How the Swans Came to the Lake [Paperback]

Rick Fields (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 7, 1992

This new updated edition of How the Swans Came to the Lake includes much new information about recent events in Buddhist groups in America and discusses such issues as spiritual authority, the role of women, and social action.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"If there is a lake, the swans would go there."

So said the 16th Karmapa when asked why he visited America in 1976. Of course, the Karmapa wasn't the first swan to go to the lake. In a book of immense scope, Rick Fields surveys the history of Buddhism in America from the quasi-legendary Fu-sang in the sixth century to Asian immigrant communities to the latest trends in American Buddhism. Writing as a storyteller as much as a historian, Fields takes us back to the earliest European contacts with Buddhism, most notably, Sir William Jones, who was just about to go to America on the recommendation of Ben Franklin, when at the last minute, fortunately, he chose India. His work would influence the American Transcendentalists and eventually the great Theosophist and first American convert to Buddhism, Henry Steel Olcott. A sympathetic writer, Fields is also meticulously inclusive. Besides the obvious transmitters, like D.T. Suzuki and Philip Kapleau, Fields traces the forgotten influences of Paul Carus, Ernest Fenollosa, and Dharmapala. One memorable story is of the ex-Navy submarine mechanic Heng Ju, who walked, three steps then a kowtow, over and over, all the way from San Francisco to Seattle for a berry pie. Fields has countless other stories that make How the Swans Came to the Lake a priceless contribution not only to Buddhism in America but to Buddhism itself. --Brian Bruya

About the Author

Rick Fields is the author of several books, including Chop Wood, Carry Water and The Code of the Warrior. He was formerly the editor of The Vajradhatu Sun, an international journal of Buddhism, and is currently the editor-at-large of Tricycle: A Buddhist Review.

Product Details

• Paperback: 434 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 3 Rev Upd edition (July 7, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877736316
• ISBN-13: 978-0877736318
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > History > World > Religious > Buddhism

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Priceless December 25, 2004

By Stephanie Silva

Format:Paperback

Wow -- only five reviews for a uniquely priceless 400 page history of Buddhism in America? Not to mention what's likely the best 12 page summary in print of Siddhartha Buddha's life and legacy? Erudite American Buddhist author and old hippie character Rick Fields (1942-1999) left an enthusiastic storyteller's history that brings to life every remotely key player -- starting even far before the unforgettable English rogue scholar Sir William Jones (1736-1794) singlehandedly sent the first translations from the East to England and our American Transcendentalists. Chinese Buddhist monks in Mexico in A.D. 458, the real kindly Quetzalcoatl? If you think the history of Buddhism in America started at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 and can be told largely through D. T. Suzuki, Jack Kerouac, Alan Watts, Shunryu Suzuki, Tarthang Tulku and Chogyam Trungpa -- think again. Here is every gossipy thing you ever wanted to know and more about how and why Buddhism came to America, up to and beyond the Roshi Baker scandals (that mercifully ended the "silent denial of lies and abuse" and pointed the way to practice increasingly integrated with psychotherapy and more). The author's note and acknowledgments are priceless in themselves. (I confess to a long time habit of reading acknowledgments and indexes first.) Very highly recommended.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars How thw swans came to the lake April 29, 2000

By John P. Nemick

Format:Paperback

I've been interested in the history of Buddhism and zen in the west for a number of years and was fortunate to pick out "How the Swans Came to the Lake" from the library at Mt. Baldy Zen Center in March.

I found the work to be a well told story. The detail of the common threads and relationships is fascinating. I really think this book is an important piece for anyone interested in how this wonderful flowering of the Dharma in the West was planted and fed.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating American history August 30, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

A great read not only for those interested in Buddhim but in American social history as well. In a scholarly, yet engaging writing style, the author takes the reader from Pre-Columbian America to the Present with sharply-drawn and vivid characters and their searches. A subject that could easily be dry comes to life and kept this readers' pages turning.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly, exciting, immensely readable. January 14, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I had read Surya Das's Awakening the Buddha Within and several other books on Buddhism from a western/American perspective. By the time I got to this book I was ready for it, and I could not put it down (literally; I got out of bed in the middle of the night to read more chapters). I have so much respect for this author, for having provided us with such a thought-provoking and comprehensive study. If you are interested in Buddhism, you must read it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars THE MOST DIVERSE AND WIDE-RANGING HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN AMERICA September 23, 2009

By Steven H. Propp TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Rick Fields (1942-1999) has written several other books about Buddhism (e.g., Chop Wood, Carry Water, The Code of the Warrior in History, Myth, and Everyday Life), as well as served as editor of several Buddhist periodicals. In this book (the 3rd revised edition was published in 1992), he has revised and expanded what was already the finest one-volume history of Buddhism in America.

Fields begins with a very helpful survey of Buddhism (including the life of Siddhartha Gautama; the migration of Buddhism from India to China, Japan, etc.), to its early days in England and this country, led by men like Sir William Jones (1746-1794), the founder of the Asiatic Society. The influence of Buddhism upon the Transcendentalist thinkers such as Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott is covered in an entire chapter. The immigration of Chinese and Japanese immigrants to this country (to build the railroads, etc.)---along with the religion they brought with them---is covered in sympathetic detail. Then (perhaps somewhat surprisingly), Fields covers the rise of the Theosophical Society and its unique (and quite heterodox) version of "Esoteric Buddhism"; Theosophy, however, was a very influential factor if making Buddhism better-known in this country. Of course, the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 is surveyed, along with figures such as Paul Carus and particularly the Zen authority D.T. Suzuki.

"Book Two" begins with the 1905-1945 period, covering the establishment of the first Zen Community in America, the London Buddhist Society and English expatriates like Alan Watts, the American Buddhist Brotherhood, etc.... The "Beat Zen" period of the 1950s is covered in particular detail, as well as the more substantive movements of the 1960s (e.g., Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi, Philip Kapleau, Richard Baker and the San Francisco Zen Center). Another chapter is devoted to the forced emigration of the Dalal Lama from Tibet, and the emergence of Tibetan Buddhist scholars such as Chogyam Trungpa and Tarthang Tulku.

The final chapters cover more recent figures such as the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hahn, and the changes made as a result of the various sexual and financial scandals involving prominent figures in American Buddhism, as well as the rise of a more indigenous "American Buddhism," influenced by feminism, psychotherapy, and social action. Fields does not flinch from reporting "messy" details (such as the AIDS that Chogyam Trungpa's successor died of), to his credit.

If you are interested in Buddhism, American Buddhism, or contemporary spirituality in general, Fields' book is essential reading. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, enjoyable and elucidating. December 21, 2006

By Marvela

Format:Paperback

Wow, what an ambitious, wide-ranging book! (It covers a span of time between about 1730-1990). I'm sure some people will think it's TOO ambitious, incorporating too many people from around the world with their attendant stories. But I found it to be very readable and entertaining despite the proliferation of characters. It was wonderful to read about how Eastern and Western Buddhist enthusiasts inspired each other. For all those who say, "But doesn't it seem contrived to practice an Eastern religion in the West?", read this to get some idea of how the winds of human culture have blown Buddhism around the world, transforming and renewing it in each place and each time. The wind still blows and knows no national boundary and no skin color.