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Book Monk s Reflections

    Book Details:
  • Author : Edward A. Malloy
  • Publisher : Andrews McMeel Publishing
  • Release : 2009-01-01
  • ISBN : 0740786547
  • Pages : 240 pages

Download or read book Monk s Reflections written by Edward A. Malloy and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I am excited to have this opportunity to share some of my experiences and considered reflections. . . . I hope to provide some sense of what the world looks like from my desk as the president of Notre Dame." --Father Edward Malloy The book falls into three parts: "The University President," in which Father Malloy explains the president's role; "Academia and the Life of the Mind," in which he examines the practices of teaching and scholarship in the contemporary university setting; and "The Collegiate World," in which he comments on the nonacademic facets of college life, including athletics, residentiality, and religion. Father Malloy writes in a warm, personable tone, often touching on his own life experiences. He is not afraid to voice strong opinions, but he does so in a compassionate manner that speaks well of him both as a priest and a president, and that makes for an eminently readable book. Notre Dame alumni are among the most dedicated and loyal in America, and will enjoy reading about Father Malloy's experiences.

Book Strangers to the City

    Book Details:
  • Author : Michael Casey
  • Publisher : Paraclete Press
  • Release : 2013-09-01
  • ISBN : 155725950X
  • Pages : 186 pages

Download or read book Strangers to the City written by Michael Casey and published by Paraclete Press. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Casey, a monk and scholar who has been publishing his wise teachings on the Rule of St. Benedict for decades, turns to the particular Benedictine values that he considers most urgent for Christians to incorporate into their lives today. Eloquent and incisive, Casey invites readers to accept that gospel living - seen in the light of the Rule - involves accepting the challenge of being different from the secular culture around us. He encourages readers to set clear goals and objectives, to be honest about the practical ways in which priorities may have to change to meet these goals, and to have the courage to implement these changes both daily and for the future. Casey presents thoughtful reflections on the beliefs and values of asceticism, silence, leisure, reading, chastity, and poverty - putting these traditional Benedictine values into the context of modern life and the spiritual aspirations of people today. Strangers to the City is a book for all who are interested in learning more about the dynamics of spiritual growth from the monastic experience.

Book The Madman s Middle Way

    Book Details:
  • Author : Donald S. Lopez Jr.
  • Publisher : University of Chicago Press
  • Release : 2007-05-15
  • ISBN : 0226493172
  • Pages : 273 pages

Download or read book The Madman s Middle Way written by Donald S. Lopez Jr. and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2007-05-15 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gendun Chopel is considered the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century. His life spanned the two defining moments in modern Tibetan history: the entry into Lhasa by British troops in 1904 and by Chinese troops in 1951. Recognized as an incarnate lama while he was a child, Gendun Chopel excelled in the traditional monastic curriculum and went on to become expert in fields as diverse as philosophy, history, linguistics, geography, and tantric Buddhism. Near the end of his life, before he was persecuted and imprisoned by the government of the young Dalai Lama, he would dictate the Adornment for Nagarjuna’s Thought, a work on Madhyamaka, or “Middle Way,” philosophy. It sparked controversy immediately upon its publication and continues to do so today. The Madman’s Middle Way presents the first English translation of this major Tibetan Buddhist work, accompanied by an essay on Gendun Chopel’s life liberally interspersed with passages from his writings. Donald S. Lopez Jr. also provides a commentary that sheds light on the doctrinal context of the Adornment and summarizes its key arguments. Ultimately, Lopez examines the long-standing debate over whether Gendun Chopel in fact is the author of the Adornment; the heated critical response to the work by Tibetan monks of the Dalai Lama’s sect; and what the Adornment tells us about Tibetan Buddhism’s encounter with modernity. The result is an insightful glimpse into a provocative and enigmatic workthatwill be of great interest to anyone seriously interested in Buddhism or Asian religions.

Book Reflections of a Radical Servant Leader

Download or read book Reflections of a Radical Servant Leader written by Loretta B. Randle M.A. and published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2023-01-25 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grandmothers are God's super weapon! At age sixty-seven, Loretta B. Randle, M.A., received her master of arts in global urban leadership with an emphasis in servant leadership from Bakke Graduate University. Loretta is a licensed minister of New Visions Christian Fellowship Church. She established the outreach ministry of When 1000 Grandmother's Pray Prayer Advocacy. After returning from a missions trip from India, Loretta organized the Children's Prayer Initiative. She has over forty years of passionate community transformation activistism and child advocacy service. Today, at age of seventy-three, Loretta B. Randle serves as an innovator of Christian community development initiatives. She shares wisdom in various volunteer leadership roles in community based and faith-based local, national and global contexts. Loretta is in continuous state of submission to the transforming work of the Spirit of God to renew and inspire her servants calling. Loretta offers personal discipleship coaching, professional character strength coaching, and provides contemplative prayer and wellness practices for the busy and helping professional through Lead Well Initiative.

