India Books

The author did a magnificent job of telling the story of a bunch of kids who were handed a tough job and went about getting that job done, even at the ultimate cost...the book will always occupy a place of honor on my bookshelf.

Jim Vesely presents an interesting treatment of the life of American aircrews and support personnel by combining operational reports, veteran naratives and some letters from his uncle Sgt Adolph 'Otsie' Malovich, who was killed-in-action while serving his country, his family and his comrades. Mr. Vesely shares his heart with the reader, explaining his search to know more about the uncle he barely knew, and what Otsie's time might have been like while he was part of the 'Burma Bridge Busters', 490th Bomb Squadron. The author beautifully highlights how this group of men, serving in one of the remotest actions of the war, performed with gallantry, dignity and dedication. A must read for anyone interested in American participation in the China-Burma-India theater!

Well written, educational, well-researched, and intensely interesting. I learned more about the war in and around India, Burma, and China from this book than from my experience in the two plus years I was in the squadron. I really appreciate that aspect. The author must have spent untold hours researching the facts and then did a splendid job of putting it all together in an interesting way. The book helps a lot in putting a time frame on some of my memories. Thanks again.

This is an attractively published Bible and I am told that the translation is good.

This is an attractively published Bible and I am told that the translation is good.

I picked up this bible because I want to give to a friend of my.

This is a great book to use to teach children about Indian culture. The illustations are bright and unique. (Sangita- I alwasy knew you'd go far! :))This book is a must have for all school and public libraries.

I think this book was surprisingly cute and original. My son and I enjoy it very much.

This is an excellent book for children on the history of the bindi. I found it to be informative and accurate, but humorous and simple enough for children to understand. I plan on using it in my classroom- wonderful illustrations!

Again, Dr. Peale outdoes himself in this incredibly motivating and inspiring book. Everything you need to manifest success in your life is contained within this book along with real life examples of the miracles of positive thinking and belief in ones self and creator.

On the last page there's a quote from Thomas A. Edison that sums up the whole message of this book, "If we were to do all we are capable of doing we would literally astonish ourselves." It is with that spirit that Dr. Peale presents more evidence that one's thoughts determine one's destiny. A master at teaching people to apply Christian faith in everyday life, Dr. Peale has made another strong case for faith-based living.
In the preface he writes, "think positively, act positively, image positively, pray positively, and believe positively, and powerful results will be yours."
The first chapter describes the excitement of the process of adventurous, positive achievement. The fact that it is an ongoing process means the excitement need never end. Success feeds success.
He lists four factors which make up the process of success: 1)goal setting 2) positive thinking 3) visualizing and 4)believing.
He continues to emphasize that God is the essence of one's success, that one cannot achieve without Him.
Dr. Peale has a gift for putting powerful truths in memorable phrases, such as, "Belief power gets powerful results."
In the third chapter he talks about problem solving and reminds us that "every problem contains the seeds of its own solution."
Guidance from God, like other gifts from Him, is received by faith. He says believe that and act accordingly.
Like attracts like. He advocates applying that principle to one's thoughts. Positive thoughts attract similar thoughts.
Read this powerful book to enhance the quality of your life. You can't go wrong by doing so.

Norman Vincent Peale is well known for his famous book, The Power of Positive Thinking which has sold in the millions. This is one of his lesser known but extremely useful, helpful books because it gives hundreds of examples of how people changed their thinking and attitudes to get positive results in their lives. Some of the suggestions seem simple or corny but guess what? THEY WORK! I can vouch for that because I have tried many of them, including writing out goals on a card and carrying the the cards in my purse to reinforce my goals. More importantly, these reminders keep me on track daily. He calls this suggestion by the corny title of "the shirt pocket technique" meaning he carried his goals around on cards in his shirt pocket.
The other very helpful part of this book is that it contains checklists in most chapters, which are like "to do" lists. They are really summaries of the points he has made in that chapter and a reminder of what you can actually do to further your goals.
I keep a copy of this book around and read a page or 2 or 3 now and again to remind me how to stay positive and get to where I want to go. I highly recommend this book. For cynics, please consider his general theme, which might be summed up as "you get what you think".

I have been using this Cookbook for 6 years now. Every time I've used a recipe from this book, it's been a delight. A must have, not in your bookshelf, but in your kitchen.

