Download or read book Nine Headed Dragon River written by Peter Matthiessen and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 1998-04-28 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In August 1968, naturalist-explorer Peter Matthiessen returned from Africa to his home in Sagaponack, Long Island, to find three Zen masters in his driveway—guests of his wife, a new student of Zen. Thirteen years later, Matthiessen was ordained a Buddhist monk. Written in the same format as his best-selling The Snow Leopard, Nine-Headed Dragon River reveals Matthiessen's most daring adventure of all: the quest for his spiritual roots.
Download or read book Nine Headed Dragon River written by Peter Matthiessen and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 1998-04-28 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In August 1968, naturalist-explorer Peter Matthiessen returned from Africa to his home in Sagaponack, Long Island, to find three Zen masters in his driveway—guests of his wife, a new student of Zen. Thirteen years later, Matthiessen was ordained a Buddhist monk. Written in the same format as his best-selling The Snow Leopard, Nine-Headed Dragon River reveals Matthiessen's most daring adventure of all: the quest for his spiritual roots.
Download or read book Are We There Yet written by Peter Matthiessen and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The journey of Buddhism over centuries, from India to China and then to Japan, is the stuff of mythology. But now, in our own time, we have witnessed and documented its historic crossing of the Pacific and its subsequent evolution in the Americas and Europe. In 1982, writer Peter Muryo Matthiessen, the first dharma successor of Roshi Bernie Glassman, traveled with Glassman to pay respects to the teachers in their lineage, some of the great living Zen masters of twentieth–century Japan. What took place was an important meeting of minds representing the past, present, and future of Zen practice, an intimate connection between ancestors and descendants marking a critical point in the Zen journey from the East to the West. This historic event was captured in the moment by the selective lens of Peter Cunningham. Matthiessen's exquisite poetic accounts of this pilgrimage, which formed a part of his book Nine–Headed Dragon River, accompany the photos.
Download or read book What is Buddhist Enlightenment written by Dale Stuart Wright and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What kind of person should I strive to be? What ideals should I pursue in my life? These basic human questions and others like them are components of the overall question that guides this book: What is enlightenment? As Dale Wright argues, any serious practitioner of human life, religious or not, confronts the challenge of living an authentic life, of overcoming common human disabilities like greed, hatred, and delusion that give rise to excessive suffering. Why then, Wright asks, is this essential question often avoided, even discouraged among Buddhists? One reason frequently cited by Buddhists is that pondering a distant goal might be a waste of energy that would be better applied to practice: Quiet the flow of obsessive thinking, put yourself in a mindful state of presence, and let enlightenment take care of itself. In this book, however, Wright contends that pondering this question is meditative practice--that attentive inquiry of this kind is essential as the starting point and guide for any mindful practice of life. Meditative reflection on the meaning of enlightenment focuses us on our aim and direction in life. It guides us in shaping our practices, our ideals, and the kinds of lives we will live. Asking what enlightenment is as a basic form of meditation helps to activate our lives and get transformative practice underway. From Wright's perspective, there is no more important question to ask than this one. What is Buddhist Enlightenment? offers a wide-ranging exploration of issues that have a bearing on the contemporary meaning of enlightenment, including a concluding section with 10 theses that answer the title's question. Written by a leading scholar of Buddhism, the book balances deep learning and an accessible style, offering valuable insights for students, scholars, and practitioners alike. While he takes an examination of what enlightenment has been in past Buddhist traditions as his point of departure, Wright's historical considerations yield to the question that our lives press upon us--what kinds of lives should we aspire to live here, now, and into the future?
Download or read book Journeys of Transformation written by John D. Barbour and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-03-31 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compelling exploration of how journeys to a Buddhist culture changed 30 Western writers as they explored the meaning of 'no-self'.
Download or read book Making Nature Sacred written by John Gatta and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-10-14 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that the religious import of American environmental literature has yet to be fully recognized or understood. Making Nature Sacred explores how the quest for 'natural revelation' has been pursued through successive phases of American literary and intellectual history.
