Softcover. NY, Archipelago Books, reprint, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 115 pages, color illustrations. All One Horse is a marvel-filled journey through Breyten Breytenbach's kaleidoscopic imagination. The electrifying colors and penetrating images of his paintings converse with his lyrical and satirical dream-fables. These visions and parables emerge from a melange of cultures and traditions: African and Eastern thought, the spirit world, and the spheres of visual art, philosophy, history and politics. Breytenbach's watercolors communicate in hieroglyphs, where private conversation embraces myth and dream. These reflections and images - clear and complex at once - are cries for human dignity and justice, are truth disguised as play. An outspoken human rights activist, Breyten Breytenbach is a poet, painter, memoirist, essayist and novelist. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited around the world. Born in South Africa, he emigrated to Paris in the late '60s and became deeply involved in the anti-Apartheid movement. Clean Copy.
Hardcover. Delhi, Motilal, 1st, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, blue cloth, gilt lettering on spine, 320 pages. All forms of Buddhism--The Theravada, the Mahayana and the Vajrayana--affirm the perfectability of the person, and one finds this notion of perfection embodied in three images; the arahant, the bodhisattva and the mahasiddha. Reader also finds, in scholarly treatments of Buddhism, much made of the perceived differences among these three `vehicles` (yana). By close textual analysis as well as by extensive field work, Katz criticizes this emphasis on difference and prefers to treat Buddhism as a whole, a position he finds in accord with the teachings of both Buddhists and Buddhist texts. By a close examination of these three images of human perfection, bridges among the Theravada, the Mahayana and the Vajrayana are built and continuities within Buddhism are explored. This comparison involves pioneering discussions of Buddhist philosophy of language and hermeneutics, which are facilitated by Katz`s familiarity with Pali, Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist texts as well as his sympathetic involvement with the living Buddhist tradition. Light pencil marking to several pages in the margins. Otherwise clean, no dust jacket.
Hardcover. NY, John Day, 1st, 1949, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a bright, edgeworn and chipped dust jacket. Explores the life and teachings of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius. The book delves into Confucius' background, upbringing, and the cultural and political context in which he lived. It also examines the various interpretations of Confucianism throughout history and how his teachings have influenced Chinese society and beyond. The author offers a critical analysis of Confucius' philosophy and challenges some of the popular myths and misconceptions that have surrounded him. Mild musty smell, clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, New Directions, 1st, 1951, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Fair, Hardcover in a yellow dust jacket with chipping, soiling. 187 pages. Black cloth binding with titling on the spine in gilt; with Chinese ideogram on the front cover. Illustrated with rubbings by William Hawley; and a Note on the Stone Classics by Achilles Fang. Previous owner's name and address on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.
Softcover. NY, Routledge, reprint, 2016, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, pictorial wrappers, 265 pages. Dialogue between characters is an important feature of South Asian religious literature: entire narratives are often presented as a dialogue between two or more individuals, or the narrative or discourse is presented as a series of embedded conversations from different times and places. Including some of the most established scholars of South Asian religious texts, this book examines the use of dialogue in early South Asian texts with an interdisciplinary approach that crosses traditional boundaries between religious traditions. The contributors shed new light on the cultural ideas and practices within religious traditions, as well as presenting an understanding of a range of dynamics - from hostile and competitive to engaged and collaborative. This book is the first to explore the literary dimensions of dialogue in South Asian religious sources, helping to reframe the study of other literary traditions around the world. Clean, bight copy.
Softcover. NY, Columbia University Press, 1st, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 395 pages. The essays gathered here, in addition to those by editors Wm. Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloob, are written by leading scholars of Asian cultures--among them Donald Keene, Peter Awn, Barbara Stoler Miller, Ainslie Embree, Burton Watson, C.T. Hsia, Paul Anderer, and others. They introduce classics from the Islamic, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions, providing entree to texts which have emerged as monuments of Asian thought and literature. Among the works discussed are the Qu'ran, the philosophy of history of Ibn Khaldun, the Upanishads, the epic Mahabarata, the philosopher Mencius, the Lotus Sutra, T'and Poetry, the Tale of Genji, and the poet Basho.
Hardcover. NY, J. & J. Harper, 1831, Book: Very Good, Hardcover, Harper's Stereotype Edition. 6" tall; 261 pages + 4 page list of books in series; craft paper over boards. The frontis is a fold-out of the Sacred Temple of Mecca; the fold-out is quite clean, with only a bit of light foxing. Pages clean, covers tanned, remarkably nice condition, square and sound.
