Asian Books

This book has changed the way I looked at the issues of development, modernisation & morals. An amazing read, beautifully written and with great insights.

I have just returned from a trip to Ladakh and I could really relate to what Ms.Norberg talks about in the book.

Just a couple of side issues. It'd be good to know what exactly went wrong in Ladakh. Here are a people who for 2000 years had lived successfully by the rules of Buddhism. How & why did Buddhism fail these people in the face of global/western economic & cultural imperialism? Does the blame lie with Buddhism- it being too 'compassionate' and allowing a religion? Does the blame lie with the Ladakhis who probably were not as sincere Buddhists as they are made out to be?

After all if they really were such devout Buddhists, how come they fell to the greed that capitalism breeds?

Anyway, these are issues which could have been addressed in the book. Regardless, the book is excellent! A must read.

How does life in a non-industrial society compare to life in our own? In which society are people happier? If life in non-industrial societies compares favorably to life in our own, then why are the barrios of the third world filling up with migrants from remote villages? This book provides surprising insights into these questions. It also provokes reflections on our own society and its influence on the rest of the world. After reading a used copy I picked up for free, I bought seven copies of this book for friends and family!

Rarely have I felt more dispair about the direction of what we know as civilization as I felt halfway through this book. The Ladakh people are described as happy, healthy, and self-reliant. Suddenly, the "real world" happens to them, and they come to see themselves as poor, when before they had no need of money.

The authors do a nice job of weaving a story of hope at the end but I have concern for the future of these people. It helps me understand the decision the government of Bhutan has made to isolate themselves from western-style civilization.

After reading this book, I suddenly realized the root problem of Western Civilization: We have no culture. Where there was once culture, we now have an expanding economic order threatening all life on the planet. Through its mechanism of growth and expansion, the global economy is conquering and converting life's diversity into an ecological and social monoculture of cash crops, Levis, soda pop and movie theatres. Perhaps moonscape would be a better word. Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. Our fast-paced, increasingly technological, capital-intensive, fossil fuel-centered, centralized, highly specialized, travel and commercial-oriented, often stressful society is by no means the end-all-be-all of human history. Murder, child abuse, drug abuse, theft, poverty, hunger, and every other problem that plagues the West are not products of human nature. The pathology of civilization is not natural or inevitable, and the Ladakhi are proof of this. Read this book and rediscover ancient, profound, life-affirmating alternatives to the modern humdrum. Discover another way of living, thinking and feeling. Important, necessary, engaging and masterfully written - this book was a treasure to read. Indeed, it was an awaking.

A MUST READ

The first half of *Ancient Futures* will delight and amaze you; the second half will break your heart.

In the 1970s, the Ladakhis of Little Tibet were a happy people. They had a sustainable traditional economy based on trade and cooperation - not money. One person's gain was not another person's loss. There was plenty of leisure, no hunger or poverty, very little sickness or disease, everyone was valued, there was no pollution and nothing was wasted. They got along fine with their Muslim neighbors and they kept their population stable through marriage customs based on land use. Almost every family had a celibate monk or nun. Buddhist monasteries and people had a mutually beneficial economic, social and spiritual relationship. Ladakhis are a naturally contemplative people with a great deal of spiritual awareness. "Schon chan" (one who angers easily) is about the only insult in the Ladakhi lnaguage. "Lack of pride is a virtue, for pride, born of ego, has nothing to do with self-respect among these Buddhist people." The author says that it took her two years of living among them to realize that the people were genuinely and joyfully HAPPY. Then the world beat a path to their door and all that changed - in fewer than two decades.

It's like a little piece of cultural time-lapse photography. What took western culture more than four centuries to do to the Native-Americans took only twenty years here. Ladakh has become a cautionary tale and a monument to western greed and stupidity.

Now there is poverty and unemployment, stress-related disease, women are devalued, the people are ashamed of their "backward" culture, there is little leisure but a great deal of pollution and waste as well as dispute between Muslims and Buddhists and the population had increased markedly. ("Interestingly, a number of Ladakhis have linked the rise of birth rates to the advent of modern democracy. "Power is a question of votes" is a current slogan, meaning that, in the modern sector, the larger your group, the greater your access to power. Competition for jobs and political representation within the new centralized structures is increasingly dividing Ladakhis.")

Chiildren are trained to become specialists in a technological rather than an ecological society. They no longer have time to learn the superb survival techniques of their families. Western culture is creating artificial scarsity and inducing competition.

Now I understand the mechanism better. A culture that has a heavily subsidized infrastructure invades a traditional self-sustaining culture and creates artificial "needs." So they go to the city to earn money which they never needed before, leaving their farms and women, who are immediately devalued because they're not wage earners. The people are no longer planting, irrigating, spinning wool, gathering seeds, harvesting, playing music and singing and telling stories, having seasonal parties, marriage parties or funeral watches - together.

Time has become a commodity. It has become uneconomical to grow one's own food, make one's own clothes and build one's own house. You have to pay your neighbors for the work that the whole community used to do for free.

The men are in the cities earning money and the women are producing tourist commodities with the wool they used to spin for their own use and the food they used to grow for their own families. Now they grow cash crops for strangers so they can make enough money to buy polyester clothes and walkmans and jeans for their kids and food grown hundreds of miles away and fuel trucked in from afar.

