Sex Death Enlightenment

Sex Death Enlightenment: A True Story by Mark Matousek (Riverhead, 1996) A chance reference drew me to seek this book out in the Library, but I did not expect to be so captivated by it - devouring it in a couple days. I love personal accounts of spiritual seekers and this one was particularly honest, passionate, and well-written. Matousek takes you on his journey from his rather hedonistic life in NYC in the 1980's working for Andy Warhol and as a successful editor, to his quest to finder a deeper meaning as he confronted the ravages of the AIDS epidemic. After experiencing a spiritual opening in the presence of Mother Meera, he embarks on a quest that leads him to various traditions, teachers and seekers, and brings him face to face with his own darkest personal pain and fear. I found this book to be quite inspiring and life-affirming. - L.

What Makes you Not a Buddhist

What Makes you Not a Buddhist by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse (Shambhala, 2007). This is one of the best new dharma books I've read in a long while. Born in 1961, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse is both a traditional Tibetan Buddhist (he is considered the present main incarnation of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö and has studied with many of the great masters, including H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche), and someone who is totally involved with the modern world - spending much time in the west and even directing feature films such as The Cup and Travellers and Magicians. This ability to speak from both worlds is part of what makes this book such a great teaching. He writes in a highly accessible style, filled with modern references, sometimes humorous, sometimes devastatingly direct and cutting - always filled with both wisdom and compassion.
His main premise in the book is that a Buddhist is not someone who follows particular external cultural traditions or even one who acts in a moral, non-violent manner (though of course that is important): one is a Buddhist if they accept the following four truths: 1. All compounded things are impermanent. 2. All emotions are pain. 3. All things have no inherent existence. 4. Nirvana is beyond concepts. Highly recommended reading. - L.

Book of Longing

Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen (Ecco, 2006) - This is a wonderful collection of Cohen's poetry, interspersed with his beautiful artwork, including many humorous, self-deprecating self-portraits. The poems include several that were also released as songs. Written over the course of 20 years, including his time as a Zen Buddhist monk on Mt. Baldy, the poetry deals with all the big issues of life : love, death, God, the search for meaning. It's a beautiful book. Linda

Gesture of Awareness

Gesture of Awareness: A Radical Approach to Time, Space, and Movement by Charles Genoud. (Wisdom Publications, 2007) As someone who has experienced Charles Genoud's groundbreaking Gesture of Awareness classes at Dzogchen Center retreats for the past several years, it was hard to imagine how Charles could possibly convey his teaching, which is based on awareness and being with the whole body, in the form of a book. I thought at first it would be more in the style of the the more intellectual dharma talks that Charles also gives. However, this book is a wonderful surprise - with the teachings conveyed in spare poetic verse, haiku-like in style. His words guide us to experience reality and be truly present, without the basic assumptions that stand in our way.
It's impossible to read the verses without hearing Charles' French-accented voice in my head! I wonder how it would read for one who had not experienced Charles first hand?
Linda

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie. This is a lovely, poetic short novel, that despite being set during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, is amazingly positive and uplifting. The story concerns 2 boys from educated families sent to the country for "re-education" in a rural village. They discover a hidden suitcase of banned western novels translated into Chinese and sneak off to read them, savoring the descriptions of love and emotion. They are both smitten with a beautiful young seamstress, who is illiterate and unworldly, but full of life and curiousity. They are committed to reading to the seamstress with an eye towards educating her and making her more sophisticated and worldly. The ending, where the seamstress achieves her own independence was an interesting surprise. The sense of the ability of art and literature to touch a deeper humanity even in a bleak and hopeless set of circumstances was inspiring. - Linda

Inheritance of Loss

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. This is a beautifully written novel & winner of the 2006 Man Booker prize. Set in India near the border of Nepal, it concerns a cast of characters which includes a Cambridge educated judge who lives in a crumbling mansion with his grandaughter and his cook. All of the characters seem stunted and powerless, victimized by the forces at work in the modern world - colonialism, globalization, fundamentalism. While the suffering and confusion of these characters is heartwrenchingly drawn, I did not feel that I got to know the characters as personally as I wished to. I felt a bit frustrated at times - wanting to dig deeper. Aside from that, the book is full of passages worth savoring - vivid descriptions and insights .
The grandfather is an Anglophile, full of disgust toward just about everyone and everything Indian - the only being he shows any compassion towards is his beloved dog. His grandaughter Sai is in love with her math tutor who ends up joining a Nepali uprising. The cook's only hope is his son Biju who lives in NYC as an illegal immigrant, going from one dismal restaurant job to the next - certainly not achieving any sort of American dream. Despite some passages of humor, the book was a rather sad and depressing look at the world. That said - it is well worth reading. (In fact, I really feel drawn to pick it up again - I had to rush it back to the Library so did not have time to browse back through it and linger a bit...) Linda