A History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana

A History of Indian Buddhism: From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana
This comprehensive and detailed survey of the first six centuries of Indian Buddhism sums up the results of a lifetime of research and reflection by one of Japan's most renowned scholars of Buddhism. Relying on Pali and Sanskrit sources and on inscriptions from archaeological sites and Chinese translations of Indian texts, Hirakawa balances his review of early Buddhist doctrinal development with extensive discussion of historical background and the evolution of Buddhist institutions. The inclusion of Japanese and Western language bibliographies together with an extensive bibliographic essay by the translator should make this volume especially useful as an introduction to a large corpus of Japanese scholarship on Buddhism which is still not widely known in the West.

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China's Frozen Desert

China's Frozen Desert
As commerce flourished along the Silk Road, Central Asia became a melting pot of cultures. Here on the edges of the Taklmakan Desert, an exotic blend of Indian, Mongol, Chinese, and European influences fueled an astonishing cultural Renaissance. In the 7th century, a Chinese monk, Xuanzang, plunged into the desert while on a Buddhist pilgrimage to India. His descriptions of the oasis-cities he encountered would prove invaluable to another explorer, more than a thousand years later. 20th century archeologist Sir Aurel Stein took on the deadly Taklamakan to prove his own theories about Western China's lost civilization. Again and again Xuanzang's writings led him to archeological treasure - once thriving cities now buried in the sand. On their monk's trail, Stein made his greatest discovery, a thousand-year-old Buddhist library in near-perfect condition.

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Thus Have I Seen: Visualizing Faith in Early Indian Buddhism

Thus Have I Seen: Visualizing Faith in Early Indian Buddhism
Although Buddhism is often depicted as a religion of meditators and philosophers, some of the earliest writings extant in India offer a very different portrait of the Buddhist practitioner. In Indian Buddhist narratives from the early centuries of the Common Era, most lay religious practice consists not of reading, praying, or meditating, but of visually engaging with certain kinds of objects. These visual practices, moreover, are represented as the primary means of cultivating faith, a necessary precondition for proceeding along the Buddhist spiritual path. In Thus Have I Seen: Visualizing Faith in Early Indian Buddhism, Andy Rotman examines these visual practices and how they function as a kind of skeleton key for opening up Buddhist conceptualizations about the world and the ways it should be navigated.
Rotman's analysis is based primarily on stories from the Divyavadana (Divine Stories), one of the most important collections of ancient Buddhist narratives from India. Though discourses of the Buddha are well known for their opening words, "thus have I heard" - for Buddhist teachings were first preserved and transmitted orally - the Divyavadana presents a very different model for disseminating the Buddhist dharma. Devotees are enjoined to look, not just hear, and visual legacies and lineages are shown to trump their oral counterparts. As Rotman makes clear, this configuration of the visual fundamentally transforms the world of the Buddhist practitioner, changing what one sees, what one believes, and what one does.

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Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations

Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations
The issue of saints is a difficult and complicated problem in Buddhology. In this magisterial work, Ray offers the first comprehensive examination of the figure of the Buddhist saint in a wide range of Indian Buddhist evidence. Drawing on an extensive variety of sources, Ray seeks to identify the "classical type" of the Buddhist saint, as it provides the presupposition for, and informs, the different major Buddhist saintly types and subtypes. Discussing the nature, dynamics, and history of Buddhist hagiography, he surveys the ascetic codes, conventions and traditions of Buddhist saints, and the cults both of living saints and of those who have "passed beyond." Ray traces the role of the saints in Indian Buddhist history, examining the beginnings of Buddhism and the origin of Mahayana Buddhism.

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Being a Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the Himalayas

Being a Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the Himalayas
This prize winning ethnography describes the politics of buddhism, butter, and barley in the Indian Himalayas. They may shave their heads, don simple robes, and renounce materialism and worldly desires. But the women seeking enlightenment in a Buddhist nunnery high in the folds of Himalayan Kashmir invariably find themselves subject to the tyrannies of subsistence, subordination, and sexuality. Ultimately, Buddhist monasticism reflects the very world it is supposed to renounce. Butter and barley prove to be as critical to monastic life as merit and meditation. Kim Gutschow lived for more than three years among these women, collecting their stories, observing their ways, studying their lives. Her book offers the first ethnography of Tibetan Buddhist society from the perspective of its nuns.

