LITMIR.BIZ

Central to the study of Chinese civilization at its widest extension is the thought of the great sage K'ung, usually known in the West by the Latinized form of his name, Confucius. His works form the core of more than two thousand years of Oriental civilization, and even today, when he has been officially discarded, his thought remains important for understanding the present as well as the past. Yet Confucius is the property of not only the Orientalists: his ideas stood behind much of the rational social thought of the European Enlightenment, as great philosophers from Leibnitz on seized with delight "the perfect ethic without supernaturalism: that China offered them.The present edition of the wisdom of Confucius is certainly the best edition ever prepared in the West. The results of many years of study in China by the great Sinologist James Legge, it contains the entire Chinese text of the Analects (or sayings) of Confucius in large, readable characters, and beneath this Legge's full translation, which has been accepted as the definitive, standard English version. The book also includes The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean.In addition to the texts and translation, a wealth of helpful material is offered to the reader: countless notes embodying textual studies, commentators' opinions, interpretation of individual characters, disputed meanings, and similar material. More than 125 pages of introduction cover the Chinese classics, the history of the texts in this volume, and the life and influence of Confucius. Most useful, too, is a complete dictionary of all the Chinese characters in the book, with meanings, grammatical comments, place locations, and similar data. Subject and name indexes enable you to find material easily.

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One of yoga's most important and influential works, The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali forms a keystone of Indian philosophical and religious thought. Written by a sage in the second century B.C., the sutras have been translated many times. This interpretation by Professor James Haughton Woods, originally published under the aegis of the highly esteemed Harvard Oriental Series, ranks among the most acclaimed translations.Patañjali's path is that of Raja Yoga, the royal yoga, or the yoga of the eight steps: restraint, observances, posture, breath control, sublimation (or withdrawal from the senses), attention, concentration, and meditation. The complete sutras appear here, encompassing a four-part analytical study intended to purify the practitioner's mind, body, and soul. Additional features include a commentary by Veda-Vyāsa and explanations by Vāchaspati-Miҫra that are crucial to developing an understanding of Patañjali's intent, along with invaluable background information provided by the translator's introduction and appendixes.This outstanding English edition of a profound work of spiritual enlightenment is essential reading for all scholars and practitioners of yoga.

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Mandalas are complex arrangements of patterns or pictures used in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism to represent the cosmos (or «wholeness») and to give expression to the infinite possibilities of the human subconscious. Though mandala means «circle» in Sanskrit, mandalas are more often squares or rectangles, filled with images and geometric figures that symbolize forces of the individual and collective psyche and the flow of energy to and from a central point. Believers use this powerful figure as a focus of ritual and a support for meditations — through its use gaining possession of the energies signified by its images or symbols.This intriguing, thought-provoking study by one of the world's leading authorities on the subject examines the basic doctrine behind the theory and practice of the mandala in India and Tibet, by both Hindus and Buddhists. «As a whole,» as the author says in his preface, «the spiritual background is the same: … the yearning to find out a way from time to eternity, to help the primeval consciousness … to recovery of its integrity.» Individual chapters consider the doctrinal basis of the mandala, the mandala and its various parts, the liturgy of the mandala, and the mandala in the human body. Of special interest to students of Eastern philosophy and art, this volume will also fascinate New Agers and anyone interested in the symbols and psychology of Asian cultures.

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A leading German metaphysician of the 19th century, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) exerted an influence far beyond the hermetic world of philosophy, with adherents ranging from Richard Wagner and Friedrich Nietzsche to Leo Tolstoy and Thomas Mann. Among Schopenhauer's chief contributions to the field of philosophy are his rejection of the idealism of his contemporaries and his embrace of a practical variety of materialism. He jettisons the traditional philosophic jargon for a brisk, compelling style that employs direct terms to express the metaphysics of the will.In The Wisdom of Life, an essay from Schopenhauer's final work, Parerga und Paralipomena (1851), the philosopher favors individual strength of will and independent, reasoned deliberation over the tendency to act on irrational impulses. He examines the ways in which life can be arranged to derive the highest degree of pleasure and success, presents guidelines to achieving this full and rich manner of living, and advises that even a life well lived must always aspire to grander heights. Abounding in subjects of enduring relevance, Schopenhauer's highly readable work appears here in an excellent translation.

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One of the most important texts in the literature of Buddhism, the Jātaka contains stories that celebrate the previous lives of the Buddha. The future Buddha may appear in these «jātakas» as a king, an outcast, a god, an elephant — but in whatever form he takes, he exhibits some virtue which the tale then proceeds to inculcate in the reader.This superb selection of 47 stories of the Buddha — among them «The Bar of Gold Jātaka,» «The King's Lesson Jātaka,» «The Gem-Thief Jātaka,» and «The Great Ape Jātaka» — are filled with humor, pathos, and narrative appeal that have endeared them to generations of Buddhists and to audiences around the world. Many are directly related to ancient Indian folklore and top the traditional stories and myths of other cultures, among them the beast fables of Aesop. Many have been the subject of countless works of Buddhist art.Although the settings of the stories are often imaginary, they offer scholars, students, and enthusiasts of Buddhism and Buddhist culture and society. This collection has been edited and translated by one of the most distinguished Western scholars of Buddhism, Caroline A. F. Rhys Davids, who has contributed a lively introductory essay to these landmarks of folk literature.