Download or read book Men s Lives written by Peter Matthiessen and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2012-04-25 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An eloquent portrayal of a disappearing way of life of the Long Island fishermen whose voices--humorous, bitter and bewildered--are as clear as the threatened beauty of their once quiet shore.
Download or read book Journeys East written by Harry Oldmeadow and published by World Wisdom, Inc. This book was released on 2004 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to treat the impact of religious, philosophical and psychological traditions of the East on Western intellectuals, artists, travellers and spiritual seekers in the twentieth century. Addressed to both general readers and scholars of religion, it is especially valuable for its penetrating and inter-religious analysis of two of the most compelling themes now facing the world: the emergence of cross-cultural religious understanding of the natural order and ecological crisis and the metaphysical basis for both the formal diversity and essential unity of religious traditions of both East and West. The West has long romanticized the "mysterious" East, but it has, also, judged its traditions as "uncivilized." Our notions about Eastern spirituality have been formed by a succession of travellers, scientists, artists, intellectuals, poets, philosophers and missionaries, as well as by Eastern travellers who have spent time in the West. This book helps us to recognize the influence of Eastern ideas upon modern Western thought by tracing the history of engagements between East and West up until the present day. It concludes with a section that helps us to perceive the timeless value of the many Eastern contributions to the West's current intellectual and spiritual state.
Download or read book Peter Matthiessen and Ecological Imagination written by Intaek Oh and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2010 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peter Matthiessen and Ecological Imagination offers an ecocritical reading of the Watson Trilogy - Killing Mister Watson (1990), Lost Man's River (1997), and Bone By Bone (1999) - which draws together themes Matthiessen has been exploring both in his fiction and nonfiction. While this study argues that his ecological imagination comes from his unique experience as a novelist, naturalist, environmentalist, social activist, and a student of Zen, it also illustrates that for Matthiessen, economic, political, social, racial, psychological, epistemological, and ecological issues are all inseparably interconnected. Set in the Everglades frontier in the formative era of American industrial capitalism, Matthiessen's novels are his grand attempt to reexamine the root causes of ecological disaster in the region and the costs to the people and the land that accompanied the conquering of the frontier.
Download or read book Zen Masters written by Steven Heine and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-04-22 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extending their successful series of collections on Zen Buddhism, Heine and Wright present a fifth volume, on what may be the most important topic of all - Zen Masters. Following two volumes on Zen literature (Zen Classics and The Zen Canon) and two volumes on Zen practice (The Koan and Zen Ritual) they now propose a volume on the most significant product of the Zen tradition - the Zen masters who have made this kind of Buddhism the most renowned in the world by emphasizing the role of eminent spiritual leaders and their function in establishing centers, forging lineages, and creating literature and art. Zen masters in China, and later in Korea and Japan, were among the cultural leaders of their times. Stories about their comportment and powers circulated widely throughout East Asia. In this volume ten leading Zen scholars focus on the image of the Zen master as it has been projected over the last millennium by the classic literature of this tradition. Each chapter looks at a single prominent master. Authors assess the master's personality and charisma, his reported behavior and comportment, his relationships with teachers, rivals and disciplines, lines of transmission, primary teachings, the practices he emphasized, sayings and catch-phrases associated with him, his historical and social context, representations and icons, and enduring influences.
