"The Buddhist Experience in America" explores how the world's fourth-largest religion came to America and flourished here. Although the percentage of Buddhists in America has always been, and will probably remain, low, Buddhism has had a greater impact on culture than its small numbers might indicate. Concepts such as Nirvana and practices such as meditation have entered the mainstream of American life. Zen has turned into a commonplace adjective, and everybody knows who the Dalai Lama is. But Buddhism is a much more complex and powerful phenomenon than is indicated a catchy phrase, a political cause, or devotion to a charismatic personality. This book provides an accessible introduction to the religion, as well as to how Buddhists follow their beliefs in the United States.

Just as the teachings of Jesus gave birth to Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and hundreds of different Protestant sects, the teachings of the historical Buddha developed into many different traditions. "The Buddhist Experience in America" examines how these traditions are practiced: Theravada Buddhism, oldest of Buddhist sects, was the last to have a substantial presence in this country; the Mahayana tradition, with particular attention to Pure Land Buddhism, the Buddhism of most Japanese- and Chinese-Americans; the special case of Zen Buddhism, which, while a distinctly minority religion is Japan, has been historically the greatest Buddhist influence in America; and Vajrayana, or Tibetan Buddhism, currently the fastest growing school of Buddhism in America. The book includes a discussion of the historical Buddha and an examination of how contemporary Buddhism has responded to current issues and concerns. Appendices include a glossary, a who's who of Buddhism, a timeline, and a list of resources for further information.

This book introduces architects to a philosopher, Immanuel Kant, whose work was constantly informed by a concern for the world as an evolving whole. According to Kant, in this interconnected and dynamic world, humans should act as mutually dependent and responsible subjects. Given his future-oriented and ethico-politically concerned thinking, Kant is a thinker who clearly speaks to architects. This introduction demonstrates how his ideas bear pertinently and creatively upon the world in which we live now and for which we should care thoughtfully. Kant grounded his enlightened vision of philosophy's mission using an architectural metaphor: of the modest 'dwelling-house'. Far from constructing speculative 'castles in the sky' or vertiginous 'towers which reach to the heavens', he tells us that his humble aim is rather to build a 'secure home for ourselves', one which appropriately corresponds at once to the limited material resources available on our planet, and to our need for firm and solid principles to live by. This book also explores Kant's notions of cosmopolitics, which attempts to think politics from a global perspective by taking into account the geographical fact that the earth is a sphere with limited land mass and natural resources. Given the urgent topicality of sustainable development, these Kantian texts are of particular interest for architects of today. Students of architecture, who are necessarily trained in negotiating between theory and practice, gain much from considering Kant, whose critical project also consisted of testing and exploring the viability of ideas, so as to ascertain to what extent, and crucially, how ideas can have a constructive effect on the whole world, and on us as active agents therein.

An introductory guide to the important elements of the world's largest religion, including the Quran, the Pillars of Faith, and the life of Muhammad, as well as Islamic history, customs and rituals, and contributions to world culture. Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice is the ideal beginner's resource on the core elements of a faith that, like Christianity and Judaism, offers a guide to holy living and a path to salvation—one that like other world faiths has inspired peace and war, tolerance and brutality, enlightenment and abysmal ignorance. Essential Islam offers an insightful, objective look at Islam from its inception to the present day, including a discussion of Islamic beliefs about God, history, warfare, marriage, the afterlife, and the relationship between Islam and other faiths. It is a rich source for dispelling misconceptions—for example, only 10 percent of Muslims are Arabic, and only a quarter of those reside in the Middle East—and for understanding tensions between groups within and outside Islam. More importantly, it gives readers a portrait of Islam not as a religion of extremists, but as a dynamic living faith practiced by people of all kinds in virtually every corner of the world.

An engaging, clear-sighted book that covers all aspects of this rich, peaceful, and insightful tradition. Author Diane Morgan brings her compelling writing style and deep understanding to Essential Buddhism: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice. This lively book presents a clear, thorough, and objective introduction to the many facets of Buddhist philosophy and faith, including basic beliefs, major texts, practices, and important figures of each branch of the tradition. The book devotes an entire chapter of the remarkable life of the Buddha, from his amazing conception to his future appearance. It discusses the sophisticated way in which Buddhism intertwines its complex metaphysics and practical ethics through the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Noble Path, and the doctrine of Dependent Arising, and also devotes detailed attention to such Buddhist basics as the Wheel of Becoming, the mysterious world of Tantra, and the riddles of Zen. Complete with stories, koans, and biography, the book will help readers see how each tradition developed within the larger context of the faith, even as they explore Buddhism's remarkable facility for liberating the mind.

