DOGEN STUDIES. Edited by William R. LaFleur. Kuroda Institute : Studies in East Asian Buddhism No.2. 165 pp. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, 1992.

Most collections of academic critical articles tend to follow a similar pattern. Among the dozen or so pieces comprising the collection, one or two will invariably prove to be of exceptional merit and interest, with the remainder, in contrast, looking like humdrum and uninspired filler. Perhaps, given the greatly varying abilities of human beings, this is inevitable. There are Scholars and scholars, and one can't go about smashing rice bowls.

Happily, the present collection of 'Dogen Studies' is that rare exception in which, not just one or two, but all of the contributions, although not perhaps of equal brilliance, are certainly interesting. I don't know whether this is because Dogen is himself such an interesting and multi-faceted thinker, or whether it's because he attracts a more interesting kind of mind, but I can assure readers that all of the pieces in the present collection are well worth reading by anyone with a serious interest in Dogen.

The collection is made up of the following eight articles : 'Design in the Academy' by William R. LaFleur ; 'Recarving the Dragon : History and Dogma in the Study of Dogen' by Carl Bielefeldt ; '"The Reason of Words and Letters" : Dogen and Koan Language' by Hee-Jin Kim ; 'The Incomparable Philosopher : Dogen on How to Read the Shobogenzo' by Thomas P. Kasulis ; 'The Oneness of Practice and Attainment : Implications for the Relation between Means and Ends' by Masao Abe ; 'The Practice of Body-Mind : Dogen's Shinjingakudo and Comparative Philosophy' by John C. Maraldo ; 'Dogen's View of Authentic Selfhood and its Socio-ethical Implications' by Francis H. Cook ; 'The Meaning of Dogen Today' by Robert N. Bellah.

The book is rounded out with a detailed List of Contributors, their affiliations, backgrounds, and main publications, and a 5-page bilingual Glossary of Chinese and Japanese Terms (with sinographs). Among the contributors are some outstanding Dogen scholars whose names will already be familiar to students of Dogen.

'Dogen Studies' is a carefully conceived and well-balanced collection, and seems to have been designed to show us something of the range of possible approaches to Dogen. Everyone will have a favorite, my own being Francis Cook's piece, an article which seems to me to be the finest and most interesting treatment of 'enlightenment' that I've ever seen. But, as I've indicated, I enjoyed all of the others too.

As an added bonus, the many translated excerpts from Dogen that are scattered throughout the book are of uniformly high quality. Here are some particularly fine lines from the 'Shobogenzo Genjo-koan' as rendered by Francis H. Cook:

"Conveying the self to the myriad beings to authenticate them is delusion; / The myriad things advancing to authenticate the self is enlightenment" (page 133).

'Dogen Studies' is a book that I'm pleased to be able to recommend, as I feel sure that all serious students of Dogen will find it of real interest.

A wonderful wonderful book.Although the book was written some 150 year ago, Mary Eliza Rogers takes you into the intimacies of daily life in Palestine in the 1850's as if it was occurring today. She writes from her heart with honesty,integrity and a clear mind. And although written at a time of Victorian prejudicies and colonialism she writes without bias or judgement. From her beautiful and colourful descriptions one can envisage the Holy Land as it was before undergoing the process of modernisation and change. For anyone who has any attachment to this land it is a truly wonderful and personal experience to read this book.

I saw this book in its preparation stages before its ultimate publication. Many of the photographs provided inspiration for the marvellous exhibition on Saudi Arabian doors that was presented by the Al-Nahda foundation in Riyadh in 1995.

For anyone wanting to learn more about Saudi Arabia, this book provides a wonderful visual experience to the culture and history of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A very interesting and informative introduction to Eastern healing, such as acupuncture and macrobiotic diet. Also a touching and uplifting story of a family's struggle with cancer. Ms. Todd's recipes and sources for further reading are especially helpful. The title sums it up: healing through an effective combination of "alternative" Eastern therapies and "traditional" Western medicine. Highly recommend this book for all those facing any serious illness. It does not claim to have all the answers, but helps identify some concrete ways to help in healing yourself (or at the very least, to better tolerate treatments).

