This book critically examines the Confucian political imagination and its influence on the contemporary Chinese dream of a powerful China. It views Confucianism as the ideological supplement to a powerful state that is challenging Western hegemony, and not as a political philosophy that need not concern us. Eske Mollgaard shows that Confucians, despite their traditionalist ways, have the will to transform the existing socio-ethical order. The volume discusses the central features of the Confucian political imaginary, the nature of Confucian discourse, Confucian revivals, Confucian humanism and civility, and the political ideal of the Great Unity. It concludes by considering if Confucianism can be universalized as an ideology in competition with liberal democracy.

Mindfulness for the High Performance World provides a unique approach to mindfulness training, built upon the principles of Buddhist philosophy written in line with the Dalai Lama's description of meditation and mindfulness as "Science of the Mind". This unique volume explores mindfulness as a learnable skill in context with the underpinnings of the teachings of Eastern psychology. The authors, Norm, a physician, cancer researcher and triathlete and Karolynn, a psychotherapist, mindfulness meditation teacher and marathoner, live and work in a high-stress, high-expectation world. Their approach is rooted in an understanding that thoughts produce biochemical and physiological changes and provides a strategic framework to instruct an individual on how to categorize types of thoughts. After harnessing this ability, one is positioned to become both more aware of his or her thoughts as well as the specific patterns of sensations they produce, or Sentinel Sites . The awareness of what the mind is doing and the ability to interrupt a thought pattern and/or control the response almost instantly leads one to having a healthier life, improved relationships with others and better adaptability to one's environment. Emphasizing the importance of physical activity and nutrition, the authors present a systematic approach for people who want to learn and incorporate mindfulness and transform how they live without having to divert their lives and careers. Offering itself as an accessible and skill-based introduction to the principles, practices, and benefits of mindfulness, Mindfulness for the High Performance World is a useful resource for students, athletes and professionals living and working in high-performance, high-stress environments and also for mindfulness practitioners seeking to deepen their skill level.

This edition makes available an entirely new version of Hegel's lectures on the development and scope of world history. Volume I presents Hegel's surviving manuscripts of his introduction to the lectures and the full transcription of the first series of lectures (1822-23). These works treat the core of human history as the inexorable advance towards the establishment of a political state with just institutions-a state that consists of individuals with a free and fully-developed self-consciousness. Hegel interweaves major themes of spirit and culture-including social life, political systems, commerce, art and architecture, religion, and philosophy-with an historical account of peoples, dates, and events. Following spirit's quest for self-realization, the lectures presented here offer an imaginative voyage around the world, from the paternalistic, static realm of China to the cultural traditions of India; the vast but flawed political organization of the Persian Empire to Egypt and then the Orient; and the birth of freedom in the West to the Christian revelation of free political institutions emerging in the medieval and modern Germanic world.
Brown and Hodgson's new translation is an essential resource for the English reader, and provides a fascinating account of the world as it was conceived by one of history's most influential philosophers. The Editorial Introduction surveys the history of the texts and provides an analytic summary of them, and editorial footnotes introduce readers to Hegel's many sources and allusions. For the first time an edition is made available that permits critical scholarly study, and translates to the needs of the general reader.

Since the late 19th century, when the "new science" of psychology and interest in esoteric and occult phenomena converged - leading to the "discovery" of the unconscious - the dual disciplines of depth psychology and mysticism have been wed in an often unholy union. Continuing in this tradition, and the challenges it carries, this volume includes a variety of inter-disciplinary approaches to the study of depth psychology, mysticism, and mystical experience, spanning the fields of theology, religious studies, and the psychology of religion. Chapters include inquiries into the nature of self and consciousness, questions regarding the status and limits of mysticism and mystical phenomenon, and approaches to these topics from multiple depth psychological traditions.

This book is a study of the methodological, metaphysical, and epistemological work of the Eastern Han Dynasty period scholar Wang Chong. It presents Wang's philosophical thought as a unique and syncretic culmination of a number of ideas developed in earlier Han and Warring States philosophy. Wang's philosophical methodology and his theories of truth, knowledge, and will and determinism offer solutions to a number of problems in the early Chinese tradition. His views also have much to offer contemporary philosophy, suggesting new ways of thinking about familiar problems. While Wang is best known as a critic and skeptic, Alexus McLeod argues that these aspects of his thought form only a part of a larger positive project, aimed at discerning truth in a variety of senses.

