A celebration of Neem Karoli Baba, one of the most influential spiritual leaders of our time, the divine guru who inspired and led a generation of seekers-including Ram Dass, Daniel Goleman, and Larry Brilliant-on life-changing journeys that have ultimately transformed our world. In 1967, Baba Ram Dass-former American Harvard professor Richard Alpert-left India to share stories of his mysterious guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharajji. Introducing idealistic Western youth to the possibilities inherent in spiritual development, Ram Dass inspired a generation to turn on and tune in to a reality far different from the one they had known. From the spring of 1970 until Maharajji died on September 11, 1973, several hundred Westerners had his darshan (in Hinduism, the beholding of a deity, revered person, or sacred object). Those who saw him formed the Maharajji satsang-fellow travelers on the path. Love Everyone tells the stories of those who heard the siren call of the East and followed it to the foothills of the Himalayas. The ways they were called to make the journey, their experiences along the way, and their meeting with Maharajji form the core of this multicultural adventure in shifting consciousness. The contributors share their recollections of Maharajji and how his wisdom shaped their lives. All have attempted to follow Maharajji's basic teaching, his seemingly simple directives: Love everyone, feed everyone, and remember God. All have found their own way to be of service in the world and, in so doing, have collectively touched the hearts and souls of countless others.

This book deals with powerful sacred mantras of different Hindu deities and their blessings. These energy based sound, syllable, word or group of words mantras when chanted with faith, patience and devotion create energy vibrations that can replace negative energy with positive one eventually leading to a peaceful quiet mind; and positive and beneficial results. There is now growing evidence that repeating a mantra is good for mental health. The individuals who are in stressful situations are able to cope better with stress by using a mantra. Even those who see themselves as not having any religious affiliations can still benefit from mantra because it has spiritual significance. I decided to write about mantras firstly because of my own experience of using them as tools to help me not to ponder over negative thoughts but to find peace, solace, create positive energy and thoughts; and face the challenges of everyday life. Chanting of mantras has allowed me to conquer my mind. Secondly, over the years, I found it extremely difficult to find a book of mantras along with sufficient description of the prominent Hindu deities. After looking into the matter extensively, I discovered that a large number of Asians outside India are looking for the same in a book form so that they can carry or keep the book with them.

The rise, fall, and modern resurgence of an enigmatic book revered by yoga enthusiasts around the world Consisting of fewer than two hundred verses written in an obscure if not impenetrable language and style, Patanjali's Yoga Sutra is extolled by the yoga establishment as a perennial classic and guide to yoga practice-except it isn't. Virtually forgotten in India for hundreds of years and maligned when it was first discovered in the West, the Yoga Sutra has been elevated to its present iconic status only in the course of the past forty years. David Gordon White retraces the strange and circuitous journey of this confounding work from its ancient origins to today, bringing to life the improbable cast of characters whose interpretations and misappropriations of the Yoga Sutra led to its revered place in contemporary popular culture.

Pilgrims to Openness introduces the heart of authentic Indian Tantra in a series of lyrical, readable essays that speak with warmth, intelligence and compassion to the curious beginner and more adept practitioner alike. The essays follow the path from the first fleeting recognition of one's real nature to integration of the fruits of spiritual practice with every moment of life. Many of the essays were prompted by queries from students to the author. Heartfelt questions, such as "Do I need a Guru," and more philosophical topics are addressed in a simple, lucid, gutsy and often humorous style. No topic is off limits, from difficult emotions to love relationships, death, kundalini, chakras, boredom, the meaning of nonduality and how to wake up-in the morning and for all time. While Pilgrims to Openness is a series of teachings, not a "how-to" manual, the final pages of the book offer detailed instructions for three key practices that anyone can do. Shambhavi Sarasvati has trained for more than twenty years in the view and practices of North Indian direct realization Tantra. She has been fortunate to have studied with several great teachers in Indian and Tibetan nondual traditions. She has both a practitioner's and an academic grounding in Tantra. Her non-mystical view is that Tantra is a way to learn about and live in the fullness of Reality. This is Self-realization. Nothing more or less.

Each card in this deck highlights a particular deity in the Hindu pantheon and provides corresponding mantras, meditations, prayers and blessings. These cards reveal a who's who in the spiritual world, and identify which roles particular gods and goddesses play in the universe. For greater intelligence, petition Saraswati or for the removal of obstacles, invoke the presence of Ganesh by chanting his mantra.

