Books in Brief
By Andrea Miller
Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara
By Colleen Morton Busch
Penguin 2011; 272 pp., $25.95 (cloth) In
June 2008, a single lightning storm caused more than 2,000 wildfires
across California, and one of those fires surrounded Tassajara Zen
Mountain Center, the oldest Zen monastery in the United States. Fire Monks
is the true story of the five monks who, instead of evacuating, risked
their lives to save the center. The monks—four men and one woman—had
minimal training in firefighting but years of Zen practice, and they
were able to meet the fire with mindfulness, treating it as a friend to
be guided instead of an enemy to be vanquished. Colleen Morton Busch, a
former senior editor of Yoga Journal,
has done a remarkable job of both researching the fire and spinning a
good yarn. This book reads like a hair-raising adventure novel.
Peace Is Every Breath: A Practice for Our Busy Lives
By Thich Nhat Hanh
HarperOne 2011; 160 pp., $22.99 (cloth) “You have lots of work to do, and you like doing it,” says Thich Nhat Hanh at the beginning of Peace Is Every Breath.
“But working too much, taking care of so many things, tires you out.
You want to practice meditation, so you can be more relaxed and have
more peace, happiness, and joy in your life. But you don’t have time for
daily mediation practice.” If this describes your situation, Peace Is Every Breath
will be an excellent resource. It offers anecdotes, meditations, and
advice on connecting with your present experience without putting your
life on hold. Thich Nhat Hanh explains: “It isn’t necessary to set aside
a certain period exclusively for “Spiritual Practice” with a capital S
and a capital P. Our spiritual practice can be there at any moment, as
we cultivate the energy of mindfulness and concentration.”
The Next Eco-Warriors: 22 Young Women and Men Who Are Saving the Planet
Edited by Emily Hunter
Conari Press 2011; 262 pp., $19.95 (paper) Twenty-two
environmental activists, all under the age of forty, tell their
stories. These young people, who hail from across the globe, are using
every imaginable tactic to make a difference. For example, Tanya Fields,
an African American woman, is fighting poverty through guerilla farming
in New York City; Rob Stewart, a Canadian filmmaker, is shining a light
on the shark-finning industry through his film Sharkwater;
and Australian model Hannah Fraser is performing in a mermaid costume
to educate people on the importance of marine life. Emily Hunter, the
editor of The Next Eco-Warriors,
is the daughter of Greenpeace’s founding president and is herself an
environmental activist. Her work has included trips to Antarctica to
help save whales and the Galapagos Islands, where she was held hostage
when she tried to stop illegal poaching. Currently, Hunter produces and
hosts TV documentaries about environmental issues.
The Heart of the Revolution: The Buddha’s Radical Teachings on Forgiveness, Compassion, and Kindness
By Noah Levine
HarperOne 2011; 224 pp., $15.99 (paper)
At
age seventeen, Noah Levine hated happy people and depressed people. He
hated adults, teachers, cops, and hippies. He hated the world, and he
reveled in this hatred, smoking PCP, shooting heroin, stealing, and
getting in fights. Then he found the Buddhist path and he slowly began
to discover his true, loving heart. In this new volume—his third
book—Levine shares his story and offers the practices, which he used to
find in himself forgiveness, compassion, and kindness. The Heart of the Revolution
covers a lot of ground. It offers a fresh look at mercy, a term not
frequently used in Buddhism; includes an extensive commentary on the Metta Sutta;
gives the lowdown on personal and romantic love; and explores cosmology
and the three personality types according to traditional Buddhist
thought.
Married to Bhutan: How One Woman Got Lost, Said “I Do,” and Found Bliss
By Linda Leaming
Hay House 2011; 256 pp., $14.95 (paper) At its core, Married to Bhutan
is a romance; it’s the true story of Linda Leaming’s love affair with
both her Bhutanese husband and with Bhutan itself. Leaming, from
America, visited the Buddhist nation of Bhutan for the first time when
she was thirty-nine. It would be “a nice diversion,” the travel agent
had told her. But as soon as that first trip was over, Leaming was
devising ways to return. The country was to become, not a diversion, but
her life—a life full of hilarious linguistic bumbling, a flexible sense
of time, and a sharp awareness of impermanence. “In the West, it is
possible to live and be asleep,” she writes. “In Bhutan one is compelled
to wake up.” Leaming’s husband is a renowned thangka painter and I very
much enjoyed the intimate look at his artistic process.
Dharma Road: A Short Cab Ride to Self Discovery
By Brian Haycock
Hampton Roads Publishing Company 2010; 256 pp., $16.95 (paper) In
this, the first book by former cabdriver Brian Haycock, he unpacks Zen
Buddhist philosophy and practice through the lens of that job—the cars
and tips and traffic and dispatchers, the run-of-the-mill customers and
their small talk and the customers who are trying to score crack. But
you don’t need to drive a taxi to be able to relate to this book, writes
Haycock in the introduction. “We can’t all be cabdrivers. You’ll see
that life on the streets isn’t so different from your life. We all have
stress, distractions, delusions. We all get lost sometimes. And we can
find ourselves if we try.” I love the fresh premise of Dharma Road, and Haycock’s gritty stories and unpretentious, compassionate voice.
The Natural Kitchen: Your Guide to the Sustainable Food Revolution
By Deborah Eden Tull
Process 2010; 250 pp., $17.95 (paper) Author
Deborah Eden Tull spent seven years as a Buddhist monk and cook at the
Zen Monastery Peace Center in Murphys, California, and this fall she
will be teaching a workshop based on The Natural Kitchen at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York. The Natural Kitchen
features a number of tasty recipes, such as, miso pesto and summer
fruit soup, but it is not primarily a cookbook. Instead, it is an
invitation to experience greater health, joy, and mindful awareness by
cultivating a more eco-friendly relationship with food. Full of news you
can use, it has chapters on these and many other topics: conserving
energy while cooking; managing food waste and composting; growing food
in your own backyard; introducing children to the delicious world of
sustainable food; and eating on the go. The final chapter is a workbook
and resource list.
Tea Horse Road: China’s Ancient Trade Road to Tibet
By Michael Freeman and Selena Ahmed
River Books 2011; 340 pp., $65 (cloth)
In
the seventh century, Tibetans developed a taste for tea and it quickly
became a staple in their meaty diet. At the same time, China—struggling
to fend off the Mongols—found itself coveting sturdy warhorses. Since
Tibet had horses and China had tea, Cha Ma Dao,
or the Tea Horse Road, came into being. It’s a network of trails
covering nearly 2,000 miles, and was one of the most important trade
routes of the ancient world. This book by photographer and writer
Michael Freeman and scholar Selena Ahmed provides a rich visual journey
through many of the modern road’s branches. There are photographs of tea
and horse culture: teashops, terraced tea plantations, colorful tea
festivals, horse races, and saddle-making. But the scope of Freeman’s
stunning photography is much wider than that. There are also remarkable
images of Buddhist sculptures and temples, pilgrims, monks, and nuns.
This is a hefty book that deserves a place of honor on the coffee table.
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