Advaita Vedanta is one of the best-known schools of Indian philosophy, but much of its history--a history closely interwoven with that of medieval and modern Hinduism--remains surprisingly unexplored. This book focuses on a single remarkable work and its place within that history: The Ocean of Inquiry, a vernacular compendium of Advaita Vedanta by the North Indian monk Niscaldas (ca. 1791 - 1863). Though not well known today, Niscaldas's work was once referred to by Vivekananda (himself a key figure in the shaping of modern Hinduism) as the most influential book in India. The present book situates The Ocean of Inquiry as representative of both a neglected genre (vernacular Vedanta) and a neglected period (ca. 17th-19th centuries) in the history of Indian philosophy. It argues that the rise of Advaita Vedanta to a position of prestige began well before the period of British rule in India, and that vernacular texts like The Ocean of Inquiry played an important role in popularizing Vedantic teachings. It also offers a new appraisal of the period of late Advaita Vedanta, arguing that it should not be seen as one of barren scholasticism. For thinkers like Niscaldas, intellectual "inquiry" (vicara) was not an academic exercise but a spiritual practice-indeed, it was the central practice on the path to liberation. The book concludes by arguing that without understanding both vernacular Vedanta and the scholasticism of the period, one cannot fully understand the emergence of modern Hinduism.

The Ocean of Inquiry: Niscaldas and the Premodern Origins of Modern Hinduism (South Asia Research)

History

Allen, Michael S.

World

Oxford University Press

The Ultimate Guide to Applied Strategies for Managing Business Units and Portfolios Two of the most important business trends of recent years are increasing corporate acquisitions and managing business units as individual companies with a synergistic relationship to the parent company. Business Portfolio Management is an indispensable tool for corporate managers and strategists involved in these pursuits. This no-nonsense reference cuts through the competing claims and conventional wisdom to take a hard look at the realities of portfolio management. It provides the concepts and strategies necessary to create real strategic alternatives, estimate accurately the value of each alternative, and understand the risks involved in each. It supplies a framework for choosing between alternatives, for making tradeoffs between risks and opportunities, and for understanding how individual units in a portfolio will interact. From beginning to end, the concepts, techniques, and situations discussed in Business Portfolio Management are illustrated with detailed examples drawn from actual consulting engagements conducted by the author and his colleagues. These examples not only provide specific descriptions of how portfolio management concepts are implemented in the real world, they also give a real-world picture of the magnitude of value increases that are created through effective portfolio management.

Business Portfolio Management: Valuation, Risk Assessment, and EVA Strategies

Business & Money

Finance

John Wiley&Sons, Inc.

A study of the development of Richard Hugo's poetry over the span of eight books, 'We are Called Human: The Poetry of Richard Hugo' focuses on one of the most distinctive and powerful voices in contemporary American poetry. After discussing the emergence of a "poetics of need,"  the author takes up each book in turn, from the poetry of "Northwest baroque" (as Frederick Garber calls it) in 'A Run of Jacks' (1961) to the crucial but often overlooked 'Good Luck in Cracked Italian' (1969) to the western sensibility of 'The Lady in Kicking Horse Reservoir' (1973) and through the widely acclaimed 'The Right Madness on Skye' (1980). ln this thorough survey, the strengths of Hugo's poetry become clear: his careful sensitivity and use of sound and metrics; his startling imagery, evident long before the advent of fashionable surrealism; his ﬁrm regional roots in the people and the landscape of the Northwest and West; and, above all else, his consciousness of the essential connections between people-connections that ultimately make us human. We live in an increasingly fragmented society and the voices of our poets have become increasingly isolated, aloof, arcane. Along with the poetry of Philip Levine, the late James Wright, William Stafford, and Maxine Kumin, Hugo's poetry carefully weighs the losses of community in our lives and celebrates what remains of that "continuum of song" that is the essential heart of poetry.

We Are Called Human: The Poetry of Richard Hugo

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

University of Arkansas Press

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Books by Allen, Michael S.