THE ACCIDENTAL BUDDHIST is the funny, provocative story of how Dinty Moore went looking for the faith he'd lost in what might seem the most unlikely of places: the ancient Eastern tradition of Buddhism. Moore demystifies and explains the contradictions and concepts of this most mystic-seeming of religious traditions. This plain-spoken, insightful look at the dharma in America will fascinate anyone curious about the wisdom of other cultures and other...

An essential guide to what it's like to spend a week inside a Zen Buddhist monastery. The notion of spending days at a time in silence and meditation amid the serene beauty of a Zen monastery may be appealing-but how do you do it, and what can you really expect from the experience? Waking Up provides the answers for everyone who's just curious, as well as for all those who have dreamed of actually giving it a try and now want to know where to begin. Jack...

One of America's most respected Buddhist teachers distills a lifetime of practice and teaching in this groundbreaking exploration of the new Buddhist tradition taking root on American soil.

"In Buddhism, the personal and the systemic are interwoven. If we are to heal from trauma, we need to find and face our deeply held, often hidden pain. Because we have been raised in a society of greed, aggression, and confused values, this is difficult, but something we all must do, regardless of our ethnic or racial background. Ragir lets fall the stereotypical cool, calm Zen teacher's demeanor to reveal her complicated emotional self. She tells...

"This luminous memoir combines the hardscrabble setting of Appalachia with the spiritual wisdom of Shunryu Suzuki's classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Appalachian Zen describes a journey we all take, one that Buddhism calls "seeking our true home." Edgy, lyrical, and lovingly rendered, this book recounts how a kid from a Pennsylvania mill-town trailer park grew up-surrounded by backwoods farms and amid grief, violence, and passionate yearning-to become...

"Zen teacher Jules Shuzen Harris argues that contemporary American Buddhists face two primary challenges: (1) "spiritual bypassing," which means avoiding or repressing psychological problems in favor of "pretend Enlightenment," and (2) settling for secularized forms of Buddhism or mindfulness that have lost touch with the deeper philosophical and ethical underpinnings of the religion. Drawing on his decades of experience as a Zen practitioner, teacher,...