Michael Sheehy reviews Rainbow Body and Resurrection by Francis V. Tiso. From the Winter 2016 issue of Buddhadharma. If we look across spiritual traditions, we find the human body is broadly envisioned to be a vessel that contains the essence of existence and transformation—a container, likened to clothes that are to be stripped off or a boat that is to be abandoned [...]
Book Briefs – Spring 2014
Breathing sustains us and shapes our experiences, yet as Allison Choying Zangmo and Anyen Rinpoche note in The Tibetan Yoga of Breath (Shambhala 2013), it is not always something we are terribly good at. This book teaches us not only to become more aware of how we breathe but also how to use breath to tackle physical and emotional suffering. Zangmo and her husband, Anyen [...]
The 10 Best Buddhist Books of 2013
The review editors at Buddhadharma have sorted through stacks of the many new Buddhist books published this year. Narrowing them down to a short list wasn’t easy. We have kept to the following criteria in making our book choices: They inform Buddhists about their practice They advance our understanding of, or shatter our preconceptions about, Buddhism They are well [...]
Book Briefs
Steven Heine’s Like Cats and Dogs (Oxford 2013) examines the history of the famous Mu koan. In a dialogue between an anonymous monk and the master Zhaozhou Congshen (778–897), the former asks if a dog has buddhanature and is met with a colossal “No.” Or so one version of the story goes, for as Heine explains, this redaction—found in the Gateless Gate collection of 1229—is just [...]
Book Briefs
Although movies and hype about Zen martial arts abound, there are very few good books available on the disciplines. Sword of Zen (Hawaii 2013) transcends cliché musings about Zen swordplay and introduces us to the world of one of Japan’s most renowned Zen sword masters, Takuan Soho (1573–1645). Along with an informative introduction and biographical sketch of Master Takuan, the [...]
Best Buddhist Books for Summer 2013, Part Two
Here is Part Two of Buddhadharma's selection of the Best Buddhist Books of the year so far. These are books that will expand and deepen your understanding of Buddhism to help you navigate the waters of samsara. The Profound Treasury Chögyam Trungpam, Shambhala Publications Many of us will be delighted to sink deep this summer into the three volumes of Chögyam Trungpa's [...]
Best Buddhist Books for Summer 2013, Part One
Looking for a great Buddhist book to dive into this summer? Here is Buddhadharma's selection of the Best Buddhist Books of the year so far. These are books that will expand and deepen your understanding of Buddhism to help you navigate the waters of samsara. As is our formula, we have selected books based on the criteria that they inform Buddhists about their practice, [...]
Book Briefs – Summer 2013
If asked where the Pure Land Buddhism was historically practiced, most people would likely say China and Japan. In Luminous Bliss (Hawaii 2013), author Georgios Halkias offers a new perspective on the influence of Buddha Amitabha and his Pure Land through a detailed study of the tradition in Tibet. The book begins with a history of the practice and literature of the Pure Lands [...]
Buddhadharma Book Reviews: From the Editor’s Desk
In this instalment of From the Editor's Desk, Review Editor Michael Sheehy looks at two pilgrimage travelogues — one modern and one ancient — and a new study of a Nyingma master's work. Running the Shikoku Pilgrimage: 900 Miles to Enlightenment Amy Chavez Volcano Press 2013 The Shikoku pilgrimage, associated with the Buddhist master Kukai, consists of eighty-eight temples [...]
Buddhadharma Book Reviews: From the Editor’s Desk
In this installment of From the Editor's Desk, Review Editor Michael Sheehy looks at new books on understandings of tantric Buddhism, a new look at the Linjilu, and the confessions of a wayward Zen monk. Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism: History, Semiology, and Transgression in the Indian Traditions Christian K. Wedemeyer Columbia University Press 2012 Christian Wedemeyer [...]