Download or read book Basic Teachings of the Buddha written by Glenn Wallis and published by Modern Library. This book was released on 2007-08-14 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Basic Teachings of the Buddha, Glenn Wallis selects sixteen essential dialogues drawn from more than five thousand Pali-dialect suttas of the Buddhist canon. The result is a vibrant introductory guide to studying Buddhist thought, applying its principles to everyday life, and gaining a deeper understanding of Buddhist themes in modern literature. Focusing on the most crucial topics for today’s readers, Wallis presents writings that address modern psychological, religious, ethical, and philosophical concerns. This practical, inspiring, and engaging volume provides an overview of the history of Buddhism and an illuminating analysis of the core writings that personalizes the suttas for each reader. “Glenn Wallis brings wisdom and compassion to this work of scholarship. Everyone should read this book.” –Christopher Queen, Harvard University “A valuable sourcebook with a good selection of the fundamental suttas enhanced by an eloquent introduction and comprehensive notes–altogether a very useful text.” –Peter Matthiessen (Roshi), author of The Snow Leopard and Nine-Headed Dragon River “Glenn Wallis’s new and accessible translations of some of the Buddha’s lectures to his original students, along with Wallis’s elegant guide to the texts, gives twenty-first-century readers in the modern West a fresh chance to learn from this teacher.” –Charles Hallisey, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Download or read book Wildlife in America written by Peter Matthiessen and published by Penguin Group USA. This book was released on 1977 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This classic history of the rare, threatened, and extinct animals of North America is a dramatic chronicle of man's role in the disappearance of great and small species of our land. "Should be the number one source volume for everyone who embraces the philosophy of conservation".--Roger Tory Peterson. Illustrations throughout.
Download or read book Enlightened Contemporaries written by Steve Kanji Ruhl and published by Monkfish Book Publishing. This book was released on 2020-06-16 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Enlightened Contemporaries is the first book to compare the lives and teachings of three of the world's most admired spiritual masters: Francis of Assisi, the Christian saint; Dogen, the great Zen Buddhist teacher; and Rumi, the Islamic Sufi master. They lived during the same turbulent century. They integrated mystical experiences of the sacred into their lives, and they can inspire us to do the same. Enlightened Contemporaries combines robust scholarship with brisk, engaging, lyrical prose. Offering a thorough introduction for the general reader as well as specialists, it will appeal to those who enjoy an interfaith approach to spiritual exploration, one that links Christian, Buddhist, and Islamic mystical teachings within a vibrant historical context and shows how they not only complement each other but remain profoundly relevant in the twenty-first century. Bringing Saint Francis, Dogen, and Rumi vividly to life as complex and compelling human beings, Enlightened Contemporaries lucidly explains their spiritual paths, explores the dynamic age in which these three pioneering teachers struggled and triumphed, and investigates their remarkable poetry. It also deftly examines how Francis, Dogen, and Rumi engaged the world in the context of five shared themes: spiritual love, nature, the body, the role of women, and balancing retreat from society with active involvement. By interweaving the spiritual lives of these Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim teachers, Enlightened Contemporaries will help readers enhance their own lives and find new paths of spiritual understanding.
Download or read book Selves at Risk written by Ihab Hassan and published by Univ of Wisconsin Press. This book was released on 1990 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this era of supersonic jets, ubiquitous McDonalds, and pervasive Panasonics, in our coddled jacuzzi culture, our cybernetic society of acronyms and first names, does the spirit of quest endure? Indeed, from rain forests, across oceans, steppes, savannahs, and saharas to the peaks of the Andes or Himalayas, American writers still test the limits of human existence. They test spirit, flesh, marrow, and imagination in a timeless quest for meaning beyond civilization, at the razor edge of mortality. And they return with sun-cracked skin and gazes honed on horizons to tell us the tale. "Ihab Hassan's new book on quests turns out to be a quest of his own. He takes us through an invigorating range of today's American writers as they test themselves against the far corners of our tattered planet. Hassan shows us how their quests (and, incidentally, his own) entwine risks, commitments, and desperate exercises in belief, how their aspirations are human but uniquely American. This is a book everyone interested in American culture can learn from--and enjoy. Hassan's voice is one of graceful wisdom and passionate elegance, a refreshing landfall in today's turgid sea of criticism." --Norman N. Holland, University of Florida
