This book can be read over a hundred times! There is always something new turn learn from it. A book for everyone seeking peace and thoughtfulness.

This book can be understood by anyone, not just those interested in esoteric, spiritual practices. It's full of true wisdom that can be applied to daily life. It gives very sensible advice.

This is a wonderful book not only for spiritual warriors, but for everyone else too. Conflict resides within the kernel of all human relations and in nature too, and all too often we find ourselves overwhelmed by it and take actions that escalate the level of conflict rather than help to calm the situation. This book helps to remind us that in the face of conflict we do still have a choice, a position we can take that won't make us part of the conflict. It is the opposite side of the coin, or, as some would call it, the "divine view" that restores balance and peace.

A great solace in times of world conflict, a good medicine for all weary spirits dealing with conflict in the great and small moments of our lives.

This is a very special, subtle and real book that gets to the heart of the human problem of aggression and conflict. If the US government, the armed forces, and the bullies of this planet were all to read this book, war would seem as foolish as it is in truth.
Sadly, given it's gentle appearance, only the most discerning will notice it.

This is the story of Tim an Irish labourer, his slow friend Dandy and their wifes and families living in a gaslit cobbled alley at the beggining of 1900. Read about Maud, Dandies loud American wife her beloved son, who goes off to fight in the first world war and tearaway daughter Colleen. Discover the dark secret the Brown twins accross the alley share, and their strange sister Ellen. This is an excellent book if you like to get the feel of old London and life before the Great War.

This book is set in an alley in a poor sections of London and allows you to become part of the lives of it's inhabitants. All of the residents come from different races, colors and creeds and how they share their lives through joy, pain, politics, society and WWII.

Ekanta (the protagonist in this fine book) was born into a time when the old ways of life were being displaced by the advancement of the technical age. This threatened to destroy the timeless tenets which had fostered and maintained harmony for so many centuries. Ekanta was born to be a free soul who is beyond dualities though still abiding in human form as an example for others. Ekanta is an Avadhut.

The Avadhut is about the vital lessons Ekanta learned that added immensely to his understanding of The Universal Form and how It expresses Its infinite, indivisible and formless Essence during extended periods of manifestation. And it may be that Babaji Bob Kindler is the only person on Earth who could set down these 700 pages in such an orderly and understandable format, and have the vast religious training to write it so well.

Ekanta learned many lessons; forbearance from Earth...the patient and selfless desire to help others; Peace from the Maiden...the sense of tranquility knowing only One reigns supreme; equanimity from the Ocean...a sense of balance and poise in the face of trials and imperfections as well as happiness and bliss; and transcendence from the Sky...the awareness to rise above all dualities to be peaceful and content.

Additionally, The Avadhut teaches us (as Ekanta was taught) so much more...from freedom, grace, purity and unity to heedfulness, detachment, contentedness and moderation. Here is a way of life that can strip you bare of the unnecessary and fill you up with the reality of true spiritual presence.

Babaji Bob Kindler was initiated into the Ramakrishna Order by Swami Aseshananda, a direct disciple of Sri Sarada Devi, wife of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa; is founder of the SRV Independent Associations as well as teacher, musician and extremely prolific
and powerful writer.

The Avadhut, in this reviewer's opinion, is the means to find a better way of life, a life we were meant to lead, but lost our way. This is a book to embrace, devour and let its wisdom nourish you to enlightenment!

This book is a must to read for anyone who has embarked on the journey of self-inquiry and is moving toward self-realization; an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of one who has been there - The Avadhut, a fully liberated being.

The book reads like a mystery novel, but the content is distilled nectar from the scripture and spiritual teachings of the East [Yoga and Vedanta]. Following the path of the Avadhut on his travels is as easy, enjoyable and painless as summer vacation, and as fruitful as the ascension of the highest of spiritual heights.

Not just a book but an exercise in spiritual self-transformation - a pilgrimage of the mind, with the Avadhut as the most inspiring and delightful of guides. Go there and be free!

I have 32 volumes of Daisetz which contain 100+ of his books in Japanese that I have read over the last 15 years or so. Still, the English essays like The Spreme Spiritual Ideal (what a title!) and Love and Power as found in this book bring the unforgettable messages of Daisetz to me - no matter how many times I read them.

If you read Daisetz's books, - to be compared to getting a breeze of "his" life pouring out of his books, you may be drawn to the universe you may find very refreshing and vividly alive. I wish that the words/ideas in his books can be made alive and help bring happiness for all!

The Supreme Spiritual Ideal is the simplest and most profound essay I have ever read. It speaks of the author's simple straw house in Japan and compares it to the massive buildings of London. They turn out to be humble metaphors for a cosmic reality brought down to earth. Lovely.

I was prepared to not like "Awakening to Zen" when it was given to me by one of my students. I was happily suprised to find the best book I had ever read on Zen Buddhism. Kapleau-Roshi addressed the concerns of the Western Zen Sangha, while stil maintaining a traditional Zen outlook. On a scale of 1-5, this could only be rated a ten!! Extremely Highly Recommended.

Once again, Kapleau Roshi has out done himself."Three Pillars of Zen" has always been the Zen Bible. "Awakening to Zen"is a perfect companion. Easy to understand, The Roshi writes for everyone, so everyone can be touched by the beauty of a Zen life. Thank you Sir!

This book is the book to read to get a feeling of what Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is all about. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says that at one time one could simply knock and the door would be open but today we need to bang on our inner door. "You are locked out of your own house. Bang on your inner door. Right now you are on the doorstep. Do not delay a moment. All wealth is within you. When your inner door opens, there is love, just love."

