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One woman's fight to deliver peace and eliminate bloodshed in the midst of one of the most notorious conflicts of our time In the tradition of Dear Zari and Barefoot in Baghdad, Zen Under Fire lays bare the struggles of a war-torn region from a uniquely female perspective. Marianne Elliott must defuse situations before they lead to widespread bloodshed, despite the shattering effect that the high-stress environment has on her and her relationships—redefining the question of what it really means to do good in a country that is under siege from within. Zen Under Fire is an honest, moving, and at times terrifying true story of a woman's experience at peacekeeping in one of the most dangerous places on earth.
I am about to be left in charge of the office. I'm not sure I'm ready for the responsibility, so I double-check with my boss. He reassures me. "You'll be fine, Marianne. As long as no one kills Amanullah Khan, you'll be fine." By midday, Amanullah Khan is dead. Marianne Elliot is a human rights lawyer stationed with the UN in Herat when the unthinkable happens: a tribal leader is assassinated, and she must defuse the situation before it leads to widespread bloodshed. And this is just the beginning of the story in Afghanistan. Zen Under Fire lays bare the struggles of a war-torn region from a uniquely personal perspective. Honest and vivid, her story reveals the shattering effect that the high-stress environment has on Marianne and her relationships. Redefining the question of what it really means to do good in a country that is under siege from within, Zen Under Fire is an honest, moving, at times terrifying true story of a women's experience at peacekeeping in one of the most dangerous places on Earth. "This is an amazing book, kind of like if Eat, Pray, Love had happened in Afghanistan and the stakes were life and death."—Susan Piver, New York Times bestselling author of Wisdom of a Broken Heart
Zen Under Fire: A New Zealand Woman's Story of Love & War in Afghanistan by Marianne Elliott Pdf
I am about to be left in charge of the office. I'm not sure I am ready for the responsibility, so I double-check with my boss. He reassures me. 'You'll be fine, Marianne. As long as no one kills Amanullah Khan, you'll be fine.' By midday, Amanullah Khan is dead. In 2006 Marianne Elliott, a human rights lawyer from New Zealand, was stationed with the UN in Herat. Several months into her new role an important tribal leader is assassinated while she is in charge of the local UN office. She must try to defuse the situation before it leads to widespread bloodshed. And this is just the beginning of her story in Afghanistan. Zen Under Fire is a vivid account of Marianne's experience living and working in the world's most notorious battlefield. As well as sharing the incredible details of her UN role, Marianne tells the very personal story of the shattering effect that the high-stress environment had on her and her relationships, and asks what it really means to do good in a country that is under seige from within. This is an honest, moving and at times terrifying true story of a woman's time peacekeeping in one of the most dangerous places on earth. Also available as an eBook
America, a nation of ethnic diversity, has become a nation of diverse deities. Learn about Christianity and its interaction with other world religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Judaism, Seventh-Day Adventist, and New Ageism.
The "vivid" and "electrifying" true story of how five monks saved the oldest Zen Buddhist monastery in the United States from wildfire (San Francisco Chronicle). When a massive wildfire surrounded Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, five monks risked their lives to save it. A gripping narrative as well as a portrait of the Zen path and the ways of wildfire, Fire Monks reveals what it means to meet a crisis with full presence of mind. Zen master and author of the classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi established a monastery at Tassajara Hot Springs in 1967, drawn to the location's beauty, peace, and seclusion. Deep in the wilderness east of Big Sur, the center is connected to the outside world by a single unpaved road. The remoteness that makes it an oasis also makes it particularly vulnerable when disaster strikes. If fire entered the canyon, there would be no escape. More than two thousand wildfires, all started by a single lightning storm, blazed across the state of California in June 2008. With resources stretched thin, firefighters advised residents at Tassajara to evacuate early. Most did. A small crew stayed behind, preparing to protect the monastery when the fire arrived. But nothing could have prepared them for what came next. A treacherous shift in weather conditions prompted a final order to evacuate everyone, including all firefighters. As they caravanned up the road, five senior monks made the risky decision to turn back. Relying on their Zen training, they were able to remain in the moment and do the seemingly impossible-to greet the fire not as an enemy to defeat, but as a friend to guide. Fire Monks pivots on the kind of moment some seek and some run from, when life and death hang in simultaneous view. Novices in fire but experts in readiness, the Tassajara monks summoned both intuition and wisdom to face crisis with startling clarity. The result is a profound lesson in the art of living.