Book Think Like a Monk

    Book Details:
  • Author : Jay Shetty
  • Publisher : Simon & Schuster
  • Release : 2020-09-08
  • ISBN : 1982134488
  • Pages : 352 pages

Download or read book Think Like a Monk written by Jay Shetty and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jay Shetty, social media superstar and host of the #1 podcast On Purpose, distills the timeless wisdom he learned as a monk into practical steps anyone can take every day to live a less anxious, more meaningful life. When you think like a monk, you’ll understand: -How to overcome negativity -How to stop overthinking -Why comparison kills love -How to use your fear -Why you can’t find happiness by looking for it -How to learn from everyone you meet -Why you are not your thoughts -How to find your purpose -Why kindness is crucial to success -And much more... Shetty grew up in a family where you could become one of three things—a doctor, a lawyer, or a failure. His family was convinced he had chosen option three: instead of attending his college graduation ceremony, he headed to India to become a monk, to meditate every day for four to eight hours, and devote his life to helping others. After three years, one of his teachers told him that he would have more impact on the world if he left the monk’s path to share his experience and wisdom with others. Heavily in debt, and with no recognizable skills on his résumé, he moved back home in north London with his parents. Shetty reconnected with old school friends—many working for some of the world’s largest corporations—who were experiencing tremendous stress, pressure, and unhappiness, and they invited Shetty to coach them on well-being, purpose, and mindfulness. Since then, Shetty has become one of the world’s most popular influencers. In 2017, he was named in the Forbes magazine 30-under-30 for being a game-changer in the world of media. In 2018, he had the #1 video on Facebook with over 360 million views. His social media following totals over 38 million, he has produced over 400 viral videos which have amassed more than 8 billion views, and his podcast, On Purpose, is consistently ranked the world’s #1 Health and Wellness podcast. In this inspiring, empowering book, Shetty draws on his time as a monk to show us how we can clear the roadblocks to our potential and power. Combining ancient wisdom and his own rich experiences in the ashram, Think Like a Monk reveals how to overcome negative thoughts and habits, and access the calm and purpose that lie within all of us. He transforms abstract lessons into advice and exercises we can all apply to reduce stress, improve relationships, and give the gifts we find in ourselves to the world. Shetty proves that everyone can—and should—think like a monk.

Book Mindful Monks

    Book Details:
  • Author : George Wilton
  • Publisher : Az Boek
  • Release : 2024-03-04
  • ISBN : 6256468716
  • Pages : 38 pages

Download or read book Mindful Monks written by George Wilton and published by Az Boek. This book was released on 2024-03-04 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the Ancient Practices for Tranquility and Spiritual Growth.

Book The Sunflower

    Book Details:
  • Author : Simon Wiesenthal
  • Publisher : Schocken
  • Release : 2008-12-18
  • ISBN : 0307560422
  • Pages : 306 pages

Download or read book The Sunflower written by Simon Wiesenthal and published by Schocken. This book was released on 2008-12-18 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Holocaust survivor's surprising and thought-provoking study of forgiveness, justice, compassion, and human responsibility, featuring contributions from the Dalai Lama, Harry Wu, Cynthia Ozick, Primo Levi, and more. You are a prisoner in a concentration camp. A dying Nazi soldier asks for your forgiveness. What would you do? While imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Simon Wiesenthal was taken one day from his work detail to the bedside of a dying member of the SS. Haunted by the crimes in which he had participated, the soldier wanted to confess to--and obtain absolution from--a Jew. Faced with the choice between compassion and justice, silence and truth, Wiesenthal said nothing. But even years after the way had ended, he wondered: Had he done the right thing? What would you have done in his place? In this important book, fifty-three distinguished men and women respond to Wiesenthal's questions. They are theologians, political leaders, writers, jurists, psychiatrists, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, and victims of attempted genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, China and Tibet. Their responses, as varied as their experiences of the world, remind us that Wiesenthal's questions are not limited to events of the past.

