No comments about My Love For You, Tom Cruise -- A Desperate Chinese Girl's Confession.

2 comments about Old Taoist.

1. A good, continually absorbing study of a contemporary though tradtional Japanese poet names Kodojin(d. 1943). The writing style holds one's interest throughout and the story of the poet's life along with his poems,paintings and drawings is always delightful and interesting. If you love Japanese haiku by such masters as Bassho and chinese poetry from the Tang you will find this study worthy of your attention. I have never read a book quite like it.



2. Translations of and commentary on one author's Taoist poems are presented in a warm blend of spiritual, religious and philosophical inspection which considers the last of the great poet-painters of Japan. Over 150 of his poems are treated to an appraisal which considers both form and content in a fine coverage worthy of inclusion in any strong Asian collection.

No comments about A Place of One's Own: Stories of Self in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

1 comments about Forest Recollections: Wandering Monks in Twentieth-Century Thailand.

1. As a Westerner who has done a lot of meditation in Thailand over the last 18 years, I've been curious to know the history of meditation in Thailand. I've also wondered about the Tudong or wondering monks whom I've occasionally seen here. This book explains it all. It is also very inspirational for serious meditators and might even inspire people who are curious about meditation.

   As far as I can tell (having spent about a year in Thai monasteries), Kamala is right on the button in everything she writes. My only complaint about the book is that the footnotes are in the back instead of at the bottom of the page.

   This book should deserves a wide audience.

1 comments about Grandma Lai Goon Remembers: A Chinese-American Family Story.

1. "Grandma Lai Goon Remembers: A Chinese-American Family Story" combines text by Ann Morris with photographs and illustrations by Peter Linenthal. The book tells about the relationship between Lai Goon and her granchildren, Allyson and Daniel. An immigrant from China, Lai Goon speaks Chinese and tells the grandkids about her life in China. She teaches them traditional Chinese calligraphy and other parts of their shared cultural heritage.

   This is an interesting book that is full of many photos, many of them in full color. My favorite photo shows Grandma doing tai chi in a bright yellow sweatsuit. The photos of her with her grandhildren are warm and enjoyable to see. The book ends with a suggested exercise on doing research into one's own family history. Overall, a good book for young readers of any ethnic group.

3 comments about Empty Cloud: The Autobiography of the Chinese Zen Master Xu Yun.

1. I could beat him up.
   (at least in a finger fight.)
   PS. Olde guy, we don't sacrifice no fingers no more in moksha.
   We consider if God gave 'em to us, we'll use 'em. But thanks for your hard work!
   
   "The ridding oneself of a portion of one's defilements is a gaining of a measure of enlightenment." -- (Reverend Master Xu Yun)



2. Yes. Extraordinary. Many years have passed since I read the Autobiography of Xu Yun (Empty Cloud), an experience that proved for me a spiritual awakening. As the initial reviewer has given an excellent, comprehensive overview - including the mind-boggling duration of the Master's life (all the more remarkable when one considers the contexts of the turbulent times in which he lived - 1840-1959), I would like to share my personal, perhaps idiosyncratic, reflections on what makes his life-rendering one of the great and most edifying masterworks, a book which ought to be far more widely read.
   Xu Yun regarded the Surangama Sutra as the definitive Buddhist text. I read a bit of the Surangama Sutra and was surprised to find that it involves a radically substantialist metaphysics, demonology - a later Mahayana development - not the sort of down-to-earth empiricism the Buddha teaches directly as recorded in the Tripitaka, at least according to my limited understanding. The interpretation of the Dharma espoused here accounts for Xu Yun's extraordinary vigilance and his severe spiritual practice. To use the term "austerity" seems euphemistic when describing his practice. He recalls the early years of his aspiration when he lived solely on pine needles (not nuts, needles) and water, roaming the mountains of Southern China and meditating. He then entered a monastery and initiated formal practice. He claims that the year he spent studying the Surangama Sutra was more productive than the totality of his previous life and practice. We can see that Xu Yun lived his long life on the razor's edge, and his devotion to the dharma, extreme and transcendent as it was, was tested at every step.
   Xu Yun made a number of grueling pilgrimages through the mountains in winter, which defy imagination, barefoot and lightly clad in patched monk's robes. Like John Muir, he was made of the sternest stuff, incredibly tough, with supra-human cold and hunger tolerance, and singular devotion paralleled only in the lives of the highest adepts of any tradition. He would meditate in mountain caves in the dead of winter for months at a time and acquired the ability to transcend the normal life of the senses.
   There is some speculation that Xu Yun was motivated in his spiritual quest by the pain of tremendous guilt. He deals with this view in the book, particularly in the appended poem "Song of the Skin Bag". This strange title, a double entendre, refers in part to the fact that he was literally ripped from his mother's womb, which clung to and covered him like a body length caul at birth, causing her death (the assumption is that she suffered a prolapse). This poem he wrote in his 19th year (1858/59) when he fully renounced the world and began his noted pilgrimage. The poem eloquently states in universal terms the reasons we should adhere to the Dharma. "Clearly good and evil karmas are infallible, so why/Rely on falsehood instead of practicing the truth?" "Frustrations of a thousand, nay ten thousand kinds/Harass and make your life yet more unbearable. When you grow old with failing sight and snow-white hair /You will have vainly passed a lifetime ignorant of virtue." "To indulge in ignorance, committing the ten evils, / Exhausts your ingenuity and wins the world's contempt./Wars, epidemics, droughts, and floods are frequent,/Dearth, famine and strife succeed each other and/When weird tales prevail misfortune follows." "Impermance exposed reveals eternity./Path lies in path within your practice." "Lay down your bag of skin, leap on the Vehicle Supreme."
   One of the most unforgettable passages recounts the vicious beating he received at the hands and feet of a gang of Red Communist troops in 1953 at the tender age of 113! The beating was brutal and involved violent kicking with combat boots. Xu Yun, however, survived this most unfortunate incident in good health. A number of his attackers were reported to have committed suicide or converted to Buddhism within weeks of their disgraceful actions. Xu Yun literally rebuilt the Ch'an tradition in China during the very years his countryman Mao was busy destroying millions of lives for a stated ideal. There is a comparison we ought to ponder here. Whose life was the more valuable, and why? Which ideally promises the better form of social organization - the better way to live - the State or the Sangha?
   Another notable aspect of his autobiography is to be found in its inimitable presentation. Xu Yun will devote pages to what he considers to be the most significant incidents in his development - which sometimes lasted only a few hours in duration, and then, will give but a few lines to years at a time. I have never come across such an approach in my reading of the genre - and really, this would seem to give a more accurate perspective on life.
   There are a number of versions of The Autobiography of Xu Yun available. However, I read the Charles Luk translation listed here - and, as I have rather awkwardly attempted to say - it's an essential life - a paradigm for our most reverent study.



