Download or read book Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction written by Kate Wheeler and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004-06-15 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exciting, inventive, and multifaceted collection that includes everything from visionary shot-shorts to fictionalized personal memoirs.
Download or read book You Are Not Here and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction written by Keith Kachtick and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2006-04-24 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2004's Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction was hailed as "a milestone" and "an embarrassment of literary riches." Its sequel proves that this new genre is here to stay. Edited by Keith Kachtick-the author of Hungry Ghost: A Novel (A New York Times Notable Book)-You Are Not Here and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction offers even more sparkling and transcendent work from some of fiction's famous names, alongside names you've never heard before-but surely will again. Book jacket.
Download or read book Where Do We Go from Here written by Doris Dorrie and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2008-12-07 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Fred Kaufmann, disillusioned husband of thoroughly competent Claudia and father of surly teenager Franka. His dreams of being a movie director have long ago been shelved for marriage and a child. While Claudia sells her successful vegetarian take-out restaurant to a fast food chain and buys into Buddhism, Fred is trapped in the throes of a classic midlife crisis, made worse when Franka falls madly in love with a young guru. With the hope that brown rice and hardcore meditation will cure Franka's obsession, Fred chaperones his daughter to the meditation center in the South of France. But as a bizarre set of events unfolds, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that only a special kind of hero can survive. Funny, incisive, and ultimately forgiving, Where Do We Go From Here? is a masterpiece of ironic social comedy from one of Germany's leading writers and filmmakers.
Download or read book Finding Freedom written by Jarvis Jay Masters and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2020-07-14 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are many forms of liberation—some that exist at the mercy of circumstance and others that can never be taken away. In this stirring and timely collection of stories, essays, poems, and letters, Jarvis Jay Masters explores the meaning of true freedom on his road to inner peace through Buddhist practice. He reveals his life as a young African American man surrounded by violence, his entanglement in the criminal justice system, and—following an encounter with Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche—an unfolding commitment to nonviolence and peacemaking. At turns joyful, heartbreaking, frightening, and soaring with profound insight, Masters’s story offers a vision of hope and the possibility of freedom in even the darkest of times.
Download or read book When Mountains Walked written by Kate Wheeler and published by Mariner Books. This book was released on 2001-05 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An interweaving of two love stories that span generations begins in the 1940s as Althea Barnes becomes enamored of both India and a Hindu priest, and continues with her granddaughter who has an affair with a revolutionary in contemporary Peru.
Download or read book Living This Life Fully written by Mirka Knaster and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2010-10-12 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anagarika Munindra (1915–2003) was a Bengali Buddhist master and scholar who was teacher to an entire generation of practitioners—including some of the most prominent Insight Meditation teachers in America. His students include Daniel Goleman (author of Emotional Intelligence), Sharon Salzberg (author of Lovingkindness), Jack Kornfield (author of A Path with Heart), and Joseph Goldstein (author of Insight Meditation). As the teacher of a whole generation of American teachers, he was thus himself a pivotal figure in the transmission of Buddhism to the West. This is the first book available about Munindra’s life and teaching, and it features: • A brief biography of Munindra • Never-before-published excerpts of his teachings • Stories and remembrances from Western students including Daniel Goleman, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield • Rare photographs
Download or read book Grand written by Charles Johnson and published by Harlequin. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National Book Award winner and MacArthur Genius Fellow Charles Johnson reflects on the joys of being a grandparent in this warm, inspiring collection of wisdom and life lessons—the ideal gift for any new parent or grandparent An award-winning novelist, philosopher, essayist, screenwriter, professor and cartoonist, Charles Johnson has held numerous impressive titles over the course of his incomparable career. Now, for the first time, with his trademark wisdom and philosophical generosity, he turns his attention to his most important role yet: grandparent. In Grand, Johnson shares stories from his life with his six-year-old grandson, Emery, weaving in advice and life lessons that stand the test of time. “Looking at the problems I see in the world around me,” Johnson writes, “I realize that there are so many things I want to say to him about the goodness and beauty that life offers. What are the perennial truths that I can impart to Emery that might make his journey through life easier or more rewarding?” Johnson shares these truths and more, offering profound meditations on family, race, freedom and creativity. Joyful, lucid and deeply comforting, Grand is Johnson at his most accessible and profound, an indispensable compendium for new grandparents and growing grandchildren alike, from one of America’s most revered thinkers.
