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Kashmir Saivism The Central Philosophy of Tantrism
Dr. Mishra's comprehensive book is learned without being tedious; philosophical without being intellectually arid; and readable without being banal. Above all, it preserves the aroma of spiritual practice that is fundamental to the Pratyabhijna tradition. Anyone interested in the metaphysics of spiritual practice or in Yoga and Tantrism will read this book with immense profit.--Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D.
Mysticism in Shaivism and Christianity
If mysticism is hard to define, what is it then ? Or, why have mystics often spoken about what they have realized - notwithstanding the 'unspeakability' of a spiritual experience ? And, yet more significantly, how can a meeting point of different religious traditions be discovered at the mystical level ? Focussing on these and other related questions, eminent scholars from varying religious traditions here explore the nature of mystical experience in two of the world's major traditions: Hinduism and Christianity.
The Kaulajnananirnaya
Vac
Movement And Mimesis
The author traces the growth of the techniques and forms of dancing and shows how the central tradition of the art, and also the oldest, expanded by contact with peripheral regional styles including foreign ones, and eventually merged with them into a synthessis that forms the basis of present-day classical dances of India.
Tantrasara by Abhinavagupta (HB)
Tantrasara is an extensive digest and recension of Tantraloka, a magnum opus by Acarya Abhinavaguptapada. The author himself created this digest to have a comprehensive study of the voluminous text, as this great and important text is not easy to absorb by everyone in a larger study material form. The complete text (10th century A.D.) is a compendium of all Tantrika rituals and philosophical essence of Tantra, drawn from the light of all pre-precepts on Indian Tantra till the time of the creator. This text consists of thirty seven chapters. It reflects on Tantra from the background of Kashmir Shaivism which is known as the monistic philosophy of Shaivism with the technical term Pratyabhijna. Abhinavagupta explains here in a lucid way about the ways to worship the Supreme Consciousness in order to attain this state of Absolute ecstasy and liberation in one single life of mankind. This work is before the English-speaking world for the first time in a hermeneutic way.
Laksmi Tantra
Amongst the vast number of Pancaratra Agamas, the Laksmi Tantra stands out because of its almost exclusive treatment of the Visnuit mother-goddess Laksmi, the Sakti of Visnu-Narayana. The text not only glorifies Laksmi, but also women in general as beings created in the cherished form of Laksmi, and it advocates their worship.
Aesthetics
Shri Mahaswami: The Sage with Eyes of Light (PB)
Shri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati, popularly known as the Paramacharya of Kanchipuram or Shri Mahaswami, became at the age of 13 the religious head of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. He was one of the most respected and venerated sages of the 20th century in India. Because of his unquestioned authority and spiritual depth he succeeded in reviving the traditional Hindu faith and beliefs, and reinvigorated the path of Advaita Vedanta.