Book Monastic Wisdom

    Book Details:
  • Author : Elder Joseph
  • Publisher : Saint Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery
  • Release : 1999-10
  • ISBN : 9780966700015
  • Pages : 0 pages

Download or read book Monastic Wisdom written by Elder Joseph and published by Saint Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery. This book was released on 1999-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presented here for the first time in English as "Monastic Wisdom," this collection of Elder Joseph's letters makes the wealth of his wisdom and experience available to readers from all walks of life. As his struggles and lifestyle of stillness unfold, readers witness his difficult trials and battles with the demons, his profound visions and spiritual guidance, his martyric endurance in illnesses and finally his holy repose.

Book A Mirror Is for Reflection

Download or read book A Mirror Is for Reflection written by Jake H. Davis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-06-14 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers a rich and accessible introduction to contemporary research on Buddhist ethical thought for interested students and scholars, yet also offers chapters taking up more technical philosophical and textual topics. A Mirror is For Reflection offers a snapshot of the present state of academic investigation into the nature of Buddhist Ethics, including contributions from many of the leading figures in the academic study of Buddhist philosophy. Over the past decade many scholars have come to think that the project of fitting Buddhist ethical thought into Western philosophical categories may be of limited utility, and the focus of investigation has shifted in a number of new directions. This volume includes contemporary perspectives on topics including the nature of Buddhist ethics as a whole, karma and rebirth, mindfulness, narrative, intention, free will, politics, anger, and equanimity.

Book Varieties of Ethical Reflection

Download or read book Varieties of Ethical Reflection written by Michael Barnhart and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2002 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Varieties of Ethical Reflection brings together new cultural and religious perspectives--drawn from non-Western, primarily Asian, philosophical sources--to globalize the contemporary discussion of theoretical and applied ethics. The work pushes ethics beyond a Western philosophical tradition tending toward universalism to infuse and broaden modern ethical theory with relativistic Asian ethical principles. The contributors introduce multicultural concepts and ideas from the Chinese Taoist, Confucian and Neo-Confucian, Indian and East Asian Buddhist, and Hindu traditions, focusing on such areas of moral controversy as the clash between women's rights and culture; universal human rights; abortion and euthanasia in a non-Western setting; and the standardization of medical practice across cultures.

Book Turkish Reflections

    Book Details:
  • Author : Mary lee Settle
  • Publisher : Simon and Schuster
  • Release : 1992-06-15
  • ISBN : 0671779974
  • Pages : 260 pages

Download or read book Turkish Reflections written by Mary lee Settle and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 1992-06-15 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author recounts her experiences living in Turkey for three years, and shares her observations on Turkish history, people, and culture.

Book A Monk s Guide to Happiness

Download or read book A Monk s Guide to Happiness written by Gelong Thubten and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2020-08-11 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Thubten is able to explain meditation using clear language and an approach which really speaks to our modern tech-infused lives.” —Rami Jawhar, Program Manager at Google Arts & Culture In our never-ending search for happiness we often find ourselves looking to external things for fulfillment, thinking that happiness can be unlocked by buying a bigger house, getting the next promotion, or building a perfect family. In this profound and inspiring book, Gelong Thubten shares a practical and sustainable approach to happiness. Thubten, a Buddhist monk and meditation expert who has worked with everyone from school kids to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and Benedict Cumberbatch, explains how meditation and mindfulness can create a direct path to happiness. A Monk’s Guide to Happiness explores the nature of happiness and helps bust the myth that our lives and minds are too busy for meditation. The book can show you how to: Learn practical methods to help you choose happiness Develop greater compassion for yourself and others Learn to meditate in micro-moments during a busy day Discover that you are naturally ‘hard-wired’ for happiness Reading A Monk’s Guide to Happiness could revolutionize your relationship with your thoughts and emotions, and help you create a life of true happiness and contentment. “His writing is full of inspiration but also the pragmatism needed to form a sustainable practice. His book clearly illustrates why we all need meditation and mindfulness in our lives.” —Benedict Cumberbatch “[A] powerful debut . . . a highly accessible and jargon-free introduction to meditation.” —Publishers Weekly

Book The Book of Longings

    Book Details:
  • Author : Sue Monk Kidd
  • Publisher : Penguin
  • Release : 2020-04-21
  • ISBN : 0698408195
  • Pages : 434 pages

