Arts & Letters – Spirituality

Attitudes​ to the BBC are, for the most part, spirit-sappingly predictable. Politicians of all parties believe it is biased against them. One powerful lobby claims it is a hotbed of radicals bent on undermining national identity, another that it is the mouthpiece of the establishment. Some critics denounce the licence fee as insulating the BBC against the bracing winds of competition, while others complain that the corporation has already abandoned its public service remit...

Sister Clear Grace Dayananda left the monastery, packed her life into a little van, and went out into the world to meet people where they are and where they are suffering. Here, she considers khanti, the paramita of forbearance, and the work it requires. Sister Clear Grace Dayananda left the monastery, packed her life into a little van, and went out into the world to meet people where they are and...

Claude Monet is regarded as the most well known Impressionist artist. His late work is increasingly considered to be the precursor for the abstraction of the 20th century.

here is a sense in which the former Soviet Union was ruled by books. Stalin read avidly to learn how to apply the ideas that underpinned the new state, and protect it from danger. Here he followed the lead of the founder. Like Lenin, Stalin was an intellectual in power. When some are comparing him with Vladimir Putin, Geoffrey Roberts’ summary view may be apposite: “Stalin was no psychopath but...