Hawaii Books

This is an amazing history written as it was about to be lost forever, (Due to the shortsightedness of the missionaries to recognise the chants as the essence of the Hawai'ian people), at the turn of the century. Thanks to the insight of this son of a missionary in chronicling what he was able to find himself privy to, this vital information will live on. For anyone who is now or in the future involved in hula, this is an incredible resource of knowledge of the Hawai'ian chants, legend, and the essence of the beautiful Hawai'ian people. Another valuable resource is: Myths and Legends of Hawaii also written around the turn of the century and is also a first hand account of history.

this is the best war novel i've ever read. the writing is brisk, the story moves quickly, the portraits of the soldiers are powerfully lucid. this novel manages to pull off an incredible feat---it makes brutal soldiers who are war criminals seem almost sympathetic (almost). the novel makes these soldiers appear almost as if they are pawns of forces much larger than themselves. the ending chapter is the best ending chapter of any book that i've read.

I think it is telling when the beginning of the book has a notice that the author wanted no changes in the book flaws and all. And the book does have it spelling errors but this is what makes me think the author is very brave and the book reflects this. It has many themes and many cries of despair and hope. It reminds me of howl or even the wasteland in that the author is searching for a place in the world. As for the poetry some of it is so beautiful I wanted to cry and through the suffering of the author, I saw his soul and a beautiful one it is full of compassion for others, such as the World trade disaster and the victims of the tsunami in Thailand. The photos are also full of the imperfect perfection , not sharp but real. I think it should be read by all who feel for the suffering of others as well as lovers of beautiful poetry. Though I did not agree with the author on some topics, I felt for him and his children and his passion .Read it!

While a trifle dry in places, this book - 'Soto Zen in Medieval Japan' - sponsored by the Kuroda Institute, will nevertheless appeal to the general reader who wishes to know more about the historical background to a Buddhist tradition which is striking roots in the West. As Bodiford puts it:

The Soto school is the largest Buddhist organisation
in modern Japan. It ranks with the various Pure Land
schools as one of the most successful of the new
Buddhist denominations that emerged during the Kamakura
and Muromachi periods (roughly thirteenth-sixteenth
centuries).During this medieval period Soto monks
developed new forms of monastic organisation, new
methods of Zen instruction, and new applications for
Zen rituals within lay-life - many of which lie outside
our received image of Zen. . .Yet in spite of its
significance for enrichening our understanding of
Japanese religion, medieval Soto Zen has remained
largely unknown, even among specialists. Most Western
descriptions of Japanese Zen either ignore Soto
completely or equate Soto exclusively with the
teachings of Dogen (the school's nominal founder),
even though modern Soto practices continue many
medieval period elements unknown to Dogen or even
foreign to his teachings. . .this book attempts to
illuminate how Soto Zen (and rural Zen in general)
functioned as a religion within the context of
medieval Japanese society.


While we might question Bodiford's claim that Soto Zen has been 'ignored' in Western writings (when the first ed. of Bodiford's text appeared in 1993, a limited but reasonably well informed range of Western Soto studies were available, with others underway), he is certainly right in declaring that the extant studies placed almost exclusive emphasis upon Dogen,
neglecting other voices in the tradition. It is in this area that Bodiford's study repays careful reading. As such, it will prove challenging for readers espousing easy definitions of (neo) Soto 'orthodoxy.' To quote Bodiford again:

In the eyes of many devout Soto adherents the story
of early Soto communities begins with Dogen and ends
with Dogen. It is a simple story of how Dogen's
vision of pure Buddhism was establshed in rural Japan
and then lost. Later the story starts over again
with Keizan Jokin, who is credited with establishing
a new institutional form for Soto more compatible
with the simple religious sentiments of rural
Japanese...Summarised in crude terms, Dogen
provided high religious ideals while Keizan ensured
their survival by implementing practical means of
propagation - means which according to some
commentators often were at odds with Dogen's
ideals.

While Bodiford doesn't question the details, he does question the interpretation placed upon them, arguing that it reflects the outlook of Soto reformers from the 18th c. onwards, pushing a rather puritanical view of Early Soto Zen. Bodiford's study is too detailed to review at length here, but a list of chapter headings will give an idea of the main topics. For what it is worth, I have thrown in a few tentative remarks about certain key issues.

I. Introduction.

Part One. Early Soto Communities.

