This lively survey of the peoples, cultures, and societies of Southeast Asia introduces a region of tremendous geographic, linguistic, historical, and religious diversity. Encompassing both mainland and island countries, these engaging essays describe personhood and identity, family and household organization, nation-states, religion, popular culture and the arts, the legacies of war and recovery, globalization, and the environment. Throughout, the focus is on the daily lives and experienc...

Take your fate into your own hands by facing death, not fleeing from it.Easwaran is one of the twentieth century's great spiritual teachers and an authentic guide to timeless wisdom. Understand death, Easwaran writes, and you’ll live more wisely – you’ll learn more, love more, and contribute more to all around you. By facing death, not fleeing from it, you take your fate into your own hands.With stories from East and West, and quotes from the world’s mystic...

The Vietnam War is a timely account of the 6,000-day conflict in Southeast Asia. The book begins with the history of South East Asia during World War II, before discussing the French involvement in the First Indochina War, and the subsequent drawing-in of the United States and its allies, Australia and South Korea. The repercussions of this bitter, tragic and costly conflict were far-reaching, for it has affected US foreign policy ever since. As the book reveals, the war remains a fascinat...

A leading spiritual teacher of the twentieth century presents meditation as a tool for better understanding not just ourselves but the world around usThese selections present the core of Krishnamurti's teaching on meditation, taken from discussions with small groups, as well as from public talks to large audiences. His main theme is the essential need to look inward, to know ourselves, in order really to understand our own—and the world's—conflicts. We are the worl...

New in the Short History of Asia series edited by Milton Osborne this is a concise and readable history of Cambodia from its rich and powerful past through the era of French protection the Vietnamese conflict the Pol Pot regime and to its present day incarnation as a constitutional monarchy and popular tourist destination. Temples and killing fields mighty rivers and impenetrable forests a past filled with glory and decline Cambodia is a land of contrasts. A millennia ago it was an empire ...

In November 1963, the president of South Vietnam and his brother were brutally executed in a coup that was sanctioned and supported by the American government. President Kennedy later explained to his close friend Paul "Red" Fay that the reason the United States made the fateful decision to get rid of the Ngos was in no small part because of South Vietnam's first lady, Madame Nhu. "That goddamn bitch," Fay remembers President Kennedy saying, "She's responsible ... that bitch stuck her nose...

A couple's scheme to get rich by killing their father backfires, leaving them in charge of a cripple. In heaven, a baby, dead through neglect, tells his playmates: "Life down there is just one long sleep." A young soldier, saved by a stranger, can never again find her to thank her. A man carries a massive clock. Using a variety of techniques and styles, in this collection of twelve short stories contemporary Vietnamese writers—edited by poet, short story writer, and novelist Linh Dinh—show...

“It took courage to do what Spalding did—courage to make theatre so naked and unadorned, to expose himself in this way and fight the demons in public. In doing so, he entered our hearts—my heart—because he made his struggle my struggle. His life became my life.”—Eric Bogosian“Virtuosic. A master writer, reporter, comic and playwright. Spalding Gray is a sit-down monologist with the soul of a stand-up comedian. A contemporary Gulliver, he travels the globe in search of experience an...

~ A liquid translation of the terse but very precise syllabus of Swatmarama’s yoga classic. ~It elaborates physical body postures, breath-infusion, mystic arresting-actions and linkage to a divine world using the technique of kundalini manipulation for subtle body transformation.Complicated?It sure is. Use this if you would sort the components of consciousness and push the limits of psychic research using your psychology as the primary subject of observation.

In 2008, Bhutan triumphantly took the stage as the world’s youngest democracy. But despite its growing prominence—and rising scholarly interest in the country—Bhutan remains one of the least studied, and least well-known places on the planet.Karma Phuntsho’s The History of Bhutan is the first book to offer a comprehensive history of Bhutan in English. Along with a detailed social and political analysis, it offers substantive discussions of Bhutan’s geography and culture; t...

Philosopher Jacob Needleman's groundbreaking study of America's alternative spiritual movements is back in print with a new introduction by the author.Originally published in 1970, The New Religions was the first full-scale study of alternative spirituality in America. It remains unparalleled for the intellectual depth and seriousness with which it regards Eastern, New Age, and alternative faiths on the American landscape.Needleman’s writing and re...

Between the two concepts of past life regression and reincarnation, most people are probably more familiar with the latter. However, what few realize is that these two concepts are essentially linked with each other. Reincarnation has to do with the rebirth of a soul. If you believe that you will be reincarnated, then death is nothing to be afraid of. After all, if reincarnation exists for you it only means that life is but one cycle after another and death is just a transition from a prev...