Morgan discusses the origin of the emerald, its peculiar structure, and its strange allure. The story weaves across several continents and thousands of years. It is a tale of conquistadors, treachery, shipwrecks, and alchemy. Along the way, we meet scientists and kings and bear witness as the great emeralds are born, mined, smuggled, cut, and sold. The book also discusses the modern art of making synthetic emeralds. From the fastnesses of Afghanistan to the steamy jungles of Colombia and Zimbabwe, from the sands of Egypt to the bitter Urals, this is the story of a stone whose strange journey reflects the yearnings, greed, passions, and longing for beauty of the human race.

Offers a reading of some of the lesser known and less lucid aspects of Kantian thought. Diane Morgan focuses her investigation on a reappraisal of Kant's writings on architecture, monarchy and faith in progress. Throughout her study Morgan challenges the widely held view of Kant as the exponent of concrete and rigid rationality and argues that his airtight "architectonic" mode of reasoning, which Kant identified in "The Critique of Pure Reason", overlooks certain topics which destabilize it. Themes such as temporary forms of architecture, like landscape gardening; examples which undermine the autonomy of the Kantian subject, for example freemasonry; and the concept of radical evil suggest that Kant's thought was capable of accommodating troubling and subversive themes. Morgan's discussion arrives at a perspective on Kant whereby he is no longer to be regarded as a concrete rationalist but as a daring thinker, not afraid to entertain ideas highly threatening to his own system and to the humanistic legacy of the Enlightenment.

Offers a reading of some of the lesser known and less lucid aspects of Kantian thought. Diane Morgan focuses her investigation on a reappraisal of Kant's writings on architecture, monarchy and faith in progress. Throughout her study Morgan challenges the widely held view of Kant as the exponent of concrete and rigid rationality and argues that his airtight "architectonic" mode of reasoning, which Kant identified in "The Critique of Pure Reason", overlooks certain topics which destabilize it. Themes such as temporary forms of architecture, like landscape gardening; examples which undermine the autonomy of the Kantian subject, for example freemasonry; and the concept of radical evil suggest that Kant's thought was capable of accommodating troubling and subversive themes. Morgan's discussion arrives at a perspective on Kant whereby he is no longer to be regarded as a concrete rationalist but as a daring thinker, not afraid to entertain ideas highly threatening to his own system and to the humanistic legacy of the Enlightenment.

Every culture has developed its own lore of rocks. From the stones of Aaron's breastplate to the foundational rocks of the New Jerusalem, from the creation tales of South America to the blood stones of Burma, gems have taken their place in the mythology and magic of the human race. This book details the lore attached to particular gems. Each chapter covers a particular stone and discusses the gem's geological, historical, mythical, and legendary qualities. A valuable resource for anyone researching symbols, myth, history, or literature, this book also helps science students understand the humanistic context of gemstones and offers social studies students a fascinating view of gems in world cultures. Each chapter covers a particular gemstone, such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. It also covers organic gems, such as pearl, coral, and amber. The chapters discuss the natural history of the stone, including where the gem is found, its value, and its use; the role the gem has played in history, especially for certain famous stones such as the Hope Diamond; and the myths, powers, and legends that have attached to the stone over the centuries. Science students will appreciate the humanistic context the book offers for gemstones, while social studies students will appreciate its consideration of gems across times and places. Students of literature and the arts will welcome the book's attention to gems as symbols, and general readers will find it a fascinating guide to the lore and legend of precious stones.

The ruby is the world's most precious and rare stone. For the ancient Hindus, the ruby was Rajnapura: the Gem of Gems, at whose heart surges an eternal, unquenchable flame. Yet, for all its rarity and beauty, the ruby has always been a slightly sinister stone. Indian legend says the ruby was born from the blood of a demon. Indeed, the ruby is very close to a wild, living being: fiery, passionate, and dangerous. It has been at the center of love and wars, a symbol of passion, greed, and strong magic. Ancient sages and modern crystal healers have credited it with strange powers--from the granting of prophetic insight to protecting one from bullets. It has long been part of the human journey: coveted, fought over, and feared. In Fire and Blood, Morgan considers all the beautiful and terrifying facets of this magnificent stone: scientific, economic, mythological, and spiritual. She discusses the great stones and great heists of the ruby world--and the famous fakes, too--the great Black Prince and renowned Timur. The book closes with a discussion of the making of synthetic rubies and the laser beam.

