How to achieve perfect vision naturally through proven eye-training methods • Explains how vision problems are related to imbalances in the internal organs • Provides Taoist and Ayurvedic practices for harmonizing the liver and kidneys, the organs directly associated with eye problems In the West, problems with eyesight are treated separately from overall health, usually with prescription glasses or contact lenses. But Eastern systems of holistic healing view the eyes as mirrors of physical health. Eye problems reflect problems with the internal organs, most specifically the liver and kidneys. The Art of Cosmic Vision offers Taoist healing sound exercises for strengthening the liver and kidneys as well as seven internal Chi Kung exercises and Dao-Yin self-massage practices for toning the organ meridians. It also provides extensive dietary recommendations, including a complete Ayurvedic analysis of the three main nutritional body types. The wide variety of eye-strengthening exercises in The Art of Cosmic Vision includes the Egyptian Black Dot technique, the Taoist Long Swing technique, the Tai Chi Rocker Eye technique, and relaxing Yoga Eye Palming techniques. Rather than viewing the ciliary muscle within the eye as the only muscle responsible for focus, these exercises improve focus by training all of the muscles surrounding the eyes. With attention to improved diet, physical exercise, and these proven eye-training techniques, readers can restore their vision to vibrant health.

Argues that theoretical physics and cosmology can provide a key to overcoming race-related problems, explaining how they enable a means for discussing individual and communal quests for fulfillment beyond racial, ethnic, class, and sexual barriers. Original.

A wonderful, whimsical journey through the pioneering space-race graphics of the former Soviet Union This otherworldly collection of Soviet space-race graphics takes readers on a cosmic adventure through Cold War-era Russia. Created against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, the extraordinary images featured, taken from the period's hugely successful popular-science magazines, were a vital tool for the promotion of state ideology. Presenting more than 250 illustrations - depicting daring discoveries, scientific innovations, futuristic visions, and extraterrestrial encounters - Soviet Space Graphics unlocks the door to the creative inner workings of the USSR.

In this erudite and profusely illustrated history of perception, Barbara Stafford explores a remarkable set of body metaphors deriving from both aesthetic and medical practices that were developed during the enlightenment for making visible the unseeable aspects of the world. While she focuses on these metaphors as a reflection of the changing attitudes toward the human body during the period of birth of the modern world, she also presents a strong argument for our need to recognize the occurrence of a profound revolution—a radical shift from a textbased to a visually centered culture. Stafford agues, in fact, that modern societies need to develop innovative, nonlinguistic paradigms and to train a broad public in visual aptitude.

Photography is a lie. Just think about it: photographers create two-dimensional images that sometimes even lack color and then expect everyone who views the image to believe that this is how the subject and scene appeared in front of the lens, in real life. What is truly amazing is that people fall for the visual trickery readily, almost as if they want to be deceived. It gets better: people still believe that one can photograph only what is really there. In this book, Irakly Shanidze reveals the smoke and mirrors that the best photographers use to surprise, entertain, and inspire viewers. He explains that the individual features of photographer’s perception and technical limitations of his equipment make him do things that may eventually make a picture look very different from how a viewer would see the same scene with a naked eye and can lead to a ruined picture. Conversely, photographers who understand these phenomena can use the aforementioned “constraints” to deliberately adjust the level of truthfulness in their pictures. In each beautifully illustrated chapter, Shanidze discloses the photographic tools that enterprising photographers can use to create visual deception (e.g., to create a sense of dimension, create day-for-night effects, establish mood, simulate candid photographs, and generally suspend disbelief—without the time-consuming post-processing!). In doing so, he describes the image objectives (in other words, defines the image concepts) and introduces the tools needed to achieve them—whether a lens of a certain focal length, a light of a specific wattage, or a given shutter speed. He also deconstructs some of his favorite images to show readers how he was able to create a chiseled deception of his own. Armed with this book, photographers will learn to truly take the reins in their photographic pursuits and deliver supercharged, iconic, storytelling images.

A foremost thinker on science and religion argues that an adequate understanding of cosmic history requires attention to the emergence of interiority, including religious aspiration Over the past two centuries scientific advances have made it clear that the universe is a story still unfolding. In this thought-provoking book, John F. Haught considers the deeper implications of this discovery. He contends that many others who have written books on life and the universe--including Stephen Hawking, Stephen Jay Gould, and Richard Dawkins--have overlooked a crucial aspect of cosmic history: the drama of life's awakening to interiority and religious awareness. Science may illuminate the outside story of the universe, but a full telling of the cosmic story cannot ignore the inside development that interiority represents. Haught addresses two primary questions: what does the arrival of religion tell us about the universe, and what does our understanding of the cosmos as an unfinished drama tell us about religion? The history of religion may be ambiguous and sometimes even barbarous, he asserts, but its role in the story of cosmic emergence and awakening must be taken into account.

Astrology has been found in civilizations worldwide and throughout history. It has greatly influenced the philosophy, religion, art, and magic of Western culture and has inspired countless decisions and guided people in their daily lives. Traditional Western astrology differs from your typical daily Sun-sign horoscopes. While it still follows the course of the Zodiac through the Heavens, it grounds itself in the seven classical planets-great celestial spheres that the ancients gazed upon for guidance and wisdom. Traditional astrology is a holistic framework that melds the influence of the stars with your experience here on Earth to help you understand the Cosmos, your place within it, and the power to transform your fate. With it, you can integrate the entire vision of the Heavens into your magical and divinatory practices, for traditional Astrology is the cosmic playing field upon which both magic and divination intertwine. The power of astrology is a path for humans to understand the sacred. You aren't just naming stars. You are naming and discovering gods. You are seeking angels. You are seeing reflections of your own experience, your hopes and fears. By working with the systems of astrology and its magic, you can connect to the infinite chain of divinity in creation and find within your own microcosmic soul that golden light that tethers you to the macrocosmic soul of the All!

The sudden death of the Persian Emperor in 522 BCE is one of history’s great mysteries. Was his demise self-inflicted, accidental, an assassination or due to natural causes? The author contends that during this incident Siddhartha Gautama may have been the leader of Babylon's Magi, an interfaith order that assumes governance of the region. The situation explodes when Darius the Great seizes the throne. Simultaneously the Magi Order is purged as Siddhartha, prince of the Saka nation, heads back east to the Indus. Could this event have inspired the creation of Buddhism as a pacifist movement dedicated to the pursuit of self-transformation, goodwill, and universal compassion? The Buddha from Babylon: The Lost History and Cosmic Vision of Siddhartha Gautama uncovers new evidence that solves this ages-old mystery and discovers Babylonian influences in the Buddha's revelations.

This book is about the great moral issues underlying many of the headline-making political controversies of our times. It is not a comforting book but a book about disturbing and dangerous trends. The Quest for Cosmic Justice shows how confused conceptions of justice end up promoting injustice, how confused conceptions of equality end up promoting inequality, and how the tyranny of social visions prevents many people from confronting the actual consequences of their own beliefs and policies. Those consequences include the steady and dangerous erosion of fundamental principles of freedom -- amounting to a quiet repeal of the American revolution. The Quest for Cosmic Justice is the summation of a lifetime of study and thought about where we as a society are headed -- and why we need to change course before we do irretrievable damage.