The Yak and the Dzo, uniquely suited for high altitudes of Ladakh gave rich milk but not as much as western cattle. So what did the conquering culture do? They imported cattle that can't make it at such altitudes, so more land has to be relegated to planting crops to feed the cattle, thereby upsetting the balance. And they call this progress.

Why can't we just leave people alone - especially when they're doing FINE without us?

"When one-third of the world's population consumes two-thirds of the world's resources," says Norberg-Hodge, "and then in effect turns around and tells the others to do as they do, it is little short of a hoax. Development is all too often a euphemism for exploitation, a new colonialism."

All this would be a dismal tragedy comparable to Columbus's complete genocide of the Tainos if not for a "counter development" movement generated in part by this author. Since the Ladakhis can't go back, they can at least go forward. Instead of importing expensive fossil fuels (previously they had used yak dung and kept warm) they can have solar houses and greenhouses, which have worked very well and given them one benefit that they have previously not had. That's something. Information is another plus. The people are being made aware that westerners pay more for whole grains, organic vegetables, pure water, natural fibers, and natural building materials - things these people have had for a thousand years without money. This is something so-called third-world people are generally not told about.

Once in a while a book comes along that changes one's perspective forever. *Ancient Futures* is such a book. I haven't been the same since.

One of the reviewers on this site said he ended up buy copies for his friends. So have I. This book is a must-read for every person who is concerned about the preservation of our planet and our species.

pamhan99@aol.com

A considerable amount of history during the early Middle Ages was written by Middle Easterners, and their scholarship should be taken seriously, as shown in this book. There is a lot of information appropriate to the issues in the region even now. See other reviews in the resource library at civilsociety dot seedwiki

As other reviewers have noted, this book is an engrossing, highly informative text, that is (generally) quite an easy read. It can be gory and propagandistic at times, as some have noted. Overall, it's a very good digest of Muslim narratives of several key events.

The main drawback is that I would not consider this a stand-alone book, particularly on a lot of the convoluted political arrangements - I'd suggest Wasserman's "Templars & the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven" for that - and I really don't think one can get the full understanding of the Muslim mentality in fighting the Crusaders from it. For that I'd suggest al-Sulami's "Way of Sufi Chivalry" (for those on a budget) or preferably Sabzawari's "Royal Book of Spiritual Chivalry" (for those who aren't) to get into the mindset of the Muslim warriors. For while "Arab Historians" includes a lot personal commentary from the authors, these last two books were written as guides for the emirs and warriors, and once reading them one gets the feeling that "Arab Historians" was written by some military public relations officer.

Still a highly recommended, enjoyable read, though.

Once you've read the popular histories of the Crusades, and your appetite for the original source materials has been whetted by the excerpts in Payne, Runciman, etc., you will want this book. It's THE source reader for the Arab perspectives, better in many ways than The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (Maalouf). You get the flavor of the culture as well as their particular slant on the events and personalities. And the snarky footnotes can be delicious!

A very good source, especially for those who have read about the Crusades and understand the context of the writings. This book is not an overview of the crusades or of a single crusade; it is selections from the writings of Arabic historians placed in a chronological order. Easy to read, detailed and engrossing; both useful and enjoyable.

A good book. It has many parallels with accounts of the original Muslim invasions and subsequent 700 year occupation of most of the Iberian (Spain/Portugal) Penninsula. Due to this initial Muslim invasion and occupation of Christian Europe, the Christian Crusades were launched into Spain and the Holy Land. Same story in the Balkans and Anatolia with the Seljuk and Ottoman Turk invasions of those Christian lands. First hand accounts of events always make for good reading. A good book, unfortunately I lost it.

In September 1971, the Army closed down the Army-Lockheed YO-3A silent aircraft night recon program and shipped it home. To bad the YO-3A planes were not involved in the An Loc battle that occured 7 months later. Many lives could have been saved with this Stealth Forward Air Control Plane. The YO-3A operated at 1,000 feet at night, flew slow, was silent had advanced night vision equipment, infrared illuminator and laser target designator and impervious to heat seeking weapons. In 14 months of operation in Vietnam, non of the 9 YO-3As were ever shot down or took a round. But the YOs sure could see what was going on in the night when the VC the NVA were moving stuff. Check out the website www.yo-3a.com

I was a YO-3A crew chief and sure would like to make contact with the author of this book.

Also see Kit Lavell's book Black Ponies that has a section on how the YO-3A located the largest Russian Trawler in South Vietnam and was instrumental in directing fire and sinking the boat.

Excellent detail of one of the most important battles during the latter stages of the Vietnam War. Focus is obviously on the ground troups. I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of detail with regards to the "gun ships" of the Navy.

I participated as a C-130E co-pilot (374 Tactical Airlift Wing) during the Battle of An Loc. I greatly appreciate this book, helping me to understand what else was happening on the ground and in the air throughout the battle. As a participant, I vouch for the excellent accuracy and honesty of the book. The book starts out a bit slow, describing the organizational structure of the Army of the Republic Vietnam and its deployment. On page 37 it goes to high intensity with the Battle of Loc Ninh, a neighbor of An Loc. Willbanks gives you great empathy for those on the ground at Loc Ninh and An Loc, who were in a desperate struggle for their lives. It was hard to put the book down, once I got to the Battle of An Loc. The book slows down again in the last two chapters and epilogue.
I am sorry that seventeen C-130E crewmembers died in the battle. I am sorry that some of our airdrops missed the drop zone and fell into enemy hands. But the airdrops that were recovered by the ARVN were an essential part of the battle.