2. Dogen:The Founder of Eiheiji.

3. Giin. The Beginnings of Higo Soto.

4. Senne and Kyogo: Commentators on Dogen's Shobo genzo.

5. Gikai: The Founder of the Daijoji

6. Jakuen and Giun: Local Growth and Ties to Eiheiji.

7. Early Schisms: The Question of the Sandai Soron.

8. Keizan: The Founder of Yokoji.

Part Two: Regional Expansion.

9. Sojiji: The New Institutional Center.

10. The Popularisation of Soto.

11. Formation of the Soto Order.

Part Three: Soto Zen Practice.

12. Koan Zen.

13. Precepts and Ordinations

14. Zen Funerals.

15. Conclusion.

(Notes, Bibliography, Glossary, Index).


This study covers a lot of ground, so compromises were inevitable. However, we might have expected more than the skimpy account of Dogen's life at the Koshoji, effectively the first Zen monastery in Japan with a proper Sodo or monks hall. Leaving the Kenninji (still a Tendai temple in Dogen's lifetime) and setting up at the Koshiji in Fukakusa, was a defining moment in Dogen's career and also a milestone in the history of Japanese Zen Buddhism. By the same token, we might have expected to hear a little more about the reasons for Dogen's rather abrupt departure from the Koshiji - and the move to Echizen (Fukui). Bodiford's discussion of this is squeezed into a few pages in the opening chapter titled 'Dogen: The Founder of Eiheiji.' Still, Bodiford does explore some of the factors cited (not least by Dogen himself) which possibly account for the move. Dogen claimed that he had been harrassed by Tendai monks from Mt. Hiei. But on the strength of contemporary records set down at Koshiji, even those written in the days shortly before the move to Echizen, the routine at Koshoji does not appear to have been marked by undue disturbance. That said, Tendai-shu documents would seem to substantiate Dogen's claims - but, in a cause-effect relationship, following Dogen's submission of a document or petition to the Emperor - the 'Gokoku shobogi' (Principles of True Buddhism for Protecting the State) which was, in effect, a plea for independence -and, as such, a rejection of the Tendai establishment. The move from Kenninji to Fukakusa had already marked a break with the Tendai-shu and it seems that Dogen's wish to consolidate his position - at the Koshoji, met with resistence. It is of note that - at this time, Enni Benen was setting up at the Tofukuji in Kyoto, roughly half way between the Kenninji and Koshoji. While Rinzai Zen was being taught at the Tofukuji, Enni Benen accommodated Tendai practices and thus remained on the good side of the Tendai prelates. Dogen wasn't prepared to accommodate Tendai practices - and, it seems, he had to pay the price for it.@The wish for independence does not necessarily signify or breed rivalry, but it all depends on how that wish is cast. In Eastern Japan, well away from Kyoto, the Hojo regents in Kamakura seemed rather keen to embrace Zen as an independent Buddhist school, free from the religious politics of Mt. Hiei. In retrospect, we might look back upon Kamakura Japan as a period of cultural refinement and deepening spiritual aspirations. But it was also murky, laden with intrigue and power struggles. In fact, not unlike medieval Europe, ridden with pestilence and wars, charged with apocalyptic visions. Seen in this light perhaps, Dogen's decision to move to Echizen seems more comprehensible.

Though plentiful references to him abound, it is surprising to find that Ejo - author of Shobogenzo Zuimonki, and responsible for copying and the initial editing of key elements of Dogen's own Shobogenzo, did not merit a chapter in this book - or least, a shared one. As a contemporary of Dogen, Ejo was in a priviliged position to share his master's thoughts and teaching. Of course, Ejo wrote and recorded what he deemed appropriate. Suffice it to say that the Dogen Ejo speaks of - is open-minded. He recognised the 'five houses of Zen,' and accorded full respect to lay-practicers - including women. The later, post Koshoji Dogen, stressed the Soto transmission, regarded monks as superior to laymen, men as superior to women. How we reconcile these different faces of Dogen - is a big question. It may well be that the narrower definitions of Dogen's thought are later interpolations. In other respects, Dogen's own outlook may have changed.

Among other topics, this study looks at the Nihon Daruma-shu, led by Dainichi nonin. Virtually dismissed in contemporary accounts as a minor school of little significance, Bodiford shows the close connections between Dogen and monks of this school, a number of whom comprised his earliest disciples. As Bodiford notes, Nichiren regarded the Daruma-shu as a major force in Kamakura Buddhism. However, like the Tendai prelates and secular authorities, Dogen took a dim view of the Daruma-shu per se - which allegedly taught antinomian doctrines.