The book is a detailed study of the university examination systems in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. As Zeng astutely notes, "The history of exams is a history of an institution, a system. On the other hand, this system is not an empty shell, but a structural order governing human behavior and consciousness. In that sense, what we have been studying is a key behavioral pattern, the history of the pattern, and the power behind that power". This book is an excellent introduction to what can be called the "culture of exams" in the Far East. It is a badly needed sourcebook and rare history of a topic which encompasses such diverse subjects as history, education, politics, and religion. Zeng is quite good at delineating the precise influence of Japan on the exam systems, general historical trends in the development of these systems, and the social roles that the exams serve.

There are, however, several drawbacks to the book. Zeng's writing style is often quite dry and sometimes awkward, and in certain sections the book is not very well organized. Finally, at $... US, quite pricey. But these faults do not ultimately detract from the importance and novelty of this study.

When a ship from England becomes trapped in the ice in theFarNorth and forced to stay through a long and dark winter, young David is the only person to leave the ship to follow the barking of foxes. Following the foxes into a glittering darkness, David loses his way and is in danger of dying of the cold. A wise man suddenly appears at the top of the hill, offers David safety, the warmth of fire, and the mystery of secrets and dreams. When David's father finds his lost son, David is asleep by the fire, sheltered by an Inukshuk (a stack of stones in the rough outline shape of a man). Dreamstones is a captivating picturebook story by Maxine Trottier written for young readers ages 4 to 8, and that is wonderfully illustrated by the museum quality artwork of Stella East.

Buck-Morss's tale of the sputtering, guttering end of the modern Fordist disciplinary project both in the U.S.A and in the Soviet Union is a stunner. Most compelling are the historical insights -- told with particular elegance through the comparison of patriotic and advertising images -- that show how similar both projects really were! Some of the historical tidbits stick in the mind never to be dislodged: Daddy Stalin asking Henry Ford to come build him a factory to make tractors in the middle of the Depression. Lenin's admiration for Frederick Taylor. Amazing how the salvation for both communists and capitalists was the same industrial regime, the same worker's paradise of factory labor!

The second half of the book, a kind of diary of cross-cultural US/Soviet cultural exchanges prior to and after the Berlin Wall, is interesting but less intellectually energizing. Still, there is a great deal of wit in Ms. Buck-Morss's observation that Western Marxist critics such as Frederick Jameson (who attended some of the same seminars with Soviet intellectuals that Buck-Morss did) seem less willing to give up on the socialist dreamscape than their Soviet counterparts.

A great companion read is Michael Hardt's and Antonio Negri's "Empire" which really has an interesting take on the near simultaneous end of Fordism and the disciplinary state in both the U.S. and Soviet Union. They suggest it was the "multitude" or proletariat in both nations who rebelled against the industrial factory/modern project and destabilized both, an argument which runs counter to the usual top-down explanations for the rise of postmodern economics.

Interesting how we're told these days that the Soviets, now suffering in the hot bath of capitalism, are nostalgic for the certainty of the Daddy Stalin years. Perhaps their nostalgia is not so different than Baby Boomer Americans' nostalgia for the lost innocence of the early 50s/60s, the Golden Age of American economic hegemony, before the New Deal project finally collapsed. Now that the veil has dropped it seems we had a lot more in common with "them"(us) than we ever thought we did. And still do!

Lama Kunga's way of telling the tales of Milarepa makes me want to read on and on. Milarepa, himself, was a character I found to be fascinating to study. Being able to find this book after so many years helped to facillitate the joys of the Tibetan Buddhist way of life and culture.

Another collection of great tories from i halil

I must admit that I had never in my life spent a sleepless night wondering about the land and the people of Duck, North Carolina, or about the Outer Banks, either. Nonetheless I found this book fascinating -- a page turner, for sure. The book carries the two most important requisites for good creative non-fiction: fascinating subject matter and excellent writing. And it is thoroughly researched. Both old-timers and new-comers spring to life and entertain in these pages, as does the village of Duck and its history. A good read: thanks.