Download or read book Buddhism beyond Borders written by Scott A. Mitchell and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2015-05-26 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores facets of North American Buddhism while taking into account the impact of globalization and increasing interconnectivity. Buddhism beyond Borders provides a fresh consideration of Buddhism in the American context. It includes both theoretical discussions and case studies to highlight the tension between studies that locate Buddhist communities in regionally specific areas and those that highlight the translocal nature of an increasingly interconnected world. Whereas previous examinations of Buddhism in North America have assumed a more or less essentialized and homogeneous “American” culture, the essays in this volume offer a corrective, situating American Buddhist groups within the framework of globalized cultural flows, while exploring the effects of local forces. Contributors examine regionalism within American Buddhisms, Buddhist identity and ethnicity as academic typologies, Buddhist modernities, the secularization and hybridization of Buddhism, Buddhist fiction, and Buddhist controversies involving the Internet, among other issues. Scott A. Mitchell is Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at the Institute of Buddhist Studies and a core doctoral faculty member at the Graduate Theological Union. Natalie E. F. Quli teaches at the Institute of Buddhist Studies and is assistant editor of Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies.
Download or read book The Mind of Clover written by Robert Aitken and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Taking the Path of Zen, Robert Aitken provided a concise guide to zazen (Zen meditation) and other aspects of the practice of Zen. In The Mind of Clover he addresses the world beyond the zazen cushions, illuminating issues of appropriate personal and social action through an exploration of the philosophical complexities of Zen ethics. Aitken's approach is clear and sure as he shows how our minds can be as nurturing as clover, which enriches the soil and benefits the environment as it grows. The opening chapters discuss the Ten Grave Precepts of Zen, which, Aitken points out, are "not commandments etched in stone but expressions of inspiration written in something more fluid than water." Aitken approaches these precepts, the core of Zen ethics, from several perspectives, offering many layers of interpretation. Like ripples in a pond, the circles of his interpretation increasingly widen, and he expands his focus to confront corporate theft and oppression, the role of women in Zen and society, abortion, nuclear war, pollution of the environment, and other concerns. The Mind of Clover champions the cause of personal responsibility in modern society, encouraging nonviolent activism based on clear convictions. It is a guide that engages, that invites us to realize our own potential for confident and responsible action.
Download or read book Pure and Simple written by Upasika Kee Nanayon and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-08-20 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Upasika Kee was a uniquely powerful spiritual teacher. Evocative of the great Ajahn Chah, her teachings are earthy, refreshingly direct, and hard-hitting. In the twentieth century, she grew to become one of the most famous teachers in Thailand--male or female--all the more remarkable because, rarer still, she was not a monastic but a layperson. Her relentless honesty, along with her encouraging voice, is one reason so many contemporary Buddhist teachers recall Upasika Kee so fondly, and so often. With this book, readers seeking something reminiscent of the classic Mindfulness in Plain English can receive instruction on meditation practice as they become acquainted with the legacy of a renowned Buddhist figure. Pure and Simple, the first widely-available collection of her writings, will be gratefully received not only by those who knew Upasika Kee, but by anyone who encounters her for the first time in its pages.
