Four Testaments brings together four foundational texts from world religions—the Tao Te Ching, Dhammapada, Analects of Confucius, and Bhagavad Gita—inviting readers to experience them in full, to explore possible points of connection and divergence, and to better understand people who practice these traditions. Following Brian Arthur Brown’s award-winning Three Testaments: Torah, Gospel, Quran, this volume of Four Testaments features essays by esteemed scholars to introduce readers to each...

The Bhagavad Gita is the best known of all the Indian scriptures, and Eknath Easwaran’s best-selling translation is reliable, readable, and profound.Easwaran's 55-page introduction places the Bhagavad Gita in its historical setting, and brings out the universality and timelessness of its teachings. Chapter introductions clarify key concepts, and notes and a glossary explain Sanskrit terms.Easwaran grew up in the Hindu tradition in India, and learned Sanskri...

The Bhagavad Gita has been called India's greatest contribution to the world. For more than five thousand years, this great scripture has shown millions in the East how to fill their lives with serenity and love. In these pages, Jack Hawley brings these ancient secrets to Western seekers in a beautiful prose version that makes the story of the Gita clear and exciting, and makes its truths understandable and easy to apply to our busy lives. The Gita is a universal love song sung by God to H...

An anthology of the most inspiring and instructive texts on spiritual enlightenment from great Tibetan masters—handpicked by a best-selling author and Tibetan Buddhist monkBuddhist monk Matthieu Ricard has selected and translated some of the most profound and inspiring teachings from the eight traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The selected teachings are from the Buddha himself, Nagarjuna, Guru Rinpoche, Atisha, Shantideva, and Asanga; the great masters of the past, T...

This authorized biography of the contemporary Taoist expert Wang Liping (1949 -) tells the true story of his apprenticeship in Taoist wizardry, as well as Taoist principles and secrets of inner transformation.The 18th-generation transmitter of Dragon Gate Taoism, Wang Liping is heir to a tradition of esoteric knowledge and practice accumulated and refined over eleven centuries. This is the first English translation by noted writer Thomas Cleary of the authorized bi...

From Taosim expert Ming-Dao Deng comes The Lunar Tao: Meditations in Harmony with the Seasons, bringing to life the Chinese Lunar Calendar via the prism of Taoism.In The Lunar Tao, each day of the Lunar year is represented with a reading meditation, beautiful Chinese illustrations, and interesting facts about the festivals and traditions, providing readers with the context that gives Taoism such depth and resonance.Ming-Dao Deng, the bestselling author of 365 Tao: Daily Med...

How the I Ching became one of the most widely read and influential books in the worldThe I Ching originated in China as a divination manual more than three thousand years ago. In 136 BCE the emperor declared it a Confucian classic, and in the centuries that followed, this work had a profound influence on the philosophy, religion, art, literature, politics, science, technology, and medicine of various cultures throughout East Asia. Jesuit missionar...

The text, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism, and strongly influenced other schools, such as Legalism, Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism, which when first introduced into China was largely interpreted through the use of Daoist words and concepts.Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers, and even gardeners, have used the Daodejing as a source of inspiration.

Discussion of Cold Damage (Shang Han Lun) and contemporary texts of ancient China form the bedrock of modern Chinese medicine practice, yet these classic texts contain many concepts that are either hard to understand or confusing. Based on over thirty years' medical practice, and study of the texts, this book explains the concepts involved so that the clinical applications of the ancient texts can be better understood and put into practice. The author looks at the larger context of ancient...

Could it be that the familiar and beloved figure of Confucius was invented by Jesuit priests? In Manufacturing Confucianism, Lionel M. Jensen reveals this very fact, demonstrating how sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Western missionaries used translations of the ancient ru tradition to invent the presumably historical figure who has since been globally celebrated as philosopher, prophet, statesman, wise man, and saint.Tracing the history of the Jesuits’ invention...

Even the most casual observer of Chinese society is aware of the tremendous significance of Confucianism as a linchpin of both ancient and modern Chinese identity. Furthermore, the Confucian tradition has exercised enormous influence over the values and institutions of the other cultures of East Asia, an influence that continues to be important in the global Asian diaspora. If forecasters are correct in labeling the 21st century 'the Chinese century,' teachers and scholars of religious stu...

Moral injury is a profound violation of a human being's core moral identity through experiences of violence or trauma. This is the first book in which scholars from different faith and academic backgrounds consider the concept of moral injury not merely from a pastoral or philosophical point of view but through critical engagement with the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and American Civil Religion.This collection of essays explores the ambiguities of persona...