Books in Brief

LAO-TZU’S TAOTECHING
Translated by Red Pine
Mercury House: San Francisco, 1996.
179 pp., $12.95 (paper).

This new translation by Red Pine (himself a kind of modem-day Taoist) comes complete with 2,000 years of commentaries on each of Lao-Tzu’s laconic verses on the Tao, or Way.

THE GOLDEN LETTERS
Translated, with Introduction and Commentaries
by John Myrdhin Reynolds
Snow Lion: Ithaca, New York, 1996.
383 pp., $18.95 (paper).

In many ways the best guide to the Dzog Chen (Great Perfection) teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. Includes explanations of texts that were previously thought too secret to publish in book form.

BUDDHISM FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW
Sangharakshita
Windhorse Publications: Birmingham, England, 1996.
60 pp., $8.95 (paper).

A discussion of the four things necessary to live a Buddhist life: a vision of who we wish to become, practical methods for self-transformation, the support of our friends, and a society that supports our endeavor.

THE EXCELLENT PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Snow Lion Publications: Ithaca, New York, 1996.
125 pp., $12.95 (paper).

A straightforward, heartfelt guide to being a bodhisattva.

THE LAND OF BLISS: THE PARADISE OF THE BUDDHA OF MEASURELESS LIGHT
Translated by Luis O. Gómez
University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu, 1996.
356 pp., $17.00 (paper).

Does Buddhism have a heaven? In the Pure Land tradition it does. This translation of the “smaller” and “larger” Sukhavatiyuha Sutra describes the wonders of Sukavati, the Pure Land of Amida, the Buddha of Measureless light.

WALKING ON LOTUS FLOWERS: BUDDHIST WOMEN LIVING, LOVING AND MEDITATING
Martine Batchelor
Thorson’s: London, 1996.
205 pp., $18.00 (paper).

Personal accounts of dharma and daily life by Buddhist nuns and laywomen, East and West. The stories, however diverse, are told with compelling integrity and a sense of intimacy.

MASTER DOGEN’S SHOBOGENZO: BOOK TWO
Translated by Gudo Nishijima and Chodo Cross
Windbell Publications Ltd.: London, 1996.
304 pp., $25.00 (paper).

The second in a series of new translations from Dogen’s great opus, Shobogenzo, “Right-Dharma-Eye Treasury.” Probably better for the student than the casual reader.

BUDDHIST WOMAN ON THE EDGE: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES FROM THE WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Edited by Marianne Dresser
North Atlantic Books: Berkeley, 1996.
321 pp.,$16.95 (paper).

Includes essays by Pema Chodron, Rita Gross, Jane Hirshfield, bell hooks, Sallie Tisdale, Kate Wheeler, Anne Klein, Jan Willis, and many others.

GREAT FOOL: ZEN MASTER RYOKAN—POEMS, LETTERS, AND OTHER WRITINGS
Translated by Ryuichi Abe and Peter Haskel
University of Hawai’i Press: Honolulu, 1996.
306 pp., $27.00 (paper).

The most comprehensive collection to date of the writings of Japan’s most famous Zen eccentric. Includes personal letters and other work of a more informal nature.

HOLIDAY GIFT BOOKS

JOURNEY TO ENLIGHTENMENT: THE LIFE AND WORLD OF KHYENTSE RINPOCHE, SPIRITUAL TEACHER FROM TIBET
Photographs and Narrative by Matthieu Ricard
Aperture: New York, 1996.
152 pp., $45.00 (hardcover).

Stunning photographs and intimate memoir by Ricard, a French monastic in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism who for fifteen years was Khyentse Rinpoche’s attendent and translator. The book reveals and honors an extraordinary teacher.

THE MYSTICAL ARTS OF TIBET
Text by Glenn Mullin and Andy Weber/
Photography by Brad Wrisley
Longstreet Press: Atlanta, 1996.
166 pp., $27.00 (cloth).

An introduction to Tibetan art, featuring personal sacred objects of the Dalai Lama.

ALCHI: LADAKH’S HIDDEN BUDDHIST SANCTUARY, THE SUMTSEK
Roger Goepper /
Photographs by Jaroslav Poncar
Shambhala Limited Editions: Boston. 1996.
286 pp., $150 (cloth).

Simply the best Buddhist art book of the past decade. The flying dakinis and bodhisatrvas may leave you wondering if Marc Chagall might not have traveled to Ladakh.

AND FOR THE KIDS:

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
Richard McGuire
Viking: New York ,1995.
32 pp., $13.99 (cloth).

Karma for ages five and up. A girl’s brother throws her doll out the window, triggering a chain of events whereby the doll travels around the world until it finally comes back to hit him in the head.

THE GIRL WHO WANTED A SONG
Steve Sanfield /
Illustrated by Stephen T. Johnson
Harcourt Brace: New York, 1996.
30 pp., $16.00 (cloth).

Based on the Ten Oxherding Pictures of Zen Buddhism. For ages five to eight.

ILIANA: A WINTER SOLSTICE TALE
Walter Fordham /
Illustrated by Tatjana Krizmanic
Wide River Books: Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1995.
37 pp.. $17.50 (cloth).

The days are getting shorter. Why? Iliana sets out to find the sun to save the kingdom of Shambhala from darkness. Along the way, she meets creatures who guide her quest. Ages six to eleven.