The Jatakamala is a famous work in both sacred Buddhist and classical Sanskrit literature. It recounts thirty-four stories of the Buddha's previous births, and his good deeds in those earlier incarnations as a god, man or an animal. Written in elegant Sanskrit prose and verse in the fourth century A.D., these tales were later translated into Chinese and Tibetan. Several feature in the Ajanta cave paintings. Their colourful backgrounds range from a sea voyage to a battle scene, a forest fire to a royal hunt and from the charms of the harem to the horrors of hell. Popular through the ages, they remain highly readable today, both for their timeless message of compassion and concord, and the vivid, dramatic imagery with which it is presented. Twelve of these tales are not found in any other collection including the Pali Jataka texts. Arya Shura, the author of the Jatakamala, is known in tradition as a saintly teacher and an authority on prosody. In all probability he was a Buddhist monk. No details are available of his life, except that he wrote several other works, some of which are extant only in Tibetan and Chinese translations.

About the life of Buddha

The Commercial Introduction Entitled Nidana-Katha-The Story Of The Lineage-Translated From Prof. V. Fausboll`S Edition Of The Pali Text By T.W. Rhys Davids.

One of the great treasures of Buddhist literature, is mDo-mdzangs-blun or the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish as it is known to the Mongols. The text was translated to Mongolian from Tibetan as the Üliger-ün Dalai or Ocean of Narratives. It is one of the most interesting, enjoyable and readable Buddhist scriptures. For centuries, it has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration, instruction and pleasure for all who have been able to read it. The history of this unusual scripture is still uncertain. Legend has it that the tales were heard in Khotan by Chinese monks, who translated them (but from what language?) into Chinese, from which it was translated into Tibetan, then into Mongolian and Oirat. The Narratives are Jatakas, or rebirth stories, tracing the causes of present tragedy in human lives to events which took place in former lifetimes. The theme of each narrative is the same: the tragedy of the human condition, the reason for this tragedy and the possibility of transcending it. But unlike Greek tragedy, Buddhist tragedy is never an end in itself, i.e. a catharsis, but a call to transcend that which can be transcended and need not be endlessly endured. The people we meet in the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, although supposedly living in the India of the Buddha’s time, might also be living at present in New York City, a small rural town or Leningrad, and the problems they face are the same problems that men have had to face always and everywhere. Herein lies the timeless appeal of this profound Buddhist scripture.

"A must-read for all dancers as the invaluable historical references and in-depth coverage of the different jazz forms cannot be found in such detail in any other book on the market today."--Debra McWaters, author of "Musical Theatre Training" "Artfully weaves history and professional perspectives to reveal the boundaries of the jazz dance world. It invites the reader to develop a more complicated definition of jazz dance for the twenty-first century."--Susan A. Lee, Northwestern University The history of jazz dance is best understood by thinking of it as a tree. The roots of jazz dance are African. Its trunk is vernacular, shaped by European influence, and exemplified by the Charleston and the Lindy Hop. From the vernacular have grown many and varied branches, including tap, Broadway, funk, hip-hop, Afro-Caribbean, Latin, pop, club jazz, popping, B-boying, party dances, and more. Unique in its focus on history rather than technique, "Jazz Dance" offers the only overview of trends and developments since 1960. Editors Lindsay Guarino and Wendy Oliver have assembled an array of seasoned practitioners and scholars who trace the numerous histories of jazz dance and examine various aspects of the field, including trends, influences, training, race, aesthetics, international appeal, and its relationship to tap, rock, indie, black concert dance, and Latin dance.Featuring discussions of such dancers and choreographers as Bob Fosse and Katherine Dunham, as well as analyses of how the form's vocabulary differs from ballet, this complex and compelling history captures the very essence of jazz dance.