"Deeply involving, instructive, and capable of touching any reader who cares about the search for meaning."--Mitch Horowitz, author of Occult America "In being so frank about his own struggles and fantasies, Greg's personal tale becomes something more universal."--David R. Loy, author of Money, Sex, War, Karma: Notes for a Buddhist Revolution In 1971, when Greg Shepherd was in his early twenties, he left New Jersey and joined the Koko An Zendo community in Hawaii. What began as a quest for enlightenment became Greg's confrontation with his own inner demons: his need for approval, his distrust of authority, and his ego-driven fixation on achieving the profound spiritual breakthrough of kensho ("the Big K"). Later, in Japan, he struggled with prejudice and cultural rigidity and found his deeper meditations leading to actual panic attacks over fear of losing himself. Ultimately, he broke with Zen and his teachers to pursue a career in music. This frank memoir traces Greg Shepherd's meandering path from seeker to disillusionment, and, over a decade later, his way back to Zen and inner peace. We experience Zen practice in Japan and Hawaii and meet Zen masters Yamada Koun Roshi and Robert Aitken, the "dean of American Buddhism" (who had once pegged Greg as his successor). And we understand why Zen was so appealing to the American counterculture and how its profound lessons of focus and detachment remain insightful and important. Gregory Shepherd has studied Zen since the early 1970s in Hawaii and Japan. He is associate professor of music at Kauai Community College.

Excerpts and reviews in TRICYCLE, BODHIDHARMA, SHAMBALA SUN and URTHONA magazines, as well as in THE JOURNAL OF BUDDHIST ETHICS and THE JOURNAL OF GLOBAL BUDDHISM Reviews on the Hawaii Book Blog, Buddhist Channel TV, The Daily Enlightenment blog Outreach to Buddhist, religion, and spirituality blogs, including copies for reader giveaways Outreach and e-marketing to religious studies and sociology academics studying modern history of Zen and Zen in America Goodreads and LibraryThing giveaways short book video to run on publisher's website radio phoners and interviews to alternative presses and "counter-culture nostalgia" interest areas, in particular San Francisco and Honolulu media ARCs via Advance Access, and approx 50-75 mailed out to review media identified as Buddhist, spirituality and alternative interest

About the Author
Gregory Shepherd: Gregory Shepherd has studied Zen Buddhism since the early 1970s. He practiced with Yamada Koun Roshi at San Un Zendo in Kamakura and also with Robert Aitken Roshi in Honolulu, where he was groomed to be Aitken's first successor. Shepherd later received a fellowship from Japanese Ministry of Education to research contemporary Japanese music. He is currently Associate Professor of music at Kauai Community College. Ruben L.F. Habito (born c. 1947) was born in the Philippines and is a former Jesuit priest turned master practicing in the Sanbo Kyodan lineage of Zen. In his early youth he was sent to Japan on missionary work where he began Zen practice under Yamada Koun-roshi. In 1988, Ruben received Dharma transmission from Yamada Koun. Ruben left the Jesuit order in 1989, and in 1991 founded the lay organization Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas, Texas. He has taught at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University since 1989 where he continues to be a faculty member

Reviews
"Dug your book, Greg. Dug your version of the '99 curves'. It's shone light on mine."-Jeff Bridges, actor "His portrayal of his brash younger self is a fresh and intensely human portrait compared to the perfect, innocuous paragons of peace ordinarily presented in Zen texts... Shepherd's memoir transcends its subject matter and serves as a poignant reminder of something more fundamental to the human condition: the continual search for validity and meaning."--Publishers Weekly



Book Information
ISBN 9781611720112
Author Gregory Shepherd
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Stone Bridge Press
Publisher Stone Bridge Press
Weight(grams) 212g