CoolGrove

Category: Non-Fiction

  • Two Magic Rupees and a Space Chillum: Post-colonial travels of a seminal British Rocker

    by Neil Rock

    Two Magic Rupees and a Space Chillum are writer Neil Rock’s (1936 – 2018) 48

    lucid essays that bring us closer to a world and it’s populations in transition after WWII and the collapse of the European Colonial age. The subtitle, Post Colonial Travels of a Seminal British Rocker alludes to his childhood growing up in England when the rapid shrinkage of the British Raj also coincided with another invasion on it’s shores-that of Black American music, into the very soul streams of white British youth. Deeply inspired by the Blues, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues and Rock n Roll, the black men and women who made this music suddenly become subjects of admiration and emulation. Fully affected by this code switch in behavior, our author affords us a fresh look at the aftermath of the Empire as witnessed by an English native who describes his childhood background as follows, “Yorkshire is England’s largest county, an area of industrial cities and large open countryside with quiet valleys dotted with small agricultural villages. Most settlements are old and full of tradition. My playgrounds were places that have names of early English historic provenance: Oakwood, Roundhay, Temple Newsham, Seacroft, Harewood and Cross Gates. In the county there are towns and villages with names such as Streoneshlh (Whitby), Ulaskelf, Thriebergh, Jervaux and Rievaulx, which reveal Yorkshires’ Saxon, Viking and Norman French history. The Shire of York is Hobbit country, the Real Hobbit Country, which having been born in I came to love by exploring it since I was a child of eight years old.”

    But in the 50’s, once he heard music from America, this is what he remembers, “My mission in life was to get up and dance, but I’m looking and I’m talking and can’t find any kids who know this jivin’, swing, boogie stuff.” He steeped himself in the music, jamming and busking with other musicians, adding a component to the music that became the unifying soundtrack of the social revolution brought on by the civil rights movement, hand in hand with the anti-war movement- major social factors not lost on the post-war British youth. Neil Rock did not wind up playing in a British rock band, but being a literati, he continued writing about things as he saw them and his calling took him overseas to experience the world without the usual cultural and racial biases towards the ‘other’ people of the world, attitudes enforced and maintained during the colonial age. Through Mr. Rock’s eyes we get to see what else was going on out.

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  • MADHYAMAKALAMKARAVRITTI: Shantarakshita’s commentary on his Ornament of the Middle Way

    by Abbot Shantarakshita

    “Scripture, without a logic that is based on
    the evidence of things, will not satisfy even
    faithful followers.”
    —Shantarakshita
    Shantarakshita follows in the footsteps of Buddha Shakyamuni who stated that no one should accept his view without testing it as a goldsmith tests gold. In this seminal 8th century text he deconstructs, illucidates and defends Madhayamaka as the essence and central philosophical bases of Mahayana, as elaborated by Nagurjuna—which work preceded the advent of a Buddhist age over much of Asia for a 1000 years. It’s tenets still remains relevant today with discoveries and inventions based on science investigating the ‘nature’ of nature.
    In the Madhyamakalamkaravritti, his commentary on his root text The Adornment of the Middle Way, Shantarakshita aims to completely clarify the position that, while ultimately reality eludes our comprehension, conventional knowledge is useful as a tool for navigating appearances all of which are no more real than the reflection of the moon in water.
    His method of establishing this relies almost exclusively on one tool: To be real an entity must be one or many. If he can show that all the candidates for the real, such as atoms, matter, space, time, God, the soul, subject, object and causal relations fail this test, that if they cannot be said to be one, because the one is not substantial, then it cannot function to produce many.
    Shantarakshita’s motivation for this radical destruction of our basic and cherished beliefs, is to liberate us from anything that can cause us suffering. If we cling to our illusory world, it will fail us, because it is impermanent.
    In sloka 16, Shantarakshita does make one positive assertion about reality, when he asserts self-awareness. But he is careful not to become trapped in the classic Buddhist model of subject, object and activity. Self-awareness, he argues, cannot be understood in this way. Subject and object are not distinct nor identical, not one, not many. Self-awareness has no substantial existence.

