A gentle and thoughtful book about sex and its place in a full life, a bit handicapped by its aphoristic style.
In this Zen guide to sex, Hawaiian journalist Sudo (Zen Computer, not reviewed) portrays lovemaking as a glorious pathway to self-fulfillment.
Despite the fact that Zen Buddhism demands celibacy on the journey to enlightenment, Sudo constructs sexuality as a positive force within a Zen paradigm. He reads the poetry of iconoclastic Zen master Ikkyu Sojun (1394–1481) in order to support his mission to integrate a healthy sexuality into the celibate principles of Zen Buddhism. Through this goal, Sudo attempts both to help people achieve emotionally and spiritually satisfying sex lives and to appreciate the beauty of life around them. In three units, the book addresses the seven ways of the mind (desire, fantasy, discovery, initiating, anticipation, surprise, familiar), the seven ways of the body (entering, accepting, touch, scent, the eyes, the mouth, the cry), and the seven ways of the spirit (interplay, giving, clouds, union, release, creation, birth and rebirth). Following each of these 21 chapters, Sudo includes a “homework” exercise of reflective questions entitled “the way to zen sex”; these assignments direct the reader to ponder issues such as “what form will your lovemaking take tonight? how will you enter? how will you exit?” Notwithstanding the particulars of entrances and exits, cheesy moments could have been avoided more energetically: only one with true enlightenment could refrain from squirming when Sudo thanks his partner Tracy “for all the nights of research.” Ultimately, Sudo’s message is that we should focus on the experience of life and of sex in order to perceive the beauty and completeness of ourselves. Although the book is primarily directed to a heterosexual audience, Sudo makes inclusive gestures to the homosexual reader as well, as enlightenment through sexuality is not dependent upon the sex of one’s partner.
A gentle and thoughtful book about sex and its place in a full life, a bit handicapped by its aphoristic style.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-251679-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should...
Greene (The 33 Strategies of War, 2007, etc.) believes that genius can be learned if we pay attention and reject social conformity.
The author suggests that our emergence as a species with stereoscopic, frontal vision and sophisticated hand-eye coordination gave us an advantage over earlier humans and primates because it allowed us to contemplate a situation and ponder alternatives for action. This, along with the advantages conferred by mirror neurons, which allow us to intuit what others may be thinking, contributed to our ability to learn, pass on inventions to future generations and improve our problem-solving ability. Throughout most of human history, we were hunter-gatherers, and our brains are engineered accordingly. The author has a jaundiced view of our modern technological society, which, he writes, encourages quick, rash judgments. We fail to spend the time needed to develop thorough mastery of a subject. Greene writes that every human is “born unique,” with specific potential that we can develop if we listen to our inner voice. He offers many interesting but tendentious examples to illustrate his theory, including Einstein, Darwin, Mozart and Temple Grandin. In the case of Darwin, Greene ignores the formative intellectual influences that shaped his thought, including the discovery of geological evolution with which he was familiar before his famous voyage. The author uses Grandin's struggle to overcome autistic social handicaps as a model for the necessity for everyone to create a deceptive social mask.
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should beware of the author's quirky, sometimes misleading brush-stroke characterizations.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-670-02496-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
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