Through in-depth analysis of musical theatre choreography and choreographers, Making Broadway Dance challenges long-held perceptions of Broadway dance as kitsch, disposable, a dance form created without artistic process. Setting out to demonstrate that musical theatre dance is not a monolith but rather multi-varied in terms of dance styles, aesthetics and methodologies, author Liza Gennaro provides insights into how Broadway dance is made. By examining choreography for musical theatre through the lens of dance studies, script analysis, movement research and dramaturgical inquiry, she treads in uncharted territory by offering a close examination of a dance form that has heretofore received only the most superficial interrogation. She also explores how musical theatre choreographers create within the parameters of librettos, enhance character development and build dance languages that inform and propel narrative. By considering influences from ballet, modern, postmodern, Jazz, social and global dance, she reveals a rich understanding of musical theatre dance. This book exposes the choreographic systems of some of Broadway's most influential dance-makers including George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins, Katherine Dunham, Bob Fosse, Savion Glover, Sergio Trujillo, Steven Hoggett and Camille Brown, and is essential reading for theatre and dance scholars, students, practitioners, and Broadway fans.

This is an incisive and inspiring meditation on finding your optimal vocation and life's work by one of yoga's great American masters, a book informed by the great Bhagavad Gita- yoga's ancient treatise on finding your purpose.

Tantric traditions in both Buddhism and Hinduism are thriving throughout Asia and in Asian diasporic communities around the world, yet they have been largely ignored by Western scholars until now. This collection of original essays fills this gap by examining the ways in which Tantric Buddhist traditions have changed over time and distance as they have spread across cultural boundaries in Asia. The book is divided into three sections dedicated to South Asia, Central Asia, and East and Southeast Asia. The essays cover such topics as the changing ideal of masculinity in Buddhist literature, the controversy triggered by the transmission of the Indian Buddhist deity Heruka to Tibet in the 10th century, and the evolution of a Chinese Buddhist Tantric tradition in the form of the True Buddha School. The book as a whole addresses complex and contested categories in the field of religious studies, including the concept of syncretism and the various ways that the change and transformation of religious traditions can be described and articulated. The authors, leading scholars in Tantric studies, draw on a wide array of methodologies from the fields of history, anthropology, art history, and sociology. Tantric Traditions in Transmission and Translation is groundbreaking in its attempt to look past religious, linguistic, and cultural boundaries.

Few books or writings are available on Mother Kali, the primordial Goddess and the Divine Mother of the Universe. Twenty-four powerful representations which attend Her remarkable personage and which are eternal portions of Her august form are discussed. Describing many of Her divine aspects and rendering them clear to the contemporary reader, demystifying perplexing issues and removing age-old fallacies while still maintaining the rich meaning and symbology of Her astounding Presence.

A collection of more than 50 talks on the vast range of inspiring and universal truths that have captivated millions in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. Readers will find these talks alive with the unique blend of all-embracing wisdom, encouragement, and love for humanity that have made the author one of our era's most revered and trusted guides to the spiritual life.

Mr. Heimsath presents here an intellectual history of the social reform movement among Hindus in India in the century between Ram Mohun Roy and Gandhi. Treating separately each major province in which reform movements flourished, he shows the many ways in which social reform was effected. Originally published in 1964. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A collection of more than 50 talks on the vast range of inspiring and universal truths that have captivated millions in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. Readers will find these talks alive with the unique blend of all-embracing wisdom, encouragement, and love for humanity that have made the author one of our era's most revered and trusted guides to the spiritual life.

Recorded in sacred Sanskrit texts, including the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata, Hindu Myths are thought to date back as far as the tenth century BCE. Here in these seventy-five seminal myths are the many incarnations of Vishnu, who saves mankind from destruction, and the mischievous child Krishna, alongside stories of the minor gods, demons, rivers and animals including boars, buffalo, serpents and monkeys. Immensely varied and bursting with colour and life, they demonstrate the Hindu belief in the limitless possibilities of the world - from the teeming miracles of creation to the origins of the incarnation of Death who eventually touches them all.

Many of us face the difficulty of trying to change something in our nature, only to find that it is either difficult or virtually impossible. We struggle, try to suppress various actions, only to have these actions rebound on us and cause feelings of failure, shame, guilt or frustration. The key to solving this problem actually lies in a deeper understanding of the true nature of our psychological being. We are actually composed of various different "parts" or "planes" of action that combine together, interact with one another and impinge upon one another. This understanding allows us to differentiate between a
mental idea, a force of will, an emotional movement, a vital energy, or a physical structure, and thereby more clearly understand the results of our psychological efforts and growth activities.

The present book Sarada-Tilaka of Laksmana Desikendra is one of the important texts on Tantric subjects. It is divided into 25 Chapters. Chapter 1 is Prakrti and deals with the origin of creation: the 23 chapters which follow demonstrate Prakrti-Vikrti; the last chapter 25 is beyond Prakrti and Vikrti. But Sarada-Tilaka is a tantric treatise which deals primarily with the Tantric worship of gods and goddesses.