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Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire At The Gates Of Tassajara (2011)

by Colleen Morton Busch(Favorite Author)

3.59 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1594202915 (ISBN13: 9781594202919)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Penguin Press HC, The

review 1: My home state saw more than half a million acres hit by wildfire this year, so when I saw "Fire Monks" at the library, I picked it up. In addition to a longtime fascination with how wildfire is portrayed in the media, I'm interested in how groups of people make decisions. I am also interested in Buddhism, but I'm not a practicing Buddhist. This book is at the confluence of those interests.The author interviewed dozens of people after a California wildfire nearly destroyed Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in 2008. She pieced together the series of individual and group decisions that eventually left five monks alone in Tassajara to face "a dragon of fire." It's a story of personalities, thought processes, and the slow yet inexorable process of fire claiming land. By the time fi... morere actually reaches Tassajara, late in the book, I was spellbound. I could not stop reading until I found out how they survived. I found the book gripping, but not in an airport-thriller way. You have to be willing to follow the author through the long, slow buildup. It's worth the journey.
review 2: Ok, so this book reads from different perspectives and gives lots of "tense style" news flashes that really aren't that tense. If you get past the style - it is a good read on how monks fight to preserve their temple, and how their Zen teachings have prepared them for it. I am always amazed by other religions or schools of thought. What a good way to understand their dedication and I kinda want some of those values myself.Not an easy read - not a gripping novel. But enjoyable! less

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