Complete Guide to Buddhist America [Paperback]

Don Morreale (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 1998

This completely revised and vastly expanded edition of "Buddhist America: Centers, Retreats, and Practices" contains more than twice the number of listings and articles contained in the original edition. The book serves not only as the most comprehensive directory of Buddhist activity in North America, but also as a highly readable introduction to Buddhist practice in general. Photos & illustrations .

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You're visiting New York and you'd like to sit with a local meditation group? No problem. New to Saskatoon and looking for Buddhist companions? No problem. Searching for a retreat center as far away as you can get from home? No problem. Just crack open The Complete Guide to Buddhist America and you're halfway to your destination. Don Morreale has managed to compile a database of over a thousand Buddhist meditation centers throughout the United States and Canada, including for each a capsule description, address, phone, e- mail, lineage, spiritual head, date established, facilities, publications, meditation program, and retreats offered. And it is more than just a yellow pages of American Buddhism. Morreale has gathered together numerous essays by masters and by regular practitioners to get their take on this specific Zen center or that particular sangha. In fact, these pieces are so full of personal insight that they are worth the price of the book, themselves. Add on the half- page summaries of organizations like DharmaNet International, Zen Hospice Project, and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and you've got a priceless encyclopedia of American Zen. --Brian Bruya

From Library Journal

According to Morreale, who has studied in Zen, Tibetan, and Theravadan traditions, there are over 1000 Buddhist meditation centers in America. This very clear presentation of a complex mass of material gives names, addresses, and short descriptions of every sort of dharma center operating in America at the time it was written. The profiles of centers, biographical sketches, and commentary by American teachers and students interspersed throughout make it a lasting resource. (LJ 5/15/98)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (March 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570622701
• ISBN-13: 978-1570622700
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,222,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Complete Guide to Buddhist America, December 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Guide to Buddhist America (Paperback)

This is an excellent and helpful book for anyone wishing to know the locations of sanghas, monasterys, and the like in North America. There is also interesting commentary from various North American practitioners of Buddhism included in the material. The overall layout of the book is good and the amount of information is massive. My only complaint is that the information is divided into the three schools of Buddhism and then it is put in geographic order by state and province. I would have preferred it to have been all geographic with the type of Buddhism practiced placed in the listing. Others may be perfectly happy with how the book is set up however. Regardless of this I would recommend this book for those who want a large directory of Buddhist groups in North America.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Complete Guide to Buddhist America, March 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Complete Guide to Buddhist America (Paperback)

This book is extremely informative and practical. It clearly describes the different forms of Buddhism, including articles on each, and also covers non-sectarian Buddhist organizations.
Buddhist centers/groups are listed according to type (Theravada, etc.), and includes all the essential information for each, such as contact information and programs offered.
There is also an appendix listing the centers by location (alphabetically by state and locality), and another listing them alphabetically by name.
Many illustrations of centers and spiritual heads also add to the appeal and usefulness of this excellent book.