When Vanessa Walker stepped off a dusty bus into McLeod Ganj (the home of the Dalai Lama) she was hoping to discover what lies at the heart of Buddhism. She never expected to fall in love, or to have a baby with a disrobed Tibetan monk. But sometimes karma can play funny tricks on a girl...

In Encounters across Difference, Natalia Bloch examines tourism encounters in the informal sector in India and their potential to empower subaltern communities. Drawing from ethnographic evidence in Hampi and Dharamshala, Bloch explores the potential of tourism to promote political engagement, volunteering, sponsorship, local entrepreneurship, and women’s empowerment. Contrary to the frequent criticism of tourism to the Global South as a colonial practice, Bloch argues that workers and small entrepreneurs in displaced communities see tourists as allies in their political struggles and, on a more individual level, as an opportunity to build better lives. For more information, check out A Conversation with Natalia Bloch, author of Encounters across Difference: Tourism and Overcoming Subalternity in India.

This must-have volume explores current trends in religion around the world, such as the spread of Pentecostal Christianity, a religious revival in China, growth of Buddhism in New Zealand, and U.S. efforts toward Jewish-Muslim understanding. Readers will learn about religion in relation to science, education, and politics. This book also discusses violence and religious practice, including China's oppression of Tibetan Buddhists, and religious strife in Northern Ireland. Stirring essays sources include His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the World Council of Churches, Christian Conference of Asia, and South Asian Councils of Churches.

Maintains that the failure of political activism led many former radicals to become involved in such groups as the Hare Krishnas, Scientology, Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, the Jesus movement, and the Children of God, and argues that numerous activists turned from psychedelia and political activism to guru worship and spiritual quest both as a response to the failures of social protest and as a new means of achieving social change. [book cover].

A revelatory account of the misdemeanor machine that unjustly brands millions of Americans as criminals. Punishment Without Crime offers an urgent new interpretation of inequality and injustice in America by examining the paradigmatic American offense: the lowly misdemeanor. Based on extensive original research, legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff reveals the inner workings of a massive petty offense system that produces over 13 million cases each year. People arrested for minor crimes are swept through courts where defendants often lack lawyers, judges process cases in mere minutes, and nearly everyone pleads guilty. This misdemeanor machine starts punishing people long before they are convicted; it punishes the innocent; and it punishes conduct that never should have been a crime. As a result, vast numbers of Americans -- most of them poor and people of color -- are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of drivers' licenses, jobs, and housing. For too long, misdemeanors have been ignored. But they are crucial to understanding our punitive criminal system and our widening economic and racial divides. A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018

The author covers the lives of all 14 Dalai Lamas in one volume, quoting from their writings, as well as describing and offering insights into their teachings.

At publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. The Monastery Rules discusses the position of the monasteries in pre-1950s Tibetan Buddhist societies and how that position was informed by the far-reaching relationship of monastic Buddhism with Tibetan society, economy, law, and culture. Jansen focuses her study on monastic guidelines, or bca’ yig. The first study of its kind to examine the genre in detail, the book contains an exploration of its parallels in other Buddhist cultures, its connection to the Vinaya, and its value as socio-historical source-material. The guidelines are witness to certain socio-economic changes, while also containing rules that aim to change the monastery in order to preserve it. Jansen argues that the monastic institutions’ influence on society was maintained not merely due to prevailing power-relations, but also because of certain deep-rooted Buddhist beliefs.

It doesnt matter if you are a student, working professional, or volunteer; there are times when youve struggled to convey an important message. This practical, easy-to-read guide provides proven approaches to effectively communicate. Charts, case studies, and lessons learned from author Patrice M. McKenzies personal counseling practice can help you become a communications expert. Written by a psychotherapist with a masters degree in counseling, Smart Mouth provides the opportunity to learn from an expert. Topics covered include how to overcome barriers to effective communication; how to develop positive self-esteem so you can communicate clearly; how to develop techniques to become a good, active listener; how to communicate with people you disagree with. This guidebook provides tools that have been tested by social workers, psychologists, counselors, and McKenzies clients. Once you apply these approaches, youll find yourself developing richer, more rewarding interpersonal relationships. Just as important, youll accomplish the goals that you set out to achieve with the insights and strategies in Smart Mouth: Helping You Communicate.