The Kanwar is India's largest annual religious pilgrimage. Millions of participants gather sacred water from the Ganga and carry it across hundreds of miles to dispense as offerings in Siva shrines. These devotees-called bhola, gullible or fools, and seen as miscreants by many Indians-are mostly young, destitute men, who have been left behind in the globalizing economy. But for these young men, the ordeal of the pilgrimage is no foolish pursuit, but a means to master their anxieties and attest their good faith in unfavorable social conditions. Vikash Singh walked with the pilgrims of the Kanwar procession, and with this book, he highlights how the procession offers a social space where participants can prove their talents, resolve, and moral worth. Working across social theory, phenomenology, Indian metaphysics, and psychoanalysis, Singh shows that the pilgrimage provides a place in which participants can simultaneously recreate and prepare for the poor, informal economy and inevitable social uncertainties. In identifying with Siva, who is both Master of the World and yet a pathetic drunkard, participants demonstrate their own sovereignty and desirability despite their stigmatized status. Uprising of the Fools shows how religion today is not a retreat into tradition, but an alternative forum for recognition and resistance within a rampant global neoliberalism.

The Kanwar is India's largest annual religious pilgrimage. Millions of participants gather sacred water from the Ganga and carry it across hundreds of miles to dispense as offerings in Siva shrines. These devotees-called bhola, gullible or fools, and seen as miscreants by many Indians-are mostly young, destitute men, who have been left behind in the globalizing economy. But for these young men, the ordeal of the pilgrimage is no foolish pursuit, but a means to master their anxieties and attest their good faith in unfavorable social conditions. Vikash Singh walked with the pilgrims of the Kanwar procession, and with this book, he highlights how the procession offers a social space where participants can prove their talents, resolve, and moral worth. Working across social theory, phenomenology, Indian metaphysics, and psychoanalysis, Singh shows that the pilgrimage provides a place in which participants can simultaneously recreate and prepare for the poor, informal economy and inevitable social uncertainties. In identifying with Siva, who is both Master of the World and yet a pathetic drunkard, participants demonstrate their own sovereignty and desirability despite their stigmatized status. Uprising of the Fools shows how religion today is not a retreat into tradition, but an alternative forum for recognition and resistance within a rampant global neoliberalism.

Translating Totality in Parts offers an annotated translation of two of preeminent Chinese Tang dynasty monk Chengguan's most revered masterpieces. With this book, Chengguan's Commentaries to the Avatamsaka Sutra and The Meanings Proclaimed in the Subcommentaries Accompanying the Commentaries to the Avatamsaka Sutra are finally brought to contemporary Western audiences. Translating Totality in Parts allows Western readers to experience Chengguan's important contributions to the religious and philosophical theory of the Huayan and Buddhism in China.

The scientific debates on border crossings and cultural exchange between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have much increased over the last decades. Within this context, however, little attention has been given to the biblical Exodus, which not only plays a pivotal role in the Abrahamic religions, but also is a master narrative of a border crossing in itself. Sea and desert are spaces of liminality and transit in more than just a geographical sense. Their passage includes a transition to freedom and initiation into a new divine community, an encounter with God and an entry into the Age of law. The volume gathers twelve articles written by leading specialists in Jewish and Islamic Studies, Theology and Literature, Art and Film history, dedicated to the transitional aspects within the Exodus narrative. Bringing these studies together, the volume takes a double approach, one that is both comparative and intercultural. How do Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts and images read and retell the various border crossings in the Exodus story, and on what levels do they interrelate? By raising these questions the volume aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of contact points between the various traditions.

Journey into the world of Ayahuasca and healing. A mysterious and powerful plant medicine with curative powers that is drunk as a tea during a sacred ceremony, Ayahuasca has been known to change people's lives dramatically. But what was once a healing experience practiced only by Indigenous South Americans - and sought out by the adventurous few - has, in the past fifty years, become increasingly popular around the world. Hachumak, a Peruvian medicine man, has been practicing traditional healing arts in his country for more than twenty years. His unique approach is based on ritualistic simplicity and highlights the essence of the Art, which includes the borrowed forces from Nature. In this remarkable book, he shares his knowledge and experiences to broaden our understanding of this powerful medicine and protect it from misuse and exploitation. Whether you are among the uninitiated and curious, or a seasoned journeyer, you will gain a deeper understanding of what shamanism is and how and why it works, as well as its possibilities and limitations. Hachumak reveals his own path to becoming a shaman and explains how a well-crafted Ayahuasca ceremony unfolds when run by an experienced curandero. He describes in detail what to expect - both physically and psychologically - while under the guidance of the sacred plants. With Hachumak as our experienced and trusted guide, Journeying Through the Invisible offers a new and healing way of seeing ourselves and the world around us.