This was the first Indian Cook book I was given and it is still my favorite, one I return to again and again. It has the most delicious dal recipies, and the pictures are mouth-watering! I am just a plain old American girl, but my friend Swati from Bangladesh says that my dals are superb! I have this book to thank for that. I love how this book is organized, and that in each section there is a wide variety of recipies. I love that we get the Indian name of the dish, as well as the English, and I think the instuctions are clear and organized. I buy this book as a gift for people frequently, and often people copy recipies out of my copy. If you only own one Indian cook book, this is the one to get. There is only one thing I would add to the book, and that would be measurements all in Standard for us backward Americans who never got the hang of metrics, but it has actually taught me metric measurements better! (i.e. 500 gms of meat is a pound. Thankfully, she does use cups and teaspoons.) Finally, I will reccomend my favorite recipies from this book. On page 45 is Sindhi Pulao - a festive rice and beef dish. Page 52 is the most food covered page in the book, as this is my basic dal recipie. I make this with moong chilka, split mung beans with their green skins, and sometimes red lentils or adzuki beans. It absolutely heavenly! (Red lentils need very little soaking and are good when you need to make beans quickly. Moong chilka should soak for a few hours and adzuki beans definitely need to soak overnight.) One thing I do which is not in the book is I puree the dal in my food processor before I add it to the ghee tempering. This is a special touch! I am famous in my circle of friends for my five spice cauliflower, found on page 80 - you can double it and use a head of broccoli and a head of cauliflower. Page 135 gives us Fenugreek Fish, which I make with catfish nuggets. Again, I use my food processor to puree the spice mixture for the fish. This book taught me how to cook Indian food, and I highly reccomend it to anyone!

I live in Morocco, and asked an English friend of mine to look for a book for me in England which explains how to make good curries (i.e., NOT a vegetarian cookbook). She brought this one and gave it to me for a gift. EVERY recipie I have tried form it has turned out to be WONDERFUL!!! I own both of Julie Sahani's Indian cookbooks. They are wonderful, too, but this one is EVEN BETTER, if you can believe it! The thing I love most about it is that it is printed on very good paper, and there are color photographs of many more recipies than other books. Both my family and friends have raved about EVERY recipie I have tried form this book.

F.H. Bradley was one of the most influential thinkers of the late-nineteenth century, yet his work has been largely ignored during this century (a shame, as his metaphysics should be of interest to anyone coming to grips with quantum physics). Allard and Stock have done an excellent job of knitting together the most important sections of Bradley's key writings. They add their own commentary only when necessary to bring ideas together and clarify certain difficult points. The result is everything you need to get a firm grasp of the philosophy of this important thinker.

F.H. Bradley was one of the most influential thinkers of the late-nineteenth century, yet his work has been largely ignored during this century (a shame, as his metaphysics should be of interest to anyone coming to grips with quantum physics). Allard and Stock have done an excellent job of knitting together the most important sections of Bradley's key writings. They add their own commentary only when necessary to bring ideas together and clarify certain difficult points. The result is everything you need to get a firm grasp of the philosophy of this important thinker.

As Bradley's _Principles of Logic_ and _Appearance And Reality_ are out of print and likely to remain so (except as portions of expensive "collected works" sets), Allard and Stock deserve thunderous applause for making this collection of well-chosen excerpts available.

Bradley and Idealism generally have been too much neglected during most of this century as speculative metaphysics has fallen out of fashion. But the heart of Idealism is simply, as Bradley once put it, that what satisfies the intellect is both true and real. In this sense, Idealism is as old as Parmenides and need not commit one to the belief that reality itself is basically mental (though Bradley himself thought so). What it really requires is that there be no artificial divorce between the knowing mind and the reality it is seeking to know: the real is ultimately intelligible, and what is ultimately intelligible is real.

Bradley was a seminal thinker in this tradition, and his insights are very often duplicated by later thinkers who do not know how much ground he had already broken. In this volume, key excerpts from all of Bradley's writings on logic and metaphysics are assembled and introduced.

Also of interest to readers of this volume will be the works of British Idealist Bernard Bosanquet and American rationalist Brand Blanshard. Search Amazon for their names as well.

With over 200 vegetarian recipes, "Yamuna's Table" combines the flavors of India with our contemporary need for light, healthy, vibrantly flavored foods. This book combines an original culinary vision with a tremendous knowledge of food to create a cuisine that is truly a flavor celebration.

Yamuna has won awards for this and previous cookbooks, and is considered a specialist and authority in Indian vegetarian cooking.

One thing I really like about this book is the seasonal menu suggestions at the back. There's one for summer, winter, fall, spring. In addition to that though the recipes are great - some really good bean dishes and some new approaches to some old dishes - like the brown basmati moussaka. Lots of fun twists but nothing that woulkd make you question whether the dish will taste good once it's done or not.

