A Guru S Journey

An important modern exponent of Asian dance, Pandit Chitresh Das brought kathak to the United States in 1970. The North Indian classical dance has since become an important art form within the greater Indian diaspora. Yet its adoption outside of India raises questions about what happens to artistic practices when we separate them from their broader cultural contexts. A Guru's Journey provides an ethnographic study of the dance form in the San Francisco Bay Area community formed by Das. Sarah Morelli, a kathak dancer and one of Das's former students, investigates issues in teaching, learning, and performance that developed around Das during his time in the United States. In modifying kathak's form and teaching for Western students, Das negotiates questions of Indianness and non-Indianness, gender, identity, and race. Morelli lays out these issues for readers with the goal of deepening their knowledge of kathak aesthetics, technique, and theory. She also shares the intricacies of footwork, facial expression in storytelling, and other aspects of kathak while tying them to the cultural issues that inform the dance.

Guru Dutt Is Probably The Only Indian Film-Maker Who, Within The Parameters Of The Box Office, Made A Personal Statement With His Cinema. His Films Stand Testimony Not Only To His Own Genius But Also To The Creativity Of His Team, Comprising Stalwarts Like Cameraman V.K. Murthy, Music Director S.D. Burman, And Writer Abrar Alvi, Among Others. In Ten Years With Guru Dutt: Abrar Alvi&Rsquo;S Journey, Sathya Saran Looks At The Tumultuous Yet Incredibly Fecund Relationship Between The Mercurial Director And His Equally Talented Albeit Unsung Writer, A Partnership That Evolved Over A Decade Till Guru Dutt&Rsquo;S Tragic Death In 1964. Starting His Career As A Driver And Chaperone To Guru Dutt&Rsquo;S Producer On The Sets Of Baaz, Abrar Soon Caught The Attention Of The Director With His Sharp Ear For And Understanding Of Film Dialogue. With Aar Paar In 1954, Abrar Rewrote The Rules Of Dialogue Writing In Hindi Cinema, Till Then Marked By Theatricality And Artificiality. He Followed It Up With Mr And Mrs &Rsquo;55, Pyaasa And Kaagaz Ke Phool&Mdash;All Veritable Treatises On The Art Of Scriptwriting&Mdash;Before Donning The Director&Rsquo;S Mantle With Great Success In Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. Full Of Anecdotes&Mdash;About How Abrar Honed His Skills By Writing Over 300 Love Letters; How An Accident Involving A Buffalo Led To The Discovery Of Waheeda Rehman; Guru Dutt&Rsquo;S Visit To A Kotha To Get The Ambience Right For Pyaasa&Mdash;Ten Years With Guru Dutt Is A Warm And Insightful Look At Two Remarkable Artistes Who Inspired Each Other To Create Movie Magic. It Is, At The Same Time, An Intimate Account Of The Ecstasy And The Agony That Marked The Making Of Some Of The Enduring Classics Of Indian Cinema.

As a child growing up in the Hollywood Hills during the 1950s, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson thought it was perfectly normal that a guru named Paul Brunton lived with his family and dictated everything about their daily rituals, from their diet to their travel plans to his parents' sex life. But in this extraordinary memoir, Masson reflects on just how bizarre everything about his childhood was-especially the relationship between his father and the elusive, eminent mystic he revered (and supported) for years. Writing with candor and charm, Masson describes how his father became convinced that Paul Brunton-P.B. to his familiars-was a living God who would fill his life with enlightenment and wonder. As the Masson family's personal guru, Brunton freely discussed his life on other planets, laid down strict rules on fasting and meditation, and warned them all of the imminence of World War III. For years, young Jeffrey was as ardent a disciple as his father-but with the onset of adolescence, he staged a dramatic revolt against this domestic deity and everything he stood for. Filled with absurdist humor and intimate confessions, My Father's Guru is the spellbinding coming-of-age story of one of our most brilliant writers.

The Explosive True Story of How an Internet Newbie Overcame Obstacles to Achieve Explosive Success Online ...And How His Confessions Can Help You Succeed Too!

Begin to meditate—or renew your practice—with this straightforward guide that is free from pretension and complication. Is there a way you can learn to slow down and experience yourself more fully, your life more deeply, and other people in the present moment without adopting a new religious or philosophical ideology? Clark Strand answers with a clear and simple "yes!" Short, compelling reflections show you how to make meditation a part of your daily life, without the complication of gurus, mantras, retreats, or treks to distant monasteries. What is the proper way to breathe? Where should I meditate? What should I sit on? How often should I practice? You'll find the answers surprising as Strand breaks down modern-day stereotypes about meditation and leaves the one thing a successful meditation practice truly needs: you.

In 1985, when Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was expelled from the United States, he left behind a bizarre trail of devoted followers, illegal wiretaps and marriages, attempted murders, and 93 Rolls-Royces. Gordon follows that trail, exploring the strange happenings.

By the early twenty-first century, a phenomenon that once was inconceivable had become nearly commonplace in American society: the public spiritual teacher who neither belongs to, nor is authorized by a major religious tradition. From the Oprah Winfrey-endorsed Eckhart Tolle to figures like Gangaji and Adhyashanti, there are now countless spiritual teachers who claim and teach variants of instant or immediate enlightenment. American Gurus tells the story of how this phenomenon emerged. Through an examination of the broader literary and religious context of the subject, Arthur Versluis shows that a characteristic feature of the Western esoteric tradition is the claim that every person can achieve "spontaneous, direct, unmediated spiritual insight." This claim was articulated with special clarity by the New England Transcendentalists Bronson Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Versluis explores Transcendentalism, Walt Whitman, the Beat movement, Timothy Leary, and the New Age movement to shed light on the emergence of the contemporary American guru. This insightful study is the first to show how Asian religions and Western mysticism converged to produce the phenomenon of "spontaneously enlightened" American gurus.