Counterpoint – förlag

Discover the most influential Buddhist sutra in the Mahayana Buddhism tradition—from one of the world’s preeminent translators of religious texts.   Simplified organization, helpful glossaries, and word-for-word analysis make understanding Buddhist scripture easier than ever.   The Heart Sutra is Buddhism in a nutshell. It has had the most profound and wide–reaching influence of any text in Buddhism. This short text covers more of the Buddha’s teachings than any other Buddhist scripture, and it does so without being superficial or hurried. Although the original author is unknown, he was clearly someone with a deep realization of the Dharma. For this award-winning English translation of the Heart Sutra, an award–winning translator of Chinese poetry and religious texts utilizes various Sanskrit and Chinese versions, refining the teachings of dozens of ancient teachers together with his own commentary to offer a profound word–for–word explication. Divided into 4 parts and broken into 35 lines to make it easier to study or chant, and containing a glossary of names, terms, and texts, The Heart Sutra is a wise book of deep teaching destined to become the standard edition of this timeless Buddhist sutra.

This landmark work, first published by Sierra Club Books in 1988, has established itself as a foundational volume in the ecological canon. In it, noted cultural historian Thomas Berry provides nothing less than a new intellectual–ethical framework for the human community by positing planetary well–being as the measure of all human activity.Drawing on the wisdom of Western philosophy, Asian thought, and Native American traditions, as well as contemporary physics and evolutionary biology, Berry offers a new perspective that recasts our understanding of science, technology, politics, religion, ecology, and education. He shows us why it is important for us to respond to the Earth's need for planetary renewal, and what we must do to break free of the "technological trance" that drives a misguided dream of progress. Only then, he suggests, can we foster mutually enhancing human–Earth relationships that can heal our traumatized global biosystem.

The stunning true story of a double homicide in the vibrant native Alaskan Iñupiat community at the arctic edge of the United States—written by the public defender at its centerRebecca Wright is a defense attorney living in the Lower 48 when she suddenly finds herself a widow and an empty nester. In need of a radical change, she accepts a public defender position in Utqiagvik on Alaska’s North Slope, an oil-rich area the size of Wyoming where the Iñupiat community holds great cultural, political, and economic power. Though she’ll always be a tanik—an outsider—she works hard to gain the trust and friendship of the folks who call this singular place home.When two well-known sisters, Bernice and Wanda Ipalook, are found murdered, Wright is tasked with representing Amos Lane, a drifter on the short-list of murder suspects. Criminal charges are looming. But this is summer in northern Alaska, the season of the midnight sun, when twenty-four-hour sunlight makes it difficult for witnesses to confirm the time—or even the day—they last saw the sisters, Amos, or anyone else. Wright must navigate an unreliable client, a prosecution willing to entrap her to get a conviction, a budding romance, and a community that believes Amos might deserve a different form of justice from what the tanik legal system can provide.Weaving a detailed portrait of Utqiagvik alongside Wright’s complex self-portrait of an outsider in an isolated community, Sisters of the Midnight Sun is a riveting true account that brings to vivid life a land at the edge of the habitable world.

WINNER OF THE 2018 THORNTON WILDER PRIZE FOR TRANSLATIONA masterful translation of the Diamond Sutra, an essential Zen Buddhist scripture—with insightful commentary and helpful historical contextZen Buddhism is often said to be a practice of mind–to–mind transmission without reliance on texts—in fact, some great teachers forbid their students to read or write. But Buddhism has also inspired some of the greatest philosophical writings of any religion, and two such works lie at the center of Zen: The Heart Sutra, which monks recite all over the world, and The Diamond Sutra, said to contain answers to all questions of delusion and dualism.This is the Buddhist teaching on the perfection of wisdom and cuts through all obstacles on the path of practice. As Red Pine explains: The Diamond Sutra may look like a book, but it’s really the body of the Buddha. It’s also your body, my body, all possible bodies. But it’s a body with nothing inside and nothing outside. It doesn’t exist in space or time. Nor is it a construct of the mind. It’s no mind. And yet because it’s no mind, it has room for compassion. This book is the offering of no mind, born of compassion for all suffering beings. Of all the sutras that teach this teaching, this is the diamond.

9 translations of Zen Buddhist sutras and sacred texts from the first 1,000 years of Zen—presented in a travel-friendly package for on-the-go reading or contemplation!Dating from the middle of the second century B.C. to the middle of the ninth century A.D., Zen Roots includes:• The Heart Sutra, Diamond Sutra, and Platform Sutra• Selections from the Vimalakirti and Lankavatara sutras• Bodhidharma’s Principles & Practice• Sengcan’s Trusting the Mind• Yongjia’s Song of Enlightenment• Huangbo’s Transmission of the MindThese translations are accompanied by introductions and enough notes to explain what needs explaining but not so many as to get in the way. Zen Roots is the perfect companion for travel, to accompany one to the higher elevations, or just to read in the backyard.

