The Power of Movement in Plants
by Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist and geologist who became widely famous for his contributions to the science of evolution and the process he called natural selection. Darwin’s writings are still widely read and he is considered to be one of the most influential people in the history of the world. In this book Darwin examines phototropism and other movements in plants. This was one of Darwin’s last books and is notable because his son Francis helped with some of the experiments and the write-up for this book.
The Scapegoat
by Rene Girard
Girard, professor of French language, literature, and civilization at Stanford, builds on his notable previous anthropological and literary examinations of myth and ritual in human society. Here he applies his appraisals of Freud and Levi-Strauss to demonstrate how religion functions to keep violence outside society by deflecting it onto a scapegoat whose sacrifice restores the social order. Using a rich variety of resources from Greek to biblical, primitive to modern, he cites the Gospel Passion as a myth with the power to break the evil of collective violence and the corporate murder it conceals. Girard’s use of structuralism to analyze biblical texts will stir much discussion, and the book as a whole is bound to be considered provocative by specialists.
Chakras: Energy Centers of Transformation
by Harish Johari
In the ancient science of tantra, the human body is viewed as the most perfect instrument for the expression of consciousness, a perfection realized through the development of psychic centers known as chakras. Located within the cerebrospinal system, the chakras are the stage upon which the interaction between higher consciousness and desire is played out. Consequently, it is through understanding and utilizing the energies of the chakras that we ultimately reach an enlightened state of being.
In Chakras, Indian scholar and tantra practitioner Harish Johari introduces the classical principles of the chakras as well as their practical application for today. In this expanded edition, complete with new art and text, he unfolds the mysteries of these subtle centers of transformation with visualization techniques essential to a fully realized tantric practice. Unlike other books in its field, Chakras provides the tools to activate these centers of transformative energy and elevate one’s intellectual knowledge to an experience of spiritual growth.
Meditating on the beautiful, full-color illustrations of each chakra vitalizes the cerebrospinal centers and harmonizes the entire system both physically and psychically. Explanations of each chakra elaborate on the chakra’s connection to elements, colors, sounds, sense and work organs, desires, planets and deities, as well as on behavioral characteristics and particular effects of meditation. For scholars and spiritual aspirants of every level, Chakras is an invaluable, practical source of information and techniques.
