Insights into the world of dog shows and showing dogs from a complete beginner who now proudly calls herself a "Dog Show Junkie." Revealing, humorous and realistic, this may turn you into a junkie too!

An exploration of an extraordinary group of female meditation masters from the Buddhist tradition in Tibet whose determination and accomplishments can serve as a great example for meditators the world over. Among Tibetan spiritual biographies there are many life stories of exceptional male wisdom-holders or vidyādharas. But biographies of religious women are few. This book focuses on the hidden world of the great female spiritual adepts who were born into a prominent lineage of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. For centuries, this family of wisdom holders has been committed to helping others alleviate their suffering and develop a strong dedication to spiritual practice.

Accompanying an exhibition to be held in New York during late fall of 1998, Sacred Visions is a superbly illustrated volume of art works from the 11th to the mid-15th centuries which includes scholarly essays that relate to the paintings to be displayed.

Kim Stanley Robinson's Escape From Kathmandu is a light-hearted fantasy tribute to the world of extreme mountain climbing follows the adventures of two American expatriates living in Nepal. Living in the city of Kathmandu in the Kingdom of Nepal are dozens of American and British expatriates who are in love with the Himalayas. George Fergusson is one of them--he works as a trek guide for "Take You Higher, Ltd.", leading groups of tourists into the back country and occasionally assisting on serious climbs. George "Freds" Fredericks is another--a tall, easy-going American who converted to Buddhism while in college. He visited Nepal one year and never went home. The adventures started when George and Freds got together over the capture of a Yeti--an abominable snowman--by a scientific expedition. The thought of such a wild and mysterious creature in captivity--in prison--was too much for them to bear. And in freeing the Yeti, a great partnership was born. George and Freds will go on to greater heights as they explore the mysteries of Nepal, from Shangri-La to Kathmandu's governmental bureaucracy. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Within the social sciences, other-than-human being’s agency has often been denied and interbeings relationships have not been fully addressed. However, many indigenous worldviews and Western contemporary spiritual practices are shaping a very different reality, with various attempts to share the world with non-human beings, animate or inanimate, creating forms of relationships to “the living”. This edited volume documents how humans deal with non-human entities in a large variety of cultural contexts. It focuses on ritual processes and how ritual creativity is mobilised to invent new ways of relating with more-than-humans. Comprising nine case studies, the volume is divided into three main sections that address successively daily interactions, political implications, and spiritual engagements. Cooperative interactions, kinship relations, senses of belonging, traditional healing techniques, non-human beings’ legal personality attribution, transformative experiences, and phenomenological relationalities are examined in various locations: West Africa, Buryatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Mexico, Nepalese Himalayas, Sweden and Wales. Chapters "Relating with More-than-Humans: Interbeing Rituality and Spiritual Practices in a Living World—An Introduction" and "Ritual Animism: Indigenous Performances, Interbeings Ceremonies and Alternative Spiritualities in the Global Rights of Nature Networks" are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The Roman Empire is in a terrible state. Their greed and evil ways anger their gods, who decree that a gigantic volcanic eruption must be caused to teach them a lesson. But the consequences are devastating and the Sun is lost. The gods of Nokland, in West Africa, decide to try to retrieve it and two teenagers, Bola and Kuki from the Hoititoiti tribe, are sent on a dangerous trek to find The River of Jewels to rescue the Sun Dragons, who are supernatural Innocent Infants that only children can save. Their journey is long and treacherous, guided by magical spirits, the helpful tribesmen: Twa Twa, Kunga, the Fisherman and the Goblin, Dozybod, to overcome their difficult challenges. Yemaja, the goddess of the Ocean and Protector of Children, watches over them the best she can, to help thwart the powers of malevolent spirits, monsters and trickster gods. Their exploits begin after their Grandmother, Omotara Alade, has a foretelling vision. The two children must travel from their village to the Land of the Great Lake, then South to the Land of the Great Thirst. But first, they must challenge the Land of the Scavengers and tackle The Marauders and out -maneuver the trickster god. It is a fantastic tale about the children’s courage and their hope, belief and determination to face impossible odds to get the Sun back.