Zen Memoir

Raised in a rationalist household in Oxford during the spiritual heyday of the '60s and '70s, an unexpected spiritual awakening would prompt a lifelong quest to integrate the experience into his life, leading him eventually to Zen Buddhism. As Shukman gets to grips with meditative practice and struggles with anxiety, depression and the chronic eczema he had had since childhood, he discovers in surprising ways the emotional, spiritual and even physical healing that he has been searching for all along.

These hilarious essays on life inside and outside a Zen monastery make up the spiritual memoir of Shozan Jack Haubner, a Zen monk who didn’t really start out to be one. Raised in a conservative Catholic family, Shozan went on to study philosophy (becoming de-Catholicized in the process) and to pursue a career as a screenwriter and stand-up comic in the clubs of L.A. How he went from life in the fast lane to life on the stationary meditation cushion is the subject of this laugh-out-loud funny account of his experiences.

This is the story of how a meditation practice gave Henry Shukman a context for integrating a sudden spiritual awakening into his life and how his depression and anxiety were gradually healed through this practice. In sharing how he grew into a Zen teacher, Shukman demystifies Zen training, casting its profound insights in simple, lucid language. Along the way, One Blade of Grass guides listeners on a journey of their own, into the hidden treasures that contemplative practice can reveal to any of us.

This is not your typical Zen book. Brad Warner, a young punk who grew up to be a Zen master, spares no one. This bold new approach to the "Why?" of Zen Buddhism is as strongly grounded in the tradition of Zen as it is utterly revolutionary. Warner's voice is hilarious, and he calls on the wisdom of everyone from punk and pop culture icons to the Buddha himself to make sure his points come through loud and clear.

In 1968, Robert Pirsig and his son, Chris, made the cross-country motorcycle trip that was the basis for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a book that has inspired generations with its searching personal and philosophical narrative. After rereading the book at the onset of middle age, reporter Mark Richardson tuned up his old Suzuki dirt bike and became a "Pirsig Pilgrim".

At twenty-five, activist Cristina Moon faced an impossible task: preparing for the possibility of arrest and torture inside military-ruled Myanmar. Her response? Learning Buddhist meditation. So began what would become a decades-long spiritual path—eventually leading her to a Zen temple and martial arts dojo in Hawai'i with a timeless method of warrior Zen training.

Dr. Ball has told his story before in bits and pieces, but this is the first time it has all been articulated in one place in an intimate and comprehensive format. Provocative, challenging, and radical, Being Infinite articulates Dr. Ball’s nondual perspective that developed from his entheogenic experiences and the profound transformations they made within his sense of self and understanding of the nature of reality and being....

Epilepsy Memoir: A 45-Year Epilepsy Zen Detour - A detour from the "normal life" gentlemen, line up your cars, start your engines, green flag, gun your engines, go! Genesis of the epilepsy, the beginning of the electric highway and the ups and downs of epilepsy, depression, correctly diagnosed stress anxiety syndrome and correctly diagnosed panic attacks syndrome, and misdiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia, supposedly all three-psyche nonsense are active which is a load of frozen hockey pucks.

At the time of his murder trial, Jarvis Jay Masters was in solitary confinement and spent 22 years in a five-foot-by-11-foot cell. This is where The Buddhist on Death Row takes off. With uncanny clarity, David Sheff describes Masters’ path to enlightenment - from being sullen and violent to discovering how easy and how hard it is to just sit and breathe, how those minutes spawn heightened perception and deepened compassion, the right way to remember one’s pain, and much more.

Shunryu Suzuki, author of the beloved classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, is lovingly remembered as one of the greatest spiritual teachers of the 20th century - whose legacy is felt in every facet of American Zen. This monumental biography of Suzuki, written and read by his student David Chadwick, weaves together a rich tapestry of stories and memories of Suzuki’s students, family, and friends. In this updated and revised audiobook edition, Chadwick also offers rare excerpts from archived recordings of Suzuki’s teachings in the great Zen master's own voice.

National icon Willie Nelson has evolved over the years from country music outlaw swimming against a whiskey river to a Zen-like figure of wisdom and contentment. In this autobiographical collection of life advice, The Tao of Willie, one of America's truest hearts reveals the spiritual and practical lessons learned from decades of hard knocks and good bounces.

While studying at Columbia University, Anthony's life began to fall apart as he wrestled with anxiety, clinical depression, and low back pain. Everything changed for the better after he discovered the amazing art of qigong.

In this raw and poignant memoir filled with gorgeous insights, Leslie Reyes bares her highest highs and lowest lows on the long highway of humanity. And by applying the wisdom she gained in learning to ride a motorbike to her lifelong quest to conquer fear, she offers a guiding hand along the hills and valleys of an unpredictable life.

Zen self-cope and Zen self-love yourself mentally and physically. True love requires trust, and trust requires honesty. Never, ever, forget that you are important, too.

Composer John Cage sought the silence of a mind at peace with itself - and found it in Zen Buddhism, a spiritual path that changed both his music and his view of the universe. "Remarkably researched, exquisitely written", Where the Heart Beats weaves together "a great many threads of cultural history" (Maria Popova, Brain Pickings) to illuminate Cage’s struggle to accept himself and his relationship with choreographer Merce Cunningham. Freed to be his own man, Cage originated exciting experiments that set him at the epicenter of a new avant-garde forming in the 1950s.

Fed up with teenage life in the suburbs, Jaimal Yogis ran off to Hawaii with little more than a copy of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha and enough cash for a surfboard. His journey is a coming-of-age saga that takes him from communes to monasteries, from the warm Pacific to the icy New York shore. Equal parts spiritual memoir and surfer's tale, this is a chronicle of finding meditative focus in the barrel of a wave and eternal truth in the great, salty blue.

In 1979, 24-year-old Maura O'Halloran moved to Japan and became the first woman ever admitted to Toshoji Temple. Soshin-san (O'Halloran's monastic name) labored through three intense years of work and study in preparation for becoming a dharma teacher. Her life ended abruptly during a trip to Thailand, and today Soshin-san is revered as a Buddhist saint. The material in this program is from her private and heartfelt journals and letters.

The Tribute is translated here for the first time. Peter Haskel's introduction places Tosui in the context of the Japanese Zen of his period - a time when the identities of early modern Zen schools were still being formed and a period of spiritual crisis for many distinguished monks who believed that the authentic Zen transmission had long ceased to exist. Abiographical addendum offers a detailed overview of Tosui's life in light of surviving premodern sources.

Legendary singer, artist, and performer, Tony Bennett has been one of the world's most beloved entertainers for more than six decades. From the 78 to the LP to the digital age, Tony has done it all and is still at the top of his game. In decade after decade, this artistic icon - who has won 17 Grammys, sung for 10 presidents, and performed for royalty - has refused to compromise his vision or values. His unwavering commitment to quality has helped him stay true to his classic sound and is the reason his music continues to endure.

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