September 11 to January 6, 2006

Graciously provided by the Waterloo Public Library

Buddha Da by Anne Donovan

No one is too concerned when Jimmy starts making trips to the Buddhist Meditation Center and talking about spirituality. But, when his spiritual journey begins to unravel his family life, drastic action may be necessary.

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Blends elements of psychoanalysis and Asian religions to probe an Indian aristocrat's efforts to renounce sensual and material pleasures and discover ultimate spiritual truths.

Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja

Justin spends time with Jinsen, the unusual and artistic new student whom the school bully torment and call Buddha Boy, and ends up making choices that impact Jinsen, himself, and the entire school.

Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi

Karim’s father becomes London’s Buddha of suburbia and draws his young son into an overwhelming world of punk rockers, eccentric theatre people, extravagant parties and lavish sex.

Buddha’s Money by Martin Limon

American servicemen Ernie Bascom and George Sue search for a jade head bearing a map to the lost tomb of Genghis Khan.

The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison

When a headless corpse turns up on a Tibetan mountainside, veteran police inspector Shan Tao Yun is released from prison to investigate the crime, and he quickly uncovers a conspiracy involving American mining interests, corrupt Party officials, and Tibetan sorcerers.

Read about Buddhism . . . .

Art & Architecture:

Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and Symbols by Meher McArthur

This book explores the complex imagery and teachings of Buddhism, whose iconography and symbolism may often seem as challenging as the search for enlightenment itself.

The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols by Robert Beer

Robert Beer provides a deep and encompassing insight into the vast array of symbols and attributes that appear within the complex iconography of Tibetan Buddhism. The succinct descriptions that accompany his detailed line drawings reveal the origins, meanings, and functions of these symbols.

Art of Tibet: A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection by Pratapaditya Pal

Divided into three sections - - painting, sculpture, and ritual objects, each object is illustrated in the catalogue section and includes a description and analysis of the work. Also included is a bibliography, a Tibetan pronunciation guide, and glossaries of Sanskrit and Tibetan terms.

Along the Silk Road edited by Elizabeth Ten Grotenhuis

A nicely illustrated collection of essays and photographs on the art, culture, and music of the Silk Road, published in conjunction with the Silk Road Project and the Freer Gallery of Art.

Splendours of the East: Temples, Tombs, Palaces and Fortresses of Asia edited by Mortimer Wheeler

This wonderfully illustrated book contains some of the most spectacular examples of the architecture and decorative arts of Asia. These marvels of architecture evoke the religions and philosophies of the peoples of Asia.

History:

Indian Mythology: Myths and Legends of India, Tibet and Sri Lanka by Rachel Storm

This colourfully illustrated book includes exciting myths and legends of gods, spirits, and demons from South and Central Asia. Over 150 colour pictures of mythical mountains, sacred rivers, the Mother Goddess, and the Life of the Buddha accompany the text.

The Fourteen Dalai Lamas: A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation

by Glenn Mullin

The 14th Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and spiritual leader of Tibetans in exile, is well known in the West, but the 600-year tradition to which he is heir is less familiar. In this book, the author offers the life stories of all 14 Dalai Lamas including quotes from their writings and teachings.

Religion & Philosophy:

An Awakened Life: Uncommon Wisdom from Everyday Experience by Christopher Titmuss

This book presents a collection of practical teachings on how to create a stress-free and genuinely contented existence in the midst of our increasingly hectic lives. The author, an internationally known teacher of insight meditation, maintains that only by denouncing societal obsessions with wealth, beauty, and fame can true happiness be found.

Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom by Joseph Goldstein

The fruit of some twenty years' experience leading Buddhist meditation retreats, this book touches on a wide range of topics raised repeatedly by mediators and includes favourite stories, key Buddhist teachings, and answers to most-asked questions.

Teachings of the Buddha edited by Jack Kornfield

A collection of essential Buddhist writings from popular Indian, Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese sources including sayings of the Buddha on the practice of freedom, meditation, compassion, and the role of women in early Buddhism.

Enlightened Journey: Buddhist Practice as Daily Life

by Tulku Thondup

This collection of fifteen articles and talks by Tulku Thondup constitutes a manual on how to transmute the situations encountered in daily life, whether external or internal, into spiritual disciplines and experiences.

The Heart of Compassion: A Practical Approach to a Meaningful Life by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama

The basis of Buddhism lies in the understanding that each of us must face the truth of the human condition: suffering, disease, old age and death. In this book, the Dalai Lama guides the reader to understand the human condition and create a consciousness to live a life of harmony, peace and virtue.

Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community and the World by Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh's practical, spiritual guidance for inner and planetary change reveals the powerful daily actions and everyday interactions that can root out conflict where it lives inside each of us. In a beautiful blend of visionary insight, and wisdom drawn from long experience, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us to look more deeply at our lives and families, our nation and the world. We can make a difference and create peace here and now.

Travel:

The Rope in the Water: A Pilgrimage to India by Sylvia Fraser

Sylvia Fraser's three-month pilgrimage to India takes her on a 12,000-kilometre journey across deserts and jungles, to sacred sites and temples, up mountains to meditation retreats, and down to a beach in Kovalam where her life is saved by a miracle.

Saffron Days in L.A.: Tales of a Buddhist Monk in America by Bhante Walpola Piyananda

In his role as abbot of a Buddhist meditation center in Los Angeles, Bhante Walpola Piyananda has had the opportunity to meet and counsel a wide range of people. His stories emphasize the human experience and highlight the power of true compassion.

Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer

In 1943, Heinrich Harrer escaped from a British internment camp in India, treked across the Himalayas, and found himself in Tibet, a remote land little visited by foreigners. Warmly welcomed, he eventually became tutor to the Dalai Lama, teenaged god-king of the theocratic nation. The author's vivid descriptions of Tibetan rites and customs capture its unique traditions before the Chinese invasion in 1950, which prompted Harrer's departure.

Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud by Sun Shuyan

This is the story of one woman’s journey from her native China through central Asia to India and back. She follows, as best she can, in the footsteps of the seventh-century Chinese Buddhist monk Xuazang (Hsuan Tsang), whose 16,000 mile journey to learn the secrets of Buddhism from Indian Buddhist masters and texts, and to visit sacred Buddhist sites took him 18 years to complete.

Created by Christine Brown

Waterloo Public Library