"The Battle of An Loc" by James Wilbanks. A must have book for anyone with an interest in Viet-Nam. This is a very good read. The author, James Wilbanks, was present and wounded at An Loc. This is not only his account, but gives insights from the North Vietnamese and US Advisors after action reports plus other communist documents. The role of the unending US air support, the bravery of the US air crews, and the orchestration by the Forward Air Controllers to the battle's victory for the ARVN and US Advisors is covered in warranted great detail. The inability of the NVA to have armor and infantry work together in more conventional warfare is clearly brought to light and documented. Wilbanks gives insights into Richard Nixon's Vietnamization's perceived success by the politicians and its ultimate failures. This is a must have read and must have addition to the library for anyone with interest in the war in Viet-Nam.

Excellent book!!!


Anyone who has some basic military experience but never served abroad, and only seen movies about war or heard tidbits, would
appreciate what is in this book. The book reveals the strategy of battles, the 'mechanics' of battle (orders issued to battalions, and their officers' reactions to situations, etc) It's the real thing! And even better than the movie Platoon!

Library Journal Review of Black Lightning by Kitty Chen Dean of Nassau College:

Here 14 Asian American poets display the process of their poems and discuss their sources of inspiration,which include paintings, readings, personal encounters, countries of origin, and the sight of "dog piss." Tabios (poet and editor of The Asian Pacific American Journal) then presents drafts of poems from early stages through numerous alterations, deletions (sometimes entire pages), and additions, all with explanations. This makes for slow reading but engrossing revelations and ultimately rewarding insights into the birth of a poem. Tabios' skillful interviews help the poets reveal their modus operandi. That the writers are Asian American hardly matters; this is a valuable source for poets, aspiring poets and poetry lovers.

Black Lightning is the most important book on Asian American poetry to have been published within the last 10 years. If anyone off the street would want to know who Kimiko Hahn or Jessica Hagedorn was, they would do well in looking at Eileen Tabios' magnificently written essays/interviews in Black Lightning. A best buy book!

From A Review of Black Lightning by Douglas Spangle:

It should surprise nobody that literary criticism has been in terrible shape of late. New ideas come from unexpected places. Eileen Tabios began a series of interviews with Asian American poets which grew into this book. Tabios' method is to study the growth of individual poems from their earliest drafts through to completion, incorporating extensive interviews with the poets to detail, revision by revision, the genesis of each piece. It is an approach I only recall seeing once, in Alberta Turner's 50 Contemporary Poets: the Creative Process, which was nowhere near as extensive, intensive or various as Black Lightning. Tabios makes no attempt to prescribe or categorize, but meets all these poets on their own ground; although her tracing of process is meticulous and often requires a slow bell on reading speed, she avoids theoretical jargon and is accessible to any intelligent reader, no matter how "advanced" the poetry may be. I can now say that I have some understanding of (Mei-mei) Berssenbrugge, for instance, after reading this study -- something I despaired of ever doing. The question I've been begging all along in this review is why it took a novice to take this new approach, as much sense as it makes, to the study of poetry. Maybe it's just that the forest is so full of trees. Tabios writes that her ignorance and lack of intellectual baggage were probably a great benefit; the poets were more willing to be open and forthcoming with her because they sensed no hidden agendas, no axes to grind: "I think that towards poetry (or all Arts) one mostly needs to bring an open mind and an open heart." Black Lightning is the best possible recommendation for an open mind and an open heart. It is a magnificent specimen, an open book.

Solitude may fuel imagination, and what happens behind closed doors is often kept in secrecy by poets and writers. Black Lightning opens that door for us and lets us in to have a look at some poets' processes, almost like being allowed to sit there in their private spaces. Although we have different ways of approaching poetry and the life around it, it is still very fascinating to see the revelations of these very visible Asian American poets. It's a gem of a collection. Did I mention the very beautiful cover? Give it space on your shelf.

