A tale told by a dog, named Dinasaur, whose master unwittingly gives his pet the Buddha's rice bowl, stolen from a lamasery in Tibet. Dog and man learn they must return this very special kibble dish to its rightful place, sending them on an adventure that begins during the Summer of Love, in San Francisco, and ends in Tibet. There, the dualities of life must be reconciled to a timeless perspective in order to set things right.

Set in Venice and Asia Minor, Swimming In Stone is the sequel to That Which Bends. It tells the tale of Dusty Rhodes after she and her lover, Bodie Bloom, have won forty million euros in the Italian Lottery, only to see Bodie die shortly afterwards. Heartbroken but rich beyond her wildest imaginings, Dusty embarks on a voyage of hope with Bodie's estranged family in order to split Bodie's portion of the winnings in accordance with his last wishes. In the end Dusty and Bodie's family learn the truth that real fortune is measured not in the currency of exchange but in the currency of hope from which redemption may be wrung.

Parker buries his loyal yellow Labrador retriever in a century-old and long neglected pet cemetery in the Wine Country only to find that the graveyard itself is scheduled to be plowed under to make room for an upscale Pinot Noir vineyard. Nearing the end of his own life, Parker vows to keep vigil over his beloved companion until he himself dies or the owners relent. His vow to stay beside his pet until she can rest in peace attracts cohorts from near and far, and it is their combined devotion that is the fulcrum upon which this story of one man's undying love for his best friend balances.

Rhianna's lifeless body lies splayed atop a salt spire on the south shore of Mono Lake. A sapling oak rises from inside the young woman's abdomen. Murder by tree hugger? Or something more complicated? On the eve of his arrest, the confessed killer walks up to an aspen tree and disappears into it. Heed is his name. A genetic interloper between flora and fauna. A shape shifter. Thus begins the mystery confronting Rhianna's ex-husband Marlyn, a transgender man, to uncover how a murderer could take the life of his beloved, and how he can bring himself to rationalize those same choices as his own.

Originally published in 1994, Jewish Views of the Afterlife is a classic study of ideas of afterlife and postmortem survival in Jewish tradition and mysticism. As both a scholar and pastoral counselor, Raphael guides the reader through 4,000 years of Jewish thought on the afterlife by investigating pertinent sacred texts produced in each era. Through a compilation of ideas found in the Bible, Apocrypha, rabbinic literature, medieval philosophy, medieval Midrash, Kabbalah, Hasidism and Yiddish literature, the reader learns how Judaism conceived of the fate of the individual after death throughout Jewish history. In addition, this book explores the implications of Jewish afterlife beliefs for a renewed understanding of traditional rituals of funeral, burial, shiva, kaddish and more. This newly released twenty-fifth anniversary edition presents new material on little-known Jewish mystical teachings on reincarnation, a chapter on “Spirits, Ghosts and Dybbuks in Yiddish Literature”, and a foreword by the renowned scholar of Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Arthur Green. Both historical and contemporary, this book provides a rich resource for scholars and laypeople and for teachers and students and makes an important Jewish contribution to the growing contemporary psychology of death and dying.

We are so much more than we appear to be. The "why" of our existence is far more complex than the "how" of our being. Mysticism probes the hidden nature of who we are, why we are, and our relationship to our Creator. We catch glimpses of this not only in the ordinary experiences of life, but also through extraordinary and unusual encounters with mystery. Mysticism is the awareness of our reality.

Published in conjunction with a 2003 exhibition co-organized by the Columbus Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, this hefty, oversize (10x13 catalogue features approximately 160 powerful masterpieces of Indian, Nepalese, Tibetan, Chinese, and Mongolian art produced over the pa

This book explores chapter 5 of the Bardo Thödol titled ‘The Spiritual Practice entitled Natural Liberation of Habitual Tendencies’. This text incorporates a detailed exposition of the transformation of saṃskāras (consciousness attributes developed through past activity) into enlightenment attributes. This book provides a solid foundation to understanding the force centres (chakras) and the way their powers (siddhis) awaken. The ten stages of the evolution of consciousness are illustrated in correspondence with the doctrine of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities and how they contribute to the Initiation process.

In the sixteenth century, the famous kabbalist Isaac Luria transmitted a secret trove of highly complex mystical practices to a select groups of students. These meditations were designed to capitalize on sleep and death states in order to effectively split one’s soul into multiple parts, and which, when properly performed, permitted the adept to free oneself from the cycle of rebirth. Through an in-depth analysis of these contemplative practices within the broader context of Lurianic literature, Zvi Ish-Shalom guides us on a penetrating scholarly journey into a realm of mystical teachings and practices never before available in English, illuminating a radically monistic vision of reality at the heart of Kabbalistic metaphysics and practice.

This book explores the devastating consequences and psychological ruptures of refugeehood as it evocatively recounts the life histories of dislocated Tibetans expelled from their homes since 1959. Following the genre of a story, the book offers dynamic understandings of unconscious processes and the intergenerational transmission of trauma across generations of an exiled and internally displaced people. The book analyses the paradoxical spaces which Tibetans in exile occupy as they strive to preserve their cultural and spiritual heritage, rituals, religion, and language while also dynamically remoulding themselves to adapt to their living realities. Presenting a nuanced picture, it narrates stories of refugees, political prisoners and survivors of torture along with stories of loss and angst, cultural celebrations and political demonstrations. The author in this new edition highlights and explores the art, artists, and poetry in the exiled community. The volume also looks at the significance of Buddhism and the philosophy of the Dalai Lama for the people in exile and the personal and collective will of the community to connect their lost past to a living present and an imagined future. Rooted in the psychoanalytical tradition, this book will be of interest to psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, scholars of literature, and arts and aesthetics. It will also appeal to those interested in Sino-Tibetan relations, Buddhist studies, South Asian Studies, cultural and peace studies, and those working with refugees, and displaced persons.