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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Aspects of religions (non-Christian) > Worship
In a small medieval palace on Kathmandu's Durbar Square lives
Nepal's famous Living Goddess - a child as young as three who is
chosen from a caste of Buddhist goldsmiths to watch over the
country and protect its people. To Nepalis she is the embodiment of
Devi (the universal goddess) and for centuries their Hindu kings
have sought her blessing to legitimize their rule. Legends swirl
about her, for the facts are shrouded in secrecy and closely
guarded by dynasties of priests and caretakers. How come a Buddhist
girl is worshipped by autocratic Hindu rulers? Are the initiation
rituals as macabre as they are rumoured to be? And what fate awaits
the Living Goddesses when they attain puberty and are dismissed
from their role? Weaving together myth, religious belief, modern
history and court gossip, Isabella Tree takes us on a compelling
and fascinating journey to the esoteric, hidden heart of Nepal.
Through her unprecedented access to the many layers of Nepalese
society, she is able to put the country's troubled modern history
in the context of the complex spiritual beliefs and practices that
inform the role of the little girl at its centre. Deeply felt,
emotionally engaged and written after over a decade of travel and
research, The Living Goddess is a compassionate and illuminating
enquiry into this reclusive Himalayan country - a revelation.
The Jewish practice of bar mitzvah dates back to the twelfth
century, but this ancient cultural ritual has changed radically
since then, evolving with the times and adapting to local
conditions. For many Jewish-American families, a child's bar
mitzvah or bat mitzvah is both a major social event and a symbolic
means of asserting the family's ongoing connection to the core
values of Judaism. Coming of Age in Jewish America takes an inside
look at bar and bat mitzvahs in the twenty-first century, examining
how the practices have continued to morph and exploring how they
serve as a sometimes shaky bridge between the values of
contemporary American culture and Judaic tradition. Interviewing
over 200 individuals involved in bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies,
from family members to religious educators to rabbis, Patricia Keer
Munro presents a candid portrait of the conflicts that often emerge
and the negotiations that ensue. In the course of her study, she
charts how this ritual is rife with contradictions; it is a private
family event and a public community activity, and for the child, it
is both an educational process and a high-stakes performance.
Through detailed observations of Conservative, Orthodox, Reform,
and independent congregations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Munro
draws intriguing, broad-reaching conclusions about both the current
state and likely future of American Judaism. In the process, she
shows not only how American Jews have forged a unique set of bar
and bat mitzvah practices, but also how these rituals continue to
shape a distinctive Jewish-American identity.
Behind the stereotype of a solitary meditator closing his eyes to
the world, meditation always takes place in close interaction with
the surrounding culture. Meditation and Culture: The Interplay of
Practice and Context explores cases in which the relation between
meditative practice and cultural context is particularly complex.
The internationally-renowned contributors discuss practices that
travel from one culture to another, or are surrounded by competing
cultures. They explore cultures that bring together competing
practices, or that are themselves mosaics of elements of different
origins. They seek to answer the question: What is the relationship
between meditation and culture? The effects of meditation may arise
from its symbolic value within larger webs of cultural meaning, as
in the contextual view that still dominates cultural and religious
studies. They may also be psychobiological responses to the
practice itself, the cultural context merely acting as a catalyst
for processes originating in the body and mind of the practitioner.
Meditation and Culture gives no single definitive explanation, but
taken together, the different viewpoints presented point to the
complexity of the relationship.
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