If there is one word that can describe Black Lightning, then perhaps the word boundless might come to mind, but even then that won't quite suffice. As author Eileen Tabios writes, "Black Lightning is many things: a miracle, an exercise in trust, a conversation, an experiment, a matter of idealism, and ultimately, a love affair." Everything from the different forms, styles, inspirations, images, and issues that worked to create the poetry filling these pages is capable of speaking to readers of all different personalities and backgrounds, "elicit[ing] different responses" at different times. But really, what makes it boundless is not just what exists on the pages we read but what exists in the spaces in between. Black Lightning is a quest for all involved to engage in this project of mapping out the human experience, mapping not only that which we can articulate in words but also that which articulates in a fashion that captures and eludes our imagination. Black Lightning is a book of the poetry-in-progress by 14 Asian American writers. Each article is rich with interviews, essays, excerpts of inspiration writings, and the reworkings of drafts of poetry towards their accomplished ends. Each is dedicated to the unique and powerful experiences and processes each writer goes through to create their masterpieces. Black Lightning belongs to a very important juncture in Asian American writing, capturing the widening scope in which Asian American writers are writing. Our concerns have expanded beyond race and ethnicity; they have even expanded beyond social and political issues although these will remain an integral part of Asian American literature. In Black Lightning, we are articulating matters such as memory, history, time, space, femininity, masculinity, sexuality, desire, spirituality, the psyche, imagination, all as integral to the Asian American experience as race is. Furthermore, in its discussion of the very act of writing a poem, Black Lightning is as Arthur Sze writes in the introduction, "just beginning to address theory and practice and the polysemous nature of the work." In this rare opportunity, we are able to share intimate moments with a fellow poetry lover as she engages in great conversation with the masters of this craft. From the very first pages, we see Tabios embark on her personal journey with insightful questions and reactions as she encounters each writer and each poem. As all poetry has its own rhythm, we hear such rhythms resonate as thoughts flow spontaneously between Tabios and these 14 poets. Tabios' interactions with the poems and their authors are intense, generating a profound understanding and appreciation for the desires, motivations, and issues that underlie the creative processes of these authors. Reading Black Lightning is like reading a personal journal - and we are privileged to be able to do so. While Black Lightning is a book that speaks of process in many ways - the process of becoming a creative writer, of becoming a careful reader, of becoming a human being - it is also a book that speaks of revelation. Tabios has created a wonderful site where experiences and intentions are unclothed and left up to the reader's interpretation in a way much different from what we are used to. Black Lightning reveals to us how ultimately the greatest lesson we need to learn is the most obvious - that poetry can be accessible to all of us. For all beginner poets, Black Lightning can be your Bible.

RUSS and BLYTH CARPENTER.
The Blessings of Bhutan
Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2002. v, 186 pp. Colour plates, notes, glossary, index. US$24.95, paper.

It is rare that one has the chance to review a book so inadequate that one is hard-pushed to find a positive word to write about it.

The Blessings of Bhutan is, most unfortunately, such a book. One cannot imagine why University of Hawai'i Press, an otherwise reputable press that previously released the charming Painter's Year in the Forests of Bhutan by A. K. Hellum, has now published the Carpenters' recycled clichés and Orientalist imaginings. The authors start out on a hapless tack "... visitors often feel altered by Bhutan ... their inner selves are stirred ... [and] many come home with a nagging feeling that they
were at the edge of learning something important, something primary" (p. 1). With this Conradesque backdrop in place, Russ and Blyth Carpenter enter the Heart of Lightness with their readers in tow. Their account of travelling and working in Bhutan is so personalised that those of us who have never visited their home in the USA wonder why they so frequently refer to it: "Bhutan reminds us of Vida, Oregon. Our hometown has a store ..." (p. 7).

Their rambling anecdotes come across as impressionistic accounts from a journal, and are surely more suited to family archives or a Christmas letter home to friends than to publication as a monograph by an academic press. The authors trade in stereotype and are partial to a disparaging kind of anti-intellectualism, embodied by the statements:

"only a masochist would want to know the names of all the languages spoken in
Central and Eastern Bhutan" and "Bhutan's geography changes from challenging to
nearly hopeless" (p. 8). As if this were not disturbing enough, their hagiography of the kings of Bhutan as embodying "wisdom, strength, vision, and selfless behaviour" which they "daydream about the United States borrowing" (p. 9) is surely at odds with the sentence handed down by a previous king who had a citizen "whipped with peach branches until he convulsed and fell unconscious" (p. 18).

While this book has no scholarly pretensions, and readers would do better to travel to Bhutan with the Lonely Planet guidebook, the lack of engagement with issues that affect contemporary Bhutan, such as the activities of Indian rebels along the southern border or the plight of the Lhotsampa refugees (Bhutanese Hindus of Nepali origin) is simply negligent.

In only one place are these issues touched upon, and then shrouded in euphemism and dodged in an amateurish and unconvincing way: "Many of the things we could say here about the southern problem would be out-of-date by the time this book is published" (p. 168).

In short, this book fails to deliver at all levels. The obvious delight the authors have in Bhutan is marred by their thinly disguised condescension: "in our view, the Bhutanese do not understand the insidious and destructive consequences of television" (p. 174) and platitudinous generalisations such as "we have no hesitations about the essential intellectual capability of the Bhutanese people" (p. 169). At best, perhaps the Carpenters could recycle their text for an in-flight magazine on Bhutan's national airline.

MARK TURIN
University of Cambridge

This meaty little book is informed by the experience of the authors'numerous visits (including working trips) to Bhutan, extensive research, and the wisdom of many lively but respectful conversations with Bhutanese friends. Gorgeous color photographs by the authors supplement the vivid, lucid writing. There is intrigue in seeimg how these two self-described linear thinkers are gradually changed by confronting an intuitive culture with a Tantric lifestyle and a heritage of both Tibetan Buddhism and the remnants of the pre-Buddhist Bon religion. What will be the effect of television, which has only now entered the culture, on this relatively isolated culture? What do monks do all day? What does it mean to measure a culture by its Gross National Happiness? Why is Bhutan known as Little Switzerland? These are among the many questions the Carpenters answer. One could not have better guides to this intriguing country.

