BCA Bookstore

I just wanted to share that I recently ordered some Shin books from the BCA Bookstore to be sent to my home in the UK as they stock a lot of books that aren’t available anywhere else. The customer service (via email in my case) was excellent and the books took about 3 weeks to arrive and were well packaged. The negative was that the postage was almost as much as the books themselves but with the Sterling-Dollar exchange rate as it is right now that wasn’t too much of a hardship.

 

Buddhist Book Meme

‘Gerald Ford’ at Level 8th Buddhist tagged me to list my top five favourite (non-scriptural?) Buddhist books … an almost impossible task. So I’ve gone instead with five Buddhist books that have played a big role in my life …

(1) Shinran in the Contemporary World

(Nishi Hongwanji Commission on the Promotion of Religious Education. - Kyoto)

Just when I was really struggling in Zen practice an elderly member of my local zazen group, and a veteran of the UK Buddhist scene, handed me a copy of this Nishi Honganji tract. The worn purple-fabric binding opened to reveal a whole other approach to the Dharma which seemed eminently suited to my karmic circumstances.

(2) Kakehashi, Jitsuen, Bearer of the Light (Pure Land Publications, LA, 1999)

This book, which I picked up in Kyoto whilst on pilgrimage, totally altered my perception of Rennyo Shonin, opened up the riches of the Ofumi for me, and contains some of the clearest practice-oriented writing on Shin doctrine around.

(3) Kanamatsu, Kenryo, Naturalness (World Wisdom)

Kanamatsu’s devotional and contemplative style guided me gently into the Shin way of deep hearing, and has continued to challenge and intrigue me due to the way in which it draws on the resources of both Eastern Dharmic and Western Christian-Platonic spirituality.

(4) Suzuki, Shunryu, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (Shambala)

A perennial favourite in this meme apparently, but it was one of the first Buddhist books I read and Suzuki’s down-to-earth way still resonates.

(5) Aoki, Shinmon, Coffinman (Bec Books)

My teacher, a friend of the author, gave me a copy of this to read on my train journey home one time, which I did so with tears flowing forth. Aoki’s Shin Buddhism is not that of the priest or regular listener of sermons, but of a lay-person in the raw. It comes mixed-up with all kinds of other things, from personal idiosyncracies to cultural flavour, but the author’s sincere personal confrontation with the profound depths of life-and-death is compelling. Aoki also did the great service of introducing me to the work of Kenji Miyazawa.

I tag my Dharma brother J over at Tanomu to continue the meme should he so wish …

 

More Links …

Following on from my discovery of an online version of Ocean, here are links to Hiroyuki Itsuki’s Tariki and Kurata Hyakuzo’s (fictional) play The Priest and His Disciples. (Please purchase the originals if possible.)