The esoteric Hindu traditions of Tantrism have profoundly influenced the development of Indian thought and civilization. Emerging from elements of yoga and wisdom traditions, shamanism, alchemy, eroticism, and folklore, Tantrism began to affect brahmanical Hinduism in the ninth century. Nevertheless, Tantrism and its key historical figures have been ignored by scholars. This accessible work introduces the concepts and practices of Hindu Sakta Tantrism to all those interested in Hinduism and the comparative study of religion.

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Coburn provides a fresh and careful translation from the Sanskrit of this fifteen-hundred-year-old text. Drawing on field work and literary evidence, he illuminates the process by which the Devī-Māhātmya has attracted a vast number of commentaries and has become the best known Goddess-text in modern India, deeply embedded in the ritual of Goddess worship (especially in Tantra). Coburn answers the following questions among others: Is this document "scripture?" How is it that this text mediates the presence of the Goddess? What can we make of contemporary emphasis on oral recitation of the text rather than study of its written form? One comes away from Coburn's work with a sense of the historical integrity or wholeness of an extremely important religious development centered on a "text." The interaction between the text and later philosophical and religious developments such as those found in Advaita Vedanta and Tantra is quite illuminating. Relevant here are the issues of the writtenness and orality/aurality of 'scripture,' and the various ways by which a deposit of holy words such as the Devī-Māhātmya becomes effective, powerful, and inspirational in the lives of those who hold it sacred.

The “king of hardcore action” (Brad Thor, New York Times bestselling author) and New York Times and #1 international bestselling author weaves a breathless thriller starring Jack West, Jr. that’s “a clever mix of history, mythology, and geography” (Associated Press). A shadow world behind the real world… When Jack West, Jr. won the Great Games, he threw the four legendary kingdoms into turmoil. A world with its own history, rules and prisons… Now these dark forces are coming after Jack...in ruthless fashion. That is reaching into our world—explosively… With the end of all things rapidly approaching, Jack must find the Three Secret Cities, three incredible lost cities of legend. It’s an impossible task by any reckoning, but Jack must do it while he is being hunted...by the greatest hunters in history. With Matthew Reilly’s signature “wave after wave of nonstop action” (Booklist), The Three Secret Cities is an electrifying rollercoaster ride of a thriller.

Nefesh HaTzimtzum provides the single most comprehensive and accessible presentation of the teachings and worldview of the Vilna Gaon's primary student, Rabbi Chaim Volozhin. It is focused on Rabbi Chaim's magnum opus, Nefesh HaChaim, a work that has lain in almost total obscurity for nearly two centuries due to its deep Kabbalistic subject matter. Nefesh HaTzimtzum opens up the real depth of the ideas presented in Nefesh HaChaim together with all of Rabbi Chaim's related writings, making them accessible to the public for the first time in any language. In addition to the complete English translation of Nefesh HaChaim, Nefesh HaTzimtzum includes the full Hebrew text of Nefesh HaChaim and many other writings by Rabbi Chaim (with correspondingly hyperlinked English and Hebrew texts), along with in-depth explanations, an informative historical overview, an easily consumable innovative presentation layout and a full index. After centuries of confusion, extensive clarification is provided of the central Kabbalistic concept of Tzimtzum, or the secret of how an infinite God occupies a finite world. Most importantly, it unequivocally demonstrates that the key Kabbalists, including the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Chaim Volozhin and the Baal HaTanya, all unanimously agreed on the underlying principles of the concept of Tzimtzum and that contrary to widespread historical misunderstanding, there was no fundamental dispute about the philosophical principles of Judaism between the Hasidim and the Mitnagdim. Based on this Nefesh HaTzimtzum shows that both Nefesh HaChaim and Sefer HaTanya present the same methodology for serving God which is rooted in their identical understanding of the concept of Tzimtzum. Nefesh HaTzimtzum is published in two volumes which are sold separately. This volume contains the complete Hebrew text of Nefesh HaChaim which is brought to life by an illuminating translation and incisive commentary. It additionally provides extensive translated source material necessary to properly understand the basic text. The text is further complemented by an informative introduction which includes a historical overview.

A central question for Judeo-Christian faithful is “Are we living in the age of antichristism or kingdom influence?” Can we salt and light entire cities and civilizations, as Martin Luther King Jr. hoped, or with D. L. Moody should we simply save as many as we can from our rapidly sinking planet? Over the years Christians have wrestled with the question and reached different conclusions. Augustine’s and Oliver O’Donovan’s answer to the question birthed The City of God and The Desire of Nations. Miguez Bonino’s and Grace Ji-Sun Kim’s Marxist-influenced liberationist answers produced Toward a Christian Political Ethics and the post-truth Intersectional Theology. Former socialist Michael Novak’s plea was to revive The [True] Spirit of Democratic Capitalism. Jonathan Cahn and Frank Peretti, by contrast, predicted that we have entered the age of This Present Darkness amidst The Return of the Gods. Peretti’s and Cahn’s wildly popular future-visions built upon Hal Lindsey’s dated assurance and false prediction that true believers would be raptured in the last decade of The Terminal Generation—1980s! Douglas Matthews offers a new route through the maze and discerningly answers this perennial question by boldly offering a “Third City” future-vision option for effective kingdom influence amidst accelerating global antichristism.