Mark Unno looks at the rich history behind Pure Land Buddhism — the tradition based on the enlightened realm of Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. In the past two decades, there has been increasing awareness in America of Pure Land Buddhism as a major development of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. While Zen Buddhism is still better known in the West, Pure Land Buddhism [...]
Review: “The Day The Buddha Woke Up”
From the July 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar. The Day the Buddha Woke Up By Andrea Miller; artwork by Rima Fujita Wisdom Publications 2018; 18 pp., $10.95 (board book) The Day the Buddha Woke Up is the first ever Buddhist board book. It was written with small children in mind, but the words and images are worth pondering from both a child’s perspective and when we’re all [...]
Review: “The Truth of This Life”
From the March 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar. The Truth of This Life Zen Teachings on Loving the World as It Is By Katherine Thanas Shambhala Publications 2018; 176 pp., $16.95 (paper) In 1967, at age forty, the late Katherine Thanas was introduced to Zen by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. She went on to become the founding teacher for the Monterey Bay Zen Center and abbot of the [...]
Review: “I Wanna Be Well”
From the March 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar. I Wanna Be Well How a Punk Found Peace and You Can Too By Miguel Chen with Rod Meade Sperry Wisdom Publications 2018, 192 pp., $16.95 (paper) When he was sixteen, Miguel Chen’s mother died of cancer. Seven months later, his twenty-year-old sister was killed in a car accident. These devastating losses prompted Chen to try to [...]
Review: “Holy Rascals”
From the March 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar. Holy Rascals Advice for Spiritual Revolutionaries By Rami Shapiro Sounds True 2017; 232 pp., $16.95 (paper) Rabbi Rami Shapiro isn’t against religion, but he believes there is something religious bigwigs don’t want you to know: “Brand-name parochial religions are concerned with their respective truths rather than the Perennial [...]
Review: “Aging with Wisdom”
From the March 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar. Aging with Wisdom Reflections, Stories & Teachings By Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle Monkfish Book Publishing Company 2017; 218 pp., $16.95 (paper) There are inevitable aches and pains involved with growing old. But today in the West, old age is made even more painful by the way our culture glorifies youth, does not respect its [...]
Review: “Divine Gardens”
From the March 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar. Divine Gardens Mayumi Oda & The San Francisco Zen Center Interviews and essays compiled by Rachel Walther Parallax Press 2017; 112 pp., $29.95 (cloth) I’ve long admired the colorful, joy-infused art of Mayumi Oda, but after reading Divine Gardens, I now have a greater appreciation for her as an artist, activist, and [...]
Review: “Long Strange Journey”
From the March 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar. Long Strange Journey On Modern Zen, Zen Art, and Other Predicaments By Gregory P. A. Levine University of Hawai’i Press 2017; 344 pp., $62 (cloth) Long Strange Journey offers the first critical analysis of Zen-inspired modernism and its ubiquitous legacies. Gregory P. A. Levine is a professor of Japanese art and [...]
Review: “Zen Camera”
From the March 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar. Zen Camera Creative Awakening with a Daily Practice in Photography By David Ulrich Watson–Guptill 2018; 224 pp., $22 (cloth) Whether you’re a newbie, amateur photographer, or seasoned professional, this book will help you cultivate creativity with a camera and in all areas of your life. A professor and co-director of Pacific [...]
Review: “The Pure Joy of Being”
From the March 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar. The Pure Joy of Being An Illustrated Introduction to the Story of the Buddha and the Practice of Meditation By Fabrice Midal Shambhala Publications 2017; 176 pp., $24.95 (cloth) French philosopher and meditation teacher Fabrice Midal is well aware that the life of the Buddha, as it’s traditionally told, is heavily mixed with [...]
