en-US Thu, 08 May 2025 09:42:51 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7553206331 Thu, 08 May 2025 09:42:51 -0700 /review/show/7553206331 Esoteric gave 5 stars to Zen Masters Of China: The First Step East (Hardcover) by Richard Bryan McDaniel
bookshelves: buddhism, spirituality, non-fiction, zen
"Zen Master of China: The First Step East" by Richard Bryan McDaniel is a wonderful introduction of the lives of the Zen Masters of China, short concise biographies accompanied by some historical context for each entry. McDaniel covers from Bodhidharma (c. 500-600 CE), the founder of Zen in China, to the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE). Including the "Golden Age of Zen" which would date to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). McDaniel does a great job of dilineating in the different chapters the lines of descent from student to teacher as well as tracing the origins of the two remaining major schools of Zen: Caodong (Soto) and Linji (Rinzai). I highly recommend McDaniel's work to anyone starting their Zen practice or the person interested in this period of Chinese history.

]]> Review7379311299 Wed, 05 Mar 2025 18:56:09 -0800 /review/show/7379311299 Esoteric gave 5 stars to Annihilation (Forgotten Realms: War of the Spider Queen, #5) by Philip Athans
bookshelves: fiction, forgotten-realms, high-fantasy
"Annihilation" is the fifth book in the War of the Spider Queen series written by Philip Athans. The fifth book sees the protagonists venturing off the prime material plane and into the Abyss (Forgotten Realm's home of demons). The book goes into a lot of the lore surrounding the goddesses Lolth and Eilistraee, and the conflict between them. During the reading of "Annihilation" I couldn't help but consider the criticisms that I had heard around the "retconning" of Eilistraee, I however, didn't really see that in "Annihilation." Both goddesses and their followers seem well rounded in their motivations.

This leads to the story of Halisstra Melarn, one of the more motivating characters in Forgotten Realms fiction. I found myself drawn in by her conflict of faith. I would highly encourage those fans who have misgivings about the narrative of the War of the Spider Queen to still give it a try, I did and I found myself pleasantly surprised. ]]> Review7333081026 Tue, 18 Feb 2025 09:45:54 -0800 /review/show/7333081026 Esoteric gave 5 stars to Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts (Paperback) by Shohaku Okumura
bookshelves: buddhism, non-fiction, zen
"Living By Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts" by Shohaku Okumura centers on eight important liturgical texts in the Soto Zen liturgy. Those eight chants are:

1. The Four Bodhisattva Vows
2. The Verse of Repentance
3. The Verse of the Three Refuges
4. The Robe Chant
5. The Meal Chants
6. The Heart Sutra
7. Merging of Difference and Unity
8. The Verse of Opening the Sutra

Each chant has a chapter dedicated to it, in which Okumura Roshi goes into depth on how these chants link the liturgy to the practice of Zazen. As I have matured as a priest and a practitioner of Zen I have taken a serious interest in the liturgy. While I know that in the West the idea of the ritual end of Zen can be daunting for some practitioners I believe it is important to at least be familiar with the chants and where they tie into the practice. Okumura Roshi does a superb job of presenting these chants to a western audience. I cannot recommend this text enough, especially to beginners. ]]> Review7330494008 Mon, 17 Feb 2025 13:40:10 -0800 /review/show/7330494008 Esoteric gave 5 stars to Extinction (Forgotten Realms: War of the Spider Queen, #4) by Lisa Smedman
bookshelves: fiction, forgotten-realms, high-fantasy
"Extinction" is the fourth title in the War of the Spider Queen series. "Extinction" is set in the Forgotten Realms universe of Dungeons and Dragons and features a lot of high fantasy elements. It should be noted that the author Lisa Smedman also writes the Lady Penitent spinoff following Halisstra Melarn, who features heavily in "Extinction." The reader can treat "Extinction" as a prequel to the Lady Penitent series. Due in part to this being the fourth entry in the series it will be impossible to give a good review without giving spoilers.