"The Blessings of Bhutan" is a personal and fascinating compilation of very short, and very readable, essays (or "sketches") about authors Russ and Blyth Carpenter's experiences and understanding of Bhutanese life. The book is separated into eight parts covering Bhutanese culture and geography; ancient Bhutanese religion and its relationship to Buddhism and Bhutanese archery; Tantric Buddhism; Bhutanese art and medicine; reincarnation (especially as it applies to the environment); sexuality in Bhutanese culture; women in Bhutan; and the Carpenter's reflections on Bhutan's policy of "Gross National Happiness" and on Bhutan's future. The book also has a very useful glossary of terms that makes reading much easier as well as a recommending reading list.

The authors' love and admiration of Bhutan and Bhutanese people is very apparent in their sketches. While many things about Bhutan can easily baffle a tourist (like the almost contradictory sexual attitude of the Bhutanese or the concept of "Gross National Happiness"), they explain these things in terms of the Bhutanese culture. I found the book extremely easy to read and engaging, and appreciated the experiences the Carpenters shared as well as the facts. You can read the book back to front or just skip around and read about which aspects of the culture you're interested in.

This is the first book I have read about Bhutan, and I'm glad I got it!

The Carpenters' book is not the first one that I have read on this magical Asian kingdom but it is definitely one of the best summaries out there. The authors succeeded in bringing the abstract closer to us; they offer an easily digestable, very interesting and engaging reading about Bhutan. What is even better they bring up further topics of interest and discussion that may make you look for more reading on the country itself, some of the characters from Bhutanese history or Buddhism in general. However, if you would like to find out more about tourist destinations in Bhutan I recommend that you get Pommaret's book or the Lonely Planet guide, as this book is more about the spiritual side, the soul of Bhutanese people and its manifestations in everyday life, religion and culture.

Absolutely one of the best books that I have read on the country of Bhutan. After reading several chapters, I was ready to travel on one of the tours to Bhutan, which are led by authors Russ and Blyth Carpenter.

I recently finished reading the book, Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind and Body Harmony, by H. E. Davey. The book is excellent. I am novice (hardly even that, actually) when it comes to Shodo (having only recently begun studying Shodo), but your book provides a very smooth introduction, and does a great job of getting across the relationship between it and the other Japanese cultural arts (chado [tea ceremony], budo [martial Ways], kado [flower arrangement], etc).

It is written in a very positive way and contains many beautiful pieces of artwork. I very much enjoyed the "four experiments toward a positive mind," these are great examples of introspection. Though I am far from an expert in budo, I have spent many years training and researching this topic, yet several of the explanations, provided for terms such as fudoshin, hara, and ki shed new light on these concepts, beyond just their relationship to Shodo.

Chapters three and four provide a very gentle introduction to the physical techniques while also providing an overview of the relationship between good posture and the proper state of mind. The importance of the coordination of mind, body, and spirit is presented in a way that should be easy for someone that is new to the Japanese cultural arts to grasp and understand.

I am again impressed with Davey sensei's ability to communicate a complex subject in an interesting and informative way that maintains the readers interest, while still capturing the subtleties of the topic.

From a beginner's perspective, this is an excellent reference, and I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (4/07)

Once in a while I find it very helpful to venture outside of the realm of things that normally interest me and that I have some knowledge about. Learning about new things is a very stimulating experience and it seems to me that it keeps my brain in good working order. As far as the Japanese art forms are concerned, I am vaguely familiar with the flower arranging, but that is where my knowledge - and even real awareness - of such art forms end. Picking up H.E. Davey's "Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony" was a real eye-opener.

The author begins this book with explanation and history of shodo, continues with the complex connections of mind, body and brush, and finishes with simple step-by-step exercises for the basics of shodo. The illustrations and the photos would certainly be very helpful for anybody who intends to try their hand at this ancient art form.

Mr. Davey's writing is fluid and engaging. He does not get overly technical and is easy to understand. The book kept my attention and made me wish for more balance in my life. Let me give an example of Mr. Davey's writing here:

"The kanji, or written characters, used in both Japan and China have transcended their utilitarian function and collectively serve as a visually stirring piece of fine art. Shodo allows the dynamic movement of the artist's ki ("life energy" or "spirit") to become observable in the form of rich black ink. In great examples of shodo, you can sense both the rhythm of music as well as the smooth, elegant, and balanced construction of refined architecture. Many practitioners of this art feel that the visible rhythm of Japanese calligraphy ultimately embodies a "picture of the mind" - and accomplished calligraphers recognize that it actually discloses your spiritual state. This recognition is concisely summed up by the traditional Japanese saying: [...] If your mind is correct, the brush will be correct. "

Although Mr. Davey stresses several times that one needs to find an instructor to truly begin the exploration of shodo, I found "Brush Meditation" to be an interesting book for anybody who would like to learn at least the basics of shodo as well as anybody who just wishes to become more familiar with the traditional Japanese arts and way of living.

After reading several books on the technique (really a NO technique) of Zen brush work, this book really dealt wll with the emotions and feeling underlying this incredible art. A very good read.

