In the heart of Asia, straddling the western Tien Shan mountain range, lies the former Soviet republic Kyrgyzstan. The country prides itself in an age old oral epic tradition that recounts the mighty deeds of the hero Manas. When explorers first encountered Manas performers in the late nineteenth century, they hailed their art as a true representation of the heroic age, and compared it to masterpieces such as the Kalevala and the Iliad. Today there are still many excellent performers who can keep their audiences spellbound. They are believed to draw their inspiration from the spirit of Manas himself. This book portrays the meaning of this huge work of art in Kyrgyz society. Based on extended periods of anthropological fieldwork between 1996 and 2000, it explores the calling of its performers, describes the transformations of the oral tradition in printed media and other forms of art, and examines its use as a key symbol for identity politics. It deals extensively with the impact of the Soviet period, during which Kyrgyzstan became an autonomous republic for the first time in history. The tremendous changes initiated during these years had far-reaching consequences for the transmission and reception of the Manas epic. The specific Soviet approach to ethnicity was also elementary in the decisions to assign the Manas epic the role of national symbol after 1991, when Kyrzygstan was thrown into the turnoil of a post-socialist existence.

This book discusses the importance of integrating spirituality from diverse knowledge backgrounds to be effective in its everyday use. Bringing together global experts in the field, this book provides an extensive overview of the various spirituality and management themes, models, approaches, and complexities. The chapters in the book include deliberations upon wisdom from the Bhagwat Gita; Buddha; the impact of spirituality on good governance, quality of life; integrating ethics, human values, happiness; meditation; and linking of spirituality and management and their effect on leadership, and workplace environment. A thought-provoking read for scholars, students, and policy-makers, this book provides an Indian perspective on managing spirituality at work. This book is even more relevant in the post-COVID-19 scenario as it focuses on the holistic development of people and organizations.

This book comprises the proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering 2021. The contents of this volume focus on specialty conferences in construction, environmental, hydrotechnical, materials, structures, transportation engineering, etc. This volume will prove a valuable resource for those in academia and industry.

This work builds on the foundation of the Popol Vuh, the document that retraces in mythical language the four ages, or stages of civilization, that all of America has undergone to some degree. It also moves from the Popol Vuh into later times through myths and legends of the Aztec and Iroquois. Myth and history are placed side by side in a scientific and imaginative approach that documents the correlation between pre-historical and historical periods and the spiritual events that ushered them in, as narrated in the myths and legends of North America. This approach reconciles Western analytical consciousness with the Native American language of myths and legends. All of this is placed first in the perspective of Maya spiritual tradition, and then from the perspective that the twentieth-century research of Rudolf Steiner brought to light, especially in relation to the events that took place in Central America two thousand years ago, about which only Rudolf Steiner has spoken. The first part of the work explores events of 2,000 years ago and their consequences in the onset of Maya civilization. The second part researches the rise of new spiritual influences around the time just before the arrival of Columbus in America. At the extremes of the spectrum, we find Aztec and Iroquois worldviews. Both cosmologies have links, subtle or obvious, with the Popol Vuh, whether continuing or reinterpreting its original message. This polarity carries momentous consequences for global social trends in modern world history. Spiritual Turning Points of North American History brings a fresh perspective to North American history and the meeting of European and First Nations worldviews.

This book helps quench the quest of knowledge of academicians, researchers, and others interested in developing a complete and critical understanding of consumer happiness. The relentless search of happiness by humans is sought in different ways. Scientific discussion on happiness for long was considered a forte of Philosophers. Other disciplines seldom delved into this. But today not only science but neuroscience, marketing, and other varied fields have started delving into it and have developed a keen interest. The book has been conceptualized on this line of thinking and thus divided into two parts. The first part is customized towards understanding various perspectives of happiness and the relative importance of knowing the same. The first chapter of this section is on the biological perspective of happiness. The second is titled ‘Behavioural perspective’. The third chapter is an attempt to elucidate the cultural perspective of the concept of happiness. The fourth is on the role of technology in inducing happiness. Fifth and sixth are on theories of happiness and measuring happiness, respectively. Knowledge about the different perspective and theories has a wide range of benefits. It informs us about how the brain works, interprets, and reacts. This theoretical understanding helps us to move beyond the trial and error methods towards a more scientific underpinning of adoption of measures that would generate long-lasting happiness in consumers. The second part of the book is dedicated toward understanding consumer happiness from a neuroscience perspective, i.e. keeping consumer happy. This segment has ten chapters. The first is on differentiating the concept of happiness from satisfaction. The second is on sensory marketing and happiness. The third deals with the store design and shelving of products to generate happiness. Fourth and fifth chapters relate to persuading the consumers. While the fourth chapter is on developing persuasive messages and the fifth is on subliminal messaging sixth chapter is on pricing and seventh on advertising. The eighth chapter highlights the role of emotions and the ninth is on the different factors that induce happiness in consumers. The last chapter is about raising some unanswered questions and food for thought for readers. Together the contents of the book make for a complete understanding of the concept of happiness and how it is shaping the world of marketing. Addressing the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of consumer happiness in the same book makes the book comprehensive.