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  • RASA or knowledge of the self: Essays on Indian Aesthetics and Selected Sanskrit Studies

    by René Daumal, Translated by Louise Landes Levi

    Daumal’s most important work”
    —Claudio Rugafiori, in conversation.


    About the author René Daumal:
    René Daumal, best known for his novel Mt. Analogue, unfinished at his death, in 1944 (other works in English A Night of Serious Drinking, The Power of the Word, You’ve Always Been Wrong et.al.) was an auto-didact, ie. a non academic Sanskritist. Following youthful experiments, with poet Robert Gilbert Le-Comte (Black Mirror) & initial instruction in Sanskrit with Rene Guernon, he embarked on a solitary study surpassing his teacher & finally formulating his own Sanskrit dictionary. Daumal translated essential texts on Sanskrit composition & the Bharata Natya Sastra, the world’s first treatise on the Dramatic Arts, ca 4th century. He wrote numerous essays on Sanskrit poetics & their relation to spiritual process, the first to recognize the value of these texts for the artists & the cultural milieu of the 20th century.
    As secretary to Uday Shankar, he wrote the first reviews of Indian music and dance in the West (Paris, circa 1935) and accompanied Uday Shankar’s troupe, which included Ravi Shankar as a 12 year old dancer to NYC. During the 2nd. World War, exiled in the South of France, with his wife Vera who was Jewish, he furthered his literary work, completing essays, translations, reviews while maintaining, with others so exiled. a profound epistolary exchange (see Letters 1930-1944), until his death from tuberculosis, shortly before the alien landing.
    RASA, a ‘cult classic’ edited by Claudio Rugafori, secretary of the Daumal archives and translated by American poet and musician, Louise Landes Levi, has earned its reputation.This is its 3rd. edition, prior editions being New Directions, 1982 and Shivastan 2003 and 2006. [Reprinted fr. Blank Forms Journal, No. 7.]

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  • A Short Introduction to the Philosophy of Shantarakshita

    by Marie Friquegnon

    This is a significant contribution to the study of Shantarakshita, the foremost thinker of Tibetan Buddhism. A Short Introduction to the Philosophy of Shantarakshita succeeds in demonstrating that Shantarakshita

    “is truly a philosopher for all seasons.” Shantarakshita’s conception of what his philosophy consisted in is what makes his philosophy relevant to all times: To believe what is in accordance with reason, and to reject what is not in accordance with reason. The book is an excellent introduction not only to Tibetan Buddhism, but also a philosophically stimulating text on many of the fundamental topics from ethics, aesthetics, and epistemology (as viewed by Madhyamikas). In a non-technical vocabulary Friquegnon explains philosophical ideas clearly. The conversational style of the book will be engaging to students and general readers who are new to the topic. Also of interest to students and scholars of comparative philosophy this book presents unifying themes from the introduction to the conclusion. One major theme of the book is the parallel between Shantarakshita and Kant. The chapter on Shankara and the problem of nihilism is particular of interest to the study of Hinduism and Buddhism. There are insightful analogies between Shantarakshita and philosophers ranging from Kant to Wittgenstein. Discussion of Shantarakshita’s conception of language in relation to Wittgenstein is particularly noteworthy.The concluding chapter provides a succinct summary of the central theses of Buddhism, the elimination of suffering through letting go of attachment and craving.” – Hyun HochsmannChair, Department of Philosophy, New Jersey City University

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    BetterWorld Books

  • Margie in the Morning

    by Robbie Saltaire

    Sam Tanenhaus, former editor of the NY Times Book Review and Mary Lee Grisanti, chair of the Film Department at the School of Visual Arts, are a few of the advance readers who’ve enjoyed this joyous memoir. It begins on August 21, 2001 when Robbie Saltaire finds himself browsing on a website that claims it can Find Any Death. Despite that somber promise and its deceased title character, MARGIE IN THE MORNING is bursting with humor, optimism and pure delight at being alive in general and a young person in particular, wandering through Manhattan on a cool spring night in the early 1980’s. John Lennon, Alice in Wonderland and the girls of his 4th-grade class are some of the stars that guide the author from the Metropolitan Museum through Central Park to his corner bar, his bedroom and finally back to the Park for a memorable morning after.