Anyone can be a quiet influencer. But not everyone knows how. "A tremendous and relevant read!" Stephen M. R. Covey, New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Speed of Trust Drawing on the enduring wisdom of the Buddha, Confucius, Rumi, Gandhi and others, The Art of Quiet Influence shows anyone, not just bosses, how to use influence without authority, a key mindfulness principle, to get things done at work and in life. Through the classic wisdom of 12 Eastern sages, relevant insights from influence research, and anecdotes and advice from 25 contemporary experts, Davis lays out a path for becoming a "mainspring," the unobtrusive yet powerful influencer first introduced in her book The Greats on Leadership. Organized around three core influence practices - Invite Participation, Share Power, and Aid Progress - readers will learn how to take mindfulness practice "out of the gym and onto the field," while gaining the confidence and practical know-how to be influential in whatever role they occupy.

Ruth Glasner presents an illuminating reappraisal of Averroes' physics. Glasner is the first scholar to base her interpretation on the full range of Averroes' writings, including texts that are extant only in Hebrew manuscripts and have not been hitherto studied. She reveals that Averroes changed his interpretation of the basic notions of physics - the structure of corporeal reality and the definition of motion - more than once. After many hesitations he offers a bold new interpretation of physics which Glasner calls 'Aristotelian atomism'. Ideas that are usually ascribed to scholastic scholars, and others that were traced back to Averroes but only in a very general form, are shown not only to have originated with him, but to have been fully developed by him into a comprehensive and systematic physical system. Unlike earlier Greek or Muslim atomistic systems, Averroes' Aristotelian atomism endeavours to be fully scientific, by Aristotelian standards, and still to provide a basis for an indeterministic natural philosophy. Commonly known as 'the commentator' and usually considered to be a faithful follower of Aristotle, Averroes is revealed in his commentaries on the Physics to be an original and sophisticated philosopher.

This book represents the first critical edition and scholarly annotated translation of a pioneering report on the predicament of cross-cultural understanding at the dawn of globalization, titled "A Brief Response on the Controversies over Shangdi, Tianshen and Linghun" ("Resposta breve sobre as Controversias do Xamty, Tien Xin, Lim hoen"), which was written in China by the Sicilian Jesuit missionary Niccolo Longobardo (1565-1654) in the 1620s and profoundly influenced Enlightenment understandings of Asian philosophy. The book restores the focus on Longobardo's own intellectual concerns, while also reproducing and analyzing all the Chinese-language annotations on the previously unpublished Portuguese and Latin manuscripts. Moreover, it meticulously modernizes all romanizations with standard Hanyu pinyin and identifies, on the basis of archival research, most of Longobardo's Chinese interlocutors, thus providing new insights into how the Jesuits networked with Chinese scholars in the late Ming. In this way, it opens up this seminal text to Sinologists and global historians exploring Europe's first intellectual exchanges with China. In addition, the book presents four introductory essays, written by the editors and two prominent scholars on the Jesuit China mission. These essays comprehensively reconstruct the historical and intellectual context of Longobardo's report, stressing that it cannot be viewed purely as a product of Sino-European cultural exchange, but also as an outgrowth of both exegetic debates within Europe and of European experiences across Asia, especially in Japan. Hence this critical edition will greatly contribute to a more globalized view of the Jesuit China mission.

Sun Tzu's Original Art of War is a remastering of the Chinese classic: using the latest archeological discoveries and modern translation techniques, this brand new translation -- prominently adorned with the latest reconstruction of the original Chinese -- updates the unnecessary wordiness and stodginess of traditional academic translations to bring the modern English reader as close as possible to experiencing Sun Tzu as his readers first did some 2500 years ago.

Eschewing the needlessly complex and inaccurately abstract phrasings that mar previous renditions, translator Andrew W. Zieger uses the latest academic research, analysis and methodology to to bring it all back to the simple military text Sun Tzu intended. Vivid, clear, somewhat poetic and at times spiritual: that is the voice of Sun Tzu.

Whether it's for the boardroom, the battlefield or cultural study, Sun Tzu's Original Art of War makes the brilliance of Sun Tzu plain for all to see.

This book offers for the first time a comprehensive study of the reception and reworking of the Peripatetic theory of the soul in the Kitab al-Nafs (Book of the Soul) by Avicenna (d. 1037). This study seeks to frame Avicenna's science of the soul (or psychology) by focusing on three key concepts: subject, definition, and activity. The examination of these concepts will disclose the twofold consideration of the soul in Avicenna's psychology. Besides the 'general approach' to the soul of sublunary living beings, which is the formal principle of the body, Avicenna's psychology also exhibits a 'specific orientation' towards the soul in itself, i.e. the human rational soul that, considered in isolation from the body, is a self-subsistent substance, identical with the theoretical intellect and capable of surviving severance from the body. These two investigations demonstrate the coexistence in Avicenna's psychology of a more specific and less physical science (psychologia specialis) within a more general and overall physical one (psychologia generalis).

