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The Upanishads, the earliest of which were composed in Sanskrit between 800 and 400 bce by sages and poets, form part of the Vedas - the sacred and ancient scriptures that are the basis of the Hindu religion. Each Upanishad, or lesson, takes up a theme ranging from the attainment of spiritual bliss to karma and rebirth, and collectively they are meditations on life, death and immortality. The essence of their teachings is that truth can by reached by faith rather than by thought, and that the spirit of God is within each of us - we need not fear death as we carry within us the promise of eternal life.

The timeless epic of the Hindu faith, now available from Signet Classics in this edition translated by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood—with an Introduction by Aldous Huxley.The Bhagavad-Gita is the Gospel of Hinduism, and one of the great religious classics of the world. Its simple, vivid message is a daily inspiration in the lives of millions throughout the world and has been so for countless generations.Here is a distinguished translation that can be read by every person, not as an archaic monument to an ancient culture, but as a living contemporary message that touches the most urgent personal and social problems.

Contains The Cloud of Unknowing, The Mystical Theology of Saint Denis, The Book of Privy Counselling, and An Epistle on Prayer. Against a tradition of devotional writings which focussed on knowing God through Christ's Passion and his humanity, these texts describe a transcendent God who exists beyond human knowledge and human language. These four texts are at the heart of medieval mystical theology in their call for contemplation, calm, and above all, love, as the way to understand the Divine.

Now in a fully corrected edition, one of the true spiritual classics of the twentieth century. Published for the first time with an index and Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar’s afterword, this new English publication of Meditations on the Tarot is the landmark edition of one of the most important works of esoteric Christianity. Written anonymously and published posthumously, as was the author’s wish, the intention of this work is for the reader to find a relationship with the author in the spiritual dimensions of existence. The author wanted not to be thought of as a personality who lived from 1900 to 1973, but as a friend who is communicating with us from beyond the boundaries of ordinary life. Using the 22 major arcana of the tarot deck as a means to explore some of humanity’s most penetrating spiritual questions, Meditations on the Tarot has attracted an unprecedented range of praise from across the spiritual spectrum.

Drawing on myth, folklore and history, the stories of the Mabinogion passed from generations of storytellers before they were written down in the thirteenth century in the form we know. Set in dual realms of the forests and valleys of Wales and the shadowy otherworld, the tales are permeated by a dreamlike atmosphere. In 'Math Son of Mathonwy' two brothers plot to carry off the virginal Goewin, while in 'Manawydan Son of Ll^yr' a chieftain roams throughout Britain after a spell is cast over his land. And King Arthur's court provides the backdrop to tales such as 'How Culhwch Won Olwen', in which a young man must complete many tasks before he can marry a giant's daughter.

Written around AD 1200 by an unnamed Icelandic author, the Orkneyinga Saga is an intriguing fusion of myth, legend and history. The only medieval chronicle to have Orkney as the central place of action, it tells of an era when the islands were still part of the Viking world, beginning with their conquest by the kings of Norway in the ninth century. The saga describes the subsequent history of the Earldom of Orkney and the adventures of great Norsemen such as Sigurd the Powerful, St Magnus the Martyr and Hrolf, the conqueror of Normandy. Savagely powerful and poetic, this is a fascinating depiction of an age of brutal battles, murder, sorcery and bitter family feuds.

Beowulf is the greatest surviving work of literature in Old English, unparalleled in its epic grandeur and scope. It tells the story of the heroic Beowulf and of his battles, first with the monster Grendel, who has laid waste to the great hall of the Danish king Hrothgar, then with Grendel's avenging mother, and finally with a dragon that threatens to devastate his homeland. Through its blend of myth and history, Beowulf vividly evokes a twilight world in which men and supernatural forces live side by side. And it celebrates the endurance of the human spirit in a transient world."Alexander's translation is marked by a conviction that it is possible to be both ambitious and faithful [and] ...communicates the poem with a care which goes beyond fidelity-to-meaning and reaches fidelity of implication. May it go on ... to another half-million copies." - Tom Shippey, Bulletin of the International Association of University Professors of English

Every night for three years the vengeful King Shahriyar sleeps with a different virgin, executing her the next morning. To end this brutal pattern and to save her own life, the vizier's daughter, Shahrazad, begins to tell the king stories of adventure, love, riches and wonder - tales of mystical lands peopled with princes and hunchbacks, the Angel of Death and magical spirits, tales of the voyages of Sindbad, of Ali Baba outwitting a band of forty thieves and of jinnis trapped in rings and in lamps. The sequence of stories will last 1,001 nights.

