Transforming the Void: Embryological Discourse and Reproductive Imagery in East Asian Religions considers paths to self-cultivation and salvation that are patterned on human embryological development or procreative imagery in the religions of China and Japan. Focusing on Taoism, Esoteric Buddhism, Shinto, Shugendo, and local religious traditions, the contributors to the volume provide new insight into how the body's generative processes are harnessed as powerful metaphors for spiritual attainment. This volume offers an in-depth examination of the religious dimensions of embryology and reproductive imagery, topics that have been hitherto solely approached through the lens of the history of medicine. Contributors include: Brigitte Baptandier, Catherine Despeux, Gregoire Espesset, Christine Mollier, Fabrizio Pregadio, Dominic Steavu, Lucia Dolce, Bernard Faure, Iyanaga Nobumi, Anna Andreeva, Kigensan Licha, Gaynor Sekimori.

Lao Tzu, who lived in China approximately 2600 years ago, tells us to seek that natural nameless state where there is peace and harmony. This book explores the way of Lao Tzu: the destination that Lao Tzu tells us to seek; the directions that Lao Tzu offers to help us to reach the destination; the problems that Lao Tzu tells us we will encounter trying to reach the destination; and finally the strategies that Lao Tzu offers to help us to overcome these problems and to successfully follow his directions. This book is part of the series 'Ways of the World' in which the ways of the founders of various religions and philosophies are explored. Each book follows the same format, exploring: the destination that we are told to seek; the directions offered to help us to reach that destination; problems that we are told will hinder us on our way; and finally strategies that are offered to help us to overcome these problems and to successfully follow the directions. This format not only helps to better understand the way, but also makes it easier to compare the various ways.

Towering over the Kanto Plain, the sacred mountain oyama (literally, "Big Mountain") has loomed large over the religious landscape of early modern Japan.

By the Edo period (1600-1868), the revered peak had undergone a transformation from secluded spiritual retreat to popular pilgrimage destination. Its status as a regional landmark among its devotees was boosted by its proximity to the shogunal capital and the wide appeal of its amalgamation of Buddhism, Shinto, mountain asceticism, and folk beliefs. The influence of the oyama cult--the intersecting beliefs, practices, and infrastructure associated with the sacred site--was not lost on the ruling Tokugawa shogunate, which saw in the pilgrimage an opportunity to reinforce the communal ideals and social structures that the authorities espoused.

Barbara Ambros provides a detailed narrative history of the mountain and its place in contemporary society and popular religion by focusing on the development of the oyama cult and its religious, political, and socioeconomic contexts. Richly illustrated and carefully researched, this study emphasizes the importance of "site" or "region" in considering the multifaceted nature and complex history of religious practice in Tokugawa Japan.

This book is intended to give the seeker of Truth a devotional practice that is designed to aid in the ultimate goal of union with God or the Divine. The Sai Krishna Premopasana assists the seeker to become aware of the divinity that is inherent within us all. When the act of love, the lover, and the object of love all become one, the individual disappears into Pure Being-into that which is eternal. The Sri Sai Krishna Mandalam-the Yantra of Sw ta Dweepam (Golokam)-was specifically prepared to help those interested in Sai Krishna Premopasana. This approach has seven steps and each step has its own mantra and tantra. The seventh step is the ultimate step representing the seat of Consciousness. Religions are many but the goal is one, and the language of love is the universal way to this realization.

Latin American Christianity is too often presented as a unified story appended to the end of larger western narratives. And yet the stories of Christianity in Latin America are as varied and diverse as the lands and the peoples who live there. The unique political, ecclesial, social, and historical realities of each nation inevitably shaped a variety of Christian expressions in each. Now, for the first time, a resource exists to help students and scholars understand the histories of Latin American Christianity. An ideal resource, this handbook is designed as an accompaniment to reading and research in the field. After a generous overview to the history and theology of the region, the text moves nation-by-nation, providing timelines, outlines, and substantial introductions to the politics, people, movements, and relevant facts of Christianity as experienced in that nation. The result is an informative and eye-opening introduction to a kaleidoscope of efforts to articulate the meanings and implications of Christianity in the context of Latin America.

A presentation of the "Mi Yingchan," a Daoist practice manual known as "Secret of the Shining Toad."

Imagine China, late Warring States circa 250 BCE. Loose-knit associations of spiritual virtuosi have emerged from the evenfall of unwritten history possessing an archetypal understanding of nature and human potential. Their influence is felt reverberating through many social spheres including religion, government, arts, literature, and ethics, and they are becoming renowned for their contributions to the sciences, especially medicine, cosmology, and natural correspondence. Inspiring this remarkable historic movement are masters and adepts of the Way revered as shenxian - spiritual transcendents whose acutely insightful culture stands at the genesis of Daoist aspirations. Interestingly however, these fascinating luminaries, many of whom will be remembered as legendary immortals, have somehow managed to step into history unnamed.

In this study, these ancestral wayfarers are referred to as Yin Hejia, or Silver River people. By meticulously piecing together their legacy from fragments of attestations scattered among classic literature such as "Zhuangzi," "Baopuzi," and "Shenxian zhuang" to name only a few, we discover clear precedence for a well-defined praxis. Not surprisingly however, the systematic approach through which they cultivated spiritual transcendency remains disorganized in modern perceptions, split up as it is among so many different sources. Organizing and empowering this knowledge is particularly important now, as indigenous constructions of Daoism are absorbed into a global context and diligence in practicing orthodox methods aimed at profound levels of attainment has become virtually unheard of.

Here, for the first time, is a complete cultivation manual addressed to contemporary practitioners who are interested in shenxian arts as recorded and handed down by great adepts from the past. Presented in traditional style and divided into a series of time-honored graduations, the text is fully annotated and set to a rigorous standard of scholarly range. Distinguished in terms of accessibility and utility, in all it conveys a powerful overture to venerating the Dao through accommodating exquisite dimensions of human potential.

First Edition released May 2014.

This unique edition of the "Tao Te Ching features: - the first comprehensive verbatim translation of the entire text of the "Tao Te Ching; - literal character definitions that allow the reader to create his or her own interpretation; - a concordance section that enables the reader to track the different ways a single character is used throughout the work; - grammatical and interpretive notes on individual terms and verses, - a unique commentary on the first verse, which represents a complete spiritual teaching in itself; and- a literary translation of the "Tao Te Ching that can be read on its own or compared with the verbatim translation.