Rowdy Buddha

“Sapiens doesn't mean being smart - it means being smart enough to know the most suitable, productive and progressive combination of intellect and emotions in a certain situation and to make that combination manifest most graciously through behavior.” Abhijit Naskar, a globally acclaimed author delves deep into the neuronal realm of one of humanity’s most glorious teachers—Buddha. Naskar unravels the neuropsychological processes underneath the divine enlightenment of Buddha and thereafter the rise of the religion known as Buddhism. In his captivating explanatory ways, Naskar takes us inside the protoplasmic realm of the mind of Siddhartha Gautama, more popularly known as Buddha and reveals to us how the rowdy attitude and actions of this conscientious man shook the very foundation of religious orthodoxy in the fifth century BC. “Rowdy Buddha” is the work of a twenty-first century humanitarian thinker about one of his earliest predecessors from the fifth century BC.

Rowdy Scientist puts the human in scientist, and humanity in science. “Rowdy Scientist Sonnet Science is neither boastful nor bashful, Science stands dutybound, forever mindful. Science gives the final answer as a ray of hope, With all avenues exhausted to the last granule. Science is neither defensive nor offensive, Science can't afford such primitive prerogative. Transcending binary norms science acts whole, Defying the comfort of all corrosive narrative. Science is slave to none, science enslaves none, Science blooms from reason, endorsing curiosity. But don't ever confuse curiosity with cynicism, Curiosity brings understanding, cynicism apathy. Average scientists seek answers, Great scientist seeks questions. Submissive scientists chase solutions, I'm a Rowdy Scientist, give me problems!”

Japan’s monastic warriors have fared poorly in comparison to the samurai, both in terms of historical reputation and representations in popular culture. Often maligned and criticized for their involvement in politics and other secular matters, they have been seen as figures separate from the larger military class. However, as Mikael Adolphson reveals in his comprehensive and authoritative examination of the social origins of the monastic forces, political conditions, and warfare practices of the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura (1185–1333) eras, these "monk-warriors"(sôhei) were in reality inseparable from the warrior class. Their negative image, Adolphson argues, is a construct that grew out of artistic sources critical of the established temples from the fourteenth century on. In deconstructing the sôhei image and looking for clues as to the characteristics, role, and meaning of the monastic forces, The Teeth and Claws of the Buddha highlights the importance of historical circumstances; it also points to the fallacies of allowing later, especially modern, notions of religion to exert undue influence on interpretations of the past. It further suggests that, rather than constituting a separate category of violence, religious violence needs to be understood in its political, social, military, and ideological contexts.

What’s gone wrong with the church? If you’ve been feeling that something vital has gone missing from our spiritual lives, you’re not alone. But from scandals involving celebrity preachers, to busy programmes that have little sense of God and struggling to find time to pray, what is it that lies behind the church is crisis? Is it possible that we’ve forgotten to put Jesus at the centre of everything? And if so, what can do we about it? In Smuggling Jesus Back into Church Andrew Fellows shows us with a sharp eye how secularism has reshaped church culture, changing the way many Christians and churches live and worship without being noticed. Both provocative and practical, he challenges us to live with radical Christ-like distinctiveness - distinctiveness that requires both reformation by the church and revival by the Holy Spirit. Timely and prophetic, Smuggling Jesus Back into Church is essential reading for anyone concerned about the effects of secularism on Christianity and modern church culture, or for anyone who struggles with Church and wants to understand why. Filled with passion and vision, it will point you back towards Jesus and revitalise your understanding of what Christian discipleship should be. It’s time to remember what lies at the heart of our faith. It’s time to smuggle Jesus back into church and back into the centre of our lives.

'I believe I shall be writing home about this trip for the rest of my life... years from now, still recollecting, like an old white hunter, shadowy images to an empty fireplace, far into the night...' All the Time in the World, a first work of prose by the poet Hugo Williams, was originally published in 1966 and commemorates Williams' effort at age 21 to 'travel the world': the Middle East, India, South-East Asia, Japan and Australia. Rich with striking and vivid perceptions of people and places and perilous forms of transport, the account also finds Williams acquiring precious life-experience, even as the setting moves from the self-evident 'poem' of India's landscape to barren, petrified Northern Australia. In Calcutta Williams looks up the great Satyajit Ray through the telephone book. In Thailand he meets a girl at a dance-hall, moves into her sunny flat, contemplates staying. But to England he will return, albeit by the most unexpectedly arduous leg of his amazing journey.

A beautiful angel with an ancient score to settle puts out a contract on Lucifer Morningstar! Alerted by an attack on his L.A. bar, Lucifer follows a trail that leads him from the mercurial realm of the Dreaming to the luminous streets of Beijing. Featuring a guest-appearance by the new Sandman!

"The biggest enemies of the state are those politicians who look to win a war, instead of organizing the peace, and the citizens who allow them to do so." When the world of peace politics was in desperate need of light, Mother Nature gave us Abhijit Naskar. Now that light of peace Naskar points us in the direction of global peace, health and harmony, beyond the petty and primitive disputes of sovereignty.

“A movie is not a movie, it is a potential nuclear furnace of inspiration, courage and conscience.” Abhijit Naskar, one of twenty-first century’s most influential thinkers, reveals to us the true power of filmmaking. With his sharp insight of the human mind, Naskar shows us the impact a film can have over the psyche of an individual as well as the conscience of the society. This is not a book of film technicalities, rather The Film Testament is a wake up call to all the filmmakers of the world and an eye-opener for all artists. Here Naskar reveals to us in his unique philosophical manner, how the filmmakers and all other artistic individuals have a great deal to contribute in shaping the civilization. He calls upon these creative minds to put their heart and soul in their work and let that work take the human society forward towards a real conscientious future.