This is a book about God and gods, Spirit and spirits, prayer and sacraments, ghosts and resurrection, Jesus and the church. It grows out of immersion in Catholic and Anglican traditions and acute awareness of abuses in their name. It is an honest and personal exploration of what still holds up and what has had to be discarded.

Buddhism is a religion lacking the idea of a unique creator God. It is a kind of trans-polytheism that accepts many long-lived gods, but sees ultimate reality, Nirvana, as beyond these. It does, though, see Dhamma/Dharma as a Basic Pattern encompassing everything, with karma as a law-like principle ensuring that good and bad actions have appropriate natural results. This Element explores these ideas, along with overlaps in Buddhist and monotheist ideas and practices, the development of mor...

This careful analysis of early Buddhist thought opens out a perspective in which no permanent Self is accepted, but a rich analysis of changing and potent mental processes is developed. It explores issues relating to the not-Self teaching: self-development, moral responsibility, the between-lives period, and the 'undetermined questions' on the world, on the 'life principle' and on the liberated one after death. It examines the 'person' as a flowing continuity centred on consciousness or di...

In this new edition of the best-selling Introduction to Buddhism, Peter Harvey provides a comprehensive introduction to the development of the Buddhist tradition in both Asia and the West. Extensively revised and fully updated, this new edition draws on recent scholarship in the field, exploring the tensions and continuities between the different forms of Buddhism. Harvey critiques and corrects some common misconceptions and mistranslations, and discusses key concepts that have often been ...

Highly regarded today as one of the greatest novels in English literature, Little Dorrit presents both a scathing indictment of mid-Victorian England and a devastating insight into the human condition. Examining the many social and mental prisons which incarcerate men and women, the novel also considers the nature of true spiritual freedom. Against a background of administrative and financial scandal, Dickens tells the moving story of the old Marshalsea prisoner who inherits a fortune and his...

'Clennam rose softly, opened and closed the door without a sound, and passed from the prison, carrying the quiet with him into the turbulent streets.' Introspective and dreamy, Arthur Clennam returns to England from many years abroad to find a people gripped in their self-made social and mental prisons. Against a background of government incompetence and financial scandal, he searches for the key to the affairs of the Dorrit family, prisoners for debt in the Marshalsea. He...

What guidance can Buddhism provide to those involved in armed conflict and to belligerents who must perhaps kill or be killed or defend their families, communities or countries from attack? How, moreover, does Buddhism compare with international humanitarian law (IHL) – otherwise known as the law of armed conflict – which protects non-combatants and restricts the means and methods of warfare to limit the suffering it causes?Despite the prevalence of armed conflict in parts of the B...

"Hard Times" is the 1854 novel by Charles Dickens that sought to highlight the social and economic divide that was growing between capitalistic mill owners and workers during the Victorian era of Great Britain. Originally published in serial form in Dickens's own periodical journal "Household Words", "Hard Times" is unique in that it is not set in London, like many of his works, but in the fictitious Victorian town of Coketown. A critical examination of the poor working conditions in many ...

"There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast." Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers—originally titled The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club—is a masterpiece of humor, warmth, and humanity. This debut novel launched Dickens to literary fame and remains one of his most joyful and entertaining works. The story follows the kind-hearted and eccentric Mr. Samuel Pickwick and his loyal companions—Mr. Tupman, Mr. Snodgrass, and Mr. Winkle—as they jo...

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Charles Dickens’.Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Dickens includes original annotations and illust...

Here you will find the complete novels and novellas of Leo Tolstoy in the chronological order of their original publication. - Childhood - Boyhood - Youth - Family Happiness - The Cossacks - War and Peace - Anna Karenina - The Death of Ivan Ilyich - The Kreutzer Sonata - Resurrection - The Forged Coupon - Hadji Murad