Set the Night on Fire by Mike Davis,Jon Wiener Pdf
Los Angeles Times Bestseller This riveting tour through 1960s Los Angeles is a “history from below, in the very best sense” as it celebrates the “grassroots heroes and struggles” of the social movements of the era (Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Natural Causes). “Authoritative and impressive.” —Los Angeles Times “Monumental.” —Guardian Los Angeles in the sixties was a hotbed of political and social upheaval. The city was a launchpad for Black Power—where Malcolm X and Angela Davis first came to prominence and the Watts uprising shook the nation. The city was home to the Chicano Blowouts and Chicano Moratorium, as well as being the birthplace of “Asian American” as a political identity. It was a locus of the antiwar movement, gay liberation movement, and women’s movement, and, of course, the capital of California counterculture. Mike Davis and Jon Wiener provide the first comprehensive movement history of L.A. in the sixties, drawing on extensive archival research and dozens of interviews with principal figures, as well as the authors’ storied personal histories as activists. Following on from Davis’s award-winning L.A. history, City of Quartz, Set the Night on Fire is a historical tour de force, delivered in scintillating and fiercely beautiful prose.
In 1995, Jim Bedard, a martial artist and Zen student, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and given ten days to live. This is the story of how he used his spiritual strength to bring himself into full contact with a death sentence as well as with painful medical treatment, including chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. It is also the inspiring story of how the faith of his family, Zen teacher, close friends, and the Buddhist community helped him. Bedard's story introduces us to Zen practices that can help us cope with emotional turmoil and physical pain. His words on compassion, on karma, on gratitude, on impermanence and the inevitability of death—all from a nonsmoking, meditating, aerobically fit vegetarian who became suddenly and "terminally" ill—are inspiring and sometimes funny. He explores, too, the fundamental question of suffering, its cause, and how the teachings of karma can help us accept illness, ultimately using it as an opportunity to deepen our spiritual lives.
Uncover the historical truth about Buddhist warrior monks with this informative and enlightening book. Film, television and popular fiction have long exploited the image of the serene Buddhist monk who is master of the deadly craft of hand-to-hand combat. While these media overly romanticize the relationship between a philosophy of non-violence and the art of fighting, When Buddhists Attack: The Curious Relationship Between Zen and the Martial Arts shows this link to be nevertheless real, even natural. Exploring the origins of Buddhism and the ethos of the Japanese samurai, university professor and martial arts practitioner Jeffrey Mann traces the close connection between the Buddhist way of compassion and the way of the warrior. This zen book serves as a basic introduction to the history, philosophy, and current practice of Zen as it relates to the Japanese martial arts. It examines the elements of Zen that have found a place in budo—the martial way—such as zazen, mushin, zanshin and fudoshin, then goes on to discuss the ethics and practice of budo as modern sport. Offering insights into how qualities integral to the true martial artist are interwoven with this ancient religious philosophy, this Buddhism book will help practitioners reconnect to an authentic spiritual discipline of the martial arts.
In Moby-Dick’s wide philosophical musings and central narrative arch, Herman finds a philosophy very closely aligned specifically with the original teachings of Zen Buddhism. In exploring the likelihood of this hitherto undiscovered influence, Herman looks at works Melville is either known to have read or that there is a strong likelihood of his having come across, as well as offering a more expansive consideration of Moby-Dick from a Zen Buddhist perspective, as it is expressed in both ancient and modern teachings. But not only does the book delve deeply into one of the few aspects of Moby-Dick’s construction left unexplored by scholars, it also conceives of an entirely new way of reading the greatest of American books—offering critical re-considerations of many of its most crucial and contentious issues, while focusing on what Melville has to teach us about coping with adversity, respecting ideological diversity, and living skillfully in a fickle, slippery world.
How to Be Zen in a Crisis is the quintessential guide for making it through life's most challenging times. This is accessible zen for all walks of life, in every type of crisis. This is life coaching for when your life is on fire. This is self-help when your world is upside down - and it's not because you're doing a handstand in yoga class. Whether your crisis is a global pandemic (*ahem*), sexual harassment, a bad boss, rape, a court case, breakup, divorce, kidnap, death, injury, sickness, sociopath reeking havoc in your life, a combination of many or any sort of other impending doom... real crisis comes in many forms. It doesn't matter which particular flavor of crisis you are experiencing, they all have a similar vein of terror and panic that runs through them and this is the crisis to zen guide to come out of them. You are in a crisis. Everything is wack to the exponent of 1000. You didn't know the crisis was coming. How should you know shit was hitting the fan until it was swirling around the room, putridly pungent in the air and hitting you in the face? It really doesn't matter, the point is - you need to get zen, fast. We aren't getting zen because it's in vogue - we need to get zen because it's essential to our livelihood. Being zen, has a fundamental role in shaping our brain, whereby it can better assist us through a crisis. Numerous studies have shown that relaxation techniques, being mindful and being zen can allow us to not only be more relaxed, but to have better awareness of what is happening around us and improve our decision-making capabilities. How do we get zen, in this context? Well firstly, let's address the myths. To be zen, you don't have to take an oath of silence. To be zen, you don't have to renounce your possessions and move to Nepal. To be zen, you don't have to join a monastery and shave your head. To be zen, you don't have to be serene as a nun and walk on a cloud. To be zen, you don't have to chant, say om or wear wooden jewelry. To be zen, you don't have to pray to Buddha, Vishnu or sacrifice a goat. You can be lively, enthusiastic, playful and profoundly powerful... all while embodying a core sense of peace. From that point of calmness, you can then make the best decisions and those decisions can save you in your time of need. You can not only survive, but thrive from the crisis - and you can laugh your way there. This is not how to be zen on a clear day sitting under a tree, with a gentle breeze coming from the east, blowing through your freshly shaved head. No, this is how you assess the reality of the crisis and clear the way to reach a point of resilience. You can be calm and analytical. You can be relaxed and strategic. You can feel all of your emotions and be mentally stable. You can survive the crisis and be a better person for it. With clear and insightful tools, we'll map out each step forward in the zen pathway. We'll address what needs to be addressed, step-by-step. We'll shine light on the blind spots you've been missing. There is no sitting in a lotus position while ignoring the disaster around you - no, these tools will improve your life in a practical and easy-to-follow way. This is mindfulness for resilience. This is for everyone who needs to get pragmatic during a crisis, no matter their background. With introspection, analysis, inner work and a lot of self-care, we take the necessary tools and connect to what is really needed during this unprecedented time. We do what needs to be done and we learn to breathe through the process. There are meditative exercises throughout to practice each level in the zen process. You will embody a new sense of self by centering yourself. Insightful, entertaining and modernly zen, How to be Zen in a Crisis is the book you need right now.
