PATHS TO INNER CALM
MARIE B. BYLES
This is the first book to bring together Burmese meditation, Zen and the new Japanese religion of Ittoen, as paths to inner calm. It is a new sort of travel book also, for it tells of experiences among peaceful monks, nuns and lay mediators in Burma, Zen observed while living in a Zen temple in Japan, and the inspiration of the happy community of Ittoen drawn from all religions.
The author, a practising lawyer, states that ten years ago she had the usual Westerner`s tension, worry and depression, but that now, thanks to lesson learned in Buddhists call the law of being, and Christians the Grace of God, inner calm becomes increasingly a reality.
CONTENTS
AUTHOR`S FOREWORD
1- Peace
2- The Sacred Hills of Sagaing
3- Monks of the Sacred Hills
4- The Magic of Mingun
5- A People without Heretics
6- From Burmese to Japanese Buddhism
7- To the Zendo
8- Getting the Bearing
9- Life at Shijuan Temple
10- Ittoen the Garden of the One Light
11- Sight Seeing
12- The Monastery
13- Nuns and Priestesses
14- Life at Itoen
15- The Roshi
16- Returning Home to Ittoen
17- The No Plays and the End of Zen
18- Essential Factors for Inner Calm
GLOSSARY