The Alchemical Body - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Alchemical Body write by David Gordon White. This book was released on 1996. The Alchemical Body available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Beginning in the fifth century A.D., various Indian mystics began to innovate a body of techniques with which to render themselves immortal. These people called themselves Siddhas, a term formerly reserved for a class of demigods, revered by Hindus and Buddhists alike, who were known to inhabit mountaintops or the atmospheric regions. Over the following five to eight hundred years, three types of Hindu Siddha orders emerged, each with its own specialized body of practice. These were the Siddha Kaula, whose adherents sought bodily immortality through erotico-mystical practices; the Rasa Siddhas, medieval India's alchemists, who sought to transmute their flesh-and-blood bodies into immortal bodies through the ingestion of the mineral equivalents of the sexual fluids of the god Siva and his consort, the Goddess; and the Nath Siddhas, whose practice of hatha yoga projected the sexual and laboratory practices of the Siddha Kaula and Rasa Siddhas upon the internal grid of the subtle body. For India's medieval Siddhas, these three conjoined types of practice led directly to bodily immortality, supernatural powers, and self-divinization; in a word, to the exalted status of the semidivine Siddhas of the older popular cults. In The Alchemical Body, David Gordon White excavates and centers within its broader Indian context this lost tradition of the medieval Siddhas. Working from a body of previously unexplored alchemical sources, he demonstrates for the first time that the medieval disciplines of Hindu alchemy and hatha yoga were practiced by one and the same people, and that they can only be understood when viewed together. Human sexual fluids and the structures of the subtle body aremicrocosmic equivalents of the substances and apparatus manipulated by the alchemist in his laboratory. With these insights, White opens the way to a new and more comprehensive understanding of the entire sweep of medieval Indian mysticism, within the broader context of south Asian Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. This book is an essential reference for anyone interested in Indian yoga, alchemy, and the medieval beginnings of science.
The Alchemical Body
The Alchemical Body - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Alchemical Body write by David Gordon White. This book was released on 2012-07-10. The Alchemical Body available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. “[A] brilliant disquisition on . . . mostly unpublished texts for three allied systems of tantric thought and praxis (sexual, alchemical, and hatha yogic).” —The Journal of Asian Studies The Alchemical Body excavates and centers within its Indian context the lost tradition of the medieval Siddhas. Working from previously unexplored alchemical sources, David Gordon White demonstrates for the first time that the medieval disciplines of Hindu alchemy and hatha yoga were practiced by one and the same people, and that they can be understood only when viewed together. White opens the way to a new and more comprehensive understanding of medieval Indian mysticism, within the broader context of south Asian Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. “White proves a skillful guide in disentangling historical and theoretical complexities that have thus far bedeviled the study of these influential aspects of medieval Indian culture.” —Yoga World “Anyone seriously interested in finding out more about authentic tantra, original hatha yoga, embodied liberation . . . sacred sexuality, paranormal abilities, healing, and of course alchemy will find White’s extraordinary book as fascinating as any Tom Clancy thriller.” —Georg Feuerstein, Yoga Journal “Remarkable . . . a study of the language of mystic experience and expression—the multitudinous symbols, rituals, and doctrines of the medieval siddhis, yogis, and alchemists.” —Skeptic Meditations
The Alchemical Body
The Alchemical Body - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook The Alchemical Body write by David Gordon White. This book was released on 1996. The Alchemical Body available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Beginning in the fifth century A.D., various Indian mystics began to innovate a body of techniques with which to render themselves immortal. These people called themselves Siddhas, a term formerly reserved for a class of demigods, revered by Hindus and Buddhists alike, who were known to inhabit mountaintops or the atmospheric regions. Over the following five to eight hundred years, three types of Hindu Siddha orders emerged, each with its own specialized body of practice. These were the Siddha Kaula, whose adherents sought bodily immortality through erotico-mystical practices; the Rasa Siddhas, medieval India's alchemists, who sought to transmute their flesh-and-blood bodies into immortal bodies through the ingestion of the mineral equivalents of the sexual fluids of the god Siva and his consort, the Goddess; and the Nath Siddhas, whose practice of hatha yoga projected the sexual and laboratory practices of the Siddha Kaula and Rasa Siddhas upon the internal grid of the subtle body. For India's medieval Siddhas, these three conjoined types of practice led directly to bodily immortality, supernatural powers, and self-divinization; in a word, to the exalted status of the semidivine Siddhas of the older popular cults. In The Alchemical Body, David Gordon White excavates and centers within its broader Indian context this lost tradition of the medieval Siddhas. Working from a body of previously unexplored alchemical sources, he demonstrates for the first time that the medieval disciplines of Hindu alchemy and hatha yoga were practiced by one and the same people, and that they can only be understood when viewed together. Human sexual fluids and the structures of the subtle body aremicrocosmic equivalents of the substances and apparatus manipulated by the alchemist in his laboratory. With these insights, White opens the way to a new and more comprehensive understanding of the entire sweep of medieval Indian mysticism, within the broader context of south Asian Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. This book is an essential reference for anyone interested in Indian yoga, alchemy, and the medieval beginnings of science.
Alchemical Body
Alchemical Body - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Alchemical Body write by David Gordon White. This book was released on 1991. Alchemical Body available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle.
Pagan Fleshworks
Pagan Fleshworks - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Pagan Fleshworks write by Maureen Mercury. This book was released on 2000-09-01. Pagan Fleshworks available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A groundbreaking work that sees the contemporary cultural trends of tattooing, piercing, implanting, and branding as a quest for a transformative psychic experience. • Features unforgettable color photographs by Steve Haworth, the foremost body modification artist in the United States. • Introduces a subculture that has gone far beyond the realm of simple tattooing. Acts of body modification are deeply rooted in physical impulses that are obscured in our technological society. As we become more removed from the physicality of our existence, we lose touch with an essential part of our humanity. Body modification is a way of reconnecting to our bodies, to the earth, and to the divine. Pagan Fleshworks reveals that the prevalence of body modification--tattooing, piercings, brandings, and implants--is the postmodern way to heal the body and enliven the soul. These "fleshworks" are the result of people creating their own rituals and symbols of meaning in order to feel a sense of the divine within. Maureen Mercury relates the various stages of obtaining fleshworks to the stages of alchemy, showing how fleshworks lead to psychic transformation--soul-making. Using mythological imagery and the stories of those who have chosen to modify their bodies, she identifies the signposts of our journey toward self-expression, exploring the connection between our desires and our outward life. More than 30 riveting color photographs by leading body modification artist Steve Haworth provide the perfect visual complement to this examination of the soul as it rises toward freedom.
