"At last, she arrives at the fatal end of the plank . . . and, with her hands crossed over her chest, falls straight downward, suspended for a moment in the air before being devoured by the burning pit that awaits her. . . ." This grisly 1829 account by Pierre Dubois demonstrates the usual European response to the Hindu custom of satis sacrificing themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands—horror and revulsion. Yet to those of the Hindu faith, not least the satis themselves, this act signals the sati's sacredness and spiritual power. Ashes of Immortality attempts to see the satis through Hindu eyes, providing an extensive experiential and psychoanalytic account of ritual self-sacrifice and self-mutilation in South Asia. Based on fifteen years of fieldwork in northern India, where the state-banned practice of sati reemerged in the 1970s, as well as extensive textual analysis, Weinberger-Thomas constructs a radically new interpretation of satis. She shows that their self-immolation transcends gender, caste and class, region and history, representing for the Hindus a path to immortality.

Just as Kirk faces the prospect of retirement, he goes on an adventure which offers the chance of recapturing his youth.

In the tradition of Mary Roach’s bestselling Stiff and Jessica Mitford’s classic exposé The American Way of Death comes this meticulously researched, refreshingly irreverent, and lavishly illustrated look at death from acclaimed author Harold Schechter. With his trademark fearlessness and bracing sense of humor, Schechter digs deep into a wealth of sources to unearth a treasure trove of surprising facts, amusing anecdotes, practical information, and timeless wisdom about that undiscovered country to which we will all one day travel. Topics include • Death anxiety–is your fear of death normal or off the scale? • You can’t take it with you . . . or can you? Wacky wills and bizarre bequests • The hospice experience–going out in comfort and style • Deathbed and funeral etiquette–how to help the dying and mourn the dead with dignity • Death on demand–why the right-to-die movement may be the next big thing • “Good-bye everybody”–famous last words • The embalmer’s art–all dressed up and nowhere to go • Behind the scenes at your local funeral home • Alternative burial choices–from coral reefs to outer space From the cold, hard facts of death to lessons in the art of dying well, from what happens in the body’s last living moments to what transpires in the ground or in the furnace, from near-death experiences to speculation on the afterlife, The Whole Death Catalog leaves no gravestone unturned.

Drawing on medieval accounts of the earliest European journeys to China, India, Mongolia, and southeast Asia, Before Orientalism explores European attitudes toward Asian eating habits, sexual practices, femininities, and civility, reconstructing a precolonial vision of the East that was often neutral or admiring.

Life is the most important possession we have. Without it, there is nothing. Only by the resurrection at the second coming of Christ will anyone have life after death. After the resurrection, the fate of those who are in Christ: [1] Eternal life [Romans 6:23] [2]"Shall inherit eternal life" [Matthew 19:29] [3] After the judgment they "shall go away into eternal life" [Matthew 25:46] [4] Will "have eternal life" [John 3:5] [5] Christ will raise them up on the last day [John 6:40] [6] Will be immortal after the resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:51 56] [7] Will have incorruption [1 Corinthians 15:42] [8] Will have glory [1 Corinthians 15:43] [9] Will be like Christ "We shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is" [1 John 3:2] [10] Are "heirs according to the hope of eternal life" [Titus 3:7] [11] Will have a spiritual body [1 Corinthians 15:44] [12] "And as we have borne the image of the earthly (The earthly flesh and blood body of Adam was made to live on this earth but it "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" 1 Corinthians 15:50), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (Shall be like the spiritual body of Christ for life in Heaven) [1 Corinthians 15:47 56] [13] "Will never perish" [John 10:28] [14] Forever with the Lord [1 Thessalonians 4:17] [15] Many mansions in my father's house: "In my Father's house (Who is in Heaven, Matthew 5:16; 5:45; 5:48; 6:1; 6:9; 7:21; 10:32 33) are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you."

Looking at how religious people approach death in the twenty-first century, this is a comprehensive study of the intersection of death and religion. It describes how people from a variety of faiths draw on and adapt traditional beliefs and practices as they deal with death in modern societies.

“[A] brilliant disquisition on . . . mostly unpublished texts for three allied systems of tantric thought and praxis (sexual, alchemical, and hatha yogic).” —The Journal of Asian Studies The Alchemical Body excavates and centers within its Indian context the lost tradition of the medieval Siddhas. Working from previously unexplored alchemical sources, David Gordon White demonstrates for the first time that the medieval disciplines of Hindu alchemy and hatha yoga were practiced by one and the same people, and that they can be understood only when viewed together. White opens the way to a new and more comprehensive understanding of medieval Indian mysticism, within the broader context of south Asian Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. “White proves a skillful guide in disentangling historical and theoretical complexities that have thus far bedeviled the study of these influential aspects of medieval Indian culture.” —Yoga World “Anyone seriously interested in finding out more about authentic tantra, original hatha yoga, embodied liberation . . . sacred sexuality, paranormal abilities, healing, and of course alchemy will find White’s extraordinary book as fascinating as any Tom Clancy thriller.” —Georg Feuerstein, Yoga Journal “Remarkable . . . a study of the language of mystic experience and expression—the multitudinous symbols, rituals, and doctrines of the medieval siddhis, yogis, and alchemists.” —Skeptic Meditations