Poems are my small piece of heaven: a unique and fascinating experience and pleasure. They communicate my emotions and experiences and everything I feel about and view love and life which are what everybody wants : to enjoy life to the fullest ,to love and to be loved - (F Jackson transcript)

The London Of 1895 At Oscar Wilde, Gilbert And Sulivan Operas, An Seductive West End Actresses. Nikilesh Mitra Is Only Nineteen When He Steps Into This Dazzling World Of Excitement And Glamour To Study Law. Away From The Initial Rumblings Of India S Freedom Movement, He Falls Madly In Love With Ruth Lavine, A Ravishing Stage Artiste. Their Affair Becomes The Grist For Many Victorian Gossip Mills. But, Reckless And Caught In The First Throes Of Passion, Little Does Nikhil Know That His Life Will Soon Change Dramatically. Half A Century Later, Maya, An English Journalist, Discovers A Spiritual Pamphlet On The Underground In London. Mesmerized, She Decides To Come To India A Land With Which She Shares A Tenuous Link. Violent Riots Blaze Across The Country As Maya Arrives In Bombay In 1947. A Series Of Events Unfold As Maya Confronts The Mysteries Of Her Past And Unravels A Family Secret That Has Haunted Her All Her Life.

This work focuses on the teachings of an outstanding Zen master of 13th century China -- Shiqi Xinyue, "Mind-Moon" of Stone River. Stone River was a religious leader who served as the abbot of a number of major Zen temples, and was honored by the imperial authorities as an eminent holy man.

The current age marks the transition from modernity to postmodernity, a period as impactful to the Western sensibility as any previous era. The role of religion and the future of Christianity are at stake. At this time of transition, many thoughtful individuals find themselves at a quandary, having reached a critical stage in their spiritual journey. Prompted by academia, science, reason, culture, and their own experience, they feel compelled to choose between the beliefs they inherited as children and the claims of science, reason, pluralism, and secularism. Beyond Belief suggests that one need not take an either/or approach on these issues; there is a better way, one that embraces adventure and ambiguity, science and religion, reason and faith, evolution and creation, and finds ways to live creatively with realities for which there are no easy explanations. Building on a paradigmatic journey of faith that involves three stages (precritical, critical, and postcritical understanding), Beyond Belief describes the quest for God and for authentic faith in the twenty-first century. The key point for this understanding is to replace belief with faith, acknowledging that belief in doctrines is not central, since they are themselves unprovable. This new theological perspective requires rethinking many of our cherished doctrines, including our understanding of God, Jesus, Scripture, prayer, miracles, and revelation.

This English translation of Giorgio Buccellati’s ambitious work offers readers an insightful discussion of ancient Mesopotamian religion and spirituality in its relationship to the biblical ethos. Our understanding of ancient Mesopotamian religion, while shaped by a wealth of archaeological, artistic, and epigraphic evidence, remains limited with regard to a proper hermeneutic approach. In this volume, Buccellati sheds light on the spirituality of Mesopotamian polytheism by drawing comparisons with that of biblical monotheism. These comparisons are used to better understand the divine-human relationship in the Mesopotamian context, as both individuals and members of a wider community. In addition, Buccellati provides detailed discussions on divination and the central role of fate in ancient Mesopotamia. Buccellati’s understanding of Mesopotamian religion and spirituality as illuminated by biblical texts, now available to an Anglophone audience, offers much food for thought on this challenging subject. "When on High the Heavens...": Mesopotamian Religion and Spirituality with Reference to the Biblical World provides a wide-ranging and thorough exploration of Mesopotamian religion for students, scholars, and researchers in Near Eastern archaeology and history, biblical studies, and the history of religion and spirituality.

Who am I? Why am I? Where am I headed and where have I been? These are just some of the questions that concern the author of Going Beyond the Jesus Story, a book that ranges freely across complex and intriguing subject areas such as the nature of religious belief, contemplative and meditative experience, lucid dreaming, the role of feeling in our appreciation of reality, the inherently spiritual nature of asking questions, and our need to go beyond not only the Jesus story as it has come down to us, but also the ingrained notion that self is an ongoing, uninterrupted experience of the conscious mind that can be taken for granted. Directing our attention to the nature of attention itself, we are introduced, step by carefully constructed step, to the idea that consciousness is not what we have assumed it to be, or conscious awareness quite as conscious as we like to think it is. Delving into history, theology and philosophy in an attempt to reach an integrated understanding of the religious and secular problems we face as human beings, the author examines ideas that confront and challenge on just about every level, ideas that carry us towards an appreciation of what it means to presence the self to the self as an experience in its own right. At this point theory gives way to experiment, to methodology, to a knowing or seeing that makes this book a unique contribution to the study of human sentience and its evolved, and evolving structures.

Mount Rainier looms over the skyline of the Pacific Northwest as a beacon for thrill seekers, but also for those looking for an escape from everyday existence. Four men have decided to backpack on the Wonderland Trail looping around the mountain for very different reasons. Josh is on a pilgrimage to his favorite place in the world in hopes of steering his life back on course. Chris is on a quest for one last wondrous sunset. After searching for his missing wife for the last three months, Scott goes to the mountain as a tribute to Diane and a faint hope that he might find her there. Marvin is trying to escape from his present situation and past deeds. With each step on the trail they learn that they can't outrun the demons that haunt their lives, or even their dreams, and the mighty volcano is not a passive participant to their plans. Beyond Devil's Dream camp the journey spirals out of control, as the splendors around them refresh the spirit, the physical dangers challenge their mortality. In the end, only two of the men will be left to make the final race to Paradise.

There are no beings, there are only divine thoughts that appear as beings. Shapes constantly transform, manifest, and dissolve, while essential being is forever. Essential Being is the One Being, the that permeates the Cosmos. No being was ever created by anyone, for being is forever in the past, present and future. Being is One. The Ocean of being permeates all beings. Brahma, the Creator is not needed in an eternal cosmos. Vishnu, the Preserver is not needed in an ever transforming cosmos Shiva, the Destroyer is not possible in an eternal cosmos, for all things transform into other things. Although shapes appear and dissolve forever, being never dies nor is being destroyed.