by Vishvapani | Aug 25, 2012 | Buddhism in the West, Reviews
in his life before Buddhism, Issan Dorsey was a ‘bad drag queen’. But at the San Francisco Zen Centre he was a bodhisattva for a gay community blighted by AIDS. This excellent biography vividly evokes his extraordinary life. What...
by Vishvapani | Aug 17, 2012 | Buddhism, Buddhism in the West, Interviews
David Brazier discovered Buddhism in the 1960’s and followed it as a personal spiritual quest and an outlet for his social idealism. The New Buddhism challenges the views of many western Buddhists, proposing a focus on the earliest Buddhist teachings and social...
by Vishvapani | Jul 31, 2012 | Buddhism in the West
The hippy discovery of Buddhism (along with a cacophony of Eastern teachers and new ideas) is an important part of western Buddhist history. Wes Nisker’s memoir evokes the era and reflects on his generation’s trajectory with satire, irony and sincerity The...
by Vishvapani | Jun 28, 2012 | Buddhism in the West
This book gives a rare insight into two leading western Buddhist movements: the Tibetan-derived New Kadampa Tradition and the Zen Buddhist Order of Buddhist Contemplatives Buddhism has come to the West in numerous forms. There is its impact on popular culture, the...
by Vishvapani | Jun 1, 2012 | Buddhism in the West
Paul Williams, a prominent Buddhist scholar and author of Mahayana Buddhism, shocked the Buddhist world by converting from Buddhism to Catholicism. That made me wonder how deep an adopted faith reaches into the psyche Paul Williams, Professor of Indian religions at...
by Vishvapani | May 19, 2012 | Buddhism in the West
Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh recently visited Northern Ireland and addressed members of the Northern Ireland Assembly where former enemies work together in the Power-Sharing Executive. They listened respectfully to ideas that were influential in the province’s...