Hardcover. Leiden, Netherlands, E. J. Brill, 1st, 1976, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 377 pages. Blue cloth, gilt lettering to front and spine, no dust jacket. Light wear and smudges to covers. Clean, tight copy in excellent condition.
Softcover. Albany NY, State University of New York Press, reprint, 1987, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 157 pages. Introduction: Sharpe, Eric, Translation from the Swedish by Birgitta Sharpe. Here are the early Sufis: their ascetic practices, their attitudes toward women and marriage, toward food and drink and toward music and poetry. First published in 1947. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, March & Greenwood, 1st, 1938, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, purple cloth with gilt lettering on spine. 23.4*16.3cm, 123 pages. Printed on one side of double leaves, folded once in Chinese style. Now uncommon in commerce, this was the first English translation by a Chinese scholar of the foundational book of Taoism. The enigmatic polymath Dr Sum Nung Au-Young (1893-1942) was an accomplished poet, philosopher, lawyer and economist. There is some faint discoloration but hardly visible unless held at an angle, otherwise a very good hardcover. "Author's edition".
Softcover. New York, Aperture, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover. In original shrink wrap, spotless and tight. Poet, scholar, philosopher, and master of Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche led a life of profound dedication to spiritual enlightenment and teaching. During the final fourteen years of his life his personal assistant was Matthieu Ricard. Together they traveled throughout Tibet, Bhutan, India, and Nepal, returning to the places of Khyentse Rinpoche's youth: his birthplace in Eastern Tibet; the monastery of Shechen which he had entered at the age of eleven; and the retreats where he spent years in meditation and study. At every stop on his journey, Khyentse Rinpoche was welcomed with elaborate ceremonies and outpourings of devotion. Ricard's deeply personal photographs of this journey are enhanced by a biographical narrative that is interspersed with extensive passages from the writings and teachings of Khyentse Rinpoche. Together, these images and texts form an inspiring portrait of one of the great spiritual leaders and teachers of our time. Many masters of Tibetan Buddhism studied with Khyentse Rinpoche, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who regarded him as his principal instructor in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Softcover. Sanbornton, Sant Bani Press, First Edition, 1984, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 333 pages. Softcover. Full page, full color illustrations and a few in bw. Interviews & reflections with Kirpal Singh, Baba Sawan & Sant Ajaib. Light wear to spine edges, light sunfading to lower spine. Discolored smudge to top edge. Previous owner's signature to preliminary pages. Otherwise, clean & unmarked copy.
Hardcover. New Haven CONNECTICUT, Yale University Press, 1st, 1978, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 317 pages, b&w illustrations, red cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Bright dust jacket with price-clip.
Hardcover. London, Ruskin House, George Allen and Unwin, 1st, 1959, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a worn dust jacket, 194 pages. This study traces the origin of Buddhism in Brahmanism, and fixes its relationship to Hinduism, describing and stressing the basic importance of Buddhist contemplation. No markings.
Hardcover. New Delhi, Oriental Books Reprint Corp., reprint, 1979, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, blue cloth with yellow lettering on spine, 328 pages including index. Originally published in London in 1936. Bright, clean copy.
Hardcover. London, William Collins, 1st, 2020, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 342 pages, color photos. In 1976 James Crowden left his career in the British army and travelled to Ladakh in the Northern Himalaya, one of the most remote parts of the world. The Frozen River is his extraordinary account of the time he spent there, living alongside the Zangskari people, before the arrival of roads and mass tourism. James immerses himself in the Zangskari way of life, where meditation and week-long mountain festivals go hand in hand, and silence and solitude are the hallmarks of existence. When butter traders invite James on their journey down the frozen river Leh, he soon realises that this way of living, unchanged for centuries, comes with a very human cost. In lyrical prose, James captures a crucial moment in time for this Himalayan community. A moment in which their Buddhist practices and traditions are in flux, and the economic pull of a world beyond their valley is increasingly difficult to ignore.
Hardcover. Bristol UK, Thoemmes Press, reprint, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, blue cloth with gilt lettering on spine, 195 plus 276 pages. A facsimile reprint of the 1682 edition. One of 9 volumes in More's collected works. Name on front fly leaf otherwise a clean, bright copy.