Falsely accused of murder, heroes Midnight and Adon must identify the true assassin in order to save themselves and the Forgotten Realms When Elminster the mage is announced dead, adventurers Midnight and Adon are accused of his murder. Suddenly, the two friends are caught amongst the swirling forces of good and evil, unknowingly implicated in a plot concocted by Bane—the god of murder—who is desperate to return to his former power. Bane and his allies will stop at nothing to recover the lost Tables of Fate, artifacts that preserve the balance between Law and Chaos—and may even restore Bane to his former glory. As the evil surrounding Midnight and Adon grows more potent, their quest to defeat Bane and prove their innocence grows fraught with betrayals from both friends and enemies alike. Without anyone to trust, can Midnight and Adon find a way to clear their names and save the Realms from a terrible fate?

Hindu tantric practices and meditation.

A leading yoga researcher offers a clear and lively introduction to the history, philosophy, and practice of the Tantric spiritual tradition Tantra—often associated with Kundalini Yoga—is a fundamental dimension of Hinduism, emphasizing the cultivation of “divine power” (shakti) as a path to infinite bliss. Tantra has been widely misunderstood in the West, however, where its practices are often confused with eroticism and licentious morality. Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy dispels many common misconceptions, providing an accessible introduction to the history, philosophy, and practice of this extraordinary spiritual tradition. The Tantric teachings are geared toward the attainment of enlightenment as well as spiritual power and are present not only in Hinduism but also Jainism and Vajrayana Buddhism. In this book, Georg Feuerstein offers readers a clear understanding of authentic Tantra, as well as appropriate guidance for spiritual practice and the attainment of higher consciousness.

First published in 1995. The volume is divided into four sections: The introduction places the position of the Buddhist Tantras within Mahayana Buddhism and recalls their early literary history, especially the Guhyasamahatantra; the section also covers Buddhist Genesis and the Tantric tradition. Next is the he foundations of the Buddhist Tantras are discussed and the Tantric presentation of divinity; the preparation of disciples and the meaning of initiation; symbolism of the mandala-palace Tantric ritual and the twilight language. The third section explores the Tantric teachings of the inner Zodiac and the fivefold ritual symbolism of passion. The bibliographical research contains an analysis of the Tantric section of the Kanjur exegesis and a selected Western Bibliography of the Buddhist Tantras with comments.

In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a Buddhist yogi-scholar of eastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a lay practitioner for laypeople, it was intended to be accessible, informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. Choying Tobden Dorje’s magnum opus appears in English here for the first time. In Foundations of the Buddhist Path, which covers the first ten of the treatise’s twenty-five books, the author surveys the scope of the entire work and then begins with the topics that set the cornerstones for all subsequent Buddhist practice: what constitutes proper spiritual apprenticeship, how to receive the teachings, how to make the best use of this life, and how to motivate ourselves to generate effort on the spiritual path. He then describes refuge and the vows that define the path of individual liberation before turning to the bodhisattva’s way—buddha nature, how to uplift the mind to supreme awakening, the bodhisattva’s training, and the attainments of the paths leading to supreme awakening.

The past thirty years have witnessed dramatic developmentsin the study of ¶gamic ’aivism in general. On the one handthere has been a substantial increase in the historical andanthropological data. On the other, access has been cleared tovast reserves of unedited and unpublished sources.This book is a collection of essays which document in theirown way the author s personal journey in these years throughparts of the ’aiva and, to some extent, the Vai !ava Tantras.This ground-breaking book includes the following chapters:Self-awareness, Own Being and Egoity; AbhÈvavÈda, theDoctrine of Non-being; The Sa`vitprakÈ a; The InnerPilgrimage of the Tantras; KubjikÈ, the Androgynous Goddess;The Cult of the Goddess KubjikÈ.Mark S.G. Dyczkowski is a renowned scholar in the fieldof Tantra. Living in India for over thirty years, he combines inhis books a Western academic base with deep Indian insight.

Among the many spiritual traditions born and developed in India, Tantra has been the most difficult to define. Almost everything about it—its major characteristics, its sources, its relationships to other religions, even its practices—are debated among scholars. In addition, Tantrism is not confined to any particular religion, but is a set of beliefs and practices that appears in a variety of religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism. This book explores one of the most controversial aspects of Tantra, its sources or roots, specifically in regard to Hinduism. The essays focus on the history and development of Tantra, the art history and archaeology of Tantra, the Vedas and Tantra, and texts and Tantra. Using various disciplinary and methodological approaches, from history to art history and religious studies to textual studies, scholars provide both broad overviews of the beginnings of Tantra and detailed analyses of specific texts, authors, art works, and rituals.