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    'Shoes Outside the Door' by Michael Downing Paid Member

    By Duncan Kyuken Williams
    Shoes Outside the Door:Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen CenterMichael DowningCounterpoint: Washington, DC, 2001448 pp.; $26.00 (cloth) Michael Downing’s Shoes Outside the Door is an account of San Francisco Zen Center’s growth from a small circle of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s students into one of the largest and most culturally significant centers of Zen Buddhism in America. While Downing seeks not to make the much-publicized scandals of 1983 the primary focus of the book, his lengthy narrative returns to them repeatedly in the telling of the history of Zen Center—and the rise and fall of Suzuki’s charismatic heir, Richard Baker Roshi. More »
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    'Tariki' by Hiroyuki Itsuki Paid Member

    By Clark Strand
    Tariki: Embracing Despair, Discovering PeaceHiroyuki ItsukiKodansha: New York, 2001229 pp.; $21.00 (cloth) In Tariki: Embracing Despair, Discovering Peace, Hiroyuki Itsuki recounts an episode from a modern play about the life of Shinran, the thirteenth-century founder of Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land) Buddhism. “Master, I have been feeling so sad lately,” confesses Yuien, one of Shinran’s close disciples. “Sometimes, even just watching people walking down the street, I am overcome by a feeling of sadness and I start to weep. . . . Does even a person such as yourself, master, feel sad at times?” More »
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    'The Fourteen Dalai Lamas' by Glenn H. Mullin Paid Member

    By Jeff Wilson
    The Fourteen Dalai Lamas:A Sacred Legacy of ReincarnationGlenn H. MullinClear Light Books: Santa Fe, 2001576 pp.; $29.95 (cloth) Who’s the most famous Buddhist in the world? That’s easy: His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. From humble origins in Tibet he has become a Nobel Prize winner and a spiritual guide to millions. But while the present incarnation’s story is familiar to many, few outside Asia are aware of the sheer bulk of legends and history attached to the person of the Dalai Lama. To those seeking to understand the Dalai Lama in his full context, not only as a brilliant contemporary teacher but as a timeless guide and protector of Buddhism in Central Asia, The Fourteen Dalai Lamas will provide ample insight. More »
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    Working with Anger Paid Member

    Why did you write Working with Anger, and why now? Because I’ve had difficulty with anger throughout my own life. I learned the techniques that the Buddha taught, I practiced them, they helped me, and so I thought to share these techniques with other people. And also because when I teach, people frequently ask, “How do I deal with emotion, with anger?” It’s a critical question for many of us. And what are the origins of anger, from a Buddhist point of view? More »
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    Books In Brief Winter 2001 Paid Member

    Answers: Discussions with Western BuddhistsThe Dalai LamaTranslated and edited by José CabezónSnow Lion Publications: Ithaca, 2001102 pp.; $12.95 (paper) It has been a long-standing tradition for the Dalai Lama to spend several days each winter in residence at Bodhgaya, answering questions and holding informal discussions and meditations with students of Buddhism from around the world. This book presents a gathering of these exchanges, in which the Dalai Lama offers clear and penetrating insights into the issues most pertinent to Western studentfs. Topics range from psychology, politics, and tantra to debates about particle physics and philosophical discussions of emptiness. More »
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    Books Paid Member

    Americans have never been much for either/or. When presented with choices, and especially when operating as consumers (which is to say, most of the time), we tend to exhibit a hungry kind of both/and pluralism, a desire to cover all the bases. More »