At the tail end of the twentieth century, a monk transformed a small village temple on the outskirts of Hanoi into a monastery and meditation center called Thiền Viện Sùng Phúc—a place where monastics and lay Buddhists could learn and practice Zen meditation. In time the original temple was replaced by numerous large buildings to accommodate meditation sessions, youth events, weddings, classes, and a variety of other activities designed to keep practitioners engaged. Thiền Viện Sùng Phúc’s approach to Buddhism as a life commitment for all ages and genders has been very successful, attracting more than a thousand Buddhists to its weekly services. It joined Thiền phái Trúc Lâm, a much larger organization started by Thích Thanh Từ in southern Vietnam that has expanded to northern Vietnam and internationally. In Zen Conquests, Alexander Soucy presents not only the first ethnography of Thiền Viện Sùng Phúc and its followers, but also a compelling look at how the discourses of Buddhist Modernism were incorporated at a local level into this new space on the outskirts of Hanoi and how and why new constituencies of followers are drawn to Zen Buddhism in contemporary Vietnam. Thiền Viện Sùng Phúc’s Zen tradition purports to be a continuation of the only Zen Buddhist sect founded in Vietnam: the fourteenth-century Trúc Lâm Zen School. However, the movement can also be seen as the product of Buddhism’s globalization, born from the D. T. Suzuki-inspired interest in Zen in South Vietnam during the American War. Despite its claims to be authentically Vietnamese Zen, it more closely resembles Modernist versions of Buddhism practiced by Western converts in North America than anything Vietnamese. Soucy maintains that it is only by looking at the processes of globalization that Vietnamese Buddhism (both in the context of Vietnam but also in the Vietnamese diaspora) can be properly understood. He argues convincingly for acknowledging the continued influence of transnational, pan-Asian, and global flows of migration and communication on the development of multiple forms of Buddhism worldwide.
The world of ZEN CITY is a world of passionate desires: the desire for power, the desire for order, and the desire for self-transcendence. ZEN CITY is a story about the struggle and violence of people who see themselves as striving for the ultimate. Along the way, ZEN CITY presents a sly critique of the practice and perversions of imported spirituality in twentieth-century America. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY starred review "...this book succeeds brilliantly, deftly weaving a tragic romance that’s about all of us, and none at all!
FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the Net — presentationzen.com — shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today’s world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.
Author : Helen J. Baroni Publisher : University of Hawaii Press Page : 292 pages File Size : 53,8 Mb Release : 2000-01-01 Category : Philosophy ISBN : 0824822439
This is the first detailed English-language study of the Obaku branch of Japanese Zen. Beginning with the founding of the sect in Japan by Chinese monks in the seventeenth century, the volume describes the conflicts and maneuverings within the Buddhist and secular communities that led to the emergence of Obaku as a distinctive institution during the early Tokugawa period. Throughout the author explores a wide range of texts and includes excerpts from important primary documents such as the Zenrin shuheishu and the Obaku geki, translated here for the first time. She provides an impressive portrait of the founding Chinese leadership and the first generation of Japanese converts, whose work enabled the fledgling sect to grow and take its place beside existing branches of the closely related Rinzai Zen sect. Obaku's distinctive Chinese practices and characteristics set it apart from its Japanese counterparts. In an innovative investigation of these differences, the author uses techniques derived from the contemporary study of new religious movements in the West to explain both Obaku's successes and failures in its relations with other Japanese Buddhist sects. She illuminates the role of government support in the initial establishment of the main monastery, Mampuku-ji, and the ongoing involvement of the bakufu and the imperial family in Obaku's early development. Hers is a thorough and well-governed analysis that brings to the fore a religious movement that has been much neglected in Japanese and Western scholarship despite its tremendous influence on modern Japanese Buddhism as a whole.
