J.W.T. Mason presents rare insight not only into the basic beliefs of Shinto, but also into the importance of mythology and creativity to the evolution of our understanding of life and the universe. Mason begins by establishing his view of the development of man, language, and spiritual expression. Early man had an innate, intuitive understanding of the universe. This understanding was expressed through mythology and ritual.
Shinto's traditions and practices still reflect this ancient understanding that all things, living and non-living are of divine spirit. Man is an integral part of Great Nature, Dai Shizen. In Shinto, man seeks to re-establish the natural harmony, to return to the path and rhythm of Great Nature, through prayer, ritual, and daily routines.
Mason explains the vitality of Shinto in today's modern world. In this valuable work, the reader will find not only an insightful explanation of Shinto beliefs and ritual, but also a challenge to individuals of any spiritual tradition that their religious experience remain rooted in ancient, intuitive wisdom while simultaneously developing conscious understanding and contemporary expression.

In this engaging volume, Daniel Gardner explains the way in which the Four Books-- Great Learning , Analects , Mencius , and Maintaining Perfect Balance --have been read and understood by the Chinese since the twelfth century. Selected passages in translation are accompanied by Gardner's comments, which incorporate selections from the commentary and interpretation of the renowned Neo-Confucian thinker, Zhu Xi (1130-1200). This study provides an ideal introduction to the basic texts in the Confucian tradition from the twelfth through the twentieth centuries. It guides the reader through Zhu Xi's influential interpretation of the Four Books, showing how Zhu, through the genre of commentary, gave new coherence and meaning to these foundational texts. Since the Four Books with Zhu Xi's commentary served as the basic textbook for Chinese schooling and the civil service examinations for more than seven hundred years, this book illustrates as well the nature of the standard Chinese educational curriculum.

Throughout history, numerous scholars and intellectuals have tried to define Confucianism one way or another. Despite their efforts, the voices of those who claim to have found the essence of Confucianism are as much at odds as ever. A Topography of Confucian Discourse analyzes Confucian discussion in diverse historical settings, examining how Confucianism has served the different purposes of biased interpreters and how they have manipulated Confucian discourse. To explore their hidden desires, Lee Seung-hwan critically observes various historical contexts in which people interpreted Confucianism: in the heyday of the Jesuit Missionaries, the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, the period of Western Imperialism, late twentieth-century postmodern America, Tokugawa Japan, Choson Korea, China, Taiwan, South Korea, as well as Singapore. The author successfully historicizes Confucian discourse, explaining why, against a certain political background, a certain view on Confucianism has to arise. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lee Seung-hwan received his PhD from the University of Hawaii. A professor of philosophy at Korea University, Lee has authored several books including The Sociopolitical Re-illumination of Confucian Thought and The Exchange of E-Mail between the West and the East for 127 Days. Lee has been known as a progressive philosopher of Chinese philosophy and has dealt with the inherent conflicts in liberal political thought. ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR Jaeyoon Song is a PhD candidate at Harvard University and is interested in Chinese intellectual history and philosophy. He is currently working on Song discourse on government, especially the rise of a proto-constitutional debate in Southern Song China.

Contents Include CONFUCIANISM Confucius and the Confucian School Religious Ideas of the Confucian Classes Confucian Ethics Modern Confucianism TAOISM Lao-tzu The Tao-Teth-Ching Later Taoist Writers Modern TaoismKeywords: Confucian Ethics Confucian School Lao Tzu Confucianism Taoism Religious Ideas Confucius Taoist Tao

1905. This work comprises an outline theory of the origin and earlier stages of the development of religion, prepared with special reference to the Shinto evidence. Contents: Materials for the Study of Shinto; General Features-Personification; General Features-Deification of Men; General Features-Functions of Gods, etc.; Myth; The Mythical Narrative; The Pantheon-Nature-Deities; The Pantheon-Man-Deities; The Priesthood; Worship; Morals, Law and Purity; Ceremonial; Magic, Divination, Inspiration; and Decay of Shinto. Modern Sects.

