Endless Path

Zusatztext 77578419 Informationen zum Autor Rafe Martin Klappentext WINNER! 2011 Storytelling World Resource Award - Best Storytelling Collection The jataka tales-stories of the Buddha's past lives (in both human and animal form)-were first said to have been told by the Buddha himself 2!500 years ago. Five hundred and fifty jataka tales comprise part of the oldest Buddhist text! the Pali Canon. From this wealth of folklore! award-winning author and storyteller Rafe Martin has chosen ten tales that illustrate the ideals of the Buddhist paramitas! or "perfections" of character: giving! morality! forbearance! vitality! focused meditation! wisdom! compassionate skillful means! resolve! strength! and knowledge. Artist and designer Richard Wehrman helps bring the spirit of these stories alive with rich illustrations that open each chapter. Endless Path presents these ancient stories! usually reduced to children's tales in the West! for adults! reconnecting modern seekers with the more imaginative roots of Buddhism. The jatakas help readers see their own lives! their failures and renewed efforts! in the same light as the challenges the Buddha faced-not as obstacles but as opportunities for developing character and self-understanding. Endless Path demonstrates the relevance of these tales to Buddhist lay practitioners today! as well as to those more broadly interested in Buddhist teaching and the ancient art of storytelling. Zusammenfassung WINNER! 2011 Storytelling World Resource Award Best Storytelling Collection The jataka talesstories of the Buddha's past lives (in both human and animal form)were first said to have been told by the Buddha himself 2!500 years ago. Five hundred and fifty jataka tales comprise part of the oldest Buddhist text! the Pali Canon. From this wealth of folklore! award-winning author and storyteller Rafe Martin has chosen ten tales that illustrate the ideals of the Buddhist paramitas ! or perfections of character: giving! morality! forbearance! vitality! focused meditation! wisdom! compassionate skillful means! resolve! strength! and knowledge. Artist and designer Richard Wehrman helps bring the spirit of these stories alive with rich illustrations that open each chapter. Endless Path presents these ancient stories! usually reduced to children's tales in the West! for adults! reconnecting modern seekers with the more imaginative roots of Buddhism. The jatakas help readers see their own lives! their failures and renewed efforts! in the same light as the challenges the Buddha facednot as obstacles but as opportunities for developing character and self-understanding. Endless Path demonstrates the relevance of these tales to Buddhist lay practitioners today! as well as to those more broadly interested in Buddhist teaching and the ancient art of storytelling. ...

Endless Path:

“Oh, such stories and commentaries! They stand side by side with the koans, the words and doings of the Zen masters of old and new, and together with them help us rise above narrowness and know a life of greater selflessness and affection, bringing peace to ourselves and the world. Svaha! Nine bows to Rafe Martin.”
—Danan Henry Roshi, founder and spiritual director of the Zen Center of Denver

“Rafe Martin’s retelling of the ancient jataka tales, and his insightful commentaries that relate the stories to our daily lives and the paramitas, is an inspiration. We hear a new voice here from the old storyteller and it brings great joy!”
—Susan Ji-on Postal Sensei, teacher and spiritual director of the Empty Hand Zen Center, New Rochelle, NY

“Endless Path is a gem. Martin’s enthusiasm for the jatakas leaps off each page, bringing the reader into a realm where the deepest truths are revealed by even the most humble creatures. This book should be required reading for all Buddhist practitioners—actually, for everyone!”
—Sunyana Graef Sensei, Zen teacher and spiritual director of the Vermont Zen Center

“Reading Endless Path, I can actually hear a familiar voice coming alive, telling me stories of the Buddha’s lives. The world I enter is vast, wonderful, inspiring! I love this book!!”
—Hogen Bays Roshi, leader of Zen Community of Oregon and co-abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery

“Endless Path is a treasure for all seekers of the Way! Rafe Martin relates wondrous ancient Buddha stories and then unravels them, delivering meaning for today’s Western lay practitioners. A much-needed integration of the awesome past and our perplexing present. And a delightful read.”
—Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, abbot of The Village Zendo, guiding spiritual teacher for the New York Center for Contemplative Care, and co-spiritual director of the Zen Peacemaker Family

“[Endless Path] aptly describes Zen Practice—the cultivating of the field of the mind: coming to Awakening and bringing that realization to manifest in our behavior, thought and speech… It is a book worth reading no matter where you are in your practice.”
—Ven. Mitra Bishop, Abbot of Mountain Gate in Northern New Mexico, Spiritual Director of Hidden Valley Zen Center in San Marcos CA, and contributing editor of The Oak Tree in the Garden

“As I work with designing the final pages done for Endless Path, I am struck with how much this book is a book of inspiration—a book to inspire others on the Buddhist path. … So many, many fine Buddhist books instruct, teach, even offer enlightened glimpses into the teachings. But Endless Path will be a truly helpful book, in the sense of Avalokiteshvara’s thousand outstretched hands, to fill those who read it with real heart’s yearning, rededicated commitment, and excitement for the possibility—the endless path—it offers.”
—Richard Wehrman, illustrator and designer

“Zen practitioner and storyteller Rafe Martin’s Endless Path casts jatakas in a contemporary vernacular style. Describing the book as a ‘kind of Zen take’ on the jatakas, he organizes it into chapters focusing on the ten paramitas, or Buddhist practices of perfection, presenting each tale in relation to a particular paramita. His commentaries on each story interweave quotes from sutras and a wide range of other sources such as Gary Snyder, Dogen, William Blake, Ikkyu, and even Wikipedia. Martin brings to the discussion an important awareness of how jatakas help cultivate a Buddhist vision of the universe.”
—Buddhadharma

"Endless Path is for students of Buddhism, Dharma teachers, and anyone with an interest in viewing one’s journey through life as an opportunity for spiritual awakening. … With humor and elegance, [Rafe Martin] invites his readers to use the stories as a mirror. He shows us the dangers of self-centeredness and how making a commitment to morality is the foundation of practice. … He reminds us that we can take responsibility both for our formal practice of sitting meditation and for the ‘ongoing actualization of the precepts and paramitas in the ordinary events of our lives.’”
—Parabola

“As a skilled Zen practitioner and teacher, Martin is in an ideal position to help bring the truths of Buddhism alive, which he does with admirable ease. He also acknowledges the role played by many different communities of listeners in refining how he tells the tales and reveals the insights that he and others have gained from each one… Endless Path is a truly insightful work… Accessible, inspired, and clearly marked by a generosity and foresight of spirit, it is a work well worth obtaining and keeping in one’s own private collection.”
—BookPleasures.com
 
“With Endless Path, Martin ha…