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Sacred Visions : Early Paintings from Central Tibet by Steven M. Kossak and Jane Casey Singer with an essay by Robert Bruce-Gardner This incredible book is the catalogue of an exhibition of the finest extant early Tibetan work from museums and private collections, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from October 1998 through January 1999. Beautiful reproductions are combined with a full scholarly treatment of the works and their origins. The paintings are from the 11th through the mid-15th century, and depict intricate mandalas, Taras, portraits of Lamas, multilimbed deities linked in sexual union, serene monks, and images of the many concepts of Buddha. All are well illustrated in vibrant color photos, each accompanied by a page of philosophical explanation and artistic analysis. The vivid colors and intricate designs are well conveyed on the heavy stock of this, the original edition of the book. (Later reprintings, on cheap paper, are seriously deficient.) Detailed closeups of the beautifully reproduced works of art are presented to help illustrate the subtle skills of the Tibetan artist, while diagrams, such as for the Vajravarahi Mandala, further explain the iconography. 249 pages, 149 illustrations, including 134 in full color. With a map, glossary, bibliography, and index. First Edition in dustjacket w/protective mylar cover.

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The Collected Works of Ken Wilber: Volume Eight The Marriage of Sense and Soul / One Taste We have two copies of the Limited Edition of Volume Eight of Wilber's Collected Works. This edition, with a special frontispiece, was limited to 1000 copies, "especially prepared for friends of the Author and Publisher." Unsigned. ~ 649 pages hardcover w/protective mylar cover ~ donation to receive this book $100

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The Collected Works of Ken Wilber: Volume Five Grace and Grit: Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber When Ken Wilber met the intelligent, beautiful Terry Killam in 1983, it was "love at first touch," and after a short courtship they were married. Only a week later, Terry -- later to change her name to Treya -- was diagnosed with breast cancer. Their honeymoon was spent in the hospital, an ominous portent of the couple's five-year journey through marriage, illness, and finally Treya's death. "A vivid and inspiring portrait of health and healing, wholeness and harmony, suffering and surrender." (from the dustjacket) First Printing. ~ 506 pages hardcover with protective mylar cover.~

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Two-book set: A Star in the East: Krishnamurti, the Invention of a Messiah by Roland Vernon The story of Krishnamurti, one of the 20th century's most influential spiritual figures, takes place in the crucible of sexual scandal, mysticism, and an extraordinary personal history. Discovered by the Theosophical Society, Krishnamurti was hailed as a messiah and groomed to be the new World Teacher. Eventually rejecting the society's claims, he then set out on a teaching career that covered six decades and produced fifty books and thousands of talks. In this "first truly objective biography", English author Roland Vernon uses thorough research as well as numerous interviews with K's friends and students to provide a wealth of interesting detail. With non-judgmental clarity, Vernon describes the details of K's life, including his formative years with Charles Leadbeater and Annie Besant, and K's painful purification "process". The author also provides insight into Krishnamurti's highly private personal life, including an extended clandestine affair with Rosalind Rajagopal, the wife of his longtime friend and adviser, D. Rajagopal. ~ 306 pages hardcover ~ Krishnamurti and the Rajagopals by Mary Lutyens This book, published in 1996, was written as a personal reply to Lives in the Shadow of Krishnamurti by Radha Rajagopal Sloss, (London, 1991). Mary Lutyens, K's life-long friend, disciple, and biographer, sets out to "tell the other side of the story" and "correct misstatements of fact" in the Sloss book. Lutyens is clearly a devoted apologist for K., but the book is of definite interest to anyone who has been affected by Krishnamurti, and who has followed the controversy about K's private life, including his affair with the wife of his friend and adviser, D. Rajagopal. ~ 129 pages softcover ~

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Imagining Karma : Ethical Transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and Greek Rebirth by Gananath Obeyesekere Exploring the beliefs of small-scale societies of West Africa, Melanesia, traditional Siberia, Canada, and the northwest coast of North America, Gananath Obeyesekere compares their ideas with those of the ancient and modern Indic civilizations and with the Greek rebirth theories of Pythagoras, Empedocles, Pindar, and Plato. His groundbreaking discussion sets aside the popular notion that India was the origin and locus of ideas of rebirth. ~ 448 pages trade paperback ~

