Robert Butler

'Vairagya Catakam', 'One Hundred Verses on Detachment' by the Virasaivite Saint and founder of Perur Athinam, Santhalinga Swamigal, consists of 50 verses of teachings and 50 verses of praise. Whilst being entirely Advaitic in import, it is also a great devotional work in praise of Lord Siva. It includes the Tamil text, English translation, phrase by phrase word-split translation and extensive notes.

The RENEW idea was born out of this experience, our reluctance to accept the status quo and the understanding that the American institutional church of our fathers is crumbling. While we admit some church expressions are thriving, many are only the result of transfer growth of those who are discontent. While the 'cool' factor may bring them in, we know there's not a fog machine, a strobe light, a celebrity pastor or a worship band that can reverse the decline. The time has come for a wholesale change. The group we believe has done the greatest investigation and learned the most through practical application is the Forge Network. Michael Frost, Alan Hirsh, Lance Ford, and Hugh Halter have been championing movement to extend God's Kingdom and reign through solid orthodoxy, proxy and pathy. The American culture has made it clear to those gathering on Sunday: The good news is only good if you are willing to proclaim it and live it daily. Forge provides a host of residencies and training across the world. RENEW is a missional expression in a great sea of expressions to authentically reach, teach and create true followers of Jesus. Anything less taints the message and enforces the American Christian hypocrite stigma. RENEW encompasses the best of all great expressions and heralds back to the original movement of Jesus. We are part of the larger movement seeking to discover a life worth living which truly offers a foretaste of heaven. We are focused on reaching the "none, done and undone" in every context. The "nones" are those individuals with no religious context, the "dones" are those individuals who have been in the belly of the current American church and "undone" are those who have all but checked out of this life because of what they have or are currently enduring. The following fifty-two chapters are the discussion primers. They represent an effort to synthesize orthodox theology with cultural conundrums to help individuals and groups become more thoughtful in the practice of the Christian faith. We believe all the topics lead the group to a more orthodox understanding of Jesus. We subscribe to the Christian theological mainstream. Our book is meant to be read, wrestled with and discussed. We suggest this book be a group project with multiple levels of spiritual maturity present during the discussion. Our first RENEW group consisted of over fifty individuals. We are now in the second year of meeting together on weekday evenings. We have seen all types of people and viewpoints. We have laughed, cried, argued and even agreed to disagree. The process has been life giving.

How did religion rise? Why did it survive from prehistory up into the modern age? What will happen in the world now that it has begun to decline in every educated country in the world? Where are we going to be as a nation filled with the faithless, with closed churches and the faithful barely existing beyond isolated pockets around the nation? Answers exist for all questions, they need only be sought, herein lie the answers of one author who has researched the issue from multiple angles, written for all so that they might find understanding, and ease their fears, and find hope in a future without faith.

The human head remains in a state of consciousness for one and a half minutes after decapitation. In a heightened state of emotion, people speak at a rate of 160 words per minute. Inspired by this, Robert Olen Butler wrote Severance, sixty-two vignettes each exactly 240 words in length, that capture the flow of thoughts that go through a person's mind after their head has been severed. Here are the imagined ultimate words of famous and invented figures - Medusa, Sir Walter Raleigh, Anne Boleyn, Jayne Mansfield, and a chicken, beheaded for Sunday dinner. Following on from this, Butler addressed the question of: what goes through the mind of a person while having sex? Turning his daring imagination to the intimate, Butler lays bare the most flagrant, personal thoughts and feelings of fifty, often surprising, couples in Intercourse.

Arunachala Aksharamanamalai is a hymn of praise to the holy mountain Arunachala in South India, composed by Sri Ramana Maharshi in 1915, to be recited by devotees whilst collecting alms. It is accompanied by the vritti urai - extended commentary of Sri Muruganar, one of Sri Ramana's most prominent devotees. The commentary elucidates in great detail the advaitic teachings contained in the terse, two line verses of the original.

A prose and verse translation with grammatical commentary of the Upadesha Unthiyar of Sri Ramana Maharshi with relevant verses from the Tiru Unthiyar of Sri Muruganar. Also included are Manikkavacagar's Tiru Unthiyar and extracts from the Avirodha Unthiyar of Santalinga Swamigal and the Tiru Unthiyar of Uyyavantha Teva Nayanar. The book can be read in its own right, or as a companion volume to 'Ulladu Narpadu - a grammatical commentary' by the same author.

This book is a translation of the Tamil sthala Purana of Tiruvannamalai composed in the 17th century by Saiva Ellappa Navalar, with special reference to the Arunachala Mahatmya, a section of the Sanskrit Skanda Purana, which is one of its major sources.

Words of wisdom meant to help make this a better world for all of our grandchildren. If they are compassionate, caring, loving, gentle, kind, generous, and peacemakers, then this world has a chance!

What do women do when the criminal justice system has failed them? Four women band together to answer that question!

"The Alchemist Exposed" is an intelligent study of Ben Johnson's masterpiece "The Alchemist", in which a couple join forces to pose as alchemists, attracting dupes of every kind, anxious to fulfil their crazy lusts and dreams. The play bursts with energy and invention, and offers an irresistible critique of human greed and gullibility. As well as commenting on the play in general, "The Alchemist Exposed" also documents the production which opens at the National Theatre in September 2006, starring Alex Jennings and Simon Russell Beale.