The Journey of One Buddhist Nun: Even Against the Wind [Paperback]

Sid Brown (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0791450961 | ISBN-13: 978-0791450963 | Publication Date: September 20, 2001

Recounts the struggles of a young Thai woman to become a Buddhist nun and the challenges and rewards of that life.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The gripping story of Wabi, a young Thai woman who sought a religious life, The Journey of One Buddhist Nun recounts her struggle to overcome the numerous obstacles along her path.

Wabi left her rural village at 17 to become a Buddhist nun in a land where religious men are honored and religious women are scorned. Despite these conditions, Wabi wanted to study Buddhism, to meditate, and to develop a profoundly religious life. She traveled to a monastery in Bangkok, where she heard she might be able to pursue her dream, but upon arrival found she needed money to become a nun-money she didn't have. Moving from difficulty to difficulty, Wabi finally found a home at a convent of Buddhist nuns, where she gained close friends, an education, and a vibrant meditation practice.

As Wabi's life unfolds on the pages of The Journey of One Buddhist Nun, readers are introduced to the background needed to understand Buddhism, Thai culture, the particular impediments women face in Southeast Asia, and the rewards of a deeply spiritual life. Buddhist philosophy, texts, and meditation techniques come alive as we learn the roles each played in Wabi's life. Western readers will be particularly interested in the description of Wabi's vivid, formative meditation experiences.

About the Author

Sid Brown is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion at the University of the South. She lived at a convent for Buddhist nuns in Thailand while researching this book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (September 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791450961
• ISBN-13: 978-0791450963
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling narrative, March 18, 2008

By 

Guy M. Newland (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Journey of One Buddhist Nun: Even Against the Wind (Paperback)

I love this book. Its core is a riveting spiritual biography of a single modern Thai nun, but the focus of the book gradually widens to include other nuns and then the situation of nuns in Thailand generally. Thematically, it is strikingly similar to Sallie King's Journey in Search of the Way, despite the obvious difference that the latter is a translation of and commentary on a spiritual autobiography. The sameness is that they are both vivid accounts of modern Asian women undergoing profound spiritual experience that take them into the territorial preserves of patriarchal Buddhist institutions. I don't know Sid Brown, but she can count me as a fan.

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book, November 2, 2009

By 

Christina - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Journey of One Buddhist Nun: Even Against the Wind (Paperback)

This is truly a wonderful and insightful book. There is simply not enough written about Buddhist nuns and the nun's or woman's point of view.
Another great book that I highly recommend is "Women Living Zen" by Paul Kane Robinson Arai.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A response to Dandelion's review, March 31, 2006

By 

Mattie (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Journey of One Buddhist Nun: Even Against the Wind (Paperback)

This is not an autobiography...simply a biography. Sid is very insightful and quite the inspiring woman herself. I can't wait for another book.