A very good book, especially for making quick, healthy and great tasting vegetarian food. Recipes in her other book, 'Lord Krishna's Cuisine' I thought was not as healthy, they called for too much of ghee (fat).

The editors and publishers at SRF have once again put together a masterpiece of spiritual wisdom harvested from the vast teachings - both spoken and written, of that great yogi Paramahansa Yogananda. It is almost like SRF has cloned the very creative and enlightened well of love that was Yogananda - and pulled out his teachings on the Bhagavad Gita from the astral world itself. This is a fresh and new approach to explaining the science of yoga - if that can be said about teachings and ideas that are thousands of years old.

The editors were very careful to keep true to Yogananda's teachings and his words. It has all his energy and thoughts carefully edited and threaded together in a very readable and enlightening format. The book will delight old SRF devotees and inspire new believers. The book delivers at all levels and one will find reading this book a real gift to their spirit.

I highly recommend this book to those who have an open mind and who want to spiritualize their life's journey. For those not familiar with the life of Yogananda I would strongly suggest the reading the spiritual classic "An Autobiography of a Yogi". This is destined to become another spiritual classic as well. It will never go out of date.

After Studying numerous English language translations of the Bhagavad Gita for over 50 years, Yoganandas rendition of this inspiring scripture and life guide must be one of the most readable and accurate.

This book also serves as an introduction to the larger work "God Talks With Arjuna," Paramahansa Yogananda's Gita commentary. Published by Self-Realization Fellowship, LA USA in 1994.

It is wonderful to see the publisher come out with this smaller and more portable edition which I now carry with me everywhere when I travel.

This translation of the Bhagavad Gita clarifies and exposes more of the real meanings intended by the Gitas original author. Revealing more of the Gitas spiritual insights on Raja Yoga, True spirituality and psychology.
One of the worlds greatest aids to Self-Realization.

It provides a more enriched read in English language.

Yogananda is easy to understand and is a great teacher. The Gita is a book which can enhance the spiritual quests of all seekers, regardless of religion. Though the setting is in ancient India, it can be easily translated into the symbology for every day life here in the West in the new millenium. The focus is on winning the battle within, letting the higher parts of ourselves be victorious and conquering those parts which sabotage and create pain for ourselves and others. Best of all, it can assist in deepening a real connection to that Higher Power, however we experience That. This book is definitely a book to take slowly, savoring each part and then applying it to one's daily life.

I am currently reading this book, Yoga School Dropout, w/ eat pray love and the Bhavighad Gita (SP). I again, like the last reviewer, just happend to find this book, literally while traveling on the ground and it has brought me back to my practice. It is very funny and educational. No matter what your experience w/ Yoga, this book rocks.

Loved loved loved this hilarious book. There's a lot of wisdom in Lucy's comedic descriptions of the guru culture (and industry), and a great deal of humility in Lucy's quest as she faces up to her own foibles and human frailties. The yoga world could use a good laugh at itself, and this book is a healthy step in that direction.

I have just finished reading this delightful book, `Yoga School Drop Out' by Lucy Edge. I happened upon it `accidentally' (we all know there is no such thing as an accident) at the library when I was looking for something entirely different. I did not manage to find what I was looking for; I did however find exactly what I needed!

Lucy sets out on a Spiritual Quest to India determined to return home a Yoga Goddess. Things do not quite flow as Lucy anticipated and it looked as if she was destined never to return home as the Yoga Goddess she had envisioned. She did, however, gain more inner wisdom and insight than she could have imagined when she first set out.

Along the way it was the "ordinary" people she met, not the yoga she did, or the gurus she listened to, that held the most lessons. Here are a few pearls that were shared along the way:

On Asana: "Today asana has been made into a `photograph,' ... there is no difference between this and gymnastics ... But asana is not a performance, asana is what happens in the posture and afterwards"

On Change: "Change occurs only when we become what we truly are, not when we are trying to be something we are not. Change can't happen when we are trying to escape our true nature"

On Travel: "Unfortunately, when you travel, you take yourself with you"

On Yoga: "... the reason I found them so inspiring was because their yoga practice stretched way beyond their mat. They saw yoga as a state of mind, an attitude to life, and the world as their school. Yoga was, for all of them, `a harmonious way of living', not a one-off physical goal - they knew all they had to do was look within"

On Practice: "It was an unremarkable thing - Pranayama, meditation and perhaps a few simple sun salutations. It was practiced informally, not in a big class on the instructions of a big name teacher, but at home - quietly without fuss"

On Enlightenment: "Enlightenment was not a trophy to be lifted high in one triumphant moment, it was about seeing clearly, and choosing wisely in daily life"

All round just a great book! Thanks for the deLightful and inspiring read Lucy :-)

Basically the book is just what it claims to be: a history of Zen Buddhism in China (it says "India" because it discusses the precursors to Zen in the Mahayana tradition and yoga). It is perfect for students interested in the topic.

