The Impermanent Novel
So, I'm about three books behind in my posts... I'll start with Jake Fades by David Guy.

When I began to read Jake Fades, I felt unable to tolerate David Guy's writing style. Had he never heard of pronouns? Verbs? Much of the text seemed implied rather than written out to be read. I pushed on, though, and reaped the reward. I haven't read any other books by Guy, so I assume that the incomplete prose owes itself to the thought patterns of the narrator, Hank. Once I realized that it was Hank who couldn't speak a complete sentence, I forgave Mr. Guy and got down to business.

And just what "business" do I mean? Beer and sex. That kind of business. This is not your mother's Buddhist novel. Lest you be put off, do keep prodding. It gets worse, but it's worth it. Jake Fades in a real Buddhist way. There are no perfect heroes, only humans -- who happen to be Buddhist priests.

True, I knew very well where things were going by about half-way through the novel, but there were surprises in the end... The neatness with which the ends were tucked might be the least believable part of the book. Yet, our narrator, Hank (sex addict cum Zen priest) portrays the reality of Buddhist practitioners. Initially, we seek redemption and lose heart. We return to the practice without it, knowing instead the raw beauty of our own imperfect existence. Here we find Jake's imperfections, Hank's imperfections, and indeed our own.

I'm in a "Carnival":

http://www.moritherapy.org/article/a-buddhist-carnival-february-2008-part-1/

Scroll down and you'll find a link to my
"lovely post on the dedication of merit."

(Smile.)

More on "Thank You and OK!"
I'm almost to the end of this book and I've just relished it. With so many highlights from witch to choose, I'm not sure what to say...

For starters, I thought this book would be a slightly fluffy memoir. Not so. The depth of this book affected me as if I had been reading a "Buddhist text." Chadwick's insights into the Japanese culture and the culture of old-world Zen proliferate. Not just his story, "Thank You and OK!" tells the story of two very different "Zens."

One chapter, though, made me smile. "Oryoki the True Way." For those who aren't familiar with the term, oryoki refers to a very complicated manner in which Zen monks eat out of stacked and cloth-wrapped bowls. About oryoki, he writes:

It's the last thing that my friends back in Texas would have imagined me doing with large chunks of my life. It's nothing I would have volunteered for. But it's part of the Japanese Zen package, a very important part to the Soto Zen teachers I've known. They would feel naked without it in monastic life. The largest Tibetan Buddhist group in the States took up the practice.* I must admit that I look back warmly on many years of oryoki use.

While he looks back, I'm looking forward. I'll be using oryoki at Dathun in July! Of course, I'll only be doing a week-thun, but it will be quite the experience for me...

*Emphasis added -- he's talking about Shambhala. :)