Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. No notes or highlighting. Some creasing on cover. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> The aim of life is to transcend the apparently obvious: the stone we stub our toe against or the body as the core of our sensuous existence. Truth comes from our apprehension that this is mere illusion. Nevertheless paradoxically material culture has been of considerable consequence as the means of expressing this conviction. The merely vestigial forms at the center of a temple may be contrasted with the massive gates at the periphery. The faded pastels of an elderly woman are in stark contrast with the bright and sensual colors of the bride precisely in order to express in material form the goal of transcending our attachment to material life. But the history of South Asia is not just the history of its religions. There is a parallel history which tells of the endless struggle of cosmology with practice. This is the history of accumulation taxation wars and looting empire and excess. It culminates in the integration of this region. (LL)