Download or read book The Book of Longings written by Sue Monk Kidd and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-04-21 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An extraordinary novel . . . a triumph of insight and storytelling.” —Associated Press “A true masterpiece.” —Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed An extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from the celebrated number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything. Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother, Mary. Ana's pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to Rome's occupation of Israel, partially led by her brother, Judas. She is sustained by her fearless aunt Yaltha, who harbors a compelling secret. When Ana commits a brazen act that puts her in peril, she flees to Alexandria, where startling revelations and greater dangers unfold, and she finds refuge in unexpected surroundings. Ana determines her fate during a stunning convergence of events considered among the most impactful in human history. Grounded in meticulous research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus's life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring, unforgettable account of one woman's bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place and culture devised to silence her. It is a triumph of storytelling both timely and timeless, from a masterful writer at the height of her powers.

Book Light of Soham

    Book Details:
  • Author : Abbot George Burke
  • Publisher : Light of the Spirit Press
  • Release : 2019-05-07
  • ISBN : 9781732526679
  • Pages : 204 pages

Download or read book Light of Soham written by Abbot George Burke and published by Light of the Spirit Press. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the beginning of the twentieth century, a young crippled boy in North India met a spiritual teacher in the Nath tradition of the great teachers Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath, who imparted to him the precious knowledge of yoga meditation. The boy began to apply himself to this meditation practice and became a very unusual saint indeed.Gajanan Murlidhar Gupte, later known as Gajanana Maharaj, led an unassuming life, to all appearances a normal unmarried man of contemporary society. Crediting his personal transformation to the practice of the Soham mantra, he freely shared this practice with a small number of disciples, whom he simply called his friends. Strictly avoiding the trap of gurudom, he insisted that his friends be self-reliant and not be dependent on him for their spiritual progress. Yet he was uniquely able to assist them in their inner development.Gajanana Maharaj taught the ajapa-japa of the Soham mantra with the breath. In Light of Soham his teachings for success in Soham sadhana and spiritual life in general have been collected from the writings of himself and his disciples. An appendix by Abbot George Burke on the method of Soham Yoga gives detailed instruction on how to practice this method of meditation.

Book Moral Reflections on the Book of Job

Download or read book Moral Reflections on the Book of Job written by Pope Gregory I and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gregory the Great was pope from 590 to 604, a time of great turmoil in Italy and in the western Roman Empire generally because of the barbarian invasions.Gregory s experience as prefect of the city of Rome and as apocrisarius of Pope Pelagius fitted him admirably for the new challenges of the papacy. "The Moral Reflections on the Book of Job" were first given to the monks who accompanied Gregory to the embassy in Constantinople. This first volume of the work contains books 1 5, accompanied by an introduction by Mark DelCogliano."