3. In the course of a long-life, spanning almost 120 years, Xu-yun (1840-1959)had become something of a living legend. By the time of his passing in 1959, Xu-yun was the most renowned Zen Buddhist in China. Hence this biography makes fascinating reading. It details the struggles - as well as the rewards, of a life dedicated to the Dharma. Philip Kapleau Roshi used to read portions of this book to his students to inspire them and provide spurs for practice.
   
   Born around the time of the Opium Wars - Xu-yun's life spanned some of the most violent upheavals China had ever witnessed -what with being occupied by several foreign powers, the formation of the Republic, then civil war, leaving China under Communist rule. Few of China's modernisers - communist or otherwise, were sympathetic to Buddhism, leaving the fate of the Sangha uncertain. Unlike the days of yore, when official patronage and funding could be counted on, these were hard times. Hence, Xu-yun's endeavours to restore Chinese Buddhism or bring about a revival seem all that more remarkable. Similar challenges had been encountered by the eminent Ming master Han-shan, so Xu-yun came to be known as "Han-shan come-again."
   
   This book also documents Xu-yun's pilgrimages and travels - for the most part on foot, to neighbouring Buddhist lands - India, Tibet, Burma, Thailand etc. While in Thailand, the King was so impressed by Xu-yun, he became a personal disciple of the master. On a practical note, supplementary material has been added,detailing Xu-yun's instructions on Ch'an/Zen practice, at the Jade Buddha temple, Shanghai. These were highly practical and can be put to use anywhere. Master Xu-yun's inspiring story deserves a place in every Buddhist library.

No comments about China's American Daughter: Ida Pruitt (1888-1985).

No comments about China Complex: From the Sublime to the Absurd on the U.S.-China Scene.

3 comments about Bury My Bones in America: The Saga of a Chinese Family in California, 1852-1996--From San Francisco to the Sierra Gold Mines.

1. This beautifully illustrated and written story of a Chinese immigrant is fascinating in its scope, detail, and in putting his experience in the context of our California history. As a fourth generation Chinese, there was much here that I did not know about my ancestors' struggles and triumphs, courage and tragedies. Enjoy this wonderful story and receive an education.



2. If you enjoy historical books about Asian American or California history, this is a "must read." Lani Ah Tye Farkas tells the fascinating true story of her great grandfather, who arrived in California in the early 1850s and overcame racial oppression and other challenges to successfully settle in America. She then traces the fortunes of his progeny, and tells their stories through two generations. The resulting book accurately portrays the many struggles and challenges that early Chinese immigrants faced in California in the last century and a half. The book features wonderful family photographs, some tragic stories, and is fully footnoted.



3. If you enjoy historical books about Asian American or California history, this is a "must read." Lani Ah Tye Farkas tells the fascinating true story of her great grandfather, who arrived in California in the early 1850s and overcame racial oppression and other challenges to successfully settle in America. She then traces the fortunes of his progeny, and tells their stories through two generations. The resulting book accurately portrays the many struggles and challenges that early Chinese immigrants faced in California in the last century and a half. The book features wonderful family photographs, some tragic stories, and is fully footnoted.

No comments about I.M. Pei: Designer of Dreams (Picture Story Biography).