Available Truth : Excursions into Buddhist Wisdom and the Natural World

by Nyanasobhano, Bhikkhu

• ISBN13: 9780861715190
• ISBN10: 0861715195
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-02-01
• Publisher: Wisdom Publications

Summary

With the lyricism that brought him such acclaim for Longing for Certainty and Landscapes of Wonder, Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano returns to the natural environment to deepen our experience of the Buddha's truths. The sparkling, fluid clarity of his prose engages both the head and heart in inspired narratives that capture with immediacy the timeless insights of the Dhamma. Now we have reached, perhaps, a reasonable point in our morning walk at which to turn and head back to the house. But shall we not, even as we return to the worldly duties of the day, venture on into those profounder, spiritual distances we have glimpsed? From where we stand now, we look up a slope of deep grass as far as we can. It is just a hundred yards of wavy, uncut, green field, ending in blank blue sky. We cannot see over the crest. Does the great earth finally end there? Would we behold from that height stupendous vistas of paradise or only more woods and ponds and cornfields? From the Dhamma we learn that all phenomena everywhere share the same fluttery, vanishing nature, so we cannot expect a passion for novelty to lead us anywhere except to exhaustion at last. But this field that runs up to a seeming heaven is still an emblem of the untrammeled and wisely directed life that we might realize. Somewhere, if not in this or that specific landscape, the earthly touches the infinite, and towards that frontier, with a little more resolve, we might be travelling.

Author Biography

Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano was an actor and playwright before being ordained in Thailand in 1987. He now lives in the United States.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Toward the Horizon	p. 1
Sangha and Laity	p. 15
Contemplations from the Highway	p. 29
Alone Between Past and Future	p. 43
The Ritual Element	p. 55
Multiflora Rose	p. 67
Two Bright States	p. 81
Our Next Destination	p. 93
February in the Hills	p. 109
Desperation and Peace	p. 123
Undeclared Questions	p. 137
A Cold Day with Much Sun	p. 149
Dust and Excuses	p. 159
Investigations in the Evening	p. 169
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.