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It is remarkably appropriate that this work on aesthetics should have been written by George Santayana, who is probably the most brilliant philosophic writer and the philosopher with the strongest sense of beauty since Plato. It is not a dry metaphysical treatise, as works on aesthetics so often are, but is itself a fascinating document: as much a revelation of the beauty of language as of the concept of beauty.This unabridged reproduction of the 1896 edition of lectures delivered at Harvard College is a study of «why, when, and how beauty appears, what conditions an object must fulfill to be beautiful, what elements of our nature make us sensible of beauty, and what the relation is between the constitution of the object and the excitement of our susceptibility.»Santayana first analyzes the nature of beauty, finding it irrational, «pleasure regarded as the quality of a thing.» He then proceeds to the materials of beauty, showing what all human functions can contribute: love, social instincts, senses, etc. Beauty of form is then analyzed, and finally the author discusses the expression of beauty. Literature, religion, values, evil, wit, humor, and the possibility of finite perfection are all examined. Presentation throughout the work is concrete and easy to follow, with examples drawn from art, history, anthropology, psychology, and similar areas.

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“Essential reading.” — New Society.A classic of eighteenth-century thought, Friedrich Schiller’s treatise on the role of art in society ranks among German philosophy’s most profound works. In addition to its importance to the history of ideas, this 1795 essay remains relevant to our own time.Beginning with a political analysis of contemporary society — in particular, the French Revolution and its failure to implement universal freedom — Schiller observes that people cannot transcend their circumstances without education. He conceives of art as the vehicle of education, one that can liberate individuals from the constraints and excesses of either pure nature or pure mind. Through aesthetic experience, he asserts, people can reconcile the inner antagonism between sense and intellect, nature and reason.Schiller’s proposal of art as fundamental to the development of society and the individual is an enduringly influential concept, and this volume offers his philosophy’s clearest, most vital expression.

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For centuries Tibet has been known as the last home of mystery, the hidden, sealed land, where ancient mysteries still survive that have perished in the rest of the Orient. Many men have written about Tibet and its secret lore, but few have actually penetrated it to learn its ancient wisdom. Among those few was Madame Alexandra David-Neel, a French orientalist. A practicing Buddhist, a profound historian of religion, and linguist, she actually lived in Tibet for more than 14 years. She had the great honor of being received by the Dalai Lama; she studied philosophical Buddhism and Tibetan Tantra at the great centers; she meditated in lonely caves and on wind-swept winter mountains with yogi hermits; and she even witnessed forbidden corpse-magic in the forests. Her experiences have been unique.Magic and Mystery in Tibet tells the story of her experiences in Tibet, among lamas and magicians. It is neither a travel book nor an autobiography but a study of psychic discovery, a description of the occult and mystical theories and psychic training practices of Tibet. She tells of great sages and sorcerers that she met; of the system of monastic education; the great teachers and their disciples; Tibetan folklore about their spiritual athletes; reincarnation and memory from previous lives; elaborate magical rites to obtain siddhis; the horrible necromantic magic of the pre-Buddhist Bonpa shamas; mental visualization exercises to create disembodied thought forms (tulpas); visions; phenomena of physical yoga, control of the body heat mechanism; breathing exercises; sending “messages on the wind”; and much similar material.An unusual aspect of Madame David-Neel’s book is that she herself experienced many of the phenomena she describes, yet she describes them with precision and in a matter-of-fact manner, permitting the reader to draw his own conclusions about validity, interpretation in terms of psychology, and value. Particularly interesting for the modern experiencer are her detailed instructions for tumo (the yoga of heat control) and creation of thought projections.

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"Offers dazzling observations of human psychology, social interaction, esthetics and religion."—New York Times Book ReviewWith Human, All-Too-Human, Nietzsche challenges the metaphysical and psychological assumptions behind his previous works. The philosopher reviews his usual subjects—morality, religion, government, society—with his characteristic depth of perception, unflinching honesty, and iconoclastic wit. His manner of expression, however, takes a new turn.More than 1,400 incisive and poetic aphorisms appear here. Subtitled «A Book for Free Spirits,» this volume marks the author's first use of the aphoristic approach, which he retained in his subsequent writings and elevated to new heights. The style is particularly suited to this book, which rejects overly systematic thinking and conventional wisdom, anticipating both existentialism and post-modernism. Many themes of Nietzsche's later works first appeared here, making Human, All-Too-Human fundamental to an understanding of the author's thought.

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India's political and spiritual leader, Mahatma («Great Soul») Gandhi led his country's struggle for independence from Britain through a campaign based on nonviolence and civil disobedience. Gandhi's doctrine of nonviolent action profoundly influenced civil rights leaders around the world, including Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela. This anthology of the Mahatma's writings offers a revealing look at his life and philosophy.Editor Ronald Duncan provides a lengthy introduction in which he recounts his personal association with Gandhi. «In making this selection,» he notes, «I have tried to bear three things in mind: firstly, my intention to present material of permanent interest as opposed to comments on day-to-day political matters; also to show the development and to give the essence of Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of Satyagraha [defense of and by the truth], and its basis in the religious teachings of the Gita; and thirdly, I have tried to emphasize those ideas which, though they may not seem immediately applicable to Western life, should be of considerable relevance to contemporary thought.»In addition to substantial extracts from Gandhi's writings, this collection features his speeches — including some made during his trials — and extracts from his diary. The book concludes with a selection of Gandhi's correspondence with Lord Linlithgow, then Viceroy of India, and their reflections on the country's future.

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