Thomas Keating was a Cistercian monk who founded the worldwide 'Contemplative Outreach', teaching people the art of meditation. Invitation to Love provides a road map for the journey that begins when Centering Prayer is seriously undertaken. Pointing to some of the recognizable landmarks on this journey, as well as to its ultimate destination, Father Keating addresses common questions regarding contemplative practice: How will it affect my life? Where does it lead us spiritually? What obstacles will I encounter along the way? How does it work? Following on from Open Mind, Open Heart, this book establishes a dialogue between the insights of contemporary psychology and the classic Christian spiritual masters, providing a solid conceptual background for the practice of Centering Prayer. This is a practical book, articulating the stages of the process of spiritual growth, and outlining how we might develop a deeper relationship with God and move from contemplation to action.

We Sing We Stay Together (Cantamos y Permanecemos Juntos): El libro Plegarias Del Servicio Matutino del Shabbat es un libro de plegarias para acompanar el canto en el servicio de culto del Shabbat (sabado) por la manana, con texto transliterado a caracteres del alfabeto latino, traduccion y explicacion del servicio de culto. Su objetivo principal es simplificar al maximo el aprendizaje de las oraciones, como soporte de ayuda para escuchar y cantar con el CD de 64 canciones del mismo nombre; pero tambien constituye, por derecho propio, una herramienta de aprendizaje que explica el significado de las palabras y del servicio de culto. Nuestras plegarias judias son bellas canciones de amor, llenas de bondad, afecto, adoracion, esperanza, amabilidad y generosidad. Son nuestro ADN aunque no las conozcamos, porque estas plegarias, nuestra religion, han moldeado al pueblo judio: nuestra manera de pensar y educacion, quienes somos y que representamos. El judaismo implica ser bueno y positivo para uno mismo, la familia, la comunidad y el mundo en general - todo por respeto y amor a Hashem. Me llena de gratitud, humildad y orgullo. Nuestro legado es una bendicion intelectual, cultural, espiritual y religiosa, pero necesitamos un acceso facil. Nunca pude participar ni aun menos disfrutar del servicio matutino del Shabbat, pero adoraba esos momentos en que toda la comunidad se reunia y cantaba plegarias cortas con melodias conmovedoras. No habia suficiente, necesitabamos mas canto, !mucho mas! La comunidad es cuestion de familia y amigos, y todos somos amigos: lo dice incluso una de nuestras plegarias. Nuestras oraciones reclaman ser cantadas con jubilo, clara y armoniosamente. Las plegarias comunales buscan la pertenencia, compartir, y eso solo es posible si todos nos unimos como iguales; necesitamos palabras claramente articuladas, faciles de aprender y agradables de cantar. Dedico este proyecto de melodizar las plegarias del servicio matutino del Shabbat y de escribir un libro de plegarias para acompanar el canto a todos los que aman y desean la continuidad judia, el Judaismo, la Tora y el estado-nacion del pueblo judio, Israel; y asimismo a todos nuestros maravillosos amigos, los justos entre las naciones. Acordaos de recordar que cuando cantamos juntos, permanecemos juntos. AM ISRAEL CHAI - el pueblo de Israel vive. Con amor y esperanza para nuestros hijos, Richard Collis

Abby Chava Stein was raised in a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, profoundly isolated in a culture that lives according to the laws and practices of an eighteenth-century Eastern European enclave, speaking only Yiddish and Hebrew and shunning modern life. Stein was born as the first son in a rabbinical dynastic family, poised to become a leader of the next generation of Hasidic Jews. But Stein felt certain at a young age that she was a girl. Without access to TV or the internet and never taught English, she suppressed her desire for a new body while looking for answers wherever she could find them, from forbidden religious texts to smuggled secular examinations of faith. Finally, she orchestrated a personal exodus from ultra-Orthodox manhood into mainstream femininity-a radical choice that forced her to leave her home, her family and her way of life.

