With his master strokes, Sengupta offers an all-pervasive analysis of the microcosm, his seemingly nonchalant style being the most powerful weapon to demolish our long-cherished views about human life: the claustrophobic existence in the City of Joy as depicted in “The Bengali Phenomenon”; the suffering of Christ in the time of crucifixion as written in “Expressions”; and the appalling lightlessness when shadows grow longer as portrayed in “Illumination.” Sengupta extends the metaphor of the book’s title in some of the poems, emphasizing the essential loneliness of our existence when we speak to ourselves in prose or verse...we are compelled to realize how lonely we are yet how rich in poetry, and [Solitary Stillness] is a preparation of the voyage to meet the “infinite” with a poetic brush. —World Literature Today

In this collection of excerpts from his essays, notebooks, and letters, pre-eminent modern poet Rainer Maria Rilke meditates on subjects as varied as a dolls, walking among trees, and the great sculptor Rodin. Where Silence Reigns, a sampling from his essays, notebooks, and letters, shows Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), the pre-eminent modern poet of solitude and inwardness, seeking to reconcile his personal conflict between the claims of "life" and the claims of art. His subjects are commonplace, seemingly innocuous at times: the encounter between a man and a dog, a collection of dolls, a walk among trees. But always the deceptively simple external phenomenon is seen as the symbol, the catalyst of an intensely felt inner experience. As he confided to his friend Frau Wunderly-Volkart: "Oh, how often one longs to speak a few degrees more deeply! My prose... lies deeper... but one gets only a minimal layer further down; one’s left with a mere intimation of the kind of speech that may be possible THERE where silence reigns." In addition to occasional pieces and notebook entries, this volume contains selections from the strange and haunting "Dream-Book," the lyrical "Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke," and the entire "Rodin-Book"––Rilke’s appreciation of the great sculptor whom he had served as secretary.

This is a book about spirituality for the solitary, those people who live alone. In the past they were known as hermits, eremites, and anchorites; today they are known as pioneers, mountain men and women, widows, widowers, and people who choose to live alone in the country or in the city. They spend their days like other ordinary people taking care of daily chores, but also spending some time in prayer and meditation. The solitary life is alive and well, and it appears in all world religions. The solitary seeks solitude for prayer, meditation, self-awareness, and personal development. Living alone in a house or apartment begins to transform one's life; a person sets off on the path of purpose, the path of integrity, the path of transcendence that lifts his or her heart, mind, and spirit to the divine presence, God, who transforms more and more as the solitary dives deeper and deeper. This book provides an in-depth exploration of spirituality for the solitary along with eight-part exercises designed to further enhance solitary spirituality. Included are prayers, psalms in contemporary English, and celebrations using natural things, such as water, oil, and fire.

“An unforgettable look at the peculiar horrors and humiliations involved in solitary confinement” from the prisoners who have survived it (New York Review of Books). On any given day, the United States holds more than eighty-thousand people in solitary confinement, a punishment that—beyond fifteen days—has been denounced as a form of cruel and degrading treatment by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. Now, in a book that will add a startling new dimension to the debates around human rights and prison reform, former and current prisoners describe the devastating effects of isolation on their minds and bodies, the solidarity expressed between individuals who live side by side for years without ever meeting one another face to face, the ever-present specters of madness and suicide, and the struggle to maintain hope and humanity. As Chelsea Manning wrote from her own solitary confinement cell, “The personal accounts by prisoners are some of the most disturbing that I have ever read.” These firsthand accounts are supplemented by the writing of noted experts, exploring the psychological, legal, ethical, and political dimensions of solitary confinement. “Do we really think it makes sense to lock so many people alone in tiny cells for twenty-three hours a day, for months, sometimes for years at a time? That is not going to make us safer. That’s not going to make us stronger.” —President Barack Obama “Elegant but harrowing.” —San Francisco Chronicle “A potent cry of anguish from men and women buried way down in the hole.” —Kirkus Reviews

Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller & Wall Street Journal Bestseller In The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, bestselling author Ryan Holiday made ancient wisdom wildly popular with a new generation of leaders in sports, politics, and technology. In his new book, Stillness Is the Key, Holiday draws on timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to show why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead. All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers. To avoid distraction and discover great insights. To achieve happiness and do the right thing. Ryan Holiday calls it stillness--to be steady while the world spins around you. In this book, he outlines a path for achieving this ancient, but urgently necessary way of living. Drawing on a wide range of history's greatest thinkers, from Confucius to Seneca, Marcus Aurelius to Thich Nhat Hanh, John Stuart Mill to Nietzsche, he argues that stillness is not mere inactivity, but the doorway to self-mastery, discipline, and focus. Holiday also examines figures who exemplified the power of stillness: baseball player Sadaharu Oh, whose study of Zen made him the greatest home run hitter of all time; Winston Churchill, who in balancing his busy public life with time spent laying bricks and painting at his Chartwell estate managed to save the world from annihilation in the process; Fred Rogers, who taught generations of children to see what was invisible to the eye; Anne Frank, whose journaling and love of nature guided her through unimaginable adversity. More than ever, people are overwhelmed. They face obstacles and egos and competition. Stillness Is the Key offers a simple but inspiring antidote to the stress of 24/7 news and social media. The stillness that we all seek is the path to meaning, contentment, and excellence in a world that needs more of it than ever.

Introduces the techniques and strategies of practicing silence as a spiritual discipline. Covers a wide range of methods including sitting meditations such as psalm repetition and breath counting; visual meditations; mental prayer; and kinetic meditations such as cloister walking and the stations of the cross.

The author describes the time he lived deliberately alone as a caretaker of a ranch and the effect of this solitude has had on his life, arguing that spending time alone reduces stress and leads to a simpler existence.

WALK INTO THE SECRET PLACE of the Most High and experience freedom from this present world darkness and you won't want to leave. Yet, Eunice, a single mother, is surprised at what she finds in that place. Her four-year-old son narrowly escapes a fatal accident only to disappear in small sleepy Candler. She has difficult colleagues at her new job and a troubled student with a mysterious past who insists on drawing her into the enigma. Add to the above an aging mother who lives with her, a decrepit car and long road trip, an adventure story of intrigue and you have In The Secret Place Of The Most High, a entertaining novel, packed with adventure, whimsical characters, and wisdom....a read that will draw you again and again into a secret place. "A talented writer with deep loyalties to the truth of God's Word creates both interest and biblical candor about the spiritual battles of life. Rebecca House's gifts as a writer of fiction enables her to compel our attention toward using biblical truth to defeat intrusive evil. Those who read this book will enjoy its wholesome entertainment while absorbing its spiritual message of the believer's victory in Christ." Mark I. Bubeck, president emeritus of Deeper Walk International and author of The Adversary, Overcoming The Adversary, Raising Lambs Among Wolves, and Fire From Heaven. In 1985, Rebecca House left a promising career in academia to rear two children who are now grown. She is currently working on her second novel, The Severed Silver Cord, which continues the tale of Eunice and her victory over the darkness. Check out her website at http: //rebeccahouseofficialsite.blogspot.com