Ammachi

Sooraj and his grandma LOVE inventing! Join them on their latest adventure: using simple machines to make coconut barfi! 'Ammachi's Amazing Machines' is written by Rajiv Eipe . © Pratham Books , 2017. Some rights reserved. Released under CC BY 4.0 license. This book was first published on StoryWeaver, Pratham Books. The development of this book has been supported by Oracle. Guest Editor & Art Director: Vinayak Varma

Gurus in America provides an excellent introduction to the guru phenomenon in the United States, with in-depth analyses of nine important Hindu gurus—Adi Da, Ammachi, Mayi Chidvilasananda, Gurani Anjali, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Osho, Ramana Maharshi, Sai Baba, and Swami Bhaktivedanta. All of these gurus have attracted significant followings in the U.S. and nearly all have lived here for considerable periods of time. The book's contributors discuss the characteristics of each guru's teachings, the history of each movement, and the particular construction of Hinduism each guru offers. Contributors also address the religious and cultural interaction, translation, and transplantation that occurs when gurus offer their teachings in America. This is a fascinating guide that will elucidate an important element in America's diverse and ever-changing spiritual landscape.

Translated from the Malayalam by Abhirami Girija Sriram and K.S. Bijukumar Jezebel, a young doctor in Kerala, struggles against the cruel realities of a patriarchal world-realities that not even her education, resolve or professional brilliance can shield her from. Her already contentious divorce proceedings go suddenly awry, and her unhappy marriage holds complex secrets. In K.R. Meera's blistering new novel, which takes the form of a courtroom drama to show us the rich inner worlds of its characters, we see Jezebel reflect on her life and its pivotal points as she takes the stand. Through her memories, we see her grow from a reticent, serious young woman to a rebel who refuses to bend to the conventions of society. Like the Biblical story of Queen Jezebel, who was much maligned as a scheming harlot and infamously thrown to her death from her palace window, Jezebel is a novel that asks if independent women can ever live lives that are free of judgement K.R. Meera's hypnotic prose, in this elegant translation from the Malayalam by Abhirami Girija Sriram and K.S. Bijukumar, makes resonant allusions to the Bible in powerful ways that elucidate the correlations between legend and the protagonist's life while also exploring how sexuality and gender roles are manipulated by the dictates of society.

An essential companion to both research and scholarship upon which undergraduates, postgraduates, lecturers and researchers can all be expected to draw.

"What are the greatest qualities of a Mother? Love, forgiveness, and patience." Much has been written about the feminine faces of God. Now The Path of the Mother introduces us to a divinity more whole than any we have yet encountered--her arms open to men and women of any persuasion or practice. She is at once masculine and feminine, creator and transformer, joy and anguish, the all-loving Mother and the true, realized human Self. Drawing on her most vibrant expression, this inspiring book traces her myriad faces--compassionate, fierce, enchanting, challenging, passionate--in male and female deities of many religions. "As far as Mother is concerned, everyone is her child. . . . Children, did not Mother come when you called? Thus did she not obey you?" The Path of the Mother is a six-stage journey to union with the Great Mother, framed by Savitri Bess's own years of devotion to one of her most famous incarnations--the Hindu mystic Ammachi. Interweaving Hindu myths with her own quest and those of others, Bess reveals this journey as an exodus from aloneness to the wondrous integration of love, worship, and service into life's daily tasks. Practical exercises, meditations, yoga, and prayers will help both novice and veteran seekers to rediscover their innocence, balance their inner masculine and feminine energies, resolve their buried wounds, desires, and talents, and open their hearts to the nurturing guidance of the Mother-God within us all. "Love is Amma's nature. She cannot be otherwise. . . . Amma cannot return our anger, hatred, or abuse. Amma can only bestow boundless compassion and love." From the Trade Paperback edition.

This book takes us along on a search for the feminine face of God. We travel with Linda Johnsen for a fascinating investigation of the great women saints of India who manifest the divine in their lives. Together with her we comb the scriptures, meet the holy ones, and are led, step by step, to sit in awe at the feet of six remarkable, contemporary women.

A cross-cultural encyclopedia of the most significant holy people in history, examining why people in a wide range of religious traditions throughout the world have been regarded as divinely inspired. The first reference on the subject to span all the world's major religions, Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia examines the impact of individuals who, through personal charisma and inspirational deeds, served both as glorious examples of human potential and as envoys for the divine. Holy People of the World contains nearly 1,100 biographical sketches of venerated men and women. Written by religious studies experts and historians, each article focuses on the basic question: How did this person come to be regarded as holy? In addition, the encyclopedia features 20 survey articles on views of holy people in the major religious traditions such as Islam, Buddhism, and African religions, as well as 64 comparative articles on aspects of holiness and veneration across cultures such as awakening and conversion experiences, heredity, gender, asceticism, and persecution. Whether exploring by religion, culture, or historic period, this extensively cross-referenced resource offers a wealth of insights into one of the most revealing—and least explored—common denominators of spiritual traditions.

Despite the dominance of scientific explanation in the modern world, at the beginning of the twenty-first century faith in miracles remains strong, particularly in resurgent forms of traditional religion. In Miracles, David L. Weddle examines how five religious traditions—Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam—understand miracles, considering how they express popular enthusiasm for wondrous tales, how they provoke official regulation because of their potential to disrupt authority, and how they are denied by critics within each tradition who regard belief in miracles as an illusory distraction from moral responsibility. In dynamic and accessible prose, Weddle shows us what miracles are, what they mean, and why, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, they are still significant today: belief in miracles sustains the hope that, if there is a reality that surpasses our ordinary lives, it is capable of exercising—from time to time—creative, liberating, enlightening, and healing power in our world.