[spoilers removed] ]]> ReadStatus9081245649 Mon, 17 Feb 2025 08:56:57 -0800 /review/show/7329656540 Esoteric wants to read The Captive Flame by Richard Lee Byers
]]> Review7308569382 Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:39:06 -0800 /review/show/7308569382 Esoteric gave 3 stars to One Night Two Souls Went Walking (Paperback) by Ellen Cooney
bookshelves: christianity, fiction, spirituality
"One Night Two Souls Went Walking" by Ellen Cooney is one of those books that has left me lukewarm. The book is fictional story about an Episcopalian priest and hospital chaplain and her relationship with the ghost of a therapy dog that wanders the medical center's corridors at night. Parts of the book were excellent, the author's usage of magical realism and stretching the reader's imagination 'made' whole chapters for me. Other parts seemed to knock along were disjointed from the rest of the narrative. The book is a good examination of loneliness, spiritual despair, and connection. ]]> Review7308548540 Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:31:14 -0800 /review/show/7308548540 Esoteric gave 5 stars to one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care (Paperback) by Chenxing Han
bookshelves: buddhism, biography, non-fiction, spirituality
"One Long Listening" by Chenxing Han is a semi-biographical examination of the author's own loneliness and journey through the clinical pastoral education (CPE) process as an Asian-American Buddhist. I found the book useful in introducing my Christian colleagues to the different challenges a Buddhist faces in the spiritual care industry. Granted I am a white male Buddhist convert, I find it hard and sometimes inappropriate to convey the stories of my Asian-American colleagues, especially now that I live and work in a part of the United States where Buddhism is still considered an "exotic" religion. I can only speak to my own experience, and it is good and right to find resources to see into the worlds of others if only for some three-hundred odd pages. Chenxing Han's text provides me with that teaching tool. I appreciate deeply what she has put down in ink. I hope that she continues to write and serve the Dharma. ]]> Review7308510602 Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:16:49 -0800 /review/show/7308510602 Esoteric gave 5 stars to The Essential Dogen: Writings of the Great Zen Master (Paperback) by ��ō�����
bookshelves: zen, non-fiction, buddhism, eihei-dogen
"The Essential Dogen" edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt is a selection of different thematically arranged tidbits from the Eihei Dogen's Shobogenzo. Eihei Dogen (1200-1253) stands as the foundational figure of Soto Zen Buddhism in Japan, his writings therefore are essential for the understanding of the Japanese approach to Zen Buddhism. One issue stands in that Dogen wrote extensively and often his writing reflected his speech, rich with anecdote, metaphor, and story telling appropriate to his time and place. To a modern reader the unabridged Shobogenzo can come across as titanic and esoteric. This is where I have found writers and scholar practitioners like Kazuaki Tanahashi to be useful, Tanahashi parses down Dogen's writing thematically into six broad categories which are later subdivided again. For example, the category title "history" contains writings on "Bodhidharma" and "the Schools of Zen."

As a Zen practitioner and Buddhist chaplain I have had my copy of "The Essential Dogen" since seminary. I have found it a useful reference tool in arranging dharma talks and teaching Buddhism. I would highly recommend it to other Zen students and those who are generally curious about Zen Buddhism and its Japanese ancestor. ]]> ReadStatus9051116156 Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:11:27 -0800 /review/show/7308500920 Esoteric wants to read Samurai Battles: The Long Road to Unification by William de Lange
]]> Review7283852885 Sun, 02 Feb 2025 13:30:57 -0800 /review/show/7283852885 Esoteric gave 5 stars to Condemnation (Forgotten Realms: War of the Spider Queen, #3) by Richard Baker
bookshelves: forgotten-realms, high-fantasy, fiction
"Condemnation" by Richard Baker is the third installment in RA Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen series. The narrative picks up where book two left off. Seeing Quenthel's band of Drow traveling through the Underdark and Faerûn in search of their goddess, Lolth's silence. "Condemnation" starts slow but builds up steam as the pages go by, for those who are not lore nuts, like myself, the first half can come off as quite slow. I was very pleased with the world building elements present in Baker's version of both the Underdark and surface Drow. Potential spoiler starts here: [spoilers removed] ]]>