Download or read book Bad Dog written by Lin Jensen and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-05-01 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What would happen if, instead of bolting your doors against the intrusion of demons you invited them in? Bad Dog! is a vivid testament to the unforeseen love, beauty, and redemption discovered in the most difficult times and places. It reads like a collection of closely linked short stories (think JD Salinger) but is in fact a work of literary nonfiction (think Robert Fulgham, or Augusten Burroughs). Bad Dog! will appeal to anyone who has fallen into dark places and wants to climb back into the light. With quietly crafted poetic language of a quality rarely seen in spiritual books, Lin Jensen tells the stories of his remarkably difficult life: his tumultuous early years on a struggling Midwestern turkey farm, his failed marriage, and the search for meaning that led him eventually to become a Zen teacher. The raw and earthy lessons of Bad Dog! cut to the quick with an understated power, and the reader is left at the end of each chapter subtly transformed, able to reflect more deeply and more fruitfully on the struggles of our own lives. Lin Jensen's writing has rare poetic and literary merit. Lin Jensen received the Best Nonfiction/Spiritual Book award from Today's Librarian for his previous book, Uncovering the Wisdom of the Heartmind. He has taught writing in various colleges and universities for over twenty years, and continues to teach Buddhist ethics and practices at Chico State University. He is the founding teacher and senior teacher emeritus of the Chico Zen Sangha, in Chico, California, where he lives with his wife.
Download or read book Writing as Enlightenment written by John Whalen-Bridge and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely book explores how Buddhist-inflected thought has enriched contemporary American literature. Continuing the work begun in The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature, editors John Whalen-Bridge and Gary Storhoff and the volume's contributors turn to the most recent developments, revealing how mid-1970s through early twenty-first-century literature has employed Buddhist texts, principles, and genres. Just as Buddhism underwent indigenization when it moved from India to Tibet, to China, and to Japan, it is now undergoing that process in the United States. While some will find literary creativity in this process, others lament a loss of authenticity. The book begins with a look at the American reception of Zen and at the approaches to Dharma developed by African Americans. The work of consciously Buddhist and Buddhist-influenced writers such as Don DeLillo, Gary Snyder, and Jackson Mac Low is analyzed, and a final section of the volume contains interviews and discussions with contemporary Buddhist writers. These include an interview with Gary Snyder; a discussion with Maxine Hong Kingston and Charles Johnson; and discussions of competing American and Asian values at the Beat- and Buddhist-inspired writing program at Naropa University with poets Joanne Kyger, Reed Bye, Keith Abbott, Andrew Schelling, and Elizabeth Robinson.
Download or read book Taming the Ox written by Charles R. Johnson and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2014-11-04 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renowned author and National Book Award winner Dr. Charles Johnson writes that his creative work and Buddhist practice are the two activities in his life that have reinforced each other—and have anchored him. In this wide and varied collection of essays, reviews, and short stories, Johnson offers writings that passionately and compellingly illuminate how politics, race, and spiritual life intersect in our changing culture. Throughout his long and varied creative career, Johnson has been a cartoonist and illustrator, screen- and teleplay writer, novelist, philosopher, short fiction writer, essayist, literary scholar, and professor. His work is often philosophically, politically, and spiritually oriented, and he has deeply explored racial issues in the United States, most notably in his novel Middle Passage, which won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1990. Johnson received a MacArthur Fellowship, or "Genius Grant," in 1998. Taming the Ox is a wonderful reflection of what Johnson has learned during his passage through American literature, the visual arts, and the Buddhadharma.
Download or read book In This Very Life written by U Pandita and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-01-30 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Burmese meditation master Sayadaw U Pandita shows us that freedom is as immediate as breathing, as fundamental as a footstep. In this book he describes the path of the Buddha and calls all of us to that heroic journey of liberation. Enlivened by numerous case histories and anecdotes, In This Very Life is a matchless guide to the inner territory of meditation - as described by the Buddha.