Discover 4 seminal masterworks of Chinese thought—Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, the Analects of Confucius, the Chuang Tzu, and the Mencius—presented in one volume for the first time in nearly 2 centuriesAward-winning translator David Hinton offers fresh insights on the most influential texts on Taoism, Zen Buddhism, Chinese philosophy, and moreHinton’s award–winning experience translating a wide range of ancient Chinese poets makes these books sing in English as never before. But these new versions are not only inviting and immensely readable—they also apply much-needed consistency to key philosophical terms in these texts, lending structural links and philosophical rigor heretofore unavailable in English. Breathing new life into these classics, Hinton’s new translations will stand as the definitive texts for our era.Perhaps the most broadly influential spiritual text in human history, Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching is the source of Taoist philosophy, which eventually developed into Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism. Equally influential in the social sphere, Confucius’ Analects is the source of social wisdom in China. The Chuang Tzu is the wild and wacky prose complement to the Tao Te Ching. And with its philosophical storytelling, the Mencius adds depth and complexity to Confucius’ vision.

A lively and plainspoken translation of the Buddhist sutra known as the ‘holy grail of Zen’—with “plentiful notes, explanations, and study questions” (Library Journal)   The first English translation of the original text used by Bodhidharma—the source upon which all Chinese Zen masters have relied ever since Having translated The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra, and following with The Platform Sutra, Red Pine now turns his attention to perhaps the greatest Sutra of all. The Lankavatara Sutra is the holy grail of Zen. Zen’s First Patriarch, Bodhidharma, gave a copy of this text to his successor, Hui–k’o, and told him everything he needed to know was in this book. Passed down from teacher to student ever since, this is the only Zen sutra ever spoken by the Buddha. Although it covers all the major teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, it contains but two teachings, which Chinese Zen Masters came to know as  “have a cup of tea” and “taste the tea.”  • Everything we perceive as being real is nothing but the perceptions of our own mind• The knowledge of this is something that must be realized and experienced for oneself and cannot be expressed in words. In addition to presenting one of the most difficult of all Buddhist texts in clear English, Red Pine has also added summaries, explanations and notes, including relevant Sanskrit terms on the basis of which the Chinese translation was made. This promises to become an essential text for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding or knowledge of Zen.

Retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney becomes ensnared in a case of murderous political intrigue tearing apart a once bucolic Upstate New York townThe final, thrilling chapter in the fair play Dave Gurney saga finds the storied detective, often compared to Sherlock Holmes, confronted with an intractable nemesis while trying to fix his splintered marriage. Ghosts are returning from the past to trouble Gurney’s peace as a local election sees a powerful real estate mogul with plans for a massive development face off against a librarian and ardent conservationist. Protests erupt, battle lines are drawn between ideological camps, and the future of a once idyllic hamlet hangs in the balance. When bodies start turning up, and the local police turn a blind eye, Gurney suspects he’s the town’s only hope to stop the carnage that is tearing everybody apart. But involvement comes at a price. His last case nearly got his best friend killed, and it shattered his marriage. In the aftermath, he’s focused on breaking his reliance on police work in hopes of rekindling things with his wife, Madeleine. Can he ignore what’s happening and potentially let a murderer run amok or will he once again dive into the darkness, giving into his obsessive need to solve the unsolveable—even if it costs him Madeleine for good? One thing is clear: this harrowing, confounding case will be his last.

When Wendell Berry finished the first draft of Nathan Coulter at the end of the 1950s, he had no idea his interest in these characters would continue for more than 50 years. Yet it was only the beginning of a long celebration of the citizens of Port William, Kentucky. Focusing on young Nathan, who struggles to understand the value of land and family, Berry provides a lyrical vision of one's compassionate duty to the land and community.

On Kentucky’s Blood River, a Sheriff’s Deputy investigates the death of her ex-fiance, whose brutal occultist murder strongly resembles a similar murder decades ago, for readers of Tana French, Gillian Flynn, Megan Abbott, and fans of True DetectiveDeputy Sheriff Alicia Moore is thrust into the center of a chilling murder investigation when she discovers a victim identifiable only by his hauntingly familiar tattoo—her name inked onto the knuckles of her ex-fiancé, Jake.Years earlier, Alicia’s father, the then-Sheriff, had arrested a teenage occultist for a nearly identical murder, believed to be driven by the suspect’s worship of demonic entities. Now, with Jake’s murder mirroring that past crime, doubts arise about whether the true culprit was ever caught. The mystery deepens with the arrival of Lucas Masterson, a Criminology PhD student studying the confluence between religious trauma and occult crime, who is eager to lend his expertise to the investigation. As Lucas delves into the case, his profound knowledge of the town’s grim history and his outsider perspective strain the local social fabric, while Alicia grapples with her suspicion towards his unsettling familiarity with the crimes. Caught between her strained relationship with her father, the community’s watchful eyes on a female deputy, and her own harrowing ties to the case, Alicia must navigate a maze of potential occultists, convicts, corrupt officials, and clergy to prevent a gruesome history from repeating itself once again.For what lies at the heart of Blood River—is it an ancient malicious force seeking to harm the townfolk, or is there a deeper prejudice in a town that continues to punish women in a way that it does not punish the men?

