Recommendations based on "Tamas"

Louis fischer's memorable biography of mahatma gandhi, the man who led the fight for indian independence from british rule, is reissued in time for the 50th anniversary of both india's independence and gandhi's assassination by a hindu fanatic only a few months after freedom from colonial rule was won. Fischer was an american journalist who knew gandhi well and understood his unique strategy of satyagraha, or passive resistance, which earned him the admiration of millions throughout the world.

The eighteen chapters of The Bhagavad Gita (c. 500 b.c.), the glory of Sanskrit literature, encompass the whole spiritual struggle of a human soul. Its three central themes—love, light, and life—arise from the symphonic vision of God in all things and of all things in God.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Hesse's novel of two medieval men, one quietly content with his religion and monastic life, the other in fervent search of more worldly salvation. This conflict between flesh and spirit, between emotional and contemplative man, was a life study for Hesse. It is a theme that transcends all time. The Hesse Phenomenon "has turned into a vogue, the vogue into a torrent. . .He has appealed both to. . . an underground and to an establishment. . .and to the disenchanted young sharing his contempt for our industrial civilization."— The New York Times Book Review

Now considered a classic among readers interested in Tibetan Buddhism and pilgrimages of the spirit of all kinds, A Journey in Ladakh is Andrew Harvey's spiritual travelogue of his arduous journey to one of the most remote parts of the world--the highest, least populated region in India, cut off by snow for six months each year. Buddhists have meditated in the mountains of Ladakh since three centuries before Christ, and it is there that the purest form of Tibetan Buddhism is still practiced today.

The greatest Indian epic, one of the world's supreme masterpieces of storytellingA Penguin ClassicA sweeping tale of abduction, battle, and courtship played out in a universe of deities and demons, The Ramayana is familiar to virtually every Indian. Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless versions in different languages. Here, drawing on the work of an eleventh-century poet called Kamban, Narayan employs the skills of a master novelist to re-create the excitement he found in the original. A luminous saga made accessible to new generations of readers, The Ramayana can be enjoyed for its spiritual wisdom, or as a thrilling tale of ancient conflict.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Made into a movie starring Patrick Swayze, this is the inspiring story of an American doctor who experienced a spiritual rebirth in an impoverished section of Calcutta.

In Demian, one of the great writers of the twentieth century tells the dramatic story of young, docile Emil Sinclair's descent -- led by precocious schoolmate Max Demian -- into a secret and dangerous world of petty crime and dangerous world revolt against convention and eventual awakening to selfhood.

The 18 chapters of "The Bhagavad-Gita" (c. 500 BC), encompass the whole spiritual struggle of a human soul, and the three central themes of this immortal poem - love, light and life - arise from the symphonic vision of God in all things and of all things in God.

With The Garden, centuries of Tibetan Buddhist wisdom are brought to life for readers by one of its greatest Western teachers, Michael Roach. Through a parable in which a young man is brought into a mystical garden by a beautiful embodiment of Wisdom, Roach presents the pantheon of great Tibetan teachers. The nameless seeker lured to the garden meets the dominant historical figures who have contributed fundamental teachings to Tibetan Buddhism, such as Tsong Khapa, the first Dalai Lama, and Master Kamalashila. Unique among works of Buddhism now available, The Garden is destined to become a classic for its lucid revelation of the secrets of the Tibetan tradition and for the wisdom Geshe Michael Roach evokes.

The extraordinary story of how a leading Buddhist monk overcame persecution, addiction and trauma to find enlightenment Lama Yeshe didn't see a car until he was 15 years-old. Growing up in a quiet Tibetan village, he ran in fields with yaks and mastiffs. The passing of time was simply marked by the changing seasons, life was simple and free. The arrival of the Chinese army one day in 1959 changed his life forever. In the wake of the deadly Tibetan Uprising he escaped through the Himalayas with 300 of his people and found safety in India as a refugee - only 13 survived. He spent the next few years in America, indulging in the excesses of the Woodstock generation. Ignoring his brother for years, he succumbed to the vices of sex and alcohol until one day his brother is killed and he vows to change. Now in his seventies and abbot of the Samye Ling Monastery - the largest Buddhist center in the west - Lama Yeshe reflects on his turbulent life and his learnings on self-compassion, discipline, loss and failure.