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Feature

Publishers Bring Comfort and Sanity to Frightening World

Books based on Buddhist principles and on the teachings of J. Krishnamurti help answer life questions.

By Jim Barnes

If you could take just ten minutes out of your day to guarantee greater happiness, you'd take the time, right? What if you could do it while sitting in your cube at work, waiting for a meeting to start, or just before bedtime? The authors of The Buddha in Your Mirror, a practical how-to guide for achieving enlightenment through Buddhist principles, show you how to get such immediate results.

The book was published this summer by Middleway Press and found immediate success, ranking #4 on the New York Post bestseller list in August; #8 on the Boston Globe list; and was mentioned in Vanity Fair. It is already in its third printing.

The Buddha in Your Mirror is about developing a strong inner self that will help you withstand problems and live life more fully. "Buddha" translated literally means "Enlightened One." Think of the Buddha as the best person you can be, the wisest, kindest, healthiest, happiest person you can imagine. Authors Woody Hochswender, Greg Martin and Ted Morino explain how the ancient practice of Nichiren Buddhism can teach today's generation how to find that special strength and beauty from within.

Middleway Press also published The Way of Youth: Buddhist Common Sense for Handling Life's Questions (and it won an "IPPY" Award from this publication in the Young Adult Non-Fiction category), which answers a list of 85 questions commonly asked by teenagers. The book's nine easy-to-read chapters show teenagers how to deal with such concerns as nagging parents, peer pressure, friendship and sex, fear of failure, dropping out, job and career ambitions or the lack of them and dealing with bullies and violence.

"Buddhist ideas are entering the mainstream because they contain a descriptive power well adapted to the flux and flow of the modern world, without the weight of a dogmatic morality. Buddhism explains the profound truths of life [and] provides an immensely practical method for overcoming obstacles and transforming oneself. What you learn in these pages can be applied to every area of your existence: family, work, relationships, health. And it can be applied by anyone" - an excerpt from Buddha in Your Mirror

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We asked Woody Hochswender about the book and how Buddhism relates to modern American society.

IP: What are your goals for this book?

WH: I have always felt that Buddhism is somewhat misrepresented in mainstream America. The popular (and mistaken) view has been that all or most Buddhists practiced some vague, mystical teaching, which included some kind of absolute pacifism and probably vegetarianism, and was pretty esoteric and impenetrable to the Western mind.

So, as a practicing Nichiren Buddhist for more than 25 years, I wanted to elucidate the nuts and bolts of our life philosophy, as well as to debunk the notion that to be a Buddhist you had to shave your head or make other lifestyle changes. The truth is, American Buddhists come from all walks of life, all political persuasions, all racial and ethnic groups. We even have members who serve in the military.

Therefore, it seemed important to me to reach a much wider non-buddhist audience than we have in the past with our various Nichiren Buddhist publications, which include a weekly newspaper, The World Tribune, and monthly magazine, Living Buddhism. I wanted, most particularly, to see the book make an impact in the book trade. At this point, it appears we have been somewhat successful.

IP: Do you perceive authors and publishers as having an active role in enlightening society?

WH: Authors and publishers absolutely have a role in the enlightenment of society. But I also believe it is presumptuous to think that we can do any more than point people in the right direction. Enlightenment doesn't come out of a book. Knowledge, without correct practice, becomes idealism.

IP: What does your book offer to help confused and upset people deal with a frightening world?

WH: Everything! Nichiren was a 13th century Japanese monk and religious reformer who lived amid a time of great famines, floods, earthquakes, and threat of foreign invasion. His entire approach is based on the reality of living in an insecure world and finding the inward strength to achieve lasting happiness. His Buddhism teaches a method whereby anyone, regardless of their level of education or wealth, can achieve their highest potential. This does not involved a retreat from the hurly-burly of modern life, but, rather, an immersion in it. Buddhism, he said, is as inseparable from surrounding society as the fish are from the sea.

He expounded a simple method in which all people, beginning with about five minutes a day, can begin progressing toward their goals and start making a positive impact on the people and institutions around them. All of this is contained in The Buddha in Your Mirror. So, please, buy the book -- and make us both happy! Jiddu Krishnamurti was undoubtedly one of the greatest philosophical minds of the 20th century. For more than sixty years he traveled the world giving public talks to millions of all ages and backgrounds, saying that only through a complete change in the hearts and minds of individuals can there come about a change in society and peace in the world. He was born in India in 1895 and died in California at the age of ninety.

A new compendium of writings by J. Krishnamurti called What Are You Doing with Your Life? has just been published by Krishnamurti Publications of America. The book is the first in a planned series of Books on Living for Teens, and was edited by Dale Carlson, long-time Krishnamurti devotee, author and youth advocate.

"'K' spent his life talking to young people about the art of living - the need to understand the self - and how to pay attention to the thoughts and feelings of the self," says Carlson. "He spoke in very contemporary terms, and felt there was no such thing as teaching, just learning. He felt it was so important to educate yourself psychologically, and not to accept what any adult, any county, any church told you without question. We are taught what to think, but not how to think. He inspired the young to be psychologically revolutionary."

Carlson, winner of three ALA Notable Book Awards, is well known for her books and her work with teens, and has written and published (through her own Bick Publishing House) such titles as Stop the Pain: Teen Meditations and Where's Your Head: Psychology for Teens. Her Stop the Pain: Adult Meditations won an Independent Publisher Book Award in 2000, and Where's Your Head? Made the NY Public Library Best Books for Teens list.

"Meditation literally means 'to pay attention,'" says Carlson, an impish dynamo of literary energy who lives near the seashore in Connecticut. "It's not about standing on your head in the corner murmuring in a strange language, it's simply paying attention to what you think, and also what you say and do."

"We all spend so much time escaping our pain, and then paying the consequences of our escapes. Meditation is slowing down and paying attention so you can watch your daily life and notice what your brain is telling you. There are gaps between the thoughts - and that's where insights come from. The self backs off when attention is there."

"I was born with a passion to change everything - including myself - because I saw a lot of joy out there and also a lot of misery. I decided I wanted to stop the misery, because I liked the joy a lot better. The goddess had given me a mouth, and my father gave me a typewriter -- so I've been writing ever since. And I knew it had to start with kids."

The recent terrorist attacks have had Carlson busy speaking to young people in schools, delivering a message of thoughtfulness and hope. "We've been so arrogant, and ignorant to the fact that pushing on blindly doesn't work. We must stop and think about the sacredness of life."

"Kids do what we do, not what we say. You can direct your footsteps better in grief than in anger, and grief can slow you down long enough to consider what to do. Now more than ever, we need to lead by example."