shopping cart
Powell's 2010 Puddly Awards
Call us:  800-878-7323 HELP
McAfee SECURE helps keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
Original Essays | December 12, 2009

Alexander McCall Smith: IMG The Courage of Others



I have recently written a novel about life in England during the Second World War. I felt some concern before I tackled this theme — the War... Continue »
  1. $16.76 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    La's Orchestra Saves the World

    Alexander McCall Smith

Ships free on qualified orders.
Add to Cart
$7.95
List price: $16.50
Used Trade Paper
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
Qty Store Section
1 Beaverton Religion Eastern- Zen Buddhism

Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center

by Michael Downing

Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

"Not simply a narrative history: it raises the larger question of what constitutes the Americanization of Zen."

Synopsis:

Eastern tradition collides with Western individualism in this provocative and compulsively readable investigation of Buddhism, American-style. A genuine spiritual movement becomes strangely entangled with elitist aesthetics, the culture of celebrity, multi-million-dollar investment portfolios, sex scandals, and an unsolved crime.

Told Rashomon-fashion by a singular mix of hippies, millionaires, intellectuals, and lost souls whose lives are almost unbelievably intertwined, Shoes Outside the Door is the first book to examine the inner workings of the profoundly influential San Francisco Zen Center. In exploring the history of the most important institution in American Buddhism, author Michael Downing provocatively captures the profound ambivalence of people who earnestly seek both inner peace and worldly satisfaction.

Product Details

ISBN:
9781582432540
Subtitle:
Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center
Author:
Downing, Michael
Publisher:
Counterpoint LLC
Location:
Washington, D.C.
Subject:
General
Subject:
Suzuki, Shunryu
Subject:
Buddhism - Zen
Subject:
Eastern - Zen
Subject:
San Francisco Zen Center
Subject:
Zen buddhism
Series Volume:
106-1099
Publication Date:
August 2002
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
384
Dimensions:
8.70x6.52x.68 in. 1.18 lbs.

Other books you might like

  1. $8.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list
  2. $44.50 New Trade Paper add to wish list
  3. $8.50 Used Trade Paper add to wish list
  4. $3.50 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    Zen Comics (Tut Books. H)

    Ioanna Salajan
  5. $8.50 Used Hardcover add to wish list

    Novice To Master

    Soko Morinaga
  6. $9.50 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

Related Aisles

  • back to top

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.