Bøger af Les Morgan

This easy-to-use study guide and word index will help you understand core ideas of the Bhagavadgita. Based on the critical edition, this reference guide can be used with any translation. The arrangement is designed to be accessible by English readers who are studying the text. It is also a useful reference work for translators and teachers. Theme Guides Eleven theme guides explain key ideas and list verses that can be read as a group. Each theme guide is suitable for a class discussion session or seminar meeting, making the book useful both to students and to teachers seeking lesson plans for the material. The theme guides are: Yoga as Spiritual Discipline Overcoming the Duality of Attraction and Aversion Karma Yoga: Action as Spiritual Practice Bhakti Yoga: Devotion as Spiritual Practice Jnana Yoga: Knowledge as Spiritual Practice Controlling the Lower Self by the Higher Self Body and the Indwelling Spirit The Gunas and Material Nature Dharma: Personal Nature and Social Justice The Best Type of Worship "Becoming" Krishna as an End to Rebirth Practical Concordance The book includes a concordance (word index) with over 3,000 entries covering the complete text of the Critical Edition, with definitions and verse numbers. The concordance makes it easy to look up verses that deal with specific ideas. Over 700 footnotes give citations to how different translators have handled words and phrases that are either ambiguous or simply difficult to render into English. Who's Who and Epithets The Bhagavadgita is presented as a dialog between Krishna, who is an incarnation of God, and Arjuna, a great leader and warrior. Their conversation is being reported by Sañjaya to King Dhrtarastra. In addition to those four primary dramatis personæ, brief backgrounds are provided for over 50 others who are mentioned in passing or connected to the story in some way. The Bhagavadgita makes frequent use of epithets or "nicknames" that are shorthand references that can be understood in context as referring to a specific person. Over 70 of these ephithets are explained and indexed. About the Author Les Morgan is the author of Croaking Frogs: A Guide to Sanskrit Metrics and Figures of Speech (2011), and Translating the Bhagavadgita: A Workbook for Sanskrit Students (2017). His Study Guide to the Bhagavadgita: With Practical Concordance (2017) is a companion volume to Ram Karan Sharma's Bhagavadgita, which he edited. Other current projects include a translation of the Ganesha Sahasranama and preparation of a study guide for the Samkhyakarika of Ishvarakrishna. Since 2005 he has been collaborating with R. K. Sharma to produce a concordance of poetic images in the Mahabharata and Ramayana and has co-presented with R. K. Sharma on that project at the University of California and at the 15th World Sanskrit Conference in New Delhi (2012). As a technologist, he has a special interest in corpus linguistics and digital texts. He is the co-developer of the Vidyut Input Method Editor (IME), used for entry of Devanagari on Windows computers. He provides a web site where recordings of spoken Sanskrit are provided free of charge (mywhatever.com/sanskrit). He is the developer of the first bilingual software used in spaceflight by NASA on the International Space Station, with interfaces in both English and Russian.

In a series of easy modules you will get a brief and practical introduction to translation technique for beginning Sanskrit students. Using an immersion method, you will create your own translation of chapter 12 of the Bhagavadgita, which is just twenty verses long. I encourage you to jump right in to create your own translation even if you aren't sure your skills are up to it. Designed for students with limited knowledge of grammar, the workbook gives "just in time" tutorial tips for each verse, along with word-by-word vocabulary, alternate translations, and tips on translation technique. Something you will not find here is heavy grammatical analysis. The goal is to get you interested in some of the beautiful ideas that this great scripture presents. Comparing several versions will give you a deeper appreciation of the decisions that translators face. The Bhagavadgita is a very old text written in Sanskrit for an audience that lived in a different culture. Can you help English readers and hear it speaking to them in today's world?The technical challenges of translating Sanskrit are an interesting subject in themselves. At all times one must balance clarity with a respect for the structure of the underlying Sanskrit verse. Given that the most important goal is to get the idea across clearly, you still have a lot of stylistic leeway in finding your own unique voice. A great translation not only says something meaningful it says it in a meaningful way.Because Sanskrit grammar and syntax are very different from English, completely literal translations sound rather odd. Word order is more flexible in Sanskrit than in English, and sometimes you must transpose the original order of ideas in order to express an idea clearly. Sanskrit uses many passive constructions, so you may need to adjust sentences to an active voice to make the sense more dynamic.Your audience matters too. Being clear depends on who your reader is and how much they know about Indian thought. You may successfully convey what the source material says, but leave everyone confused because the subject matter is difficult to understand or in conflict with some other school of thought that they have previously been exposed to. If you assume too much, you may wind up with a translation into "Indologese", incomprehensible to anyone but specialists.

Nancy Jaicks Alexander is one of the co-founders of the first prison hospice in the world. She was a member of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' teaching and "Life, Death and Transition" workshop staff. "Just Enough" is a collection of memoirs and short creative writing pieces.

This ancient Chinese classic will put more balance and understanding into your life. The Tao Te Ching is a cornerstone of the world's wisdom literature. It is one of the most succinct yet profound spiritual texts ever written. Despite the simplicity of its message, it is one of the most influential Taoist texts. Divided into 81 short sections, the book contains insights into the "Way" of the natural world around us. The "Way" is Tao. Tao also means path, method, and other things. You will understand what Tao is through contemplation and reflection. The Tao Te Ching is traditionally attributed to a philosopher named Lao-tzu, but even his existence is debated. His name simply means "Old Master." Estimates of when it was composed range from the 3rd century to the 6th century BCE. Peter Frentzel (Daisen Ryotoku) brings the work to life in a concise way that is accessible for the modern reader. His insightful new interpretation presents the gist of the Tao Te Ching in simple language that is brief and clear. He elegantly conveys Lao-tzu's laconic style of writing.

This book examines major theories about spiritual freedom and their implications as presented in the Brahma Sutras, a major philosophical work in Indian tradition. The sutras are examined with regard to the views of major commentators and their connection with other Indian philosophical texts. Contents includes 1) an introduction to the Brahma Sutras, 2) a review of English translations, 3) a review of basic concepts in Indian philosophy, with emphasis on the importance of Brahman, Liberation, and Maya in the Upanishads, 4) comparison of how different commentators have understood the Brahma Sutras, 5) modern interpretations of the Brahma Sutras, including Dr. Ramamurti Mishra (Brahmananda Sarasvati). This is a facsimile edition of a Master of Arts dissertation submitted in 1976.