The Barn at the End of the World : The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd [Hardcover]

Mary Rose O'Reilley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2000 | Series: World As Home, The

Transcendence can come in many forms. For Mary Rose O'Reilley a year tending sheep seemed a way to seek a spirituality based not on "climbing out of the body" but rather on existing fully in the world, at least if she could overlook some of its earthier aspects.

The Barn at the End of the World follows O'Reilley in her sometimes funny, sometimes moving quest. Though small in stature, she learns to "flip" very large sheep and help them lamb. She also visits a Buddhist monastery in France, where she studies the practice of Mahayana Buddhism, dividing her spare time between meditation and dreaming of French pastries.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Author Mary Rose O'Reilley is decidedly eclectic. She confidently blends sheep tending with her Quaker background as well as her passion for Mahayana Buddhism (a form of Buddhism taught by Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh). This may sound like the recipe for a soup of spiritual mush, but nothing could be further from the truth. Like Anne Lamott, O'Reilley also happens to be a hysterically funny storyteller who understands the importance of humility when writing spiritual autobiography. (One reviewer called O'Reilley a "social anthropologist from the Planet Mongo, a stand-up mystic going for the belly laugh...")

Whether she's talking about grief over dying lambs, the plague of Monkey Mind, flipping sheep, or a barnyard fashion crisis, O'Reilley keeps her metaphors down to earth and her epiphanies humble. The structure is especially inviting: a collection of brief essays of only about three to five pages each. But this collection also reads like a journey with a beginning and an end. It starts with O'Reilley as a college professor who decides to try some part-time animal husbandry at a local farm and ends with her finding a new direction in life that we can only hope will inspire her to write a sequel. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

Quakers, a Christian sect that arose in 17th-century England, are known for their pacifism, egalitarianism and reliance on the "inner light" for guidance. Depending on what branch they belong to, Quakers may give the inner sense of guidance more authority than written Scripture, which explains why a modern Quaker like O'Reilley can adopt Buddhism as her faith and still remain a Quaker. O'Reilley, professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., and author of The Peaceable Classroom and Radical Presence, tells the story of her decision to tend sheep and describes the spiritual ramifications of that experience. Anyone who is looking for a religious instruction book will not find it here: O'Reilley's writing is narrative, not didactic. She simply tells more or less connected short stories about her sheep-tending and concurrent religious explorations. Whatever one thinks of her philosophy, O'Reilley has obviously mastered the craft of writing. Her rich, allusive prose draws on Catholicism, Quakerism, Buddhism, monastic tradition, Shakespeare and the Bible. Her short vignettes are luminous with faith matters, yet full of the earthy details of animal husbandry, resulting in a style that's a cross between Kathleen Norris and James Herriot. The only caveat is that any readers who are squeamish about the messy details of barnyard life may find O'Reilley's descriptions of her farm work too realistic for their stomachs.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 316 pages
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions; 1st edition (March 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571312374
• ISBN-13: 978-1571312372
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,247,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Honest (and Very Funny) Quest, April 8, 2000

By A Customer

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This review is from: The Barn at the End of the World : The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd (Hardcover)

While I own a few books with both "spiritual" and "quest" in the title, I confess that I've not been able to finish many of them. They get too dry, weighty, or ascetic.

O'Reilley is the antidote. Like her earlier book, The Peaceable Classroom, she takes a wry, sincere cut on the journey to find the "we in me". This book reveals the power of a light touch to heady matters. If you've read Thomas Merton, Thich Nat Nhat Hanh or other heavier religious voices, you'll appreciate O'Reilley's keen insight into matters of the heart and soul. She brings the wit of H.L. Mencken to the subject matter of St. Augustine.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books ever...., July 6, 2004

By 

A. Nash (CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd (Paperback)

I loved reading Ms. O'Reilley's thoughts as she delved into her spiritual life through the retelling of the "everyday." As a fairly young woman with children myself, I enjoyed this author's empty-nester vitality and exploration of a life she obviously enjoys living. She does things that I hope I would do someday when I no longer have the children at home. Again, as a woman with children, I could relate in a very earthy way to finding holiness in... well... "dirty work." I like that Ms. O'Reilly doesn't mince the details in an attempt to be pious or meek. On the other hand, much of her writing style is absolutely delicious to read, no matter what the subject matter. This author can make sheep rectums something wonderful to read about!

I also love the way the author lives, something I would describe as very loving living. I love the value she places on many aspects of different spiritual traditions. It comes together in wonderful harmony, something that is very soothing and pleasing to read. (I would agree with some other reviewers that this book is not a solid reference for Buddhism or Quaker beliefs, but it certainly has a wonderfully lovely tone!) This book is about spiritual living - with or without a denominational label. I often found myself feeling a great sense of peace and calm while reading it, and enjoyed it immensely.

This book is heartily recommended!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outer Wool, Inner Light, August 11, 2003

By 

Delia C. Pitts (East Windsor, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd (Paperback)

The calm, witty, and down-to-sheep insights offered by Mary Rose O'Reilley are a wonderful antidote to hectic days. I read a bit each lunchtime and am transported to college days of Zen meditation and current deepening involvement in Quaker worship and testimonies. When I can't get to Quaker meeting on Sunday, I look forward to meeting this simple testimony on Monday. Quakers usually do not proselytize, having a horror of trying to persuade, but this Friendly book makes a most convincing account of the abiding appeal and basic truth of the Inner Light. Highly recommended.