Discovering the Vedas
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Narrated by:
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B Andrew
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By:
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Frits Staal
About this listen
"This is a remarkable book. It untangles the many complexities of the Vedas and combines Staal's scholarly respect for the texts, with explanations that are lucid and occasionally witty. His insights are thoughtful and perceptive." (Romila Thapar)
In this unprecedented guide to the Vedas, Frits Staal, the celebrated author of Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar and Universals: Studies in Indian Logic and Linguistics examines almost every aspect of these ancient sources of indic civilisation. Staal extracts concrete information from the oral tradition and archaeology about Vedic people and their language, what they thought and did, and where they went and when. He provides essential information about the Vedas and includes selections and translations. Staal sheds light on mantras and rituals that contributed to what came to be known as Hinduism.
Significant is a modern analysis of what we can learn from the Vedas today: the original forms of the Vedic sciences, as well as the perceptive wisdom of the composers of the Vedas. The author puts Vedic civilisation in a global perspective through a wide-ranging comparison with other indic philosophies and religions, primarily Buddhism for Staal, originally a logician, the voyage of discovering the Vedas is like unpeeling an onion but without the certainty of reaching an end. Even so, his book shows that the Vedas have a logic all their own. Accessible, finely-argued, and with a wealth of information and insight, Discovering the Vedas is for both the scholar and the interested lay listener.
©2008 Frits Staal (P)2019 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
The success of books such as Elaine Pagels's Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code proves beyond a doubt that there is a tremendous thirst today for finding the hidden truths of Christianity - truths that may have been lost or buried by institutional religion over the last two millennia. In Forbidden Faith, Richard Smoley narrates a popular history of one such truth, the ancient esoteric religion of gnosticism, which flourished between the first and fourth centuries AD, but whose legacy remains even today, having survived secretly throughout the ages.
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An absolute must for understanding Gnosticism.
- By Patriot RN - Doc on 05-12-21
By: Richard Smoley
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The Lost World of Adam and Eve
- Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate
- By: John H. Walton, N.T. Wright
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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For centuries, the story of Adam and Eve has resonated richly through the corridors of art, literature, and theology. But for most moderns, taking it at face value is incongruous. Author John Walton explores the ancient Near Eastern context of Genesis 2-3, creating space for a faithful reading of Scripture along with full engagement with science for a new way forward in the human origins debate.
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Not For Me
- By Ax on 09-20-18
By: John H. Walton, and others
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The Anunnaki Connection
- Sumerian Gods, Alien DNA, and the Fate of Humanity
- By: Heather Lynn PhD
- Narrated by: Chelsea Stephens
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Anunnaki Connection, Heather Lynn connects a diverse range of new and existing theories about the Anunnaki, offering a definitive guide to Mesopotamian gods while exploring what role they might have played in engineering mankind. The Anunnaki Connection traces the evolution of gods throughout the Ancient Near East, analyzing the religion, myth, art, and symbolism of the Sumerians, investigating: Who are the Anunnaki?
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meh
- By Marco on 05-27-20
By: Heather Lynn PhD
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Battling the Gods
- Atheism in the Ancient World
- By: Tim Whitmarsh
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before the European Enlightenment and the Darwinian revolution, which we often take to mark the birth of the modern revolt against religious explanations of the world, brave people doubted the power of the gods. Religion provoked skepticism in ancient Greece, and heretics argued that history must be understood as a result of human action rather than divine intervention. They devised theories of the cosmos based on matter and notions of matter based on atoms.
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We have a history as long and as rich as any relig
- By Glencannnon on 08-13-19
By: Tim Whitmarsh
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The Dream of Reason, New Edition
- A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance
- By: Anthony Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Anthony Gottlieb
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Already a classic, this landmark study of early Western thought now appears in a new edition with expanded coverage of the Middle Ages. Author Anthony Gottlieb looks afresh at the writings of the great thinkers, questions much of conventional wisdom, and explains his findings with unbridled brilliance and clarity. From the pre-Socratic philosophers through the celebrated days of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, up to Renaissance visionaries like Erasmus and Bacon, philosophy emerges here as a phenomenon unconfined by any one discipline.
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Bias spoils the work.
- By MC on 08-21-20
By: Anthony Gottlieb
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Martin Heidegger
- By: George Steiner
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
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With characteristic lucidity and style, Steiner makes Heidegger's immensely difficult body of work accessible to the general reader. In a new introduction, Steiner addresses language and philosophy and the rise of Nazism. "It would be hard to imagine a better introduction to the work of philosopher Martin Heidegger." (George Kateb, The New Republic)
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Where is Heidegger on audible?!
- By Abdullah Taha on 10-14-19
By: George Steiner
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Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (The Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies)
- By: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
- Narrated by: Aze Fellner
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for History. This book discusses the troubling and possibly irreconcilable split between Jewish memory and Jewish historiography.
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Best book of history of Judaism written in centuries
- By Bicigodo on 07-19-15
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The History of Philosophy
- By: A. C. Grayling
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 28 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The story of philosophy is an epic tale, spanning civilizations and continents. It explores some of the most creative minds in history. But not since the long-popular classic by Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy, published in 1945, has there been a comprehensive and entertaining single-volume history of this great, intellectual, world-shaping journey.
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A much needed update to Bertrand Russell's classic
- By Michael on 06-27-20
By: A. C. Grayling
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The Scientist in the Early Roman Empire
- By: Richard Carrier
- Narrated by: Richard Carrier
- Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In this extensive sequel to Science Education in the Early Roman Empire, Dr. Richard Carrier explores the social history of scientists in the Roman era. Was science in decline or experiencing a revival under the Romans? What was an ancient scientist thought to be and do? Who were they, and who funded their research? And how did pagans differ from their Christian peers in their views toward science and scientists?
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This Book is a Bombshell
- By James on 06-15-18
By: Richard Carrier
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Hinduism
- A Comprehensive Guide to the Hindu Religion, Hindu Gods, Hindu Beliefs, Hindu Rituals, and Hinduism History
- By: Cassie Coleman
- Narrated by: Dryw McArthur
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Explore the Hindu religion with its fascinating rituals and history! This audiobook has eye-opening information about Hinduism that will help you to understand the religion, gods, beliefs, and rituals and how the religion has evolved over time. You will discover more than you ever imagined exists in Hinduism, and by the end of this audiobook, you’ll know a lot about a religion that has over one billion followers worldwide.
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Avoid this overly simplified view of Hinduism
- By Peter on 03-24-23
By: Cassie Coleman
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The Ark Before Noah
- Decoding the Story of the Flood
- By: Irving Finkel
- Narrated by: Irving Finkel, Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Since the Victorian period, it has been understood that the story of Noah, iconic in the Book of Genesis, and a central motif in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, derives from a much older story that existed centuries before in ancient Babylon. But the relationship between the Babylonian and biblical traditions was shrouded in mystery. Then, in 2009, Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum and a world authority on ancient Mesopotamia, found himself playing detective.
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excellent, enlightening, entertaining
- By D. Littman on 07-17-14
By: Irving Finkel