It really opens up the door to the Inner Self. A collection of short talks which are very simple, yet very very profound. They bring out the knowledge of the Self in the purest form I have ever read. I would say it is not just a reading, it gives a direction to your life. Whenever, I am faced with a difficult situation in my daily life, I open this book and I am sure to find an answer.

BANKEI ZEN : Translations from the Record of Bankei by Peter Haskel. Edited by Yoshito Hakeda. 196 pp. New York : Grove Press, 1984.

If Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) is Zen's supersonic jet, Bankei (1622-1693) is its horse-and-buggy. But when it's simply a matter of getting from point A to point A, since what we are looking for is no further than the end of our nose, either type of conveyance will suffice.

Dogen transports us to the stratospheric heights of Zen. His thought is totally brilliant and hyper-sophisticated, and once you get a taste of him you may find yourself completely captivated. Those who may be interested might care to take a look at Kazuaki Tanahashi's fine anthology, 'Moon in a Dewdrop : Writings of Zen Master Dogen.'

Bankei, in contrast, is a very different kettle of fish. For him the sutras, the koans, and the works of the great Chinese Masters were so much waste paper we needn't be bothering our heads about. Very much a man of the people, and immensely popular in his day, his following, as Haskel tells us, "embraced nearly every segment of Japanese society : samurai with their families and retainers, merchants, artisans, farmers, servants, even gamblers and gangsters, as well as monks and nuns of all the Buddhist sects" (page xvii). All of them, in crowds that could number over a thousand, would flock from all parts of Japan to listen to his unusual teaching.

What was the teaching that held such a powerful appeal for so many different kinds of people? Basically Bankei's Zen of the Unborn is simplicity itself, and can, as Haskel points out, be reduced to just three points: "What we have from our parents innately is the Unborn Buddha Mind and nothing else"; "The Buddha Mind is Unborn and marvelously illuminating, and with the Unborn everything is perfectly managed"; "Abide in the Unborn Buddha Mind!" (page xxxii).

Enlightenment, for Bankei, in other words, is not the prerogative of some sort of spiritual elite but is everyone's birthright. We don't need to undergo some sort of extensive training or arduous discipline to realize it because it's always been there. What gets in the way of the free and unobstructed flow of the Buddha Mind which we all possess is our selfishness, our habit of judging things as good or bad. All we need to do to return to our original nature is to LET GO NOW!

For the rest I'll have to refer you to Peter Haskel's fine Introduction to Bankei's life and thought, and to his selections from Bankei's sermons, instructions, poems, and letters. Haskel spent ten years working on this book, and he has succeeded brilliantly in bringing maverick straight-talking Bankei, and his times and the people who flocked to hear him, vividly before us. One can hear the authentic tones of a loving and concerned and no-nonsense Bankei as he urges his flock to set aside all preconceptions and just let the marvelously illuminating Unborn Mind manage all things perfectly for them:

"Everyone, do exactly as I'm telling you, and, following my instructions, start by trying to abide in the Unborn for thirty days. Learn to abide in the Unborn for thirty days, and from there on, even if you don't want to - whether you like it or not - you'll just naturally HAVE to abide in the Unborn. You'll be a success at abiding in the Unborn! Since that which is Unborn is the Buddha Mind, you'll be functioning with the Buddha Mind at all times. That way you'll be living buddhas here today, won't you? So listen to my teaching just as if today you were all born anew and starting afresh. . . ." (page 19, my caps for italics in original).

For the famous Zen scholar, D. T. Suzuki - who himself compiled an early edition of Bankei - Dogen, Hakuin, and Bankei were Japan's three greatest Zen Masters. If you have never read Bankei, I can assure you that you're in for a treat. But read him in Haskel's translation as it's never been bettered.

Going against the wishes of the Almighty, Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - and Man has been in a state of confusion ever since. But what came before knowledge and thinking and talking? The Unborn Buddha Mind which we all possess, but which is drowned out by thought. This book is a series of simple lectures in simple language by the Zen master Bankei talking to monks and common people about their problems. An easy to understand book with real answers for Man who is mired at the level of Hungry Ghosts and Fighting Demons.

This is the best book ever written on defining and achieving Yoga (Yoga means union with God, not the physical postures our culture unfortunately misconstrues).

Sri Chinmoy is a "fully realised" spiritual Master dedicated to inspiring and guiding those seeking spiritual advancement (he also conducts meditations for the United Nations twice each week). "Beyond Within" is Sri Chinmoys' magnum opus in that it details and explains the true path in our spiritual advancement.

I fully recommend all the books written by Sri Chinmoy (his book "Meditation" is also required reading)to a get a deeper understanding of more spiritual topics.

Sri Chinmoy's collection of writings in Beyond Within explores the personal quest for enlightment. There are insights and ideas for the uninitiated to the advanced seeker. A must for anyone seeking to better one's life.

Great book from a great man/Swami! I would highly recommend anything by this man and Swami.

His latest CD, Wings of a Dawn is amazing. The CD he wrote in memory of his friend the Indian female astronaut who died in the Shuttle accident. This song he sang at the service.

If you are able to see Swamiji perform anywhere, go you'll love him. Swami Ramananda spent much of his life with Anandamayi Ma. To be near Swami Ramananda is to be near Ma. Ma is a true Saint!

Bliss Now! Is a beautiful and captivating story through which the love and unalloyed beauty of Sri Anandamayi Ma flows; it is such a lovely tale. This novel is enchanting and intriguing, and offers numerous tips on how to live a more spiritual life. It provides lucid spiritual advice, along with an incredible memior.