Driven by global economic forces to innovate, today’s society paradoxically looks forward to the future while staring only at the nearest, most local present—the most recent financial quarter, the latest artistic movement, the instant message or blog post at the top of the screen. Postmodernity is lived, it seems, at the end of history. In the essays collected in Local Transcendence, Alan Liu takes the pulse of such postmodern historicism by tracking two leading indicators of its acceleration in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries: postmodern cultural criticism—including the new historicism, the new cultural history, cultural anthropology, the new pragmatism, and postmodern and postindustrial theory—and digital information technology. What is the relation between the new historicist anecdote and the database field, Liu asks, and can either have a critical function in the age of postmodern historicism? Local Transcendence includes two previously unpublished essays and a synthetic introduction in which Liu traverses from his earlier work on the theory of historicism to his recent studies of information culture to propose a theory of contingent method incorporating a special inflection of history: media history.

This innovative collection examines the transnational movements, effects, and transformations of religion in the contemporary world, offering a fresh perspective on the interrelation between globalization and religion. Transnational Transcendence challenges some widely accepted ideas about this relationship—in particular, that globalization can be understood solely as an economic phenomenon and that its religious manifestations are secondary. The book points out that religion's role remains understudied and undertheorized as an element in debates about globalization, and it raises questions about how and why certain forms of religious practice and intersubjectivity succeed as they cross national and cultural boundaries. Framed by Thomas J. Csordas's introduction, this timely volume both urges further development of a theory of religion and globalization and constitutes an important step toward that theory.

In this definitive book on the scientifically proven health and stress-relieving benefits of Transcendental Meditation, a renowned psychiatrist and researcher explores why TM works, what it can do, and how to use it for maximum effect.

Resounding Transcendence is a pathbreaking set of ethnographic and historical essays by leading scholars exploring the ways sacred music effects cultural, political, and religious transitions in the contemporary world. With chapters covering Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist practices in East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, North America, the Caribbean, North Africa, and Europe, the volume establishes the theoretical and methodological foundations for music scholarship to engage in current debates about modern religion and secular epistemologies. It also transforms those debates through sophisticated, nuanced treatments of sound and music - ubiquitous elements of ritual and religion often glossed over in other disciplines. Resounding Transcendence confronts the relationship of sound, divinity, and religious practice in diverse post-secular contexts. By examining the immanence of transcendence in specific social and historical contexts and rethinking the reified nature of "religion" and "world religions," these authors examine the dynamics of difference and transition within and between sacred musical practices. The work in this volume transitions between traditional spaces of sacred musical practice and emerging public spaces for popular religious performance; between the transformative experience of ritual and the sacred musical affordances of media technologies; between the charisma of individual performers and the power of the marketplace; and between the making of authenticity and hybridity in religious repertoires and practices. Broad in scope, rich in ethnographic and historical detail, and theoretically ambitious, Resounding Transcendence is an essential contribution to the study of music and religion.

Notions of self-determination are central to modern politics, yet the relationship between the self-determination of individuals and peoples has not been adequately addressed, nor adequately allied to cosmopolitanism. Transcendence seeks to rectify this by offering an original theory of self and society. It highlights overlooked affinities between existentialism and pragmatism and compares figures central to these traditions. The book's guiding thread is a unique model of the social development of the self that is indebted to the pragmatist George Herbert Mead. Drawing on the work of thinkers from both sides of the Atlantic—Hegel, William James, Dewey, Du Bois, Sartre, Marcuse, Bourdieu, Rorty, Neil Gross, and Jean-Baker Miller—and according supporting roles to Adam Smith, Habermas, Herder, Charles Taylor, and Simone de Beauvoir, Aboulafia combines European and American traditions of self-determination and cosmopolitanism in a new and persuasive way.

Critical Acclaim for The Roots of Transcendence... From the Scholars: "This is a powerful book.... A true picture of the cross-fertilization of human history and culture....A major book, one of the signposts of the time." -Molefi Kete Asante, PhD, Chairman, Department of African-American Studies, Temple University; Author, Afroocentricity, and Rhythms Unity From the Psychiatrists: "A PIONEERING TEXT in Transego Psychology. The author envisions the next step in the development of human psychology. He raises the 'new' question that the self is not localized in the mind but is 'non-local, ' a field of interconnected relations.... A valuable model is presented to define psychopathological diagnostic issues and therapeutic treatment issues. Truly wonderful." -Richard D. King, MD, From the Preface; Author, African Origin of Biological Psychiatry From the Consciousness Researchers: "A daring leap involving new conceptual models.... Discusses the anxieties and stresses of our time while IT PROVIDES READERS THE TOOLS BY WHICH ANXIETIES AND STRESSES CAN BE ADDRESSED." -Stanley Krippner, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies; Author, Dreamtime and Dreamwork, and Your Personal Mythology "A mighty synthesis of knowledge and feeling, science and poetry, clinical observation and spiritual insight... which SPEAKS POWERFULLY TO LAY AND PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE ALIKE.... An important contribution to our understanding of the mind and its operation in the world." -John White, MAT, Author, Future Science, and Kundalini, Evolution and Enlightenment Here is the epic adventure of the rise and unfolding of human consciousness from its earliest days millennia ago, on through the first civilizations and down to contemporary times. The mythic Mitochondrial DNA, "mother of humanity," of 10,000 generations ago is used to personalize this journey for readers, a journey seen to be an integral part of each of us. This includes not only her shared African gene pool but also the neuro-biologically interwoven evolutionary impulse. How different personalities deal with this intelligent and luminous current is the primary thrust of this groundbreaking book that readers will find of extraordinary value in the exploration of human consciousness. Edward Bruce Bynum, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, family therapist, and Director of the Behavioral Medicine and Biofeedback Clinic, University of Massachusetts Health Services. He is the author of The Family Unconscious and Families and the Interpretation of Dreams. He has published widely in both popular and professional journals. Some of his work has been translated into German, Japanese and Russian. He is a student and a practitioner of Kundalini Yoga.

A compilation of abstracts of papers presented at the 8th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, held June 17-22, 2000. The abstracts explore the social dimensions of managing spatial landscapes for various purposes. The theme of the symposium, "Transcending Boundaries: Natural Resource Management form Summit to Sea," provided participants with the opportunity to explore the challenges of working across conceptual, cultural, and physical boundaries. The symposium focused on how social science research is being brought to bear on the exploration of "boundary issues" in resource management.