Sun Buddhas, moon Buddhas: a Zen quest

By Elsie Mitchell

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0834800837
• ISBN13: 9780834800830
• Release Date: January 1973
• Publisher: Weatherhill, Incorporated
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Engrossing, inspirational, elegant

One of my favorite books this year, Elsie Mitchell's memoir starts with her first trip to Japan in 1957 at the age of 31. Elsie and her husband Jack had an interest in Buddhism and went to record Buddhist temple chanting, which was later released on the Folkways music label. She goes on to describe her East Coast Unitarian upbringing and her growing interest in a spiritual practice that might prove deeper and more satisfying than mythic Christianity. Fascinating encounters with converts of various stripes and lovely European hosts, with the attendant hours-long dinners and conversation, bring a refreshing secularism to an otherwise singularly dedicated student of Buddhism and Zen when these practices were not particularly accommodating to Westerners. Soen Nakagawa and Shunryu Suzuki make memorable appearances, as does the" Zen Catholic" priest Dom Aelred Graham in a long final section on their deep friendship, which brings Elsie aggravation as well as enlightenment. By searching "Elsie Mitchell cuke" online, I found a biographical page about this Western Zen pioneer. Altogether, this was a lovely book that I read slowly, savoring each page of elegant writing and greatly inspired by this intelligent and awake foremother.