Book Interreligious Reflections  Six Volume Set

Download or read book Interreligious Reflections Six Volume Set written by Alon Goshen-Gottstein and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-08-08 with total page 615 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This set includes all six volumes of Interreligious Reflections. ABOUT VOLUME ONE: Friendship is an outcome of, as well as a condition for, advancing interfaith relations. However, for friendship to advance, there must be legitimation from within and a theory of how interreligious relations can be justified from the resources of different faith traditions. Friendship Across Religions explores these very issues, seeking to develop a robust theory of interreligious friendship from the resources of each of the participating traditions. It also features individual cases as models and precedents for such relations—in particular, the friendship of Gandhi and Charlie Andrews, his closest personal friend. Contributors: Balwant Singh Dhillon, Timothy J. Gianotti, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Maria Reis Habito, Ruben L. F. Habito, Ryan McAnnally-Linz, Stephen Butler Murray, Eleanor Nesbitt, Anantanand Rambachan, Meir Sendor, Johann M. Vento, and Miroslav Volf ABOUT VOLUME TWO: This book tackles the core problem of how painful historical memories between diverse religious communities continue to impact—even poison—present-day relations. Its operative notion is the healing of memory, developed by John Paul II. Chapters explore how painful memories of yesteryear can be healed and so address some of the root causes. Strategies from six different faith traditions are brought together in what is, in some ways, a cross-religious brainstorming session that identifies tools to improve present-day relations. At the other pole of the conceptual axis of this book is the notion of hope. If memory informs our past, hope sets the horizon for our future. How does the healing of memory open new horizons for the future? And what is the notion of hope in each of our traditions that could lead to a common vision of good? Between memory and hope, this book seeks to offer a vision of healing that can serve as a resource in contemporary interfaith relations. Contributors: Rahuldeep Singh Gill, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Maria Reis Habito, Flora A. Keshgegian, Anantanand Rambachan, Meir Sendor, Muhammad Suheyl Umar, and Michael von Brück ABOUT VOLUME THREE: The essays collected here, prepared by a think tank of the Elijah Interfaith Academy, explore the challenges associated with sharing wisdom—learning, teachings, messages for good living. How should religions go about sharing their wisdom? These chapters, representing six faith tradition (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist), explore what wisdom means in each of these traditions; why and how it should be shared, internally and externally; and the role of love and forgiveness in sharing. This book offers a theory that can enrich ongoing encounters between members of faith traditions by suggesting a tradition-based practice of sharing wisdom, while preserving the integrity of the teaching and respecting the identity of anyone with whom wisdom is shared. Contributors: Pal Ahluwalia, Timothy Gianotti, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Sallie B. King, Anantanand Rambachan, Meir Sendor, Miroslav Volf ABOUT VOLUME FOUR: All the world’s religions are experiencing rapid change due to a confluence of social and economic global forces. Factors such as the pervasive intrusion of globalizing political and economic developments, polarized and morally equivalent presentations seen in the media, and the sense of surety demanded in and promised by a culture dominated by science are some of the factors that have placed extreme pressure on all religious traditions. This has stimulated unprecedented responses by religious groups, ranging from fundamentalism to the syncretistic search for meaning. As religion takes on new forms, the balance between individual and community is disrupted and reconfigured. Religions often lose the capacity to recall their ultimate purpose or lead their adherents toward it. This is the situation we call “the crisis of the holy.” It is a confluence of threats, challenges, and opportunities for all religions. This volume explores the contours of pressures, changes, and transformations and reflects on how all our religions are changing. By identifying commonalities across religions as they respond to these pressures, The Crisis of the Holy recommends ways religious traditions might cope with these changes and how they might join forces in doing so. Contributors: Vincent J. Cornell, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Sidney H. Griffith, Maria Reis Habito, B. Barry Levy, Deepak Sarma, Michael von Brück ABOUT VOLUME FIVE: The chapters collected in this book, prepared by a think tank of the Elijah Interfaith Academy, address the subject of religious leadership. The subject is of broad relevance in the training of religious leaders and in the practice of religious leadership. As such, it is also germane to religious thought, where reflections on religious leadership occupy an important place. What does it mean to be a religious leader in today’s world? To what degree are the challenges that confront religious leadership today the same perennial challenges that have arrested the attention of the faithful and their leaders for generations, and to what degree do we encounter challenges today that are unique to our day and age? One dimension is surely unique, and that is the very ability to explore these issues from an interreligious perspective and to consider challenges, opportunities, and strategies across religious traditions. Studying the theme across six faith traditions—Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism, and Buddhism—The Future of Religious Leadership: World Religions in Conversation recognizes the common challenges to present-day religious leadership. Contributors: Awet Andemicael, Timothy J. Gianotti, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Anantanand Rambachan, Maria Reis Habito, Meir Sendor, Balwant Singh Dhillon, Miroslav Volf VOLUME SIX: One of the biggest challenges for relations between religions is the view of the religious Other. The question touches the roots of our theological views. The Religious Other: Hostility, Hospitality, and the Hope of Human Flourishing explores the views of multiple religious traditions on how to regard otherness. How does one move from hostility to hospitality? How can hospitality be understood not simply as social hospitality but as theological hospitality, making room for the religious Other on theological grounds? What is our vision for the flourishing of the Other, while respecting his otherness? This volume is an exercise in constructive interreligious theology. By including Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic traditions, it approaches these challenges from multiple perspectives, highlighting commonalities in approach and ways in which one tradition might inspire another. Contributors: Vincent J. Cornell, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Richard P. Hayes, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Deepak Sarma, Stephen W. Sykes, Dharma Master Hsin Tao, Ashok Vohra

Book The Novice

Download or read book The Novice written by Stephen Schettini and published by Greenleaf Book Group. This book was released on 2009 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extraordinary quest for peace of mind. In this unforgettable memoir, a young man finds himself disillusioned by the conventional expectations of his parents, teachers, and culture. Desperate to articulate his deepest hopes and dreams, he discards his university education and abandons home, family, and possessions to journey through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia in search of a meaningful life. Narrowly escaping death by sickness and drugs, he encounters the Tibetan refugees in exile and, entranced, finally stops running. He takes the ancient teachings to heart but, eight years later, finds that his path is neither straight nor narrow . . . and that there's no turning back.