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  • Buddhist Bubblegum

    by Matt Marble

    Raised in the cornfields of Oskaloosa, Iowa, Arthur Russell (1951-1992) would become a visionary cellist, singer, composer, and producer in Lower Manhattan’s “Downtown” arts scene during the 1970s and 80s. Russell’s enigmatic music blended and transcended genres as disparate as Indian raga, Americana folk, avant-garde composition, and disco. He actively infused popular music into Manhattan’s avant-garde art scene, while bringing a Buddhist-inspired experimentalism into American popular music. As poet Allen Ginsberg recalled, “His ambition seemed to be to write popular music, or bubblegum music, but Buddhist bubblegum; to transmit the dharma through the most elemental form…”
    Following Russell’s premature death due to AIDS at age 40, composer Philip Glass reflected, “Arthur was very, very ahead of his time.” And while a few of his dance singles would remain underground classics, Russell’s work would be significantly neglected for over a decade. However, through the archival releases of Audika Records, a documentary film (Wild Combination) and a biography (Hold On to Your Dreams), Russell’s fearless creativity and radical vulnerability have found an admiring audience in the 21st century. Today, celebrated artists–from Kanye West to Rosalía and Peter Broderick–as well as emerging musical generations are breathing new life into Russell’s music and praising his name. Nevertheless, he has remained as mysterious as he has become accessible.

    Buddhist Bubblegum dives deep into the mystery of Arthur Russell and offers an unprecedented exploration into his lifelong Vajrayana Buddhist practice. Author Matt Marble charts Russell’s spiritual path, from his early life as a Buddhist monk on a Bay Area commune to his maturing engagement with Japanese Shingon and Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana traditions in Manhattan. Along the way, we learn how Russell creatively adopted traditional methods of mantra, mandala, meditation, astrology, numerology, and more. Through extensive archival research, personal interviews, and musical score analysis, Marble highlights Russell’s major works and shows how esotericism and aesthetic theory strategically guided his creative process. The writing is supplemented throughout with numerous archival images, featuring Russell’s original scores, notebooks, and photographs. Marble’s work is indebted to the Arthur Russell Estate/NYPL, Audika Records/Steve Knutson, Tom Lee, and Russell’s friends and collaborators, as well as to the pioneering work of biographers Tim Lawrence and Matt Wolf. Hailed by the New York Times as “groundbreaking work,” Buddhist Bubblegum reveals how one of America’s most visionary artists uniquely fused spiritual and musical disciplines.

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  • Northeast India in the Vertical Gorge of Tsangpo: climate change and the crisis of Brahmaputra

    by Arati B. Baruah

    For the benefit of Assamese readers outside India, Coolgrove Press is publishing (2021) Dr. Arati Baruah’s book titled Koilashor Pora Tsangpor Thio Gorat Utter-pub Bharat: Jalabayusalani, Brahmaputrarsankat (with the English title: Northeast India in the Vertical Gorge of Tsangpo: climate change and the crisis of Brahmaputra). It was first published in India with favorable reviews in Assam in 2020. An English version of the above work by the author is being prepared at Coolgrove, provisionally titled, Save the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, Protect the Vertical Pole and Freeze Global Warming.

    As the titles suggest, when it comes to international border crossing rivers, complex factors not limited to environmental, topographical and geological, affect the people who live in those river valleys.

