Book Reviews

Author Interview: Just Awakening: Yogācāra Social Philosophy in Modern China by Jessica X. Zu

Published by brooke dodson-lavelle

Just Awakening: Yogācāra Social Philosophy in Modern China, by Jessica X. Zu, is a work of “liberation Buddhology” that explores how early 20th-century Chinese intellectuals drew upon Yogācāra philosophy to build an irresistible, revolutionary activist movement to bring forth a nonviolent, just society. The book, which just won the prestigious Toshihide Numata Book Award in Buddhism, offers a compellingly clear account of what Zu terms “socio-soteriology”, a new revolutionary project of social philosophy and praxis.  The following interview is from our forthcoming special issue, “Movement Dharma: Towards a Buddhist Movement Chaplaincy.”   Brooke: I was tremendously excited to talk with you about your book, Jessica, and to introduce our Arrow readers to this outstanding text. As a community, we’ve been engaging deeply with concerns around collective liberation and themes of pluriversality, and the question of how to build more loving, just, relational, and non-dominating communities and societies. Your book offers us a path forward, and it also speaks directly to the heart of this special issue, “Movement Dharma,” and its concerns with what the dharma …

Protestors at Mt. Everest Base Camp, 2007. Image credit: Students for a Free Tibet. Used with permission.

A Daughter of the Buddha on the Frontlines of War

Published by Richard Reoch

This book review of Fortune Favors the Brave by Kiri Westby appears in the issue “Healing Social and Ecological Rifts Part 1″ (Volume 8, Number 1). Click here to subscribe and download the entire issue.  “Victory over war!” they screamed. They formed armies, flew flags, infiltrated each others’ forces with spies, and laid the legions of their enemies low—all under the watchful gaze of one of the greatest Buddhist masters to flee Tibet and teach meditation in the west. Their teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, chose mountain valleys and secluded woodlands for their mock battles, skillfully configuring them to bring a rising generation of teenagers face to face with their own hatred, fear and aggression. He was training them; not to fight wars, but to wage peace. Among his recruits was Kiri Westby, a young woman born into a remarkable family in Boulder, Colorado. Now, thirty years on, having served on the frontlines of world efforts for peace, human rights and the empowerment of women, she has shared her turbulent and deeply personal journey in Fortune Favors …

Language and Personal Narrative in Revolutionary Poetry

Published by shah noor hussein

Book Review: I Am Still Your Negro by Valerie Mason-John I Am Still Your Negro: An Homage to James Baldwin by Valerie Mason-John University of Alberta Press, 2020 Dr. Valerie Mason-John, also known as Vimalasara in Buddhist Dharma communities and Queenie in slam poetry and theatre circles, is a world-renowned playwright, author, and beloved Buddhist teacher who co-founded the Eight Step Recovery Program. In their recently published collection of poetry, I Am Still Your Negro, Mason-John pays homage to James Baldwin through seven sections of poetic vignettes spanning nearly 100 pages. The topics range from slavery and colonization to global politics and historical realities, addressing the racialized and gendered intersections of African identity, diaspora, and ancestry. Mason-John’s opening section sets the stage, outlining the author’s intellectual history and accomplishments while simultaneously discarding the story of self we are expected to cultivate. As they explain in the introduction to this poetry collection, “all of that is the bypassing story. It’s what kept me alive.” In their Dharma teachings, Mason-John often draws a distinction between the stories …