Punk Monk

Fleeing the compromises of the 4th century church, the Desert Fathers founded monasticism. In reaction to a Christianity they scarcely recognized, these radicals fled to the Egyptian desert to model a different, radical style of discipleship, filled with sacrifice and continual prayer. Who are the new monks, the new punks, the new revolutionaries? The answer lies in an upsurge of 24-7 monastic communities around the world. Punk Monk combines a narrative journey through the beginnings of 24-7 Prayer Boiler Rooms with a discussion on the roots of monasticism, particularly its ethos and values, and how it can be applied in the third millennium. Drawing influences from the Franciscans, the Celts and the Moravians, the book highlights the counter-cultural and revolutionary force of monasticism and asks whether it is time for a new monastic movement. It also takes punk as a contemporary expression of monastic spirit and asks whether a “silent revolution” is coming.

Following the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution, the People's Republic of China gradually permitted the renewal of religious activity. Tibetans, whose traditional religious and cultural institutions had been decimated during the preceding two decades, took advantage of the decisions of 1978 to begin a Buddhist renewal that is one of the most extensive and dramatic examples of religious revitalization in contemporary China. The nature of that revival is the focus of this book. Four leading specialists in Tibetan anthropology and religion conducted case studies in the Tibet autonomous region and among the Tibetans of Sichuan and Qinghai provinces. There they observed the revival of the Buddhist heritage in monastic communities and among laypersons at popular pilgrimages and festivals. Demonstrating how that revival must contend with tensions between the Chinese state and aspirations for greater Tibetan autonomy, the authors discuss ways that Tibetan Buddhists are restructuring their religion through a complex process of social, political, and economic adaptation. Buddhism has long been the main source of Tibetans' pride in their culture and country. These essays reveal the vibrancy of that ancient religion in contemporary Tibet and also the problems that religion and Tibetan culture in general are facing in a radically altered world.

"Tradition is the living faith of the dead." —Jaroslav Pelikan The movement to retrieve the Christian past is a mode of theological discernment, a cultivated habit of thought. It views the doctrines, practices and resonant realities of the Christian tradition as deep wells for a thirsty age. This movement across the church looks back in order to move forward. David Buschart and Kent Eilers survey this varied movement and identify six areas where the impulse and practice of retrieval has been notably fruitful and suggestive: the interpretation of Scripture, the articulation of theology, the practices of worship, the disciplines of spirituality, the modes of mission and the participatory ontology of Radical Orthodoxy. In each area they offer a wide-angle view before taking a close look at representative examples in order to give finer texture to the discussion. More than a survey and mapping of the terrain, Theology as Retrieval inspires reflection, practice and hope.

In the wickedly bittersweet and hilarious You Must Go and Win, the Ukrainian-born musician Alina Simone traces her bizarre journey through the indie rock world, from disastrous Craigslist auditions with sketchy producers to catching fleas in a Williamsburg sublet. But Simone offers more than down-and-out tales of her time as a struggling musician: she has a rapier wit, slashing and burning her way through the absurdities of life, while offering surprising and poignant insights into the burdens of family expectations and the nature of ambition, the temptations of religion and the lure of a mythical Russian home. Wavering between embracing and fleeing her outsized and nebulous dreams of stardom, Simone confronts her Russian past when she falls in love with the music of Yanka Dyagileva, a Soviet singer who tragically died young; hits the road with her childhood friend who is dead set on becoming an "icon"; and battles male strippers in Siberia. Hailed as "the perfect storm of creative talent" (USA Today, Pop Candy), Simone is poised to win over readers of David Rakoff and Sarah Vowell with her irresistibly funny and charming literary debut.

It’s five teenage girls, four giant robots, three pooka, two army companies, and one airship against the whole of the Oversky. You’ve got to be kidding. Whose plan was this? Lennia! In good news, Lekodias has been defeated. In bad news, she’s now Empress of the Oversky, with powerful generals at her command. The fate of both worlds comes down to this, one last epic battle that will shake the heavens themselves.

This non-fiction guide covers the myriad scams, tricks and money business that Asia is famous for, as well as a philosphical foray into the world of punk and outsidership.

Effarna was only supposed to be in charge for a little while. You know the drill, help lost kids and answer questions. How hard could that be? There wasn’t any mention of “invasion” in the job description. Nor was there any mention of recruiting a squad of new friends, traveling the world together, acquiring new powers, delving into dungeons, fixing the Great Crystals, and battling insane bosses. Whose idea of fun was this? To win, all her party needs is a boat load of ambition and a good plan. Fortunately, they’ve got ambition. The plan? That’s going to need a little work. Anybody got a plan?

Robert Saler examines the small but influential Death to the World movement in US Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Presenting a case study in theological aesthetics, Saler demonstrates how a relatively small consumer phenomenon within US Eastern Orthodoxy sits at the centre of a variety of larger questions, including: - The relationship between formal ecclesial and para-church structures - The role of the Internet in modern religiosity - Consumer structures and patterns as constitutive of piety - How theology can help us understand art and vice versa Understanding "Death to the World" as an instance of lived religion tied to questions of identity, politics of religious purity, relationships to capitalism, and concerns over conspiracy theory helps us to see how studies of uniquely American Eastern Orthodox identity must address these broader cultural strands.