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Title: Dreaming Me: An African American Woman's Spiritual Journey by Janice Dean Willis, Jan Willis ISBN: 1-57322-173-2 Publisher: Riverhead Books Pub. Date: 29 March, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Can Use This Book for Different Aspects
Comment: I bought this book for the collection of the Nutley (NJ) Public Library. I read the review in Library Journal and was just fascinated. The book came, and after reading it, I am glad I bought it. You can use this book for several different purposes. 1. Discussion of Buddhism. 2. A travelog for India and Nepal. 3. The history of African-Americans in the South and what they went through. 4. A History of Universities in the 60's. 5. Personal Journeys.
Professor Willis started literally with the odds against her. If she were a thoroughbred in Triple Crown racing, it would have been a long shot bet. Thus, besides brilliance, being in the right place at the right time helps. It also helps that she is curious about things and questioning. You learn about her fork in the road. Buddhism or the Black Panthers. I am certainly glad she chose the former. Her lama, who knew nothing about American Race relations, but understood her personal issues. From that, he produced a Buddhist scholar, who I would be honored to study under. A great book for all personal journeys.
Rating: 5
Summary: personal history is universal
Comment: Reading this book was fascinating enough on a personal level, but it struck me forcefully that Dr. Willis' personal journey really reflected America's journey during the years referred to. Combatting racism, classism, and societal expectations, Dr. Willis forged a unique yet universally recognizable lifeline. Her journey is written about beautifully, smoothly, movingly - but I think, more importantly, becomes a journey that each of us can recognize and perhaps travel along with as we grow up as a people and a nation.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating
Comment: There is something intriguing about a story which chronicles a former Baptist's alteration towards adhering to the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Jan Willis is an African-American Tibetan scholar and translator, a professor of religion at Wesleyan University and teacher of Buddhism for more than 25 years. She starts the book recording her life prior to finding the Buddha's teachings, a life spent as a devout Southern Baptist in a segregation ridden south. The KKK was active in her area of Alabama, and at a very early age they had burned a cross in her parent's front lawn. Later she would go on to march in Martin Luther King's civil rights movement, adhering to the values she so strongly believed in. In 1965, with 7 other African-Americans, she enrolled in Cornell University where during her junior year she sailed off on a trip to India which greatly impacted her life. For a brief period she returned to the states to continue her studies at Cornell, but eventually she felt drawn back unto the East again. She left this time for Nepal and underwent intense study with the Tibetan master Lama Yeshe. She studied with him for more than 15 years, where she faced a problem most predominant in all our practices: sense of self, ego.
This book is a fascinating look at a very small minority in the world of Buddhism, the role African-Americans have played in it's growth and the teaching of the Dharma. In the west, in my lineage of Zen, African-American's are probably the least represented group of all. While we have male and female teachers, and practitioners of several racial and cultural backgrounds, for some reason or another there is a very small pocket of African-Americans present. This is not due to any sort of discrimination but rather, to be frank, oftentimes the African-American individual can at times have a problem with breaking down ego. Something which has it's roots in the horrendous treatment this group underwent at the hands of a predominantly white America. This work is a fascinating look at practicing the Buddha Dharma in modern times with a voice of honesty, clarity, and incisive wisdom on each and every page. Enjoy this treasure.
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Title: Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun by Faith Adiele ISBN: 0393057844 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: April, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace by Angel Kyodo Williams ISBN: 0140196307 Publisher: Compass Books Pub. Date: 03 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness by Karen Armstrong ISBN: 0375413189 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 02 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 (American Poets Continuum Series, Vol. 60.) by Lucille Clifton ISBN: 1880238888 Publisher: BOA Editions Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: I Give You My Life by AYYA KHEMA ISBN: 1570625719 Publisher: Shambhala Pub. Date: 08 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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