Download or read book A Body of Water written by Beverley Farmer and published by Giramondo Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-01 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new edition of Beverley Farmer's out-of-print classic A Body of Water, which in its mixing of genres — essay, memoir, fiction, folk tale — opened up new frontiers for Australian literature A Body of Water was first published thirty years ago. The writing of the book takes place over a year, and portrays a complete cycle in the writer's life. It begins on her forty-sixth birthday, in a period of emotional inhibition and loneliness – her marriage has broken down, and she is living on her own. By the end of the cycle the narrator has written short stories and poems, which are included in the book, alongside essays about the writing process, journal entries, excerpts from books she has been reading, spiritual meditations, and finely detailed observations of the life around her. The title A Body of Water could be taken to refer to the book's settings along the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, with its bays, the outer harbour, and the lighthouse, standing like a sentinel at the entrance to the ocean. It also suggests the diverse material which fills the book, like a body of water with all that it contains and nurtures. Throughout, one is aware of the the writer's own body, as an entity which shifts its identity like water, with its changes of mood, relationships and reflections. 'Beverley Farmer's expansive curiosity and appreciation for microcosmic significance sharpen a reader's attention to all things lived, dreamed, and observed.' — Josephine Rowe 'A bold and beautiful, genre-defying book, weaving together process and product, reflections on reading and the luminous moments of everyday life into a work that shimmers with allusion, insight and charm. It remains as striking and important a book now as it was in its original context.' — Fiona Wright
Download or read book One Bird One Stone written by Sean Murphy and published by Hampton Roads Publishing. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Anyone looking for insightful quotes, humor, Zen wisdom, or even just a good story will find something in these bite-sized anecdotes.” —Tricycle Magazine Drawn from the archives of major Zen centers in America and interviews with some of the most seminal figures of American Zen, including Philip Kapleau, Bernie Glassman, Gary Snyder, and Walter Nowick, One Bird, One Stone presents the notable encounters between teachers and students, the moments of insight and wisdom, the quotable quotes, and the humor of Zen as it has flowered in America over the last one hundred-plus years. Murphy, a Zen student and an accomplished writer, conducted numerous personal interviews and distilled over one hundred pithy stories. He covers Zen masters Suzuki, Maezumi, Seung Sahn, Robert Aitken, and Philip Kapleau along with earnest students Gary Snyder, Alan Watts, and Philip Whalen and others. “Sean Murphy’s eloquent book is thought-provoking and lovely. This collection of 108 new teaching stories in the American Zen Buddhist tradition is a poetic account of the transplanting of Zen Buddhism to this new Western soil and some of the various ways it has taken root here in the lives of a wide spectrum of teachers and practitioners.” —Sharon Salzberg, New York Times–bestselling author and cofounder of The Insight Meditation Center “The book gives you a profound glimpse into the well of the Zen mind.” —Santa Fe New Mexican “Stories to inspire the mind and to find the true heart.” —Stephen and Ondrea Levine, authors of Who Dies? “Intelligent, funny, wise and, best of all, speaks to the heart.” —Rafe Martin, Zen Bow
Download or read book Elements written by Casey Clabough and published by Mercer University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elements: The Novels of James Dickey draws upon previously undiscussed manuscripts and notes to articulate Dickey's fictional vision as it appears in his three published novels, while also examining his early unpublished fiction and post deliverance screenplays. The book's thesis follows Dickey's philosophical and verbal theorgy for his published fiction (the practice of merging), illustrating the multifaceted and layered manner in which it functions, encompassing protagonist and environment and reader and text. Just as Ed Gentry, Joel Cahill, and Muldrow assume the essence of their respective environments, the reader is subtly asked to become a part of the text while retaining cognitive independence "to blend in the place your're in, but with a mind to do something" (To the White Sea 273). Having explored the connective qualities of Dickey's published novels, the book's final chapter turns to a summary of Dickey's unpublished and largely unknown fiction. Discussing a novel manuscript, four short stories, three screenplays, and five screenplay prospecti, the chapter seeks to summarize these heretofore undiscussed works while also tracing their similarities with the published texts.