This book introduces architects to a philosopher, Immanuel Kant, whose work was constantly informed by a concern for the world as an evolving whole. According to Kant, in this interconnected and dynamic world, humans should act as mutually dependent and responsible subjects. Given his future-oriented and ethico-politically concerned thinking, Kant is a thinker who clearly speaks to architects. This introduction demonstrates how his ideas bear pertinently and creatively upon the world in which we live now and for which we should care thoughtfully. Kant grounded his enlightened vision of philosophy's mission using an architectural metaphor: of the modest 'dwelling-house'. Far from constructing speculative 'castles in the sky' or vertiginous 'towers which reach to the heavens', he tells us that his humble aim is rather to build a 'secure home for ourselves', one which appropriately corresponds at once to the limited material resources available on our planet, and to our need for firm and solid principles to live by. This book also explores Kant's notions of cosmopolitics, which attempts to think politics from a global perspective by taking into account the geographical fact that the earth is a sphere with limited land mass and natural resources. Given the urgent topicality of sustainable development, these Kantian texts are of particular interest for architects of today. Students of architecture, who are necessarily trained in negotiating between theory and practice, gain much from considering Kant, whose critical project also consisted of testing and exploring the viability of ideas, so as to ascertain to what extent, and crucially, how ideas can have a constructive effect on the whole world, and on us as active agents therein.

The Basset Hound Owner's Survival Guide will delight every Basset Hound aficionado with its light-hearted look at this quirky breed of dog. Filled with charming stories, photos and drawings of Bassets, this book also provides the reader with Basset care essentials and a history of the breed. A must-have for every lover of the inscrutable Basset.
A Howell Dog Book of Distinction

Philip Ashley travels to Italy to find his cousin Ambrose has died suddenly and Rachel, Ambrose's wife, has gone. Philip returns to England convinced Rachel was responsible for Ambrose's death, hoping to inherit his possessions. When Rachel arrives in England Philip falls in love with her. One small event after another causes a kind of see-saw of belief and disbelief. Is Rachel a scheming murderess or a grossly maligned woman?2 women, 5 men

The initial chapters are an odyssey through the early town, from the Green to the Gallowgate, charting the disappearance of the irreplaceable medieval townscape. Moving on to more modern times she traces the evolution and gradual erosion of the Granite City, whose stylish yet restrained architecture once brought visitors from all over the world to see an Aberdeen which they recognised and valued as a unique city. She writes of George Street, originally planned as 'an elegant entrance to the city' and of Union Street, a marvel of early nineteenth century engineering with stunning symmetry, elegant terracing and memorable shops. There is also a requiem for Archibald Simpson's splendid New Market and the sadly missed Northern Co-operative Society Arcade. The final part of Lost Aberdeen recalls vanished mansions, and lost clachans, victims of the city's march westwards. Long gone industrial archaeology is also revisited, the railway stations, mills, shipyards, seafront, tollhouses and boathouse, which slipped away as if they never had existed. In Lost Aberdeen Diane Morgan writes with the same fresh approach to local history that blends careful scholarship with high readability, and authority with humour that has made her 'Villages of Aberdeen' so successful a series.

The complete, dramatic story of Union Terrace Gardens has never before been told in one volume. Now, in her eleventh book on Aberdeen, Diane Morgan presents the complete history of these iconic gardens on the west side of the Denburn Valley. From the early days as the Denburn Meadows, where sheep were corralled at the time of the nearby Woolmanhill sales, to the transformation of the meadows into the Great Bleachery which played a crucial role in Aberdeen's Industrial Revolution, this site has been central to the history and development of the city. And above the meadows rose the wooded Corbie Heugh - the crow cliff - where Johnnie Cope and his redcoats were encamped in 1745, prior to their disaster at Prestonpans. By the 1860s the area was in decline and being taken over by housing when the architect and future provost, James Matthews, overcame the faintheartedness and intransigence of his fellow councillors and, from the Heugh and the meadows below, created the Union Terrace Gardens we know today. Since then, Union Terrace Gardens has survived various attempts to raise and convert it, all of which have failed, including Sir Ian Wood's City Garden Project (2008-2012), which caused immense controversy in Aberdeen. This latest dramatic episode and the bitter and divisive struggle it created is described and reviewed in full. Along with an in-depth look at the handsome architecture of Union Terrace, and at the east side of the Denburn Valley, where the fate of Archibald Simpson's Triple Kirks has been sealed, Aberdeen's Union Terrace Gardens , with its authoritative text (including a crucial chapter from Mike Shepherd), and superb photography, is both a fascinating account of this important space and an indispensable addition to the written history of the city.