Wise and witty, heartfelt and profound, this second volume in an annual series brings together the year's most notable prose inspired by the power and insight of Buddhist practice. Compiled by the editors of North America's oldest and most widely read Buddhist magazine, the collection offers a lively array of styles, perspectives, and concerns of contemporary Buddhists.
The twenty-five talented contributors include familiar favorites as well as some surprising voices who will delight and enlighten the reader, with pieces ranging from personal memoir, adventure travelogue, and prison journal to advice for practitioners and wisdom teachings of the masters. Among this year's outstanding selections are:
Natalie Goldberg looks at the complex and troubled relationship with the two most important men in her life: her father and her Zen teacher.
The Dalai Lama explains Buddhism's signature doctrine of emptiness.
Dharma teacher Gaylon Ferguson writes on issues of self-worth and social justice for people of color.
Journalist Joan Duncan Oliver reflects on her struggle with twin addictions: "a drink and a man."
Thich Nhat Hanh offers personal meditations to help us lead a more wholesome and mindful life.
Cognitive psychologist Eleanor Rosch discourses on mind, meditation, and the creative process.
Peter Matthiessen ponders the longing for adventure as he travels the Antarctic.
Zen teacher John Tarrant tells how he applied a famed koan as his mother was dying.
Best Buddhist Writing 2005, Melvin McLeod, ed., Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 2005, 336 pp., $15.95
Melvin McLeod is the editor-in-chief of the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma: A Practitioner's Quarterly. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
IX. INTRODUCTION
1. The Great Way is Not Difficult by JOHN Tarrant
10. Recognizing our Natural State by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche with David R. Shlim, M.D.
16. Touching the Earth by Thich Nhat Hanh
27. The Flame at the Tip of the Candle by Claude Anshin Thomas
40. The Anthropology of Myself by Faith Adiele59. The True Spirit of the Grain by Edward Espe Brown
63. Nothing Holy: A Zen Primer by Norman Fischer
75 The Great Failure by Natalie Goldberg
95. The Path of Mahamudra by Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche
103. If You Depict a Bird, Given It Space to Fly by Eleanor Rosch
119. The Future of Ice by Gretel Ehrlich
129. Exploring the Great Indoors by Jeff Greenwald
143. Sunset Boulevard by Erik Hansen
146. Waking Up at Work by Michael Carroll
157. Making Friends With Ourselves by Gaylon Ferguson
163. Awakening the Mind of the Buddha by Gehlek Rimpoche
175. Listen to the Cries of the Universe by Barbara Rhodes
178. Meeting Myself in the Cell House by Scott Darness
189. The Great Love by Lewis Richmond
198. Daughter Time by Rick Bass
204. Drink and a Man by Joan Duncan Oliver
210. Cultivating Wisdom by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
227. The Infinite Dot Called Mind by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
244. Intimate Distances by Francisco J. Varela
255. Rucksack Poetry: How Haiku Found a Home in America by Andrew Schelling
267. Have a Cup of Tea by John Daido Loori
276. Danger on Peaks by Gary Snyder
276. Almost Okay Now
277. For Philip Zenshin
277. For Carole
278. Steady, They Say
279. Experiments in Consciousness by Sam Harris
293. The Politics of Interdependence by Peter Coyote
296. Three Means to Peace by Joseph Goldstein
303. Contributors
315. Credits
321. About the Author
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