Gutschow depicts a gender hierarchy where nuns serve and monks direct, where monks bless the fields and kitchens while nuns toil in them. Monasteries may retain historical endowments and significant political and social power, yet global flows of capitalism, tourism, and feminism have begun to erode the balance of power between monks and nuns. Despite the obstacles of being considered impure and inferior, nuns engage in everyday forms of resistance to pursue their ascetic and personal goals.

A richly textured picture of the little known culture of a Buddhist nunnery, the book offers moving narratives of nuns struggling with the Buddhist discipline of detachment. Its analysis of the way in which gender and sexuality construct ritual and social power provides valuable insight into the relationship between women and religion in South Asia today.

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The Holy Land Reborn. Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention of Buddhist India

The Holy Land Reborn. Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention of Buddhist India
A major contribution to the study of Buddhism, this book describes changes in Tibetan constructs of India over the centuries, ultimately challenging largely static views of the sacred geography of Buddhism in India. Author investigates how Tibetans have maintained a ritual relationship to India, particularly by way of pilgrimage, and what it means for them to consider India as their holy land.

Focusing on the Tibetan creation and recreation of India as a destination, a landscape, and a kind of other, in both real and idealized terms, Huber explores how Tibetans have used the idea of India as a religious territory and a sacred geography in the development of their own religion and society. In a timely closing chapter, Huber also takes up the meaning of India for the Tibetans who live in exile in their Buddhist holy land.

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CHO-GA: Tantric and Ritual Music of Tibet

CHO-GA: Tantric and Ritual Music of Tibet
An anthology of Buddhist chants and hymns recorded at Tibetan monasteries in Northern India and Nepal during the years 1969 and 1970, Represented here are the tantric monasteries of Gyuto and Gyumed, the three great Gelugpa monastic institutions of Drepung, Ganden and Sera, and the Namgyal Dratsang, the private monastery of the Dalai Lama.

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Early Buddhism and Its Origins

Early Buddhism and Its Origins - Vishwanath Prasad Varma
Buddhism is a subject of absorbing interest to student of comparative religions, ethics, history and social philosophy. Its historical foundations have been discussed by Senart, Oldenberg and C.A.F. Rhys Davids. In this book there has been presented not only an objective and scholarly exposition of the teachings and philosophy of early Buddhism but the Vedic roots of its concepts have been demonstrated. The methods of sociology of religion have also been followed. The section entitled Buddhism and the Social Sciences constitutes an original contribution to knowledge from the pen of an immanent teacher of political philosophy.

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Nada Yoga - Russill Paul

Nada Yoga - Russill Paul
Performing on an instrument of his own design, a 10-string "unitar," one-time South Indian monk Russill Paul earnestly addresses the "sonic theology" of nada yoga in this 63-minute, three-stage collection of ragas--a work that's designed to invoke the healing power of sound. Paul sometimes adorns his deliberate, otherworldly passages with synthesizer and deep-voiced chants (along with flute and tabla, on occasion), but the unitar and its mystical tonal qualities serve as this disc's centerpiece. Serious-minded and intended for more advanced yoga practitioners, Nada Yoga is a journey to a musical world that has almost no associations with contemporary musical customs of the West. The package includes a detailed booklet in which Paul describes the music's history, his modern-day perspective on it, and suggested meditations (including recommended times of day) for use in pursuit of a more focused listening experience.

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Indian Esoteric Buddhism

Indian Esoteric Buddhism - Ron Davidson
Since its arrival in America in the 1950s and the Dalai Lama´s Nobel Peace Prize in 1988, Buddhism has been one of the fastest-growing religions in America and Tantra one of its most popular yet misunderstood forms. This groundbreaking work describes the historical origins of the Tantric movement in early medieval India. Drawing on primary documents -translated into English for the first time from Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Bengali -Ron Davidson shows how changes in medieval Indian society, including economic and patronage crises, a decline in women´s participation, and the formation of large monastic orders, led to the rise of the esoteric tradition in India that became the model for Buddhist cultures in China, Tibet, and Japan.

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Indian Philosophy - Richard King

Indian Philosophy - Richard King
This text provides an introduction to the main schools of Indian philosophy within both the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. It analyzes the schools' different doctrines and compares their approaches to specific philosophical topics - ontology, epistemology, perception, consciousness, and creation and causality. It also looks at contributions by individual thinkers, such as Bhartrhari who helped introduce linguistic analysis into Indian philosophy; and Asanga the believed founder of the Yogacara or "Practice of Yoga" school.

