From jewellery to meditation pillows to tourist retreats, religious traditions – especially those of the East – are being commodified as never before. Imitated and rebranded as ‘New Age’ or ‘spiritual’, they are marketed to secular Westerners as an answer to suffering in the modern world, the ‘mystical’ and ‘exotic’ East promising a path to enlightenment and inner peace. In Buying Buddha, Selling Rumi, Sophia Rose Arjana examines the appropriation and sale of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam in the West today, the role of mysticism and Orientalism in the religious marketplace, and how the commodification of religion impacts people’s lives.

First time in ebook form! A modern classic of BDSM-themed fiction. Follow the trials and tribulations of four aspiring slaves as they undergo training hoping to be accepted into The Marketplace. Under the firm hand of Grendel, the sharp eye of Alexandra, and the painful leather strap in the hands of Chris, these men and women will find some of their hardest challenges are within themselves.

A beautiful compilation of 40 musings by modern marketplace mystic Ragini Elizabeth Michaels, offering glimpses into the insightful revelations that accompany a torrid love affair with the Divine. In the lineage of Rumi and Hafiz, these poems arrive like whispers from the Divine Heart to yours. Each poem is paired with a lovely color photograph offering some support, laughter, and inspiration for anyone exploring the challenges of conscious living in daily life. Ragini offers these musing for any spiritual seeker who has, even once, fallen into the belief they are not doing their journey right, doing it too slow, or are just not capable of ever reaching the cherished goal of Truth, Love, and Freedom. These musings will give you a laugh, a smile, or perhaps just a tiny touch of the Presence we all may seek - the knowing that we are also a wildly quiet presence of God. Ragini's poetic prose provokes both contemplation and inspiration, powerful bedfellows to curl up with before drifting off to sleep at night, or to awaken to in the morning. This striking little book is lovely to look at resting quietly on the night stand by your bed, or inviting a quick peruse as it offers up its wisdom from the coffee table. It is beautifully designed and written, and will resonate with anyone familiar with the joys and struggles of their own love affair with the Divine.

Organized chronologically, starting with Buddha and ending with contemporary seekers, this book focuses on the moment of enlightenment in the lives of saints and masters that led to their witnessing divine reality.