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Many people in the United States are poor, lead marginal lives, and need jobs as well as basic services such as education, medical care, and housing. Multitudes in other parts of the world, in addition to being poor, are jailed, tortured, and killed for being members of the wrong ethnic group or expressing political opinions. Those who argue for empowerment claim it is a magic bullet. It can liberate the oppressed, largely through self-organization, self-motivation, self-invention, and even self-clarity. William M. Epstein sees contemporary empowerment practice in the United States as a civic church of national values, one better in performing its ceremonial role than god-based houses of worship. By itself, empowerment is not worth the effort of commentary, since it achieves none of its goals and has not even generated a respectable critical literature. But Epstein argues that empowerment practice and American social welfare both embody prescriptive cultural preferences. Like art and music, empowerment opens windows into deeper social meaning. The social sciences have carved out roles for themselves by looking for simple remedies, ones that are inexpensive and compatible with contemporary social arrangements. Epstein shows that those in social work practices have not only deluded themselves into thinking that these services have real instrumental value, but really operate at cross-purposes. This accessible work will attract critical attention among these professional groups. It bases its carefully-documented insights upon informed sociological and anthropological theory.
By combining anthropological observation with historical examination of the tea ceremony, this book radically revises mainstream discourses surrounding women and the tea ceremony in Japan.
Empowerment of North American Indian Girls is an examination of coming-of-age-ceremonies for American Indian girls past and present, featuring an in-depth look at Native ideas about human development and puberty. Many North American Indian cultures regard the transition from childhood to adulthood as a pivotal and potentially vulnerable phase of life and have accordingly devised coming-of-age rituals to affirm traditional values and community support for its members. Such rituals are a positive and enabling social force in many modern Native communities whose younger generations are wrestling with substance abuse, mental health problems, suicide, and school dropout. Developmental psychologist Carol A. Markstrom reviews indigenous, historical, and anthropological literatures and conveys the results of her fieldwork to provide descriptive accounts of North American Indian coming-of-age rituals. She gives special attention to the female puberty rituals in four communities: Apache, Navajo, Lakota, and Ojibwa. Of particular interest is the distinctive Apache Sunrise Dance, which is described and analyzed in detail. Also included are American Indian feminist interpretations of menstruation and menstrual taboos, the feminine in cosmology, and the significance of puberty customs and rites for the development of young women.
Focusing on the term empowerment this book examines the various meanings given to the concept of empowerment and the many ways power can be expressed - in personal relationships and in wider social interactions.
Rites of Passage, or what we call Rites of Empowerment, have helped people celebrate the natural evolution in their lives for thousands of years. Today few milestones are celebrated and those that are gloss over and fall short of addressing the emotional issues that mystify and create havoc in our worlds. Indigenous peoples have always celebrated the natural cycles of change and rites of passage promote the mourning that goes with accepting changes in our lives and closure heals the wounds of our inner child. Rites of Empowerment celebrate our growth and maturation as individuals as we travel along our Path of Heart toward enlightenment. Rituals balance our masculine and feminine energies and help us regain the Five Hauquas, health, hope, happiness, harmony, and humor in our lives, which are every human's inalienable rights. The book gives instructions on how to facilitate over 50 life-changing ceremonies. Included are numerous poems and stories to make your ceremonies personal and extra special.
Replies to queries from a disciple on the teaching of Mahāmudrā and its initiations; an explanation instruction according to the Rñiṅ-ma-pa tradition.
Uncover the nature of the mind with this ground-level, practice-oriented presentation of Tibetan Buddhism. A personal and accessible guide to establishing progress on the path. The book begins with the awakening of students' interest in spirituality and the initial encounter with Tibetan Buddhism, then leads us through all the steps necessary for successful practice in the West. Included is succinct counsel on finding an appropriate teacher, receiving empowerments, becoming active in a center, and launching and sustaining a Vajrayana practice. Special emphasis is placed on the potential pitfalls, and the marvelous benefits, of the guru-disciple relationship.
Buddhist teachings provide numerous methods for bringing greater meaning and happiness into our lives and into our relationships with others. In A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path, Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche reveals these methods in direct, vibrant, down-to-earth language. At the core of this work lies The Jewel Treasury of Advice, a text composed by Drikung Bhande Dharmaradza (1704–1754), the reincarnation of Drikung Dharmakirti. Khenchen Rinpoche interprets these ancient teachings with compassion, humor, and a keen awareness for their relevance in contemporary Western life. Those who sincerely want to study and practice the Buddha's teachings will find this an indispensable guide.
No ordinary collection of tales, this anthology was the result of extensive research that led Shah to conclude that there is a certain basic fund of human fictions which recur again and again throughout the world and never seem to lose their compelling attraction. This special paperback version of World Tales concentrates on the essentials, the text of the stories, and omits the illustrations which were part of a previous edition.