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Gayatri Mantra and Maha Mrityeonjaya Mantra - Hein Braat

Gayatri Mantra and Maha Mrityeonjaya Mantra - Hein Braat
Twenty years ago Hein got into touch with mantra singing through a teacher in kriya yoga. Although he couldn’t totally find himself in the yoga doctrine and the content of the mantra lyrics, it was the inspiration with which this teacher sang his mantras that appealed to him most. Thus his interest was aroused, and driven by his musical constitution, he wondered what kind of technique and mechanism was behind it all. The rest of the yoga he more or less put aside and decided to focus all his attention and energy on the art of chanting mantras. By experimenting and constant practice, Hein managed to open many doors within himself. In order to widen/deepen his understanding of mantras he also studied Sanskrit for one year (the language in which the mantras were originally written down). Compared to Dutch he finds Sanskrit a much richer language with a wide spectrum of sounds that involve the entire body in pronunciation. And that he finds essential for reaching unity. Just like an instrument, all tones are utilised to reach an integral sound that unites everything together. The mantra does the same thing: the singer uses his own body to tune himself to his Higher Self, Soul, Life essence or whatever name you wish to attach to it.

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Raga Cycle Palace Theatre - Pandit Pran Nath

Raga Cycle Palace Theatre - Pandit Pran Nath
The Raga Cycle at the Palace Theatre in Paris, 1972 showcased Pandit Pran Nath at the peak of his powers. The Raga Cycle took place over three consecutive days. Friday, May 28th night ragas, Saturday May 29th, late afternoon ragas and Sunday, May 30th morning and mid-day ragas. These three concerts stand as a truly awe-inspiring monument, an example of perfection of the high Art of Hindustani music by one of the greatest masters of the Kirana Gharana. Kirana, a small village north of New Delhi, produced many of the giants of Indian classical vocal music. Among them, Ustad Abdul Waheed Khansahib, Pran Nath-ji's guru, and the immensely popular Ustad Abdul Kareem Khan. One of the undeniable beauties of Indian Classical Music is its strong connection to nature and especially the binding relationship of Raga melodies to their appropriate time of day. An elegant curve of melody, a subtle lowering of pitch, or an assertiveness attached to a particular note helps to define the effect of a Raga. There are Ragas for all the times of day and night as well as seasons, and when they are sung at their appropriate time their effectiveness is noticeably enhanced. Pandit Pran Nath's knowledge of this musical science was extraordinary and he made it his life's work to probe deeply with his expressive voice the true character of each raga using his matchless pitch discrimination and compelling emotional range.

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Surya Mantras - Hein Braat

Surya Mantras - Hein Braat
Twenty years ago Hein got into touch with mantra singing through a teacher in kriya yoga. Although he couldn’t totally find himself in the yoga doctrine and the content of the mantra lyrics, it was the inspiration with which this teacher sang his mantras that appealed to him most. Thus his interest was aroused, and driven by his musical constitution, he wondered what kind of technique and mechanism was behind it all. The rest of the yoga he more or less put aside and decided to focus all his attention and energy on the art of chanting mantras. By experimenting and constant practice, Hein managed to open many doors within himself. In order to widen/deepen his understanding of mantras he also studied Sanskrit for one year (the language in which the mantras were originally written down). Compared to Dutch he finds Sanskrit a much richer language with a wide spectrum of sounds that involve the entire body in pronunciation. And that he finds essential for reaching unity. Just like an instrument, all tones are utilised to reach an integral sound that unites everything together. The mantra does the same thing: the singer uses his own body to tune himself to his Higher Self, Soul, Life essence or whatever name you wish to attach to it.

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Angels' Waltz - Sada Sat Kaur

Angels' Waltz - Sada Sat Kaur
Journey to the heart of peace and feel the gentle flow of healing energy. On this exquisitely relaxing release, Shajan uses beautiful melodies and sensual, serene harmonies of piano, guitar, flute, and keyboards to create a calming and soothing atmosphere which is ideal for Reiki, Yoga, meditation and massage. Shajan used his knowledge as a Reiki master and designed the music on this recording to help people let go of stress and slip into a receptive, peaceful state. Experience the quiet ecstasy of relaxation through his blissful waves of healing energy and music. This music makes it easy to relax!