The material dealing with Giin (1217-1300) - a former Daruma-shu monk should be of interest, for we tend to forget that the Soto-shu spread to Southern Japan, the so called Higo-Soto (Higo=Kyushu). Fittingly, we hear about Gikai, who completed the construction of Eihei-ji - still rudimentary in Dogen's lifetime, thus winning the title 'Eihei chuko' or the 'reviver' of Eiheiji. Rather touchingly, Gikai retired from Eiheiji to build a hermitage, where he looked after his ailing mother. He later moved to Kaga and the Daijoji temple, which flourished in his care. Keizan joined the community at Daijoji and soon became supervisor of the monk's hall. Strangely to say, when Gikai's health began to fail, he bequeathed to Keizan his Daruma-shu documents, as part of his Soto legacy. This raises the question of whether the teachings of the Daruma-shu were as decadent as some sources suggest. Daruma-shu monks had consulted the Surangama-sutra to consolidate their training |at all events, an unlikely source from which to cull antinomian doctrines. As Dogen saw it, the Daruma-shu monks who had taken up his teaching had done so on the understanding that they were relinquishing their former views and practices. Perhaps, at bottom, the charge of antinomianism brought against the Daruma-shu monks signified nothing more than the fact that they regarded themselves as independent of the Kyoto Buddhist establishment - a complex of Tendai-cum-Shingon teachings, for which 'Zen' was but one practice out of many. Dogen's appeal to the authorities - for an independent Zen-shu, while at the Koshoji, had elicited a similar response. He was accused of pursuing a separatist ideal or 'pratyeka' methods that neglected the well-being of others. Whether fair judgement or not, it reflected how the Buddhist 'establishment' of the day viewed its own teachings and processes. Evidently, Gikai had not jettisoned everything inherited from the Daruma-shu. To a certain extent, all religious traditions end up borrowing and synthesising different elements. While customarily referred to as 'syncretism' and usually taken in the pejorative, it is clear from the rest of the sources Bodiford has mustered, that other Soto adherents adapted or embraced elements of teaching - Shingon or Tendai esoteric methods etc. - not strictly in line with Dogen's ideas, yet without any over-riding sense that they were militating against his essential teaching.

Given the marked increase in Western interest for Dogen's magnum opus - the Shobogenzo, the chapter dealing with Senne and Kyogo, and other commentators on the Shobogenzo, will prove stimulating. As personal disciples of Dogen - like Ejo, the commentaries of Senne and Kyogo had been informed by what they perceived of Dogen's teaching at first hand. Rediscovered in the Tokugawa, the writings of Senne and Kyogo are therefore of unique value, for they ostensibly yielded a record of Dogen's thought, untouched by the later assumptions of the tradition.
Whether free from all tarnish, is another matter. While useful for their assessment of Dogen's teaching, their writings exhibit sectarian tendencies - perhaps a reference to the ill, -famed Daruma-shu.

It is worth noting that despite its 'hallowed' status these days, parts of the Shobogenzo have been viewed with suspicion, if not the whole text! It has been exploited - through selective reading, to justify sweeping institutional changes. Manzan Dohoku (1636-1714) attempted this, appealing to the Tokugawa Shogunate to alter the Soto school's system of temple lineages (garanbo). Opposing this, other Soto scholars appealed, citing other portions of the Shobogenzo. Manzan won the day, but in order to avoid any further confusion over the status or intent of Dogen's teaching, the Soto hierarchy requested the government to ban both the copying and printing of any version of the Shobogenzo, which the Shogunate did in 1722.

Again, Tenkei Denson (1648-1735), a Soto Buddhist scholar, whose writings have recently attracted fresh interest in the West, rejected six chapters of the Shobogenzo. He also suggested numerous revisions, including various sectarian comments which crept into the Shobogenzo, criticising eminent Chinese masters. In this, his judgement seemed akin to that of Majuaku Dochu (1653-1744), a Rinzai monk who had shared similar doubts. As Bodiford says - 'Tenkei and Mujaku alike believed in ‚basic unity underlying all Zen, Soto and Rinzai, Chinese and Japanese. Neither could accept Dogen's criticism of famous Chinese masters.' The upside of this, is that it shows how Buddhists can rise above sectarian identities and form an objective opinion. The residual question here, of course, is whether the remarks concerned originated with Dogen? Unless definitely in his hand, we must view that question with caution.