A moving account of life in Palestine in the wake of the events of October 7th.'Who Will Tell My Story? finds beauty and grace amongst the rubble while never shying away from the brutal realities of living through such relentless and cruel oppression.' NIKESH SHUKLAIt was a sleepless night full of tears and fear . . . I am not sure - if I make it out alive - if I will still possess what makes me, me. And I wonder: will I be there in the future, or will I be someone to be remembered in a diary or over a cup of tea by a friend after I am gone?Who Will Tell My Story? presents an ordinary existence interrupted by unfathomably seismic and unjust events. On the ground during the first months of the assault on Gaza following the events of 7 October, the author of this diary - first published in The Guardian - maps out the physical and psychological terrain of a life under siege.Traversing the bombed ruins of his country, we see him as he searches for foodstuffs and power to charge devices, maintaining contact with the outside world, checking in with his friends and family along the way; we see his heart swing between despair and faith, fear and optimism, his mind imagining different futures and confronting the brutal truth of his present.Shining a light on the fate of all those living through war and occupation, Who Will Tell My Story? conveys with astonishing clarity how seeds of hope might linger amid the most trying of times.

The saga of the Three Kingdoms—which recounts the dramatic story of the civil wars (ca. 180–220 CE) that divided the old Han Empire into the Shu, Wei, and Wu states—remains as popular as ever in China, having served as the basis of not only traditional operas and ballads, but also, in more recent years, of movies, television dramas, and video games.Translated into English for the first time here, the Sanguozhi pinghua (thirteenth century CE) provides a complete and fast-paced narrative account of the events of the period, from the beginning of the civil wars to the demise of the Three Kingdoms and the short-lived reunification of the realm by the Jin dynasty. Shorter, clearer, and more accessible to Western audiences than Luo Guanzhong’s later, greatly expanded Romance (Sanguo yanyi)—and beautifully rendered in this edition by two modern-day masters of the art of Chinese literary translation—the Records of the Three Kingdoms in Plain Language provides an ideal introduction to one of the foundational Chinese epic traditions.Tables of major Chinese dynasties and reigns, a guide to understanding formal Chinese naming conventions, a glossary of Chinese names and terms, and reproductions of some woodcuts from the original edition of the text are included.

The definitive translation of the world's oldest known epic, now updated with newly discovered materialMiraculously preserved on clay tablets dating back as far as four thousand years, the poem of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, predates Homer by many centuries. The story tells of Gilgamesh's adventures with the wild man Enkidu, and of his arduous journey to the ends of the earth in quest of the Babylonian Noah and the secret of immortality. Alongside its themes of family, friendship and the duties of kings, the Epic of Gilgamesh is, above all, about mankind's eternal struggle with the fear of death. This new edition of Andrew George's translation has been extensively revised to include recently discovered fragments and new sources. Translated and revised with an introduction by Andrew George'Our first recognisable epic poem. What is exhilarating, the more we learn of it, is how directly it speaks to us' Literary Review

An erotic contemporary love story, with the bestselling potential of ‘The Butcher’ or ‘Damage’ but of superior literary quality.From their first meeting, the elusive 16-year-old Lila seduces Chimo with words. Is she speaking from experience or revelling in sexual fantasy? In this journal, Chimo records their meetings with dissarming simplicity, with an erroticism that is never sensationalised. At the same time he offers acerbic and witty insights into the grim urban environment near Paris where he and Lila live. Alongside the shocking ironies of Lila’s gripping story, LILA SAYS creates romance and beauty in a setting where those gifts are usually conspicuous by their absense. An original, unforgettable novel.

‘Sadopaideia’ is a shocking, explicit, classic tale of Sado Masochism at the heart of English high society. Set in London and the Dorset coast, in an era of English history where corporal punishment was freely dispensed, the characters represent the core principles of disobedience, chastisement and compliance.How far is too far?Cecil Prendergast has a problem. He has been selected by Muriel Harcourt and her maid as the third dimension in their relationship. The 'problem' is that Muriel likes to beat Cecil's backside with a bamboo cane. Before long, a new master emerges – and Cecil finally asserts his dominance. Through disciplinary scenes, he wages a war of retribution via stinging pleasure and mutual consent – and punishes Muriel, her maid and Muriel's two nieces in turn.

‘The Way of a Man with a Maid’ is a foray into pleasure, pain, lesbianism and etiquette – told from the viewpoint of a quintessential Edwardian gent. Having first appeared in Parisian journals around the turn of the century, it is widely acknowledged to be a defining example of the erotic genre, and reveals the dark underbelly of human sexuality.Do the best things come to the woman who waits?Jack has built a special place in a padded room of an old lunatic asylum named 'The Snuggery'. Filled with ropes, cushions, straps and feathers, he chooses Alice to complete the decoration. Imprisoned against her will, she is teased into submission. And in moments of passion, when Jack names her his 'wife', Alice finally surrenders her maidenhead, submitting to the power of his unbridled lust.

LAUREN BAILEY HAS DISAPPEARED. As her friends and the police search for answers, Matt Barker begins to dream of trees and black skies and something drawing closer.Through fragments of journals, blog posts and messages, a sinister, slender figure emerges and all divisions between fiction and delusion, between nightmare and reality, begin to fall.The urban legend of the Slender Man has inspired short fiction, viral videos, and a feature film. Gathered from onlinewhispers, Matt’s story reveals the true power of the internet’s most terrifying creation.