Dharma, Color, and Culture
New Voices in Western Buddhism
Edited by Hilda Gutiérrez Baldoquín With illustrations by Mayumi Oda Parallax Press, October 28, 2004, 200 pp; $16.00 (paper)
Reviewed by Barbara Casey
A Soto Zen priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the editor is the founder of the People of Color Sitting Group in San Francisco.
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Dharma, Color, and Culture
New Voices in Western Buddhism
Edited by Hilda Gutiérrez Baldoquín With illustrations by Mayumi Oda Parallax Press, October 28, 2004, 200 pp; $16.00 (paper)
Reviewed by Barbara Casey
A Soto Zen priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the editor is the founder of the People of Color Sitting Group in San Francisco. The book is a compilation of writings by people of color in various Buddhist traditions, and includes such notable writers as Thich Nhat Hanh, Alice Walker, and Maxine Hong Kingston.
Structured around the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, this book focuses on both the suffering and the path to the transforming of suffering encountered for people of color and for all people dedicating their lives to an investigation of the Dharma. It takes us into the issue of needing to find a way for people of color to feel at home in the primarily white Western Buddhist Sanghas; and then brings us full circle by reminding us that the Dharma has no color; that when you think you have found the Buddha in a form, you have lost the Buddha.
Dharma, Color, and Culture is an important book for everyone to read. For this white girl, hearing the voices of people of color, especially those with Western roots, gently expanded my view of practice and of the richness, depth, and diversity of the greater Sangha, the Sangha in which I take refuge every day.
The Hermit and the Well
A Skipping Stones 2004 Honor Award Winner
By Thich Nhat Hanh Illustrations by Vo-Dinh Mai Parallax Press, 2003, 34 pp; $15.00 (hard cover)
Reviewed by Lois Schlegel
Based on an event in Thay’s life as a boy in Vietnam, The Hermit and the Well reminds young readers to fully experience the journey of life, rather than hurrying towards a goal.
This is the story of an outing Thay took with his classmates to the top of a mountain, where they expected to meet a wise hermit. They were excited and ran all the way, ignoring the beauty all around them. Thay writes, “There were many beautiful trees and rocks along the path. But I did not stop to look at them because I wanted to reach the top of the mountain. I ran past flowers and trees. I rushed past the bright blue sky.”
By the time the children reached the hermit’s hut they were tired and thirsty and the hermit was nowhere to be found. But Thay did not give up. He continued searching, hiking deep into the forest. Finally, he discovered a beautiful spring and drank it in: its beauty, its sound and its taste. In that moment, the boy who was to become our teacher, realized, “I felt completely satisfied. I did not need or want anything at all…”
Thay had met his hermit. He had found peace. Near the end of the story he writes, “You too may have met your hermit. Maybe it was a rock, a tree, a star or a beautiful sunset. The hermit is the Buddha inside of you.”
In this simple, beautifully illustrated book, Thay recounts, in the form of a story, the core message of his teachings: enjoy and be present in each moment and you will find the Buddha within.
A reviewer from the award-winning multicultural magazine, Skipping Stones, says about The Hermit and the Well: “I would like to give this book to every child I know in order to acquaint them with moments of spiritual awakening.”