Read China Galland's posts on the Penguin Blog With this book, China Galland brought increased attention to the spiritual traditions of the Black Madonna and other cross-cultural expressions of the feminine divine. The popularity of recent works by authors like Sue Monk Kidd and Kathleen Norris have only increased readers' fascination. Now with a new introduction by the author, Longing for Darkness explores Galland's spellbinding and deeply personal journey from New Mexico through Nepal, India, Switzerland, France, the former Yugoslavia, and Poland-places where such figures as Tara, the female Buddha of the Tibetan tradition, and the Black Madonna are venerated today.

This book presents, for the first time, a collection of ancient Japanese Shinto prayers in a format where English speaking readers can both understand the deep meaning of the translated text and can also pronounce the original Japanese words.
Shinto is an ancient spiritual tradition, primarily practiced in Japan, which is now spreading its traditions to the western world. Its primordial rituals and traditions touch a deep chord within one's spiritual self. Shinto's focus on divinity of all beings and of all creation, on living with gratitude and humility, and on purification and lustration of one's self and environment will bring light and joy to any reader.
The purpose of prayer and ritual as practiced in the Shinto tradition, is to reinsert ourselves into a divine state of being, not as a new position, but as an acknowledgement and reinforcement of what already exists. Ritual restores sensitive awareness to our relationship to the universe. Through purification and removal of impurities and blockages, we return to our innate internal brightness and cultivate a demeanor of gratitude and joy.
Shinto rituals and prayers were created by ancient man over 2,000 years ago in a time when mankind was more intuitive about his relationship to this world. Because of this, the rites are archetypal and invoke deep emotion within the participants.
This book of prayers will introduce the western reader to the deep spirituality of Shinto, providing explanation of the spiritual tradition and practice and providing a collection of 22 prayers for use in personal meditation and devotions.
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1912. Contents: Cosmogony; The Yellow Emperor; Dreams; Confucius; The Questions of T_Ang; Effort and Destiny; and Causality.

1929. This volume consists of five books entitled: The Youth of the Wise Men; Confucius Weds; Confucius and Lao-Tsze; Confucius as Counsellor; and The Old Age of the Wise Men. See other works available by this author from Kessinger Publishing.

Daoism is perhaps the least understood of the world's major religions and here, for the first time, is a concise introduction to the many-facete d beliefs of this religion and explains key deities, temples, sacred places as well as Daoism' s core texts and scriptures.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. 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 to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

The "Tao Te Ching" is a 2000-year-old Chinese manuscript of wisdom and advice. Love has been around since the dawn of time. Can ancient Chinese philosophy shed any light on one of mankind's perennial concerns? Ed Bremson explores this question in "The Tao of Love." Using the "Tao Te Ching" as his starting-point and guide, the author writes about love from an Eastern perspective. Readers will find their own thinking and understanding about this subject to be stimulated. "The Tao of Love" might not change any minds, but it might help clarify and define what those minds are thinking and feeling. And readers also might find an improvement in their relationships with members of the opposite sex, which wouldn't be bad.

Wisdom of the East. With Introduction And Notes By Lionel Giles.

The Hibbert Lectures, Second Series, Lectures Delivered in the University Hall of Dr. Williams Library, London. Oct.-Dec. 1914.

1912. The American Lectures on the History of Religions. The writer's objective is to exhibit his view of the primitive and fundamental element of Chinese religion and ethics. That view is based on independent research into the ancient literature of China and into the actual state of her religion. Confident that his view is correct it gives the book as a key to the study of Taoism and Confucianism. Contents: The Tao or Order of the Universe; The Tao of Man; Perfection, Holiness, or Divinity; Asceticism. Prolongation of Life. Immortality; Worship of the Universe; Social and Political Universism (1); Social and Political Universism (2); and Fung-Shui.