A Washington Post “Most Anticipated” Book of the Year • A New York Times “Must Read”For readers of My Dark Places and The Fact of a Body, a beautiful, brutal memoir documenting one woman’s search for identity alongside her family's decades-long quest to identify the two men who abducted—and murdered—her mother"Melding true crime with memoir, Ervin reminds us of what happens when we conflate people with the transgressions committed against them—the collateral damage we inflict when we turn human beings into moral allegory . . . A powerful treatise on love and loss, on mothers and daughters, but it is also a warning to all of us who consume true crime." —The New York Times Book ReviewKristine S. Ervin was just eight years old when her mother, Kathy Sue Engle, was abducted from an Oklahoma mall parking lot and violently murdered in an oil field. First, there was grief. Then the desire to know: what happened to her, what she felt in her last terrible moments, and all she was before these acts of violence defined her life.In her mother’s absence, Ervin tries to reconstruct a woman she can never fully grasp—from her own memory, from letters she uncovers, and from the stories of other family members. As more information about her mother's death comes to light, Ervin’s drive to know her mother only intensifies, winding into her own fraught adolescence. She reckons with contradictions of what a woman is allowed to be—a self beyond the roles of wife, mother, daughter, victim—what a “true” victim is supposed to look like, and, finally, how complicated and elusive justice can be.Told fearlessly and poetically, Rabbit Heart weaves together themes of power, gender, and justice into a manifesto of grief and reclamation: our stories do not need to be simple to be true, and there is power in the telling.

A collection of 22 groundbreaking essays offering both sound advice and deep concern for America's future. Addressing topics ranging from consumerism to literary subjects and waste management, Berry gracefully navigates his way through many of the key issues in contemporary culture. But despite the somber nature of his essays, Berry also provides an underlying sense of faith and hope, shedding light onto an otherwise bleak reality.

Pushed to his breaking point and accused of murder, retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney must face his greatest adversary yet to solve a mystery that is quickly tearing his world apartTennis bad boy Ziko Slade is serving twenty years for the grisly murder of small-time criminal Lenny Lerman. The facts of the case—and Slade’s checkered past—seem indisputable. What begins as a cursory review of the case as a favor to Dave Gurney’s wife’s friend soon spirals into something much more complicated. When Gurney’s involvement threatens to expose a viper’s nest of corruption, he finds himself framed for murder and pursued by a sensational media, a ruthless district attorney, and a coldblooded killer.As he evades the law and attempts to solve the case to salvage his reputation, Gurney grapples with the realization that his unshakable need for police work is costing him more than the brilliant detective ever suspected. The Viper is the most shocking and riveting chapter yet in the internationally bestselling Dave Gurney series.

When an old colleague comes to him for help solving the mysterious death of his town's most prominent resident, retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney must use all of his analytical skills to hunt a murderer who just might be killing from beyond the graveThe idyllic community of Larchfield is rocked to its core when Angus Russell, its wealthiest and most powerful citizen, is found dead in his mansion on Harrow Hill. A preliminary analysis of DNA gathered at the crime scene points to the guilt of local bad boy Billy Tate, whose hatred for the victim was well known. Except that Tate fell from the roof of a local church and was declared dead by the medical examiner the day before Russell was killed. When police rush to the mortuary, they discover Tate's coffin has been broken open from the inside, and the body is gone.A series of murders soon follows as Larchfield loses its collective mind. Gun sales explode. Conspiracy theories and religious fundamentalism spread. The once-peaceful town becomes a magnet for sensation seekers, self-proclaimed zombie hunters, TV producers eager for ratings, and apocalyptic preachers rallying the faithful for the end of days. His quiet retirement shattered, ex-NYPD detective Dave Gurney finds himself not only facing down a murderer, but struggling to restore order to the town rapidly spiraling out of control.

21 essays offering an agrarian alternative to our dominant urban culture. Through staunch support of local economies and farming communities, Berry offers a clear vision to those dissatisfied with the destructiveness of American culture.