Nous Chantons Nous Restons Ensemble (We Sing We Stay Together): Prieres du service du matin de Shabbat est un recueil de prieres a chanter pour le service a la synagogue du matin de Shabbat (samedi), tres facile a utiliser, avec une translitteration en caracteres romains, une traduction et une explication du service. Son principal objectif est de faciliter au possible l'apprentissage des prieres en ecoutant et en chantant sur les 64 pistes musicales du CD du meme nom ; mais il represente aussi, en lui-meme, un outil didactique qui donne la signification des mots et du service. Nos prieres juives sont de beaux chants d'amour, pleines de bonte, d'affection, d'adoration, d'espoir, de bienveillance et de generosite. Elles sont notre ADN, meme si nous ne les connaissons pas, car ces prieres, notre religion, ont faconne le peuple juif, notre facon de penser, notre education, qui nous sommes et ce que nous representons. Le judaisme c'est etre bon et positif envers soi-meme, la famille, la communaute, le monde en general - tout ceci par respect et par amour pour Hashem. Cela me remplit de gratitude, d'humilite et de fierte. Notre heritage est une benediction intellectuelle, culturelle, spirituelle et religieuse - mais nous avons besoin d'un acces facile. Je n'ai jamais pu prendre part, encore moins prendre plaisir, a un service du matin de Shabbat, mais j'aimais ces moments ou la communaute se rassemble et chante quelques courtes prieres aux melodies touchantes. Il n'y en avait simplement pas assez, il nous fallait plus de chants, bien plus ! La communaute tourne autour de la famille et des amis, et nous sommes tous amis, c'est meme ecrit dans l'une de nos prieres. Nos prieres demandent a etre chantees avec beaucoup de joie, clairement et harmonieusement. Les prieres communes servent a renforcer les liens, a partager, ce qui n'est possible que si nous pouvons tous participer de facon egale, et pour ce faire il nous faut des paroles clairement enoncees qui soient faciles a apprendre et agreables a chanter. Je dedie cet ouvrage de mise en musique des prieres du matin de Shabbat et de redaction d'un recueil des paroles de ces prieres a tous ceux qui aiment et se soucient de la Continuite Juive, de la Torah et de l'Etat-Nation du Peuple Juif, Israel ; ainsi qu'a tous nos merveilleux amis, les justes parmi les nations. Souvenez-vous de vous souvenir que lorsque nous chantons ensemble, nous restons ensemble. AM ISRAEL CHAI - le peuple d'Israel vit. Avec amour et espoir pour nos enfants, Richard Collis.

In Ibadi Texts from the 2nd/8th Century Abdulrahman Al-Salimi and Wilferd Madelung present an edition of fourteen Ibadi religious texts and explain their contents and extraordinary source value for the early history of Islam. The Ibadis constitutes the moderate wing of the Kharijite opposition movement to the Umayyad and 'Abbasid caliphates. The texts edited are mostly polemical letters to opponents or exhortatory to followers by 'Abd Allah b. Ibad , Abu l-'Ubayda Muslim b. Abi Karima and other Ibadi leaders in Basra, Oman and Hadramawt. An epistle detailing the offences of the caliph 'Uthman is by the early Kufan historiographer al-Haytham b. 'Adi. By their early date and independence of the mainstream historical tradition these txts offer the modern historian of Islam an invaluable complement to the well-known literary sources.

As an old proverb puts it, 'Two Jews, three opinions.' In the long, rich, tumultuous history of the Jewish people, this characteristic contentiousness has often been extended even unto Heaven. Arguing with God is a highly original and utterly absorbing study that skates along the edge of this theological thin ice_at times verging dangerously close to blasphemy_yet also a source of some of the most poignant and deeply soulful expressions of human anguish and yearning. The name Israel literally denotes one who 'wrestles with God.' And, from Jacob's battle with the angel to Elie Wiesel's haunting questions about the Holocaust that hang in the air like still smoke over our own age, Rabbi Laytner admirably details Judaism's rich and pervasive tradition of calling God to task over human suffering and experienced injustice. It is a tradition that originated in the biblical period itself. Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and others all petitioned for divine intervention in their lives, or appealed forcefully to God to alter His proposed decree. Other biblical arguments focused on personal or communal suffering and anger: Jeremiah, Job, and certain Psalms and Lamentations. Rabbi Laytner delves beneath the surface of these 'blasphemies' and reveals how they implicitly helped to refute the claims of opponent religions and advance Jewish doctrines and teachings.

In this timely study Gavin D'Costa explores Roman Catholic doctrines after the Second Vatican Council regarding the Jewish people (1965 - 2015). It establishes the emergence of the teaching that God's covenant with the Jewish people is irrevocable. What does this mean for Catholics regarding Jewish religious rituals, the land, and mission? Catholic Doctrines on the Jewish People after Vatican II establishes that the Catholic Church has a new teaching about the Jewish people: the covenant made with God is irrevocable. D'Costa faces head-on three important issues arising from the new teaching. First, previous Catholic teachings seem to claim Jewish rituals are invalid. He argues this is not the case. Earlier teachings allow us positive insights into the modern question. Second, a nuanced case for Catholic minimalist Zionism is advanced, without detriment to the Palestinian cause. This is in keeping with Catholic readings of scripture and the development of the Holy See's attitude to the State of Israel. Third, the painful question of mission is explored. D'Costa shows the new approach safeguards Jewish identity and allows for the possibility of successful witness by Hebrew Catholics who retain their Jewish identity and religious life.