Confucius did not regard himself as an innovator, but as the conservator of ancient truth and ceremonial propriety. He dealt with neither theology nor metaphysics, but with moral and political conduct. The Lun Yu, Analects or Sayings of Confucius, were probably compiled, says Legge, "by the disciples of the disciples of the sage, making free use of the written memorials concerning him which they had received, and the oral statements which they had heard, from their several masters. And we shall not be far wrong, if we determine its date as about the beginning of the third, or the end of the fourth century before Christ."

The golden age of Daoists, rather than being imaginary, closely matches life in the Mesolithic, ca. 9000-5000 BCE, a sedentary form of hunting and collecting before the full development of agriculture and the rise of stratified societies and discriminating consciousness. The book examines fundamental Daoist values, modes of thinking, dietetics, communities, leadership ideals, nonviolence, gender equality as well as methods of self-cultivation in relation to prehistoric patterns. An enlightening account of Daoism in the context of human development since the Paleolithic, Pristine Affluence offers a new vision of the Daoist tradition, Chinese history, and essential human choices.

Now the question arises, If all human beings are endowed with Buddha-nature, why have they not come naturally to be Enlightened? To answer this question, the Indian Mahayanists told the parable of the drunkard who forgets the precious gems put in his own pocket by one of his friends. The man is drunk with the poisonous liquor of selfishness, led astray by the alluring sight of the sensual objects, and goes mad with anger, lust, and folly. Thus he is in a state of moral poverty, entirely forgetting the precious gem of Buddha-nature within him. -from "The Nature of Man" There are, unknown to many Western minds, two schools of Buddhist thought: the Theravada, the one Westerners are generally more familiar with, and the Mahayanistic, or Zen, philosophy, which is still a great mystery even to occidental explorers of world religions. This 1913 book, one of the first works on Zen written in the English language, examines the Zen mode of meditation, which is virtually unchanged from the practices of the pre-Buddhistic recluses of India, and discusses the intensely personal aspects of this branch of Buddhism, which stresses the passing of wisdom through teachers rather than Scripture. Ardently spiritual and beautifully reflective, this splendid book will be treasured by all seekers of the divine. KAITEN NUKARIYA was a professor at Kei-o-gi-jiku University and So-to-shu Buddhist College, Tokyo.

The Essential Analects offers a representative selection from Edward Slingerland's acclaimed translation of the full work, including passages covering all major themes. An appendix of selected traditional commentaries keyed to each passage provides access to the text and to its reception and interpretation. Also included are a glossary of terms and short biographies of the disciples of Confucius and the traditional commentators cited.

An uncomplicated, easy to use feng shui manual for Spanish readers.

The Master said, 'If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame.

Is it true, as they say, the virtues of wisdom, bravery, honor, loyalty, compassion and purity enshrined in the Japanese soul have become lost in the rush of modern civilization? Has the power divine, the spirit of infinite light, love, tears and remembrance, and the courage to die for a noble cause become the stuff old movies in Japan are made of? After more than forty years in Japan I once thought so. But through a revelation of penetrating spiritual observations about the legacy of gods and men enshrined in the Japanese soul the late head priest of "tatsuta taisha," the Dragon Shrine, showed me I was wrong.

"Where the Trees Grow Thick" is a search for a dying fortress called the Yamato spirit The unseen is never easy to find, but searching for it--as I discovered--is like coming to know one's True Self.

J. Krishnamurti, one of the most beloved and renowned religious teachers of the twentieth century, often taught his students that they must look at the state of the world, with all its violence and conflict, if they are ever to understand themselves. To turn away from world events was for him not to be alive to what life has to teach.
"Facing a World in Crisis " presents a selection of talks that Krishnamurti gave on how to live in and respond to troubling and uncertain times. His message of personal responsibility and the importance of connecting with the broader world is presented in a nonsectarian and nonpolitical way. Direct and ultimately life-affirming, "Facing a World in Crisis " will resonate with readers today who are looking for a new way to understand and find hope in challenging times.