Lemuria Bookstore Blog

In Such Hard Times: The Poetry of Wei Ying-wu Copper Canyon Press (2009) Last July I blogged about Hinton’s fine translation of Classical Chinese Poetry. While enjoying that book, I stumbled upon a poet I haven’t read much of, Wei Ying-wu. I tried to find a collection of his poems and couldn’t. Soon after the [...]

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Smile at Fear: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery by Chögyam Trungpa edited by Carolyn Rose Gimian Shambhala (2009) When the stronghold of the ego is threatened, fear is one of our strongest mechanisms. A lonely ego is constantly defending itself with an aggressive attitude. By trying to understand our fear, we can use it [...]

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The Art of Happiness at Work His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutter, M.D. Riverhead Books (2003) After writing about Linchpin and while reading reading the Dalai Lama’s new book, The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World, I decided to reflect on this helpful book that I had read years ago. Happiness [...]

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One of the great rewards of working in a bookstore is the new writers you learn about from customers. My reading has always been enhanced by loyal Lemuria readers caring enough to share meaningful suggestions with me. Thanks to Eliza, a Boston pal, I embarked on a David Richo reading path. Accepting the difficult realities [...]

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The Truth of Suffering and the Path of Liberation by Chögyam Trungpa Edited by Judith L. Lief Shambhala (2009) The Truth of Suffering is an ideal introduction and exploration into Buddha’s teaching known as the four noble truths. These four truths are the Buddha’s lessons on suffering, its cause and its cessation. The teachings also [...]

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365 Tao: Daily Meditations by Deng Ming-Dao Harper Collins (1992) As a calendar ends and another starts, I’m thinking about which daily reading book I will take with me through 2010. I enjoy living with a book each day. A small portion of reading from a thought provoking book on an inspiring subject. I’ve been [...]

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Buddhist Practice on Western Ground: Reconciling Eastern Ideas and Western Psychology Harvey B. Aronson Shambhala (2009) Trying to just read and understand Buddhist psychological teaching is generally not easy for our Western minds. Applying these concepts to our daily routines, work and family relationships seems even more difficult living our Western lifestyles. Buddhist Practice puts [...]

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This 365-year-old book has been a part of my life since my Dad was reading it to me when I was a small boy. I read through it a couple of times on my own as a young teenager, but it had been about ten years since then when a few weeks ago I decided [...]

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Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart Edited by Patricia Donegan Shambhala (2008) I enjoy reading good haiku very much.  Sometimes I’m astonished by how much can be said with so few words.  Good haiku is a direct result of understanding complex reality and stating it precisely, correctly and beautifully.  Haiku [...]

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Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears by Pema Chödrön Shambhala, July 2009 Taking the Leap is an attempt by Pema to help us to learn how to look at our attachments and self-absorption. This little book is full of suggestions for how to work skillfully with our own blind spots. An [...]

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