The incredible story of Buddhist legend Tenzin Palmo who became a champion for the rights of women to attain spiritual enlightenment.At the age of twenty, Diane Perry, looking to fill a void in her life, entered a monastery in India—the only woman amongst hundreds of monks—and began her battle against the prejudice that had excluded women from enlightenment for thousands of years.Thirteen years later, Diane Perry a.k.a. Tenzin Palmo secluded herself in a re...

A fascinating biography of Freda Bedi, an English woman who broke all the rules of gender, race, and religious background to become both a revolutionary in the fight for Indian independence and then a Buddhist icon.She was the first Western woman to become a Tibetan Buddhist nun—but that pioneering ordination was really just one in a life full of revolutionary acts. Freda Bedi (1911–1977) broke the rules of gender, race, and religion—in many cases before it was tho...

Includes a bonus track of Tenzin Palmo introducing a retreat.This is the story of Tenzin Palmo, the daughter of a fishmonger from London's East End who became a Tibetan nun. After meditating for 12 years in a cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas, she became a world-renowned spiritual leader and champion of the right of women to achieve spiritual enlightenment.Diane Perry grew up in London's East End. At the age of 18, however, she read a book on Buddhism and realised that t...

LONGLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE'Beautifully written, ridiculously erudite, warm and open-hearted' The Times'Compelling and poignant' Guardian'This is travel writing at its best' ObserverInternationally bestselling William Dalrymple takes us to the heart of an undiscovered India.A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasio...

In this talk Osho takes his audience into the world of ZEN. "There are a few essential things which make Zen absolutely different from any kind of teaching. The most important of these essentials is that Zen is a revolution. All other religions are servants to the vested interests. The rich people and the powerful people, the politicians, have dominated all the religions. The priests have been nothing but servants to these criminals. It is such a worldwide conspiracy that no one recognizes...

Understand the life and teachings of Osho, one of the twentieth century’s most unusual gurus and philosophers, in Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic.In 1990, Osho prepared for his departure from the body that had served him for fifty-nine years—in the words of his attending physician—“as calmly as though he were packing for a weekend in the country.” Who was this man, known as the Sex Guru, the “self-appointed bhagwan” (Rajneesh), the Rolls-Ro...

The definitive and first non-partisan biography of one of the most formidable political figures of the twentieth century (voted Woman of the Millennium in a BBC poll, 2000)Indira Gandhi’s life, from her birth in 1917, through partition and up to her assassination in 1984, was dominated by the politics of her country. Always directly involved in India’s turbulent twentieth-century history, once she accepted the mantle of power, she became one of the world’s most powerful and signifi...

Mistakes are an inevitable and perhaps necessary part of human life. Sometimes we do the wrong thing consciously, at other times unconsciously. No matter whether our mistakes are grave or minor, there comes a time when we need forgiveness -- from God, from others whom we have hurt, even from ourselves.In this book Sri Chinmoy offers us his illumining guidance on how we may seek the divine Forgiveness that will not only transform our lives, but grant us the promise and hope of a cloudless new ...

Originally published in 1976, with more than 75,000 copies in print, this collection of poems by fifteenth-century ecstatic poet Kabir is full of fun and full of thought. Columbia University professor of religion John Stratton Hawley has contributed an introduction that makes clear Kabir's immense importance to the contemporary reader and praises Bly's intuitive translations.By making every reader consider anew their religious thinking, the poems of Kabir seem as relevant today as ...

The Sikh religion has a following of over 20 million people worldwide. However,events such as the verbal and physical attacks on Sikhs just after September 11, where Sikhs were being mistaken for Muslims, suggest that the Sikh faith still remains mysterious to many. This Very Short Introduction introduces newcomers to the meaning of the Sikh religious tradition, its teachings, practices, rituals and festivals. Eleanor Nesbitt highlights and contextualizes the key threads in the hi...

Love enlarges our hearts. To offer love to another human being, to the world or to God is the greatest gift of life. Love enriches every moment, every act. And, because we are only human, we love to be loved in return.Alas, human love is fleeting; the world is unloving. Only in God do we find a Beloved whose love for us is eternal and unconditional. Sri Chinmoy vividly describes how God loves us more than we can ever imagine. Through his eyes, we begin to fathom the true nature of ...

"Like the great holy beings of the past, Khensur Rinpoche had great faith in and devotion towards Mother Tara. Therefore, this commentary on the Praises to the Twenty-one Taras bears the special blessing of his personal experience with the power and effectiveness of the practice of Tara." - Khen Rinpoche Geshe ChonyiThis precious commentary by Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel on the Praises to the Twenty-one Taras, published for the first time, offers us a deeper understanding...