Download or read book Hungry Ghost written by Keith Kachtick and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2004-07-20 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carter Cox is a talented but dissipated freelance photojournalist living in New York City's East Village with his sad dog and bad habits. Though he travels to exotic places taking pictures of models and celebrities, he yearns to do more meaningful work and to mend his womanizing ways. He also wants to put into practice the lessons he learns from his Buddhist betters, but he continues to carry with him his “seduction kit”: a chessboard, cigarettes, and a Cormac McCarthy novel. At a Buddhist retreat, he meets Mia Malone, a beautiful, smart devout Catholic determined to remain a virgin until she is married. Carter falls hard, and Mia nervously agrees to join him on a photo shoot in Morocco. With both of their souls hanging in the balance, they quickly go from the ocean to hot water: crashing their car, getting arrested, running afoul of a sadistic gendarme, and trying to flee the country. Over the course of their adventure, they discover that karma and the human heart work in very mysterious ways.
Download or read book Awakening My Heart written by Andrea Miller and published by Nimbus+ORM. This book was released on 2019-09-01 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Informative interviews and profiles of the likes of Ram Dass, Tina Turner, Jane Goodall, and more, plus other writings offer insight on the Buddhist life. From Andrea Miller—an editor and staff writer at Lion’s Roar, the leading Buddhist magazine in the English-speaking world—comes a diverse and timeless collection of essays, articles, and interviews. Miller talks to Buddhist teachers, thinkers, writers, and celebrities about the things that matter most and she frames their wisdom with her own lived experience. In Awakening My Heart, we hear Tina Turner on the power of song, Ram Dass on the importance of service, Jane Goodall on the compassion that exists in the natural world, and Robert Jay Lifton on the darkest deeds of humanity—and how to prevent such things from ever happening again. Moreover, Miller—with her gently probing questions—gets to the bottom of the friendship between Zen master Bernie Glassman and Hollywood’s Jeff Bridges, and she also takes a playful look at the difference between Michael Imperioli, the serious Buddhist practitioner, and the unhinged mobster character he played in The Sopranos. Insight teacher Gina Sharpe coaches Miller on how to start facing the racism that exists even in the most liberal communities, while Robert Waldinger, a Zen priest and the leader of the world’s longest running study of human happiness, teaches her the key to being truly happy. Miller also brings the wisdom of a thirteenth-century Zen text into her very own galley kitchen and takes a look at animals through a quirky dharma lens. Finally, she goes on retreat with two of the world’s most beloved contemporary Buddhist teachers, Pema Chödrön and Thich Nhat Hanh, and travels to India to follow in the footsteps of the Buddha himself. Praise for Awakening My Heart “A lovely repast of stories and inspiring conversations with Buddhist masters and celebrities, reminding us to relax and smile. The good medicine of the dharma comes in a thousand forms.” ―Jack Kornfield “This book is a concise, witty, and intelligible way to understand Buddhism.” ―bell hooks, author of All About Love “Andrea Miller is one of contemporary Buddhism’s most original and arresting voices. Awakening My Heart has that rare combination of insight and empathy that distinguishes the very best spiritual literature. It is an inspiring, expansive, and probing exploration of what it means to be alive and practicing the dharma today.” —Shozan Jack Haubner, author of Zen Confidential “These lovely pieces span a huge, eclectic range from rock stars and actors to gurus and birds. There is joy in these pages, and the stories here will cause you to love life, and people, all the more.” ―Barry Boyce, Editor-in-Chief, Mindful magazine
Download or read book The Light Inside the Dark written by John Tarrant and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1999-11-03 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this landmark guide to the spiritual journey, respected Zen teacher and psychotherapist John Tarrant brings together ancient Eastern traditions and the Western passion for the soul. Using real-life stories, Zen tales, and Greek myths, The Light Inside the Dark shows how our darkest experiences can be the gates to wisdom and joy. Tarrant leads us through the inevitable descents of our journey--from the everyday world of work and family into the treasure cave of the interior life--from which we return with greater love of life's vivid, common gifts. Written with empathy and a poet's skill, The Light Inside the Dark is the freshest and most challenging work on the soul to he published in years.