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Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra

Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra
Despite popular and scholarly perceptions of Magadha in northeastern India (modern Bihar) as the center of Indian Buddhism, the essays in this volume collectively make a strong case that the Buddhism of the Krishna River Valley in southeastern India (modern Andhra Pradesh) likewise played a pivotal role in the rise and development of the religion, and profoundly impacted subsequent Buddhist traditions, not only in India and the Indian subcontinent but throughout Southeast and East Asia as well. We are particularly interested in this theme, not only because one of us is originally from Andhra, grew up in the shadow of many of its famous archaeological sites and had an opportunity to study them as a part of pursuing academic degrees, but also because Buddhism in this region has been largely neglected within the scholarship to date. The impetus for this volume also stems from conversations between the editors about the present revival in interest about Buddhism now taking place in Andhra Pradesh among archaeologists, historians, politicians, and the general public. During our conversations, we also realized how a number of our own friends from various disciplines in the scholarly community, archaeologists, art historians, epigraphists, historians of religion, and philosophers, shared interests with us in the significance of Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley. We invited some of these colleagues to participate in panels at the meetings of Association for Asian.

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Shelter - Rasa

Shelter - Rasa
Combining superb musicianship with passionate vocals, RASA creates a sound that is timeless and transformative, devotional and creative, evocative and soothing–a mystical prayer that taps into an ancient well of spiritual wisdom, touching upon the soul’s need for transcendence. With accompaniment from cello, sarangi, nyckelharpa, and sitar, Hans Christian and Kim Waters put forth an exceptional fusion of Indian spiritual music. Their music blends meditative, transcendental, and ethereal qualities into an elegant, contemporary style..
True to its characteristic style, Rasa has taken verses from devotional prayers to Krishna in Bengali and Sanskrit and dropped them word for word into their Indian-influenced music with contemporary rhythms and production. Here the golden tones of Kim Walters's lovely, soft vocals curl tightly around Hans Christian's cello, sarangi, nyckelharpa, and sitar. Combined with Girish Gambhira's tabla and mridangam, the results often sound like they were born in India, instead of Christian's studio in Wisconsin. Walters's seductively sweet vocals, along with the innovative electronics, bring this music into the 21st century, but the spirit is completely dedicated to the ecstatic worship of Krishna.

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Amal (2007)

What's this movie have to do with Buddhism? Not much other than it takes place in India and the main character is a Zen Master, so to speak.

Amal (2007)
Autorickshaw driver AMAL is content with the small but vital role he serves - driving customers around New Delhi as quickly and safely as possible. But his sense of duty is tested by an eccentric, aging billionaire, who, moved by Amal's humility, bequeaths him his entire estate before passing away. With only one month to discover and claim the inheritance, Amal's struggles with duty and wealth are threatened by all those around him - from a young injured beggar girl and a lovely store merchant, to the danger of the old man's upper-caste friends and siblings, all seeking to claim their share of the riches.

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The Mystery Of The Tibetan Mummy - The History Channel

The Mystery Of The Tibetan Mummy - The History Channel

High in the Himalayan Mountains a mysterious part of Tibet’s lost history is about to be unearthed. Revealing ancient secrets about the human mind that could have an impact on the way we live today. At 12,000 feet, the body of a Tibetan man has been found seated as if in a state of meditation. He’s perfectly preserved, even a right eye remains, locked in an eternal stare. Authorities know nothing of him, but locals worship him like a God. So who was he and how has his corpse survived today?

His existence is a mystery that Victor Mair, one of the world’s top mummy experts and his team of scientists, are determined to solve. Is it possible that this man could have actually mummified his own body? The Scientific team journey to the site of the mummy armed with the latest medical equipment and perform further tests at the world’s top laboratories.

The investigation reveals secret meditation rituals that can slow the body’s metabolism by forty percent. The wisdom hidden within this ancient culture could forever change our health by initiating a radical new approach to 21st century medicine.

Victor Henry Mair is Full Professor and a Consulting Scholar at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from Dartmouth College, Mair entered the United States Peace Corps in 1965 and served as a volunteer in Nepal for two years. In the fall of 1967, Mair entered a program of Buddhist Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he studied Indian Buddhism, Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, Tibetan, and Sanskrit.

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Festivals Of The Himalayas - David Lewiston

This is an old and very rare recording made in 1975 and ripped off Vinyl. Those are the big round black floppy disks from the 1970's, for you younger folks. PS. I have a stack of 100mg Zip Disks to anyone who wants them!

Festivals Of The Himalayas - David Lewiston
David Lewiston's recordings are among the great testimonies in sound of our time. Anyone who hears them will be struck by the mysterious yearnings, the transcendental manifestations of joy, and the fragility and impermanence that unite wildly diverse cultures in our planet: ultimately, they give us a sense of how much and how little we humans are as a species. These records continue to inspire me as much as those by Stravinsky, Miles Davis and any of the other masters of the past century. They are a treasure: life as it is truly lived and dreamed.

TPB