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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Oriental religions
A wonderfully enjoyable storehouse of ancient Chinese history and
legends, which also has an important role in understanding
21st-century China 'And remember: Heaven's blessing will cease
forever if there's despair and poverty in your lands' The Most
Venerable Book (also known as The Book of History) is one of the
Five Classics, a key work of Chinese literature which preserves
some of the most ancient and dramatic chronicles of the history,
both real and mythological, of the Chinese state. For many
centuries it was a central work for anyone wishing to work for the
Imperial administration, preserving as it does a fascinating
mixture of key Confucian concepts as well as page after page of
heroes, benevolent rulers, sagacious ministers, and struggles
against flood, corruption and vicious, despotic rulers. The First
Emperor tried in 213 BC to have all copies of the book destroyed
because of its subversive implication that 'the Mandate of Heaven'
could be withdrawn from rulers who failed their people. For similar
reasons it was also banned by Chairman Mao. Extraordinarily, the
values of The Most Venerable Book have been revived by the Chinese
government of the 2010s.
Through the Taoist tantric arts, women can experience the full
flowering of their sexual energy. Rooted in Chinese energy
medicine, Universal Healing Tao practices, and ancient Taoist
traditions from the Yellow Emperor and his three female advisors,
these practices honor and celebrate each stage of a woman's life
and allow women to awaken their genuine feminine
sexuality-receptive, soft, sensitive, intuitive, and
creative-rather than the masculine approach that focuses on
strength, endurance, and control. In this comprehensive guide to
Taoist tantric arts for women, author Minke de Vos reveals how to
channel natural sexual energy to evolve the Divine within and heal
deep-rooted negative emotions and traumas related to sexuality. She
offers sexual energy practices to prevent chronic conditions like
cancer, depression, and osteoporosis and heal issues related to
PMS, menopause, and libido. She explains how to experience the
three different kinds of female orgasm and provides detailed,
illustrated instructions for exercises. She offers evocative
meditations to connect with the Goddess within and embrace the
innate sexiness at each stage of life. Minke de Vos's detailed
guide to cultivating female sexual energy allows you to ease the
passage through the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause;
harmonize your relationships; and merge your inner male and female
energies into wholeness.
Translated, edited, and introduced by Edward Y. J. Chung, The Great
Synthesis of Wang Yangming Neo-Confucianism in Korea: The Chonon
(Testament) by Chong Chedu (Hagok), is the first study in a Western
language of Chong Chedu (Hagok, 1649-1736) and Korean Wang Yangming
Neo-Confucianism. Hagok was an eminent philosopher who established
the unorthodox Yangming school (Yangmyonghak) in Korea. This book
includes an annotated scholarly translation of the Chonon
(Testament), Hagok's most important and interesting work on
Confucian self-cultivation. Chung also provides a comprehensive
introduction to Hagok's life, scholarship, and thought, especially
his great synthesis of Wang's philosophy of mind cultivation and
moral practice in relation to the classical teaching of Confucius
and Mencius and his critical analysis of Zhu Xi Neo-Confucianism
and its Songnihak tradition. Chung concludes that Hagok was an
original scholar in the Songnihak school, a great transmitter and
interpreter of Yangming Neo-Confucianism in Korea, and a creative
thinker whose integration of these two traditions inaugurated a
distinctively Korean system of ethics and spirituality. This book
sheds new light on the breadth and depth of Korean Neo-Confucianism
and serves as a primary source for philosophy and East Asian
studies in general and Confucian studies and Korean religion and
philosophy in particular.
Evidence from Shang oracle bones to memorials submitted to Western
Han emperors attests to a long-lasting debate in early China over
the proper relationship between humans and gods. One pole of the
debate saw the human and divine realms as separate and agonistic
and encouraged divination to determine the will of the gods and
sacrifices to appease and influence them. The opposite pole saw the
two realms as related and claimed that humans could achieve
divinity and thus control the cosmos. This wide-ranging book
reconstructs this debate and places within their contemporary
contexts the rival claims concerning the nature of the cosmos and
the spirits, the proper demarcation between the human and the
divine realms, and the types of power that humans and spirits can
exercise. It is often claimed that the worldview of early China was
unproblematically monistic and that hence China had avoided the
tensions between gods and humans found in the West. By treating the
issues of cosmology, sacrifice, and self-divinization in a
historical and comparative framework that attends to the
contemporary significance of specific arguments, Michael J. Puett
shows that the basic cosmological assumptions of ancient China were
the subject of far more debate than is generally thought.
This book presents the welfare regime of societies of Chinese
heritage as a liminal space where religious and state authorities
compete with each other for legitimacy. It offers a path-breaking
perspective on relations between religion and state in East Asia,
presenting how the governments of industrial societies try to
harness the human resources of religious associations to assist in
the delivery of social services. The book provides background to
the intermingling of Buddhism and the state prior to 1949; and the
continuation of that intertwinement in Taiwan and in other
societies where live many people of Chinese heritage since then.
The main contribution of this work is its detailed account of
Buddhist philanthropy as viewed from the perspectives of the state,
civil society, and Buddhists. This book will appeal to academics in
social sciences and humanities and broader audiences interested by
the social role of religions, charity, and NGOs, in social policy
implementation. It explores why governments turn to Buddhist
followers and their leaders and presents a detailed view of
Buddhist philanthropy. This book contributes to our understanding
of secularity in non-Western societies, as influenced by religions
other than Christianity.
In this Tang Classic text from the 9th Century, Daoist practitioner
Shi Jianwu describes how through adapting our own breathing to the
breath of the universe and daily meditation, one can develop an
astral body and 'transcend earthly matters to walk in the divine'.
Richard Bertschinger offers the first annotated English language
translation of this text with practical guidance for Qigong,
meditative practice and personal development. With elements of
Daoist tradition and drawing on Mayahana Buddhist influences, this
ancient guide aims to bring to the fore perceptions and focus on a
natural form of breathing for pure meditation. Much of this Chinese
practice has been misunderstood and lost over the years, until now.
Richard's thoughtful translation and additional comments serve to
distribute Shi Jianwu's original message with open interpretations
for the individual reader.
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