World Religions

Delve into Ancient Mysteries with Some of Freemasonry's Most Guarded Secrets

The Holy Grail. The medieval stories of Merlin. The ancient Greek Mysteries. Discover the connection between them all with this phenomenal book by 32nd-degree Freemason and celebrated author John Michael Greer. He uses careful research to fit together seemingly unrelated traditions and topics, drawing on translated texts and published documents that, until recently, were jealously guarded. A must-read for anyone interested in occult Freemasonry and the Grail mysteries, this book provides answers that have eluded seekers for centuries.

Using the earliest surviving Masonic ritual texts as well as pioneering insights and writings by Jessie Weston, William Morris, and other renowned scholars, this book reconstructs the Grail ritual and provides guidelines for performing it. Greer also presents Freemasonry's origins, full translations of pivotal essays, and fascinating history from megalithic to modern times. The Ceremony of the Grail pieces together a puzzle that has captivated practitioners throughout the ages.

The myth of Shangri-la originates in Tibetan Buddhist beliefs in beyul, or hidden lands, sacred sanctuaries that reveal themselves to devout pilgrims and in times of crisis. The more remote and inaccessible the beyul, the vaster its reputed qualities. Ancient Tibetan prophecies declare that the greatest of all hidden lands lies at the heart of the forbidding Tsangpo Gorge, deep in the Himalayas and veiled by a colossal waterfall. Nineteenth-century accounts of this fabled waterfall inspired a series of ill-fated European expeditions that ended prematurely in 1925 when the intrepid British plant collector Frank Kingdon-Ward penetrated all but a five-mile section of the Tsangpo's innermost gorge and declared that the falls were no more than a "religious myth" and a "romance of geography."

The heart of the Tsangpo Gorge remained a blank spot on the map of world exploration until world-class climber and Buddhist scholar Ian Baker delved into the legends. Whatever cryptic Tibetan scrolls or past explorers had said about the Tsangpo's innermost gorge, Baker determined, could be verified only by exploring the uncharted five-mile gap. After several years of encountering sheer cliffs, maelstroms of impassable white water, and dense leech-infested jungles, on the last of a series of extraordinary expeditions, Baker and his National Geographic-sponsored team reached the depths of the Tsangpo Gorge. They made news worldwide by finding there a 108-foot-high waterfall, the legendary grail of Western explorers and Tibetan seekers alike.

The Heart of the World is one of the most captivating stories of exploration and discovery in recent memory--an extraordinary journey to one of the wildest and most inaccessible places on earth and a pilgrimage to the heart of the Tibetan Buddhist faith.

First published in France in 1929, Magic and Mystery in Tibet tells the story of the author's experiences in Tibet, among lamas and magicians. Alexandra David-Neel's memoir offers an objective account of the supernatural events she witnessed during the 1920s among the mystics and hermits of Tibet--including levitation, telepathy, and the ability to walk on water! She tells of great sages and sorcerers that she met; of the system of monastic education; the great teachers and their disciples; Tibetan folklore about these spiritual athletes; reincarnation and memory from previous lives; elaborate magical rites to obtain enlightenment; the horrible necromantic magic of the pre-Buddhist Bonpa shamas; mental visualization exercises to create disembodied thought forms (tulpas); visions; phenomena of physical yoga, control of the body heat mechanism; breathing exercises; sending "messages on the wind"; and much similar material. An unusual aspect of her book is that she herself experienced many of the phenomena she describes, yet she describes them with precision and in a matter-of-fact manner, permitting the reader to draw his own conclusions about validity, interpretation in terms of psychology, and value. Particularly interesting for the modern experiencer are her detailed instructions for tumo (the yoga of heat control) and creation of thought projections. This deluxe edition has all of the original photographs plus additional photos and maps, as well several introductions. Chapters include: Tibet and the Lamas; A Guest of the Lamas; A Famous Tibetan Monastery; Dealing with Ghosts and Demons, Disciples of Yore and their Contemporary Emulators; Psychic Sports; Mystic Theories and Spiritual Training; Psychic Phenomena in Tibet--How Tibetans Explain Them; more.

***NPR Books We Love 2021 selection***

"If you're only going to read one Everest book this decade, make it The Third Pole. . . . A riveting adventure."--Outside

Shivering, exhausted, gasping for oxygen, beyond doubt . . .

A hundred-year mystery lured veteran climber Mark Synnott into an unlikely expedition up Mount Everest during the spring 2019 season that came to be known as "the Year Everest Broke." What he found was a gripping human story of impassioned characters from around the globe and a mountain that will consume your soul--and your life--if you let it.

The mystery? On June 8, 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine set out to stand on the roof of the world, where no one had stood before. They were last seen eight hundred feet shy of Everest's summit still "going strong" for the top. Could they have succeeded decades before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? Irvine is believed to have carried a Kodak camera with him to record their attempt, but it, along with his body, had never been found. Did the frozen film in that camera have a photograph of Mallory and Irvine on the summit before they disappeared into the clouds, never to be seen again? Kodak says the film might still be viable. . . .

Mark Synnott made his own ascent up the infamous North Face along with his friend Renan Ozturk, a filmmaker using drones higher than any had previously flown. Readers witness first-hand how Synnott's quest led him from oxygen-deprivation training to archives and museums in England, to Kathmandu, the Tibetan high plateau, and up the North Face into a massive storm. The infamous traffic jams of climbers at the very summit immediately resulted in tragic deaths. Sherpas revolted. Chinese officials turned on Synnott's team. An Indian woman miraculously crawled her way to frostbitten survival. Synnott himself went off the safety rope--one slip and no one would have been able to save him--committed to solving the mystery.

Eleven climbers died on Everest that season, all of them mesmerized by an irresistible magic. The Third Pole is a rapidly accelerating ride to the limitless joy and horror of human obsession.