Written during the golden age of Chinese philosophy, andcomposed partly in prose and partly in verse, the Tao TeChing is surely the most terse and economical of the world’sgreat religious texts. In a series of short, profound chapters itelucidates the idea of the Tao, or the Way–an idea that in itsethical, practical, and spiritual dimensions has become essentialto the life of China’s enormously powerful civilization. In theprocess of this elucidation, Lao-tzu both clarifies and deepensthose central religious mysteries around which our life on earthrevolves.

"To quietly persevere in storing up what is learned, to continuestudying without respite, to instruct others without growingweary--is this not me?" --Confucius Confucius is recognized as China's first and greatest teacher, andhis ideas have been the fertile soil in which the Chinese culturaltradition has flourished. Now, here is a translation of therecorded thoughts and deeds that best remember Confucius--informedfor the first time by the manu* version found at Dingzhou in1973, a partial text dating to 55 BCE and only made available tothe scholarly world in 1997. The earliest Analects yet discovered,this work provides us with a new perspective on the centralcanonical text that has defined Chinese culture--and clearlyilluminates the spirit and values of Confucius. Confucius (551-479 BCE) was born in the ancient state of Lu into anera of unrelenting, escalating violence as seven of the strongeststates in the proto-Chinese world warred for supremacy. Thelandscape was not only fierce politically but also intel

More than two thousand years ago, Aristotle established uniquestandards of philosophic inquiry, observation, and judgment. Thisbook offers a contemporary reevaluation of the philosophy of themaster of Western thought, and shows his vital, continuinginfluence in our modern world.

For the Earth to move to the next vibration, says RichardGrossinger, consciousness must change in profound ways, and theseinvolve core elements of humanity: evil, grief, bliss, andcompassion. 2013 locates these elements in often unlikely placesand seeks their nature and capacity for change. With playfulnessand precision, 2013 tackles the questions of creation and existencein their twenty-first-century incarnation. In these intellectualfield notes, the author’s absorbing style combines memoir withscientific deconstruction, metaphysical ontology, and experimentalprose that recalls the Black Mountain school to draw transcendentalinsight from the ephemeral space-time we call daily life. Movingwith equal ease between matters cosmic and earthly, Grossingerdetails existence as an exhilarating adventure always pushing ustoward a higher state in this wide-ranging, humorous, and heartfeltbook. Including an informal course in psychic development, 2013sheds light on the ephemera of planets and iPods, politics an

Hailed for its searing emotional insights, and for theastonishing originality with which it weaves together personalhistory, cultural essay, and readings of classical texts bySophocles, Ovid, Euripides, and Sappho, The Elusive Embrace is aprofound exploration of the mysteries of identity. It is alsoa meditation in which the author uses his own divided life toinvestigate the "rich conflictedness of things," the double livesall of us lead. Daniel Mendelsohn recalls the deceptively quiet suburb where hegrew up, torn between his mathematician father's pursuit ofscientific truth and the exquisite lies spun by his Orthodox Jewishgrandfather; the streets of manhattan's newest "gay ghetto," where"desire for love" competes with "love of desire;" and the quietmoonlit house where a close friend's small son teaches him themeaning of fatherhood. And, finally, in a neglected Jewishcemetery, the author uncovers a family secret that revealsthe universal need for storytelling, for inventing myths of theself.

Paul McAuley is one of the most exciting new talents to emerge in science fiction over the last several years, acclaimed for his richly imagined scientific concepts as well as for his clear and stylish storytelling. Now McAuley enters the twenty-first century with a vivid and prescient novel in which science, politics, greed, and terrorism compete for nothing less than THE SEC RET OF LIFE. 2026: Something is growing in the Pacific Ocean, a strange fungus-like organism that may ultimately threaten Earth's entire food chain. Christened "the slick," the bizarre phenomenon is soon the subject of intense, top-secret scientific analysis, which rapidly discovers that the slick contains unique DNA unlike any other lifeform on the planet. Where has the slick come from? A Chinese-manned mission to Mars is rumored to have discovered life deep beneath the Martian icecap, but the Chinese aren't talking. Could this mysterious discovery have something to do with the possibly extraterrestrial organism spreading throu

Conceived originally as a serious presentation of thedevelopment of philosophy for Catholic seminary students,Frederick Copleston's nine-volume A History Of Philosophyhas journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its authorto universal acclaim as the best history of philosophyin English. Copleston, an Oxford Jesuit of immense erudition who oncetangled with A. J. Ayer in a fabled debate about theexistence of God and the possibility of metaphysics, knewthat seminary students were fed a woefully inadequatediet of theses and proofs, and that their familiarity with most of history's great thinkers was reduced tosimplistic caricatures. Copleston set out to redress thewrong by writing a complete history of Western philosophy,one crackling with incident and intellectual excitement --and one that gives full place to each thinker, presenting histhought in a beautifully rounded manner and showing hislinks to those who went before and to those who came after him.

Augustine's fourth-century spiritual autobiography not only is amajor document in the history of Christianity, a classic of RomanAfrica, and the unchallenged model through the ages for theautobiographical record of the journey to self-knowledge, it alsomarks a vital moment in the history of Western culture. AsAugustine explains how, when, and why he became the man he is, heprobes the great themes that others were to explore afterhimCfaith, time, truth, identity, and self-understanding--with arichness of detail unmatched in ancient literature. Dense withvivid portrayals of friends, family, colleagues, and enemies, The Confessions chronicles the passage from a life ofsensuality and superstition to a genuine spiritual awakening--in apowerful narrative of one man's inner education that continues toshape the way we think and act today.

Did Newton "unweave the rainbow" by reducing it to itsprismatic colors, as Keats contended? Did he, in other words,diminish beauty? Far from it, says acclaimed scientist RichardDawkins; Newton's unweaving is the key to much of modern astronomyand to the breathtaking poetry of modern cosmology. Mysteries don'tlose their poetry because they are solved: the solution often ismore beautiful than the puzzle, uncovering deeper mysteries. Withthe wit, insight, and spellbinding prose that have made him abest-selling author, Dawkins takes up the most important andcompelling topics in modern science, from astronomy and genetics tolanguage and virtual reality, combining them in a landmarkstatement of the human appetite for wonder. This is the bookRichard Dawkins was meant to write: a brilliant assessment of whatscience is (and isn't), a tribute to science not because it isuseful but because it is uplifting.

Both scholarly and diverting, "Imagining Atlantis" has beenhailed as the most important book ever written about the Atlantislegend and its perennial appeal. 46 illustrations. 5 maps.