I've heard from a few people (and the preface of the book admits it as well) that this book is somewhat dated because scholarship in this field has ballooned in the past decade or two. However, there is no equivalent introduction to all of Zen history. Thus, if you plan to study Zen history in depth, this is still the best place to start and you can move on to more recent books covering more specific movements and time periods. On the other hand, if you're not going to study in depth, then the new developments are not so radical as to render this unhelpful. Within ten years a better, up to date history of Zen is bound to come out. If you can wait...

On the other hand, I believe that a background in Chinese religion would be helpful, since Dumoulin really doesn't provide the background that a student needs in that area. But he does refer to them--Taoism and other strands of Chinese Buddhism--enough that perhaps he ought to have given a bit of introduction to them. He does give an interesting coverage of Neo-Confucianism, although not in much depth and only discussing their relationship to Zen. I was glad I had some familiarity with Taoism, but I found myself wishing I'd had more familiarity with Chinese Buddhism.

For that reason, if you are a beginning student, I'd strongly recommend some other books first.

If you're new to Zen, start with "An Introduction to Zen Buddhism" by D. T. Suzuki.

If you don't know much about Taoism, I recommend Livia Kohn's "Daoism and Chinese Culture."

If you don't know much about Chinese Buddhism, I recommend "Buddhism in China" by Kenneth Ch'en.

I think, at that point, if you want to get into the history of Zen Buddhism in greater depth, then you'll be ready to get a lot out of Dumoulin's fine book.

Of course, if the history of Zen really is the ONLY thing you're interested in, not how it interacted with Taoism or other kinds of Chinese Buddhism, then go ahead and just jump straight into this one.

Zen Buddhism: A History India And China is a new edition of volume 1 of the classic two- volume history by Heinrich Dumoulin (1905-1995), one of the world's most renowned Zen scholars. Covering the emergence of Zen through India and China, the new edition also includes additional notes by James W. Heisig of the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture; a new introduction by John R. McRae of Indiana University exploring recent developments in the study of Zen; and the complete original text. An excellent, thoroughly researched, in-depth history especially recommended for advanced students and scholars of Buddhism and religious history.

A detailed survey that begins in India with the historic Buddha, Sakyamuni, and finishes with the decline of Zen in China. The amount of detail would be overwhelming if Dumoulin hadn't digested it so well and hadn't written so well. Packed no only with historical events and persons, there are many observations and insights that reveal not only how Zen developed but the extent of diversity and challenges within it.

There were some highlights for me: the roots of Zen in yoga (hence the emphasis on the lotus pose for zazen), the importance of the Mahayana sutras with all the work to translate them into Chinese, the interplay of Buddhism with Taoism in China that led to Zen, the persecution of Buddhism in China that only Zen and Pure Land survived, and the settling down into the methods of regular zazen and koan practice. The differing views on enlightenment and other key Buddhist concepts as well as on meditation practice reveals that Zen was ever exploratory and many things to many of its masters and those who followed them.

Remarkably NeoConfucianism eventually gathered strength so as to be able to successfully challenge Zen for the Chinese heart. This volume closes with Chinese Zen in a decline from which it never recovered. Dumoulin explains how NeoConfucianist scholars were able to weaken the hold of Zen upon the Chinese such that Zen only was able to progress outside of China. Thar Zen later prospered in Japan did not lead to its rehabiilation within China so one is left wondering if Japanese Zen largely succeeded due to not facing a NeoConfucian challenge within Japan: all the more reason to read carefully Dumoulin's history of why Zen declined in China. I find it impossible to wonder if Japanese Zen, however much it flourished there, did so to some extent by avoiding the challenges that Zen faced in China. Any such questions may be answered by a careful reading of both this Volume 1 and the companion but consensus seem less to be found than a struggle by many that shaped the tradition without bringing it closure.

Zen Buddhism, Volume 2: A History (Japan) (Treasures of the World's Religions)