I recently finished reading the book, Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind and Body Harmony, by H. E. Davey. The book is excellent. I am novice (hardly even that, actually) when it comes to Shodo (having only recently begun studying Shodo), but your book provides a very smooth introduction, and does a great job of getting across the relationship between it and the other Japanese cultural arts (chado [tea ceremony], budo [martial Ways], kado [flower arrangement], etc).

It is written in a very positive way and contains many beautiful pieces of artwork. I very much enjoyed the "four experiments toward a positive mind," these are great examples of introspection. Though I am far from an expert in budo, I have spent many years training and researching this topic, yet several of the explanations, provided for terms such as fudoshin, hara, and ki shed new light on these concepts, beyond just their relationship to Shodo.

Chapters three and four provide a very gentle introduction to the physical techniques while also providing an overview of the relationship between good posture and the proper state of mind. The importance of the coordination of mind, body, and spirit is presented in a way that should be easy for someone that is new to the Japanese cultural arts to grasp and understand.

I am again impressed with Davey sensei's ability to communicate a complex subject in an interesting and informative way that maintains the readers interest, while still capturing the subtleties of the topic.

From a beginner's perspective, this is an excellent reference, and I highly recommend it.

For any person that practices shodo (meaning `way of calligraphy' ), sumi-e or any form of art that requires full concentration, I highly recommend to read this book. I practice sumi-e and shodo and I have books that cover the techniques in detail, but none of them goes beyond and get to the heart and true reason of this art, which is to achieve a state of mind and body harmony that led us to a form of spiritual realization.

The book talks `briefly' about the history of calligraphy, the Japanese aesthetics and principles (wabi and sabi), it's relation to the Zen philosophy, and it includes a chapter on how to make the first moves with the brush by practicing `the enso' (a zen character).

However, the main theme of this book is the meditative aspects of shodo. How to get a perfect posture to practice, how to use the mind with full concentration, how to `educate' our body, all this to become one with the brush and transcend in a spiritual way.

I do not know if this is the best book that deals with this aspect of shodo (I haven't seen more), but is a very good one, I can assure that.

I've been collecting cookbooks (and using them!) for 40 years. I've probably used over 1000 cookbooks--always looking for excellent recipes to add to my repetoire.

Chopsticks, Cleaver, and Wok is the best cookbook I've ever used. Most cookbooks have only one or two, or sometimes a few, recipes that I end up liking. Nine out of ten of Ms. Low's recipes are superior--she really knows what she's doing! This is, to me, the greatest cookbook there is.

I was looking for this book for a long time until I thought of using Amazon online. This book was so helpful to me when I was a young newlywed. In moving around a lot, I lost my original copy. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning how to cook Chinese food. It is written in simple and easy to follow directions.

My husband and I bought this book on a whim 10 years ago and still cook every week from it. We have purchased copies for everyone in our family so that they would stop taking our copy. VERY simple TASTY recipes. Great to cook together with a spouse, date or guests. Great for entertaining.

I took Jennie's cooking classes over 20 years ago when I lived in California, and bought this book directly from Jenny. I am a cookbook collector, and this is the ONLY Chinese cookbook I ever use. All of the recipies work and the instructions are complete and easy to follow. My old copy is falling apart and I was delighted to see this book carried by Amazon, and it sounds like it has been updated and recipies added.

I have owned this book for over 20 years. I have used it so much, mine is falling apart, so I am replacing it! If you want easy to follow recipe's and clear techniques, this is the book to own. When it's my turn to do the Holiday cooking, everyone requests Chinese over Turkey. It's easy to adapt your own style of cooking with the recipes in this book. This is a must have for your cookbook library.

a beautifully detailed book with amazing reproductions of these important paintings. highly recommended to anyone one interested in tibetan buddhism, art, tantra, or history.

This book is a valuable asset to anyone desiring an illustrated view of tantic Buddhism. With gorgeous pictures of the walls of the Lukhang Palace, and plenty of supporting documentation, the reader can truly appreciate the spiritual value of this book.

In addition to being a meticulously executed illustrated art book, The Dalai Lama's Secret Temple: Tantric Wall Paintings from Tibet by Ian A. Baker, et al. guides the reader through some lesser known biographical details of Tibet's greatest Dalai Lamas and of the history of Tibetan Buddhist culture as a whole. The amazing drawings, many of which painted in an almost feverish surrealistic style, are accompanied by insights into the lore of the Dalai Lamas, with thoughtful excerpts from their writings. I am also much obliged as a book shopper to show my appreciation to the book's publisher, Thames & Hudson, for the excellent printing quality and overall layout and binding of this book, details which for me always work to enhance the message of a book and to demonstrate the seriousness and loving care with which the authors themselves have treated their creation.

A really beautiful book: pictures are magnificents, thanks to the anonymous ancient painter and to the modern photographer, with many pictures of the details of the paintings. But the book is worthy not only to see. The first chapter tells a short but interesting history of the temple and of the Dalai Lamas, and at the beginning of each of the three main sections (as there are three walls painted in the temple, corresponding to the three pillars of Dzogchen teaching: base, path and fruit) a short but careful explanation of the principles of Dzogchen, in connection with the painted teachings of the secret temple. I do loved this book, and reccomend it to anyone interested in Dzogchen and Tibetan culture and Buddhism.