    However, when man-made disasters break upstream, problems cascades downstream where the people often pay the heavier price, though not always, in the long term. Treaties governed by international law need to be in place to enforce accountability for the responsible parties for such tragedies. Transcending national self-interest, the prevention of such disasters in mutual recognition of the loss of traditional lands and lives lost on both sides of the border need to be considered urgently. Such scenarios exist all over the world and require a closer look at the intentions and genuineness of the negotiating parties. Shifting the national aims from mindless and greedy exploitation of nature to mutual, good neighborly co-management of the ecosystems of such river valleys can instead support peace and prosperity on both sides of the river. Topographical geopolitics, historical perceptions and the good faith of the parties become crucial factors in the dynamics of negotiations. But governments come and governments go yet the lives, hopes and dreams of the people of valleys on both sides remain determined by the existence and absence of such guardrails.

    Referring to Tibet as the ‘Vertical Pole’, the author reminds us that Tibet, also known as the ‘Roof of the World’, is actually and spectacularly, the source of all the great rivers of Asia. Let us not forget that both the Ganges and the Brahmaputra as well as other smaller rivers flowing south into India begin in Tibet, fed by glacial melt cascading down the numerous creases of the Himalayas. In the interest of identifying the long view for both sides the border and the world by example, the works offer readers a localized and heartfelt perspective regarding the consequences of the topography and the geology of the long mountainous border region between India and Tibet-China, with an urgent appeal for both countries and the entire world, to pay closer attention to these issues and to take action to avoid catastrophes in the making.

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  • Plunky – JuJu Jazz Funk & Oneness

    by James “Plunky” Branch

    Plunky: Juju Jazz Funk & Oneness – A Musical Memoir, is an overnight success story, 50 years in the making. It documents James Plunky Branch’s career in music and arts activism, and delivers his memoir as a straight forward recollection of anecdotes, journals, and photographs. An early proponent of Afro-jazz and funk, Plunky, with his group Oneness of Juju with their deep rare grooves and progressive political themes, generated international critical acclaim.
    Plunky: Juju Jazz Funk & Oneness is all about decades of transitions, completed circles, and momentous meetings. It is not a standard sex, drugs and rock & roll exposé; rather it is an insider’s look behind the scenes of the independent Black jazz and soul music business and Plunky’s philosophies and methodologies that allowed him to persevere and come out on top.
    While he is primarily a saxophonist, performer and producer, it is his business acumen, his communication skills and his commitment to progressivism that sets Plunky apart. Musicians everywhere can be heartened by Plunky’s shared lessons of balancing the achievement of local stardom with persistently striving for wider, international acclaim.
    This is the memoir of an urban underground artist, straight outta RVA, NYC, SF, London, Paris and Accra. In it we learn Plunky is homegrown, ghetto fabulous, self-actualized and deeper than you’d otherwise ever know. Plunky’s autobiography is a thought-provoking account of various phases of his life as a black musician from the 1960s forward. He has said “I’m not a superstar, but I do play one on local stages.”
    Plunky’s long, successful career is a testament to the power of persistence. Reading his story reminds us all to never quit. Plunky dedicates his book is to those artists, both legendary and unsung, who have inspired him and to the readers he hopes his story will, in turn, encourage.

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  • A Bridge from America to Sadiya

    by Akdas Ali Mir, edited by Dilip Kumar Datta

    This book is a collection of three rare nineteenth century biographies. Two of the biographies are about American missionaries who laid down their lives for the cause of education and spiritual enlightenment of the people of Assam. The third one is the biography of the first native Assamese pastor of the Guwahati Church. Each biography was written by a well-known author who was intimately connected with the life and trials of his or her life. Thus Rev. E. H. Gray, D.D., the author of Mrs. Eliza and Rev. Nathan Brown. Sophie Bronson Titterington, the author of the other two biographies, was a popular writer of the nineteenth century America and daughter of Rev. Miles Bronson.

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  • Jajabori Bhupenda: from my diary pages

    by Stuty Patel

    About legendary singer song writer Bhupen Hazarika of Assam, India. This is his youngest sisters recollections about her brother displayed in pages of diary entires, dates, photos, art and stories about her brother.

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