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Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun by Ani Pachen & Adelaide Donnelley As a teenager in Tibet, Ani Pachen remembers days spent racing her chieftain father on horseback, and she remembers dedicating herself to a life as a Buddhist nun, at a time when her greatest fear was the possibility of an arranged marriage. This all changed when her father died, and the Chinese invaded Tibet. Taking her father's role as a chieftain, Pachen resisted the Chinese, and was captured and imprisoned. Sorrow Mountain tells of Pachen's life and her 21 years in prison. It is also the story of the tenacity of Tibetan culture, and the growth of a strong woman. She remained focused on one goal—to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama—which she was finally able to achieve after her release and escape from Tibetan China in 1981. ~ 292 pages hardcover ~

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Krishnamurti: 100 Years by Evelyne Blau A tribute to Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986), this handsomely produced volume splices an informal biographical narrative, 100 duotone photographs, excerpts from his letters, teachings, diaries and poems and recollections by friends and disciples. Born in southern India, whisked away to England in 1912 by Theosophical Society leader Annie Besant, K was promoted as a messiah-to-be, a role he renounced in 1929 by breaking with the Society. A pacifist, California guru and friend of Aldous Huxley in the 1930s, he returned to India in 1947, later traveled widely, established schools and, in the 1960s, became a guiding light to a new generation. K's teachings have influenced many, as reflected here in the reminiscences of Huxley, Henry Miller, Joseph Campbell, Leopold Stokowski, dramatist Anita Loos, physicist David Bohm, psychiatrist Benjamin Weinniger, ceramist Beatrice Wood and others. Evelyne Blau, a trustee of the Kirshnamurti Foundation, also edited his book Meditations. ~ 284 pages oversized paperback ~

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The Dalai Lamas of Tibet by Thubten Samphel and Tendar With informative text and many pictures, this book traces the history of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet from the medieval period to the 20th Century. Includes rare archival photographs and Tibetan art. The author, Thubten Samphel, is Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamsala. He has a Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University and writes extensively on Tibet for publications around the world. Co-author Tendar is an official translator for the Tibetan Administration. ~ 128 pages hardcover ~

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Singing to the Goddess : Poems to Kali and Uma from Bengal edited and translated by Rachel Fell McDermott Rachel McDermott is a professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College. She is the author of Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal (Oxford 2001). This collection of 145 Bengali lyric poems -- many presented in English for the first time -- were written from the early 18th century to the present. They represent the unique Bengali tradition of goddess worship as it developed over this period. Included are forty poems by the most famous of all Sakta poets, Ramprasad Sen (1718-1775), and ten lyrics by the renowned 20th century poet Kaji Nazrul Islam. Includes a lucid historical introduction by McDermott. In the opinion of this reader, this book is guaranteed to stimulate several higher chakras. 189 pages trade paperback

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The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition by James William Coleman Professor Coleman's book is a scholarly study of how and why the multihued teachings of Buddhism have gained a foothold in the United States. But this is no dry academic treatise -- Professor Coleman has himself been a practicing Buddhist for fifteen years and brings to the book his own understanding of and commitment to Buddhist practice. Coleman's study is confined to those groups in which Americans have established their own Buddhist communities based on Zen, Tibetan, and Vipassana (Theravada). The focus of American Buddhism, unlike some of its Asian counterparts, is on meditation rather than on devotional ritual. There is a great deal in the book on the difficulties that Western Buddhism has encountered, many of which are of its own making. Coleman describes the conflicts and scandals involving sex and power that plagued much of the American Buddhist community in the 1980s. He offers his views on the source of these embarrassments as well as opinions on how they may be avoided as Buddhism may continue to develop in the West. ~ 263 pages hardcover ~

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Breaking Open the Head : A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism by Daniel Pinchbeck This 2002 book is at once a journalistic report on the current psychedelic underground and a scrupulous recording of the author's wide-ranging participatory investigation of these outlaw compounds -- including a thirty-hour tribal initiation with the iboga plant in West Africa and an all-night encounter with ayahuasca (yage) among the shamans of the South American rain forest. The book includes a thorough history of consciousness-altering drugs and the culture of their use. An extensive bibliography will lead the interested reader deeper -- much deeper -- into the subject. The one "problem" with the book (if there is one) is that by the end you realize Mr. Pinchbeck has apparently got himself seriously stuck in the very realms he set out to explore! Highly recommended. ~ 322 pages hardcover ~

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