The first book to analyze why India's caste system has authoritatively endured for so long, this path-breaking text provides, for the first time anywhere, an exhaustive analysis of the historical predecessor to caste: the ancient Indian varna system as it was laid out in the Vedic literature. Presenting a revisionist overview of the way the religion of the Veda is to be understood, Classifying the Universe demonstrates that social classes were systematically reduplicated in taxonomies that organized the universe as a whole. The classification of society, in which some groups...

In 1975, I registered for the draft and graduated from high school. That was the year that Saigon fell and the United States pulled out of Vietnam. I had dodged the bullet and headed off to college. My classmates were Vietnam Vets and Journalistic Rebels ready to change the world. The rest of the 70's was filled with the Cold War, Jimmy Hoffa disappearing, the Jonestown Massacre, the Soviet invasion of Afganistan, and the development of the nuetron bomb. For me, it was time to question our existence and our purpose. These poems written late at night, on pieces of scratch paper, became Letters...

For Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, a provocative yet compassionate guide using a series of insightful lessons, meditations, and exercises designed to incite a fresh take on our quest for happiness and the good life.

Start a Revolution, Incite Happiness

Delivered with fearless candor and disarming humor, Lama Marut introduces a simple set of exercises that offers a revolutionary yet wholly practical approach to creating and sustaining happiness in a complex modern age.

Integrating the ancient teachings of Tibetan Buddhism into the everyday...