The Dala Lama's Secret Temple is a wonderful and insightful look into one of the most spectacular temples in Lhasa. Having just visited the Lukhang, I had the pleasure to personally view the murals. Many of which are unique to Tibetan paintings. And still very preserved. Better than I could have photographed myself, this book presents each of the walls paintings in the highest quality plates. Descriptions of the historical significance of the temple mirror the detail works of the painting. A nice addition to a library of Tibetan Art and Buddhism.

Great service. Condition of book was stellar and it was delivered in a very timely manner.

"The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories" is an odd collection of sorts, mixing an elegant, straight-forward short story together with some autobiography and a fluttering of palm-of-the-hand tales. Each element contributes a unique flavor, and a different facet of Kawabata's style.

J. Martin Holman proves himself again a master translator of Kawabata, retaining the flow and most importantly the feeling of the originals, far more than other translators I have read. The only flaw I found was that he splits the book into two sections, which I personally found a bit jarring. I think it more naturally flows into three distinct chapters.

"The Dancing Girl of Izu" is as fine a short story as you are likely to read anywhere. Every necessary element is contained, with no superfluous decoration. It is heartbreaking in its subtlety, and masterful in its craft. Everything important is unsaid. Kawabata can manipulate emotions so deeply using so little, leaving the reader with an aching emptiness as great as that of the narrator. Beautiful, and fully worth the cost of the collection alone.

"Diary of my Sixteenth Year," "Oil," "The Master of Funerals" and "Gathering Ashes" are four short autobiographical sketches of Kawabata's relationship with his only relative, a blind grandfather who would figure into several tales. Not factual per se, but true impressions. They present an intimate portrait of youth trying to understand the aged, of responsibility and resentment of responsibility, and of the numbness of death. The stories are presented as recovered diary accounts Kawabata wrote when he was 16, and they may be so. I believe the feelings, and that is enough.

The third section contains the 18 remaining unpublished palm-of-the-hand stories, Kawabata's personal trademark and contribution to literature. A page or three at the most, each story functions like a Zen koan, a story or riddle with no obvious meaning used as a contemplation tool by meditating monks to clear their minds and make them go hmmm...as they try to decipher. Koans have been called "extremely brief vignettes enabling the individual to hold entire universes of thought in mind all at once," and I think this sums it up nicely. Do not attempt to decipher these palm-of-the-hand stories, but instead read them and feel them and go hmm...

This is an interesting mix of Yasunari Kawabata's early work, well before he was Japan's literary superstar, and well before the works that would ultimately win him the Nobel prize. The title story (I can't say titular, can I?) is of a college student's crush on the youngest member of a dancing troup. Most likely autobiographical, it leaves the reader sharing Kawabata's youthful loneliness. The second larger short story (there's no better way to describe it) is Diary of My Sixteenth Year, which covers the disappating love of a youth and his dying grandfather.

The remaining stories are much shorter, ranging from 3 to 10 pages each. Birthplace is an interesting story of abandonment and leaving one's home behind. Burning the Pine Boughs is as much about reading between the lines as reading what's on the page. Oil is a deep work of overcoming childhood loss.

Three common themes permeate these stories. First is the idea of an imperfect, sour or unatainable love. Second is the idea that at least somehow many of them are autobiographical. Third is that much is left unsaid in the stories. In a sense they are a prose form of Zen art, where what is unsaid can be more important than what is put to paper. Despite being distinct, one can read inferences between the stories (the hands for prayer in both Master of Funerals and Hands, for example) and perhaps that is enough to tie them all together.

Although Snow Country is commonly referred to as Kawabata's greatest accomplishment, these stories were more accessible and emotionally powerful.

I recently read this collection of short (with the emphasis on "short") stories. This set of stories are very autobiographical; especially in the first part. The title story is a tale of young love. The message that came through to me was the innocence of the attraction of the two main characters. After that came a touching diary that told of the relationship of a teenage boy and the elderly, invalid grandfather who raised him. It reminded me of my relationship with my own grandfather. The other sketches were worth reading as well and most were only two or three short pages in length. There is certainly a poetic style in Kawabata's works. This particular collection is a good introduction to the writer.

Although Kawabata is most often associated with his better than good Palm-of-the-hand stories, I don't view them as my favorate Kawabata work. The Dancing Girl of Izu (mandatory reading for Japanese Junior High School Students) is a sort of coming of age story that made me step back and reflect. The semi-autobiographical work is tender, heart warming, and a keen glimpse into Japanese life. If you have read and enjoyed earlier works of this author I would strongly suggest this collection to you. If you have yet to discover Kawabata, I say there's no better place to start!

I found this book to be very interesting, albeit only the first half. The historical accounts in the book are all footnoted to the original sources, and the author lets the events and laws speak for themselves.

The Dhimmi: Jews & Christians Under Islam is required reading for any American.

The author writes, in detail, in a marvelously researched manner. The mistake that many people make is that Islam is only anti-Israel and anti-Jewish. For from it. Islam is anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Protestant, anti-Catholic, and anti-Buddhist, anti just about everything.

Even if there was no Israel, or the US was not an ally of Israel, radical Islam would still despise the USA.

