Jessa Farrell inherits an unusual mud figure of the smiling Buddha from her father. Researching its past, she emails a photo of it to her friend Johnnie, who works at a Chicago art museum. Strange events conspire to make Jessa feel that she is being watched. When Johnnie does not return her phone calls, Jessa engages the services of Gainesville, Florida private investigator, John T. Raven. To uncover the statue’s history, they go underground when the body of a missing art historian appears on Jessa’s lawn. In a race against time, they pursue the cold trail of a thirty year old mystery. As the little Buddha’s past is unraveled, a surprising connection between detective and client emerges.

The basis for the upcoming HBO miniseries and the "definitive account of the Jonestown massacre" (Rolling Stone) -- now available for the first time in paperback. Tim Reiterman’s Raven provides the seminal history of the Rev. Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the murderous ordeal at Jonestown in 1978. This PEN Award–winning work explores the ideals-gone-wrong, the intrigue, and the grim realities behind the Peoples Temple and its implosion in the jungle of South America. Reiterman’s reportage clarifies enduring misperceptions of the character and motives of Jim Jones, the reasons why people followed him, and the important truth that many of those who perished at Jonestown were victims of mass murder rather than suicide. This widely sought work is restored to print after many years with a new preface by the author, as well as the more than sixty-five rare photographs from the original volume.

Sacred Love in the Sacred Isles... Who would have thought the Masters/Adepts had such a sense of humour? Poetic, funny, heart breaking, and totally relevant to today's world, Denise McDermott-King skilfully introduces you to the Masters of Wisdom as she travels into Scotland and down through England, revealing the final twist in the sacred caves of Northern India. Magically woven and compelling till the end.

Gothiniad of Surazeus - Oracle of Gotha presents 150,792 lines of verse in 1,948 poems, lyrics, ballads, sonnets, dramatic monologues, eulogies, hymns, and epigrams written by Surazeus 1993 to 2000.

A long time ago, Raven was pure white, like fresh snow in winter. This was so long ago that the only light came from campfires, because a greedy chief kept the stars, moon, and sun locked up in elaborately carved boxes. Determined to free them, the shape-shifting Raven resourcefully transformed himself into the chief's baby grandson and cleverly tricked him into opening the boxes and releasing the starlight and moonlight. Though tired of being stuck in human form, Raven maintained his disguise until he got the chief to open the box with the sun and flood the world with daylight, at which point he gleefully transformed himself back into a raven. When the furious chief locked him in the house, Raven was forced to escape through the small smokehole at the top — and that's why ravens are now black as smoke instead of white as snow. This engaging Tlingit story is brought to life in painterly illustrations that convey a sense of the traditional life of the Northwest Coast peoples. About the Tales of the People series: Created with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Tales of the People is a series of children's books celebrating Native American culture with illustrations and stories by Indian artists and writers. In addition to the tales themselves, each book also offers four pages filled with information and photographs exploring various aspects of Native culture, including a glossary of words in different Indian languages.

Unhappy, Little Sid leaves his home in search of happiness leading him on a journey of discovery full of wise-folk, tigers, and a mouse.

A uniquely playful and incisive collection of Zen teaching stories from a beloved American master. A Modern Classic. In the tradition of the great koan collections and the records of ancient masters, Robert Aitken distills a lifetime of teaching down to its essence. Intriguing and deceptively simple, Zen Master Raven is a brilliant encapsulation of Zen in over a hundred koan-like encounters alongside many charming illustrations. Featuring curious beginners like Mallard and Mole and profound teachers like Brown Bear, Moose Roshi, and Zen Master Raven himself, this classic of contemporary Zen and will inspire seekers for generations to come.

Edited by Vanessa R. Sasson, Little Buddhas brings together a wide range of scholarship and expertise to address the question of what role children have played in Buddhist literature, in particular historical contexts, and their role in specific Buddhist contexts today.

"The allure of the Appalachian Trail has drawn hikers from all around the world to walk its 2,193 miles from Georgia to Maine. In Killing the Buddha on the Appalachian Trail John Turner hikes those rugged miles with us on a journey that begins in the forested southern mountains but also winds through the history of the trail, its geology, its unique hiker culture and the hazards, physical demands, and glories of some of the most beloved and beautiful landscapes on America's eastern seaboard. The journey also takes us to some unexpected places - to Africa in the aftermath of a terrible war, into philosophical exploration about the ethics of hiking, and the author's own inner turmoil as he struggles with past failures. We are introduced to characters as varied, brave and determined as any cast of a Broadway musical, each of them contending with the challenge of climbing steep mountains day after day through rain, mud, cold, and heat. Throughout this epic trek, we walk alongside Turner to experience the daily hardships, the milestones reached, the hike-ending accidents and the little victories along the way to the great mountain at the northern terminus - Katahdin in Maine. Turner guides us to Katahdin through a background of Buddhist teaching that gives meaning to the fellowship, solitude, suffering and ultimate triumph of the men and women who seek to hike the entire Appalachian Trail"--

In this medieval adventure, a female warrior must prove herself as a samurai to survive during the Warring States period in Japan. For the Samurai, death is not to be feared. It is to be embraced. Japan 1533—A nation in turmoil. Rival warlords battle for supremacy while common folk struggle to survive in a land laid waste by endless war. Tengu, an orphaned girl, must navigate the lawless hinterlands if she is to survive and achieve her ambition to become a master swordswoman. Rejected by every school of martial skill, she joins samurai from northern Japan as they converge on a river shrine to take part in a savage tournament, a death-match from which only one can emerge victorious. Will she survive the gladiatorial combat? Or will she meet a bloody end on the arena floor?