This rich and enjoyable book by the acclaimed author of Japan Story explores the many ways in which Asia has influenced Europe and North America over centuries of tangled, dynamic encounters

From the time of the ancient Greeks onwards the West's relationship with Asia consisted for the most part of outrageous tales of strange beasts and monsters, of silk and spices shipped over vast distances and an uneasy sense of unknowable empires fantastically far away. By the twentieth century much of Asia might have come under Western rule after centuries of warfare, but its intellectual, artistic and spiritual influence was fighting back.

The Light of Asia is a wonderfully varied and entertaining history of the many ways in which Asia has shaped European and North American culture over centuries of tangled, dynamic encounters, and the central importance of this vexed, often confused relationship. From Marco Polo onwards Asia has been both a source of genuine fascination and equally genuine failures of comprehension. China, India and Japan were all acknowledged to be both great civilizations and in crude ways seen as superseded by the West. From Chicago to Calcutta, and from antiquity to the new millennium, this is a rich, involving story of misunderstandings and sincere connection, of inspiration and falsehood, of geniuses, adventurers and con-men.

Christopher Harding's captivating gallery of people and places celebrates Asia's impact on the West in all its variety.

Originally published in 1927. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Researches into Japanese Buddhism. This book is full of suggestive thought, with the essays on Japanese religious belief calling for particular praise for the earnest spirit in which the subject is approached. Contents Include A Living God. Out of the Street. Notes of a Trip to Kyoto. Dust. About Faces in Japanese Art. Ningyo-No-Haka. In Osaka. Buddhist Allusions in Japanese Folk Song. Nirvana. The Rebirth of Katsuguro. Within the Circle.

Sydney H. Griffith provides a basic overview of Syriac authors that addressed the issue of Islam in their writings. Griffith discusses the major themes and common content of this literature and focuses on the dialogue genre.

This book is a comparative study of two major Shi'i thinkers Hamid al-Din Kirmani from the Fatimid Egypt and Mulla Sadra from the Safavid Iran, demonstrating the mutual empowerment of discourses on knowledge formation and religio-political authority in certain Isma'ili and Twelver contexts. The book investigates concepts, narratives, and arguments that have contributed to the generation and development of the discourse on the absolute authority of the imam and his representatives. To demonstrate this, key passages from primary texts in Arabic and Persian are translated and closely analyzed to highlight the synthesis of philosophical, Sufi, theological, and scriptural discourses. The book also discusses the discursive influence of Nasir al-Din Tusi as a key to the transmission of Isma'ili narratives of knowledge and authority to later Shi'i philosophy and its continuation to modern and contemporary times particularly in the narrative of the guardianship of the jurist in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Is everything just as it should be, or is the world spiraling out of control and we must try to save it? Is life simple, once we understand how it works, or is it so complicated only a nuclear physicist could understand it? The authors claim that life is simple, but only if we accept what we encounter with equanimity and are willing to replace old ideas with new ones that make more sense. Attachment, resistance, and emotional reactions are what make life difficult. Is there a personal God? Does Satan exist? Do politics have a role in the spiritual development of our world? What part does sex play in our spiritual development? This is not a "safe" book. The authors have answers for all these questions and more, but not all readers will agree with them. And that is as it should be, according to them. Their concepts of how life works, based on Ancient Wisdom teachings, will make you analyze, ponder over, and re-assess your entire belief system. The overall message is one of assurance. As one reader said, "It gave me hope. I never considered myself a spiritual person until I read this book." "This book speaks in today's language to seekers of all ages. Whether a seasoned student or a beginner, it opens new doors and fresh vistas on the soul's journey to wisdom. It is indeed a practical guide, at the same time surveying all the principles necessary for understanding the wisdom-tradition we know as Theosophy. This book brings the Ancient Wisdom into the 21st century " - Joy Mills, author of Reflections on an Ancient Wisdom "Ancient Wisdom for a New Age provides some very important advice for those who want to live the spiritual life. The chapter on reincarnation is especially well-done. Hunt and Benedict are to be commended for making a noble effort to help spiritual pilgrims on their way. By far the most practical chapter in the book is 'Your Spiritual Practice'." - Quest Magazine