When Islam despises you, your live is in danger.

This is a horrifying book. What is most horrifying is that it is non-fiction.

Why do Arabs attack Zionism? In this book, Bat Ye'or gives a surprisingly simple answer. I think she's absolutely nailed the cause of the problem:

"It is well known that the successful revolt of the colonized frequently traumatizes the colonizer. Vengefulness and hatred express the distress of the oppressor confronted by his victim's rebellion. An equality of rights with the inferior party humiliates the dominating group which, deprived of its superiority, seeks compensation in phantasms. Such reactions have been exhaustively analyzed in books dealing with the phenomenon of racism."

The author shows these attitudes in action, as various Arabs complain that the presence of Jews in Israel defiles the land, or that the land is all Arab, with Jews being mere "dhimmis." The liberation of the Jews is sometimes considered a crime against Nature, as we see Egyptian President Nasser call it "the greatest international crime that has been committed in the entire history of mankind."

The terms applied by Arab racists to Jewish dhimmis who sought freedom are now applied to Israel itself: insolent, arrogant, and needing punishment.

I think this book is one of the best at explaining why Arabs and Jews are at odds in the Middle East. And why they'll continue to be at odds until Arabs renounce such racism and until international applause for this racism quiets down.

Bat Ye'or explains the problems of being a dhimmi. A dhimmi lacks rights and is thus dependent on the good will of, um, real people. A dhimmi has no history; actually a dhimmi has no right to have a history, and real people write any history they please regarding dhimmis. And the author shows that although Zionism is more an Oriental phenomenon than a European one, the refusal to acknowledge Zionist history tends to lead to claims that Zionism is exclusively a European movement. In addition, she implies that the refusal of many Arabs to refer to Israel or to allow it to be on Arab maps is another symptom of the tendency to refuse dhimmis the right to a historical existence.

The author contrasts the outrage of many antizionist Arabs with the relative silence of some genuine victims: Jews who were expelled from Arab nations. She attributes some of this to a tendency of dhimmis, with their history of having been exploited, servile, and silent, to think in terms of gratitude and toleration rather than in terms of rights.

In this book, Bat Ye'or does a superb job of explaining the dhimmi condition. And I think we all ought to heed her warning that those who forget history are indeed condemned to repeat it.

This is the classic study of dhimmitude - the condition of non-Muslims who are permitted to live as permanent tributaries under the dhimma, a pact of submission to Islamic conquest. A profoundly moving human document, The Dhimmi is deeply challenging to the 'Andalusian myth', that Muslim relations with those of other faiths have been the epitome of peaceful coexistence. In The Dhimmi, Bat Ye'or provides her classical definition of the psychology of dhimmitude, which is of fundamental importance for understanding the current role of Islam in its full global context.

Dhimmi history is hard to study, in part because the conquerors have written their own version, and promulgated it with supreme moral self-confidence. It is also hard to access dhimmi documents, which are written in Greek, Latin, Farsi, Coptic, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Armenian, Serbian, English, French, Hindi etc etc. A great strength of this book is it's very rich collection of translations from dhimmi and Arab documents.

A must read in these times.

This is a disturbing book which reveals what is described as a socially acceptable Islamic conduct against peoples who were classed as "inferior".

For the most part the book describes these peoples as Jews and Christians who were classed as "dhimmi". "Dhimmitude" being further elaborated as the religious, cultural, and political fate of non-Muslims living under Islamic rule, usually when their lands have been subject to Islamic conquest.

Where the politicisation/allegations of racial prejudice, segregation, apartheid and indeed genocide have become quite common-place in the Middle East against the Jewish state, a book such as this is very timely in showing another side to the story. A book that reveals the painful, disturbing policy of prejudice, racial hatred and segregation of countless people who the book describes were classed as "inferior"on the basis of their religion alone.

Many examples are referred to in this study and many issues are discussed. The book draws a number of distinctions drawn and prejudices applied upon Jews and Christians who refused to accept and bow to Islam. Just by way of a single example, page 56 of this study deals with the "Invalidity of the Dhimmi's Oath".

With legal cases being dealt with under Quranic law, every case involving a Muslim and a dhimmi received a "peculiar" treatment in that a dhimmi was forbidden to give evidence against a Muslim. The Dhimmi's oath being deemed unacceptable in an Islamic court, which made it virtually impossible for any Muslim opponent to be condemned. To further any defence, the book describes that the dhimmi would be obliged to "purchase" Muslim witnesses, often at great expense.

This refusal of Muslim religious courts to accept such testimony of the dhimmi being based on hadiths which maintained that the infidels were of a "perverse and mendacious character because they deliberately persisted in denying the superiority of Islam". The same law preventing any Muslim from being put to death on account of an infidel.

This principle alone is further elaborated in this book with the example of the frequent accusations directed at Jews and Christians of having "blasphemed" the Prophet or Islam, an offence punishable by death. In such a case, the dhimmi was clearly in no position to contradict the testimony of a Muslim making the accusation and could therefore only save his life by conversion to Islam. (Although some exceptions have been recorded, this was the abiding principle nearly always adhered to.)

This is a classic study of this subject and it is not a "light" read, but a subject which demands attention. Thank you.