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"One moon shows in every pool
in every pool the one moon"

--Zen Forest Saying

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Rob's Recommended Reads

Returning to Earth and True North, Jim Harrison

These are quintessentially Michigan novels taking place in the Upper Peninsula. Harrison writes of the wild places in nature and the human mind like no one else. Like D.H. Lawrence's novels The Rainbow and Women in Love, True North followed by Returning to Earth offer a continuing story of some unforgettable characters.

The Chocolate Cake Sutra, Geri Larkin

This is a positive book offering a recipe on how to find sweetness in life. Geri Larkin is intelligent, witty, funny, kind and well worth reading.

A Private History of Awe, Scott Russell Sanders

Scott Russell Sanders writes lovely non-fiction prose. His books of essays can serve as models for anyone wanting to see the craft of writing at its finest. His memoir, A Private History of Awe brings together his superior writing skills with a life of earned wisdom. He is truly an elder this country needs to listen to at this time in our history, from his views on the environment to his views on compassionate living.

Resistance, Barry Lopez.

Barry Lopez's fiction has a unique texture and flavor. There isn't anyone who writes quite like him. In this latest collection of interwoven stories, Lopez develops a significant commentary on freedom and the imagination at war with the government's interest in control.

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

This novel is interesting in so many ways: memorable characters, a remarkable setting, an outstanding plot. The sense of place in describing pre-Taliban Afghanistan is impressive enough; the riveting story line makes it even better.

The Summer He Didn't Die, Jim Harrison

The title piece is the first in this three-novella collection, and it is one of Harrison's best pieces of fiction in his long career. The other two will not disappoint either. He moves from pure literary art to notable satire to a penetrating autobiographical meditation.

Flying At Night, Ted Kooser

Our poet laureate writes marvelous poetry. It is subtle, crafted, honest, and accessible. Kooser isn't obsessed with his own personality, which results in poems that not only show the magic of the world but also of the brilliance of the mind looking outward.

Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi

Here is a brave, honest, compelling portrait of a dark, oppressive society and the power of literature to offer solace, hope, courage and eloquence in answering the banality and brutality of totalitarianism. Rendered in sharp, clear language, this memoir is a testament to freedom and to the joy of reading what matters.

Faith, Sharon Salzberg

Sharon Salzberg writes in a sharp, concise, clear and honest language. She is able to make new the deep meaning of faith in an intelligent and readable text that is really an extended definition and memoir blended together into one great book.

The Still Point Dhammapada, Geri Larkin

The Dhammapada is such a wonderful guide in itself, so invigorating, positive, timeless, but what makes this book especially nice for contemporaries is that the rendering is done with female as well as male pronouns, making it more inclusive, and the stories of the beginnings of the Still Point temple in Detroit show lines of the text applied in present-day life, with thoughtfulness, humor, sensitivity and intelligence. It's a useful book.

I Sailed With Magellan, Stuart Dybek

Called a novel in stories, this most recent collection of Dybek's fiction shows why he is one of the great writers in this country. The stories are plaintive and sweet, in a prose that is lyrical, closely observed and dead honest.

Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides

This is an elegant work, ambitious in its breadth and depth. This novel has won numerous awards. They are well deserved. Eugenides writes of Detroit as hauntingly as Dybek writes of Chicago.

The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd

Set in the South, told by a compelling narrator who has keen eye for the oddities of human experience, this novel reminds readers that beauty resides in the heart and in the hive.

Peace Like a River, Leif Enger

I couldn't put this book down, and the further I read the less I believed the author could pull off the inevitable conclusion to this story. He did-and told it marvelously, too.

New and Selected Poems , Mary Oliver

A voice of incomparable wisdom and beauty. The voice of the wild, of the earth, of the connections that make each day a marvel, if one has the vision to observe.

The Timbered Choir, Wendell Berry

Here is a voice of maturity and power that comes from ordinary language living on an extraordinary planet and knowing it.

Nine Horses, Billy Collins

Collins' new and selected poems, Sailing Alone Around the Room, is a bigger book for those wanting to read a lot of his work within one binding, but Nine Horses is also vintage Billy Collins poetry, humorous and humble, well crafted and accessible. He is an especially good poet for those who are just starting to venture into the genre. And he is great for those who have been reading and writing poetry for years, as well.

The Heart of Buddha's Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh's dharma talks have been transcribed into so many books you'll need to put on an addition to store them. This book, however, is just an introduction to Buddhist practice from a master who covers all the traditional concepts offered in numerous books but with his signature kindness and compassion.

Returning to Silence, Dainin Katagiri

This is an insightful book on Zen practice that deserves more than one reading. So simple yet...

Artists in Times of War, Howard Zinn

You are an artist. Read this book.

Other Recommendations on Mindfulness

Anthologies

Bercholz, Kohn, et al., Eds. Entering the Stream. Shambhala; (January 1994).

Smith, Jean. Radiant Mind. Riverhead Books; (February 1999).

Foster & Shoemaker, Eds. The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader. Ecco;(2003)

Books

Aitken, Robert. Taking the Path of Zen. North Point Press; (September 1985)

Armstrong, Karen. Buddha. Viking Press; (February 15, 2001)

Beck, Charlotte Joko. Everyday Zen: Love and Work. Harper San Francisco; (March 1989)

Brach, Tara. Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha. Bantam ; (June 10, 2003)

Chittister, Joan. In Search of Belief. Ligouri/Triumph (2006).

Chodron, Pema. Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living. Shambhala; (2001)

Chodron, Pema. The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times. Shambhala; (August 13, 2002)

Chodron, Pema. When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times. Shambhala; (September 12, 2000)

and others by Pema Chodrun

Gunaratana, Henepola. Mindfulness in Plain English. Wisdom Publications; (September 2002)

Gunaratana, Henepola. Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha’s Path. Wisdom Publications; (May 2001)

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. Hyperion (1994).

Katagiri, Dainin. Returning to Silence: Zen Practice in Daily Life. Shambhala; (May 1988)

Katagiri, Dainin. You Have to Say Something: Manifesting Zen Insight. Shambhala; (January 2000)

Khong, Chan. Learning True Love. Parallax Press; (1993)

Larkin, Geri. The Chocolate Cake Sutra, Houghton Mifflin (2007)

and others by Geri Larkin

Mathiessen, Peter. Nine Headed Dragon River. Shambhala: (May 1988)

Mipham, Sakyong. Turning the Mind into an Ally. Shambhala: (2005).

Monks of New Skete. In the Spirit of Happiness: A Book of Spiritual Wisdom. Back Bay Books; (January 2001)

Nhat Hahn, Thich. Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everday Life. Bantam; (March 1992)

Nhat Hahn, Thich. The Miracle of Mindfulness. Beacon Press; (May 1999)

Nhat Hahn, Thich. The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, & Liberation: The Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and Other Basic Buddhist Teachings. Broadway Books; (May 4, 1999)

and others by Thich Nhat Hanh

Salzberg, Sharon & Jon Kabat Zinn. Loving-Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Shambhala Library (2004)

Salzberg, Sharon. Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experiences. Riverhead (2003).

Suzuki, Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Weatherhill; (December 1997)

Suzuki, Shunryu. Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai. University of California Press; (October 1, 2001)

Suzuki, Shunryu. Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen. Quill; (May 27, 2003)

Tanahashi, Kazuaki. Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen. North Point Press; Reissue edition (October 1995)

Trungpa, Chogyam, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism. Shambhala; (August 13, 2002)