As a young, up and coming electrical engineer living in England, Ray Brooks had everything he could want'Äîa high paying job, late nights, and fast cars. All he was missing in his life was the meaning.A series of events brought him to Japan, where he met a man who played the shakuhachi, an ancient Japanese flute. That fortuitous interaction motivated Brooks to embark on a journey to learn this very difficult instrument.Through playing the shakuhachi, he began to understand th...

An uplifting story of spiritual awakening revealing simple yet profound truths about our natural state of being, set amidst the atmospheric banks of the River Ganges that will appeal to self-help and Eat, Pray, Love readers.It is widely thought that finding peace, happiness and freedom requires tremendous effort – that in order to achieve a state of contentment and harmony in life, a journey must be taken, or someone or something must be awakened or overcome.After a chance ...

The Shadow that Seeks the Sun is a thought-provoking memoir of the author’s search for unconditional freedom. With affectionate humor, the narrator, Ray, introduces an unforgettable cast of characters who inhabit the banks of the River Ganges in Rishikesh, India. Interwoven throughout these lively stories are nine insightful conversations that take place between Ray and Rudra, an intriguing Anglo-Indian man he met by chance on the ghats. With Rudra’s guidance, these simple, yet profou...

Learning My Lines by Ray Brooks. 'Ray Brooks’ acting career has spanned more than four decades, from his breakthrough role in iconic 1960s film The Knack, to infamy as the murderer of Pauline Fowler in EastEnders. The diary Ray wrote while working on EastEnders provides us with a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes at Albert Square, and also prompts Ray to take dips into his past: growing up in Brighton with his bus conductress mother, working with Ken Loach on the ground-breaking BBC dr...

The epic qualities of Lorna Doone – seen both in its extreme archetypal characters as well as in the action and language itself – are what makes it such a riveting adventure throughout. Just as the boy John Ridd climbed the waterfall into an almost fairytale world of evil Doones and the enchanting Lorna; so we are drawn into Blackmore’s fictional drama, which is at the same time both real and magical. Notice how John’s narrative and actions – at times grandly poetic and heroic, at others u...

A bookseller turns P. I. in this intriguing five-part BBC radio thrillerGrahame Mayer specialises in selling books, not solving mysteries. So when he’s asked to play private investigator and track down a soldier from the Spanish Civil War, he wonders if it’s some sort of test – and if so, what will happen if he fails...Armed with fresh information, he is sent to Glasgow on the trail of Jock Cameron, and a meeting with a former nurse who knew him back in Spa...

All four radio series of Robert Barr’s gripping London-based police dramaOriginally broadcast as Detective: Stories of Crime and Detection in London, this BBC radio drama ran for four series between 1980 and 1985. Written by the award-winning creator of Z Cars and Softly Softly, Robert Barr, it comprised 39 thrilling stories set in London’s criminal underworld, all of which are collected here for the first time.DS...

A collection of suspenseful standalone radio thrillers by Edward BoydScottish writer Edward Boyd was well known for his TV and radio plays, including The Corridor People and The View from Daniel Pike, and he also penned several episodes of Z-Cars. He specialised in the thriller genre, and this collection showcases six of his best radio crime dramas.The Wolf Far Hence – Steve Gardiner heads to the Highland...

A portable collection of short inspirational readings by “one of the world's wisest women”—the American Buddhist teacher and author of When Things Fall Apart (O, the Oprah Magazine)Pema Chödrön, beloved Buddhist nun and best-selling author, offers this treasury of 108 short selections from her more than four decades of study and writings. Here she presents teachings on breaking free of destructive patterns; developing patience, kindness, and joy a...

Insights and strategies for claiming victory over fear, from “one of the most remarkable and brilliant teachers of modern times” (Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart)Many of us, without even realizing it, are dominated by fear. We might be aware of some of our fears—perhaps we are afraid of public speaking, of financial hardship, or of losing a loved one. Chögyam Trungpa shows us that most of us suffer from a far more pervasive fearfulness: fear of...

The story of Tenzin Palmo, an Englishwoman, the daughter of a fishmonger from London's East End, who spent 12 years alone in a cave 13,000 feet up in the Himalayas and became a world-renowned spiritual leader and champion of the right of women to achieve spiritual enlightenment.Diane Perry grew up in London's East End. At the age of 18 however, she read a book on Buddhism and realised that this might fill a long-sensed void in her life. In 1963, at the age of 20, she went to India,...

India for first time visitors. A guide to the cultural quirks of India.