KRISHNA'S COUNSEL sweeps you back to sleepy south India in the 1960s, right into the tumultuous life of Pia, a brilliant and defiant teenager whose world disintegrates under the brutal sword-thrust of an eerie death. It is the loving gift of a magnificent view of eastern philosophy - particularly a poignant scene in the Bhagavad Gita, when Lord Krishna advises the quailing warrior Prince Arjuna to pick up his great bow Gandiva and forever rout the corrupt foe, regardless of the consequences - that saves her from certain self-annihilation. Many years later, now a gorgeous woman living in frenetic New York City, Pia is tracked down and coaxed to return to India to deal with an insistent throng of old ghosts. But horror strikes yet again - and she is compelled by supernatural agents to heed Lord Krishna’s timeless advice as she finds herself on the trail of a charming psychopath who will stop at nothing to kill her.

The Bhagavad-Gita has been an essential text of Hindu culture in India since the time of its composition in the first century A.D. One of the great classics of world literature, it has inspired such diverse thinkers as Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and T.S. Eliot; most recently, it formed the core of Peter Brook's celebrated production of the Mahabharata.

KRISHNA'S COUNSEL sweeps you back to sleepy south India in the 1960s, right into the tumultuous life of Pia, a brilliant and defiant teenager whose world disintegrates under the brutal sword-thrust of an eerie death. It is the loving gift of the magnificent view of eastern philosophy - particularly a poignant scene in the Bhagavad Gita, when Lord Krishna advises the quailing warrior Prince Arjuna to pick up his great bow Gandiva and forever rout the corrupt foe, regardless of the consequences - that saves her from certain self-annihilation. Many years later, now a gorgeous woman living in frenetic New York City, Pia is tracked down and coaxed to return to India to deal with an insistent throng of old ghosts. But horror strikes yet again - and she is compelled by supernatural agents to heed Lord Krishna's timeless advice as she finds herself on the trail of a charming psychopath who will stop at nothing to kill her.

America, one of the most religious countries in the world, is also the most violent. Do God and war define the American spirit as much as apple pie and baseball? This unsettling book illustrates how bellicose, war-like language is used to explain the spiritual quest. It explores the violence of God tradition as it exists in all religions (including Buddhism), and then examines how this dynamic is flipped, with political leaders using spiritual and religious language to sell war to the general public. Although God and religion have often been used to sell war in the United States, this has been especially true since 9/11. After surveying the relationship of war and the spiritual quest in the major world religions, this study concludes with an overview of how that dynamic has affected the contemporary American public discourse on war. Does this intermingling of war and spirituality prepare the population for the coming of war? The institutional blending of the sacred and human aggression appear to be fundamental to human society. The second section of the book concentrates on the political language and speeches of American politicians since 2002, following the run-up to the Iraq war and its continuation over the past decade, showing how this mystical/war conflation permeates American society.

Krishna in Mahabharatham

The Global Humanities Reader is a collaboratively edited collection of primary sources with student-centered support features. It serves as the core curriculum of the University of North Carolina Asheville's almost-sixty-year-old interdisciplinary Humanities Program. Its three volumes--Engaging Ancient Worlds and Perspectives (Volume 1), Engaging Premodern Worlds and Perspectives (Volume 2), and Engaging Modern Worlds and Perspectives (Volume 3)--offer accessible ways to explore facets of human subjectivity and interconnectedness across cultures, times, and places. In highlighting the struggles and resilient strategies for surviving and thriving from multiple perspectives and positionalities, and through diverse voices, these volumes course correct from humanities textbooks that remain Western-centric. One of the main features of the The Global Humanities Reader is a sustained and nuanced focus on cultivating the ability to ask questions--to inquire--while enhancing culturally aware, reflective, and interdisciplinary engagements with the materials. The editorial team created a thoroughly interactive text with the following unique features that work together to actualize student success: * Cross-cultural historical introductions to each volume * Comprehensive and source-specific timelines highlighting periods, events, and people around the world * An introduction for each source with bolded key terms and questions to facilitate active engagement * Primed and Ready questions (PARs)--questions just before and after a reading that activate students' own knowledge and skills * Inquiry Corner--questions consisting of four types: Content, Comparative, Critical, and Connection * Beyond the Classroom--explore how ideas discussed in sources can apply to broader social contexts, such as job, career, project teams or professional communities * Glossary of Tags--topical 'hubs' that point to exciting new connections across multiple sources These volumes reflect the central role of Humanities in deepening an empathic understanding of human experience and cultivating culturally appropriate and community-centered problem-solving skills that help us flourish as global and local citizens.