YangOnpa's Hidden Description of the Vajra Body presents the triad constituting the Vajra Body - the channels, energy-winds, and vital essences - as the basis for the application of experiential yogic techniques. Buddhism often relegates the body to a role subordinate to that of the mind; the focus of YangOnpa's Hidden Description is the body itself, with its manifold layers - coarse, subtle, and very subtle. In his presentation of the human body's energetic structure he contends that it is not simply the means to achieve enlightenment, but enlightenment itself, blending the Highest Tantra notion of the body as the method with the Total Perfection (rdzogs chen) principle of inherently present enlightenment as the fundamental nature of all phenomena. Gyalwa YangOnpa realized the nature of mind at the age of eight upon hearing instructions on the Dzogchen mind cycle of teachings. And at age nine he was installed as the abbot of Lhadong monastery, where he gave profound religious discourses, establishing his reputation as an enlightened emanation. During his lifetime, 1213-1258, he was devoted to four precious masters of different lineages. Under the guidance of the first two, he undertook solitary retreat and, following a clear vision of the energetic system of body and mind, came to master this inseparable matrix. An exceptional being gifted with powers, knowledge, and wisdom, YangOnpa led an exemplary life and his spiritual achievements won him a large number of followers. His literary output left a mark in the writings of later masters of all Tibetan schools, including Tsongkhapa, the Eighth Karmapa, JamgOn Kongtrul LodrO Thaye, Raga Asya, and Jigmed Lingpa.

Welcome to a top-level clearance world that doesn't exist...Now with updated material for the paperback edition. This is the adventurous, insightful, and often chilling story of a road trip through a shadow nation of state secrets, clandestine military bases, black sites, hidden laboratories, and top-secret agencies that make up what insiders call the "black world." Here, geographer and provocateur Trevor Paglen knocks on the doors of CIA prisons, stakes out a covert air base in Nevada from a mountaintop 30 miles away, dissects the Defense Department's multibillion dollar "black" budget, and interviews those who live on the edges of these blank spots. Whether Paglen reports from a hotel room in Vegas, a secret prison in Kabul, or a trailer in Shoshone Indian territory, he is impassioned, rigorous, relentless-and delivers eye-opening details.

This latest work by the renowned historian of religions Jeffrey Kripal crystallizes his twenty-five years of work on two aspects of the contemporary study of religion: the erotic expression of mystical experience and the rise of the paranormal in American culture. Combining elements of memoir, manifesto, and anthology (a Kripal Reader, as it were), Secret Body reveals Kripal's oeuvre not as a series of disconnected books but as a dynamic corpus with the potential to renew and reshape the study of religion. Kripal explains how this oeuvre came about with his trademark humor and honesty, answers his censors and critics, and lays the foundation for a future theory of religion grounded in the cosmic nature of consciousness as such. No one interested in the history of religion and the erotic dimension of mysticism can afford to overlook Kripal's latest, his definitive intellectual self-portrait.

Mapmaking fulfills one of our most ancient and deepseated desires: understanding the world around us and our place in it. But maps need not just show continents and oceans: there are maps to heaven and hell; to happiness and despair; maps of moods, matrimony, and mythological places. There are maps to popular culture, from Gulliver's Island to Gilligan's Island. There are speculative maps of the world before it was known, and maps to secret places known only to the mapmaker. Artists' maps show another kind of uncharted realm: the imagination. What all these maps have in common is their creators' willingness to venture beyond the boundaries of geography or convention. You Are Here is a wide-ranging collection of such superbly inventive maps. These are charts of places you're not expected to find, but a voyage you take in your mind: an exploration of the ideal country estate from a dog's perspective; a guide to buried treasure on Skeleton Island; a trip down the road to success; or the world as imagined by an inmate of a mental institution. With over 100 maps from artists, cartographers, and explorers, You are Here gives the reader a breath-taking view of worlds, both real and imaginary.

The author of bestselling "Star Wars" novels follows his acclaimed original DragonCrown War Cycle with the first in a dazzling new trilogy. Stackpole's original fantasy novels have won fans and acclaim from coast to coast.