanithy--The Task of Manichaeism How Do I Find the Christ? The Future of Human Evolution

30 Selected lectures The Festivals and Their Meaning collects thirty of Rudolf Steiner's most important lectures on the festivals of the year. He identifies and illumines the true meaning behind Christmas, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, and Michaelmas, emphasizing their inner spiritual and outer cosmic aspects. Steiner shows that the festivals do not only commemorate great historical events and truths of the Christian tradition; they are in themselves--each year--spiritual events that manifest in seasonal and natural rhythms and carry a significance that grows and deepens with the development of human evolution. CONTENTS Christmas Introduction by Ann Druitt The Christmas Festival: Heralding the Victory of the Sun Signs and Symbols of the Christmas Festival The Birth of the Sun-spirit as the Spirit of the Earth: The Thirteen Holy Nights Christmas as a time of Grievous Destiny The Proclamations to the Magi and the Shepherds On the Three Magi The Revelation of the Cosmic Christ The Birth of Christ within Us Easter Easter: The Festival of Warning The Blood Relationship and the Christ Relationship The Death of a God and Its Fruits in Humanity Spirit Triumphant The Teachings of the Risen Christ Easter: The Mystery of the Future Spiritual Bells of Easter, parts 1 & 2 Ascension and Pentecost The Whitsun Mystery and Its Connection with the Ascension Whitsun: The Festival of the Free Individuality World Pentecost: The Message of Anthroposophy Whitsun: A Symbol of the Immortality of the Ego The Whitsuntide Festival: Its Place in the Study of Karma Whitsun Verse Michaelmas Michael Meditation The Michael Inspiration: Spiritual Milestones in the Course of the Year A Michael Lecture The Michael Impulse and the Mystery of Golgotha, parts 1 & 2 Michael and the Dragon The Creation of a Michael Festival out of the Spirit The Michael Path to Christ