I can't devote much more space to this review. Still, on the question of sectarian interest, it is startling to realize that - at one time, the Soto tradition had virtually split in two, with two 'head temples' - one Hon-zan (head temple) at Eihei-ji, the other at Sojiji. At some point, the ridiculousness of the situation seems to have caught up with everyone, with a recognition that the Soto tradition had one and the same founder. On a positive end-note, it is worth pointing out that Bodiford more or less dismisses the so called 'sandai soron' or schism in the third generation, of which so much has been said and written. Reassuring too, was the chapter devoted to the koan and koan -literature in Soto Zen. Contrary to what we often hear today, Soto monks once used 'jakugo' in their training. They had their own koan-collections or 'monsan' and at their best, the so-called Soto kirikami (kirigami) once functioned in a similar vein, even if they later degenerated into mere formalism. As Bodiford notes - in the past, it was not uncommon for Rinzai and Soto monks to study koan at each other's temples. This was still the custom in Hakuin Zenji's lifetime, and it needs to be said that the more restrictive practices, prohibiting such inter-action, originated with the government, rather than the temples.

I would like to say more about this book, but suffice it to say that Bodiford's study is worth reading.

I can't believe nobody has reviewed this book. I bought an old copy from a grab-box and I can't put it down. It offers a fascinating integrated glimpse of nature and human culture, in a most complex and fascinating blend. It has given me profound respect for the most "primitive" societies (former head-hunters) in the most exotic part of the world. And, a glimpse into the mystery of how "natural" society achieves a balance with its environment through the rituals of its culture.

The authors tell stories from their own experience, with a great deal of humor. It's fun to read right from the start, and has a lot to teach us about man's place on the wild earth.

I have the first edition of this book. I have used it to aid my travel to several South American countries. The city maps are excellent. Each major city in each country is described in detail to include lodging, food and entertainment. They do an excellent job of ranking food and lodging based on budget restrictions that each traveler may or may not have. I found the descriptions of local museums, parks and other tourist attractions very helpful in making my decisions on where to go and how much time to alot for each attraction.

I'm very anxious to receive the newest edition, so I can prepare for my next trip!

This is essential reading for any scholar or someone with interests in the Minjung movement. A thorough collection of articles from political scientists, historians, and anthropologists, and reknowned Korean scholars from other fields.

The number of people thirsting to learn the primevel history of animal studies in New Zealand could not be large, but "The Southern Ark" will find its readers, nevertheless, because of the pictures.
J.R.H. Andrews' book, originally published in New Zealand in 1986 and now brought out by the University of Hawaii Press, is filled with glorious color pictures from the golden age of zoological illustration. By way of comparison, you could pay the same price for a poster (by one of Maui's high-priced animal painters) and not have anything half as good.
New Zealand is superficially like Hawaii -- a group of remote, temperate islands settled first by Polynesians. Neither had any land mammals, except bats, before humans arrived, but New Zealand had frogs, which Hawaii never did, and, maybe, a gecko two feet long.
Readers who turn to the text will learn that in the Marseille museum, in France, lie the bones of the world's largest gecko. Nobody knows how they got there or where they came from, and there are no bones like them anywhere, and nobody has ever seen the animal that once enclosed them.
The best guess is that the bones rightfully belonged to King Louis XVIII but were purloined from the cargo of an expedition that visited the French colony in New Zealand in the 1840s.
Andrews' text is too specialized to interest anyone who isn't committed to natural history, and even then it brings to mind the little girl who wrote a book report on a volume about penguins: "This book told me more about penguins than I wanted to know."
However, it is thought-provoking. What does a 2-foot-long gecko eat? Six-inch mosquitoes?

Very little of Okinawan literature has been translated into English, and this book exemplifies why that's such a shame.
This volume provides the reader with not only a chance to explore a culture that Americans know too little about (considering the tremendous influence/destruction we've wrought in Okinawa), but highlights a rich and wonderful literary tradition that gets little to no attention in the west. Buy this book!

This is an intensive and informative kind of book about Thailand and the United States alliance. There is probably no other book like this around that describes the background of Thailand and it's many coups and revolutions from 1947 to 1958, and it's involvment in all the Indochinese conflicts. And why the United States would support and ally with a corrupted and often brutal Thai army which at that time controlled the country and government. The book is really about Thailand at it's most, but it also tells Thailand's relationships with (besides USA), France, Britain, Laos, Cambodia, China, etc. Its a very useful and valuable book for those who wants to know about Thailand and the United States relationship from the very beginning, and how Thailand became as USA's most important ally at that time. A recommended history book.