WINDS OF CHANGE, an Autobiography of a Tibetan by Tsultrim Ngima Shakabpa
This is a poem of pilgrimage and transformation as, through the evocative recollections of the author, we journey across a dramatic and emotional landscape, one that exerts a profound resonance. It is essentially a tale of personal alchemy, where the loss of a nation, challenges of exile and physical frailty are transmuted into a moving and eminently readable testimony.
WISDOM ANTHOLOGY OF NORTH AMERICAN BUDDHIST POETRY by Andrew Schelling
Playful, thoughtful, and important, the 28 poets found in The Wisdom Anthology of North American Buddhist Poetry offer innovations on traditional and time-honored Buddhist poetic forms.
This unique collection brings us African Americans reading the Black diaspora through the eyes of exiled Tibetan monks; Americans of Vietnamese and Tibetan heritage wrestling with the cultural norms of their parents or ancestors; Zen and Dada inspired performance pieces; and groundbreaking writings from the pioneers of the Beat movement, so many of whom remain not just relevant but vital to this day.
With its eclectic mix of acknowledged elders and newly emergent voices, this landmark anthology vividly displays how Buddhism is influencing the character of contemporary poetry.
YASHODHARA: Six Seasons Without You by Subhash Jaireth
This collection of poems tells the story of Yashodhara, the wife of Gautama. Legend is that Gautama, the would-be Buddha, was born in the sixth century B.C. as the son of the king of a small warrior tribe of the Sakyas based in the principality of Kapilavastu in southwestern Nepal. At the age of twenty-nine, Gautama left his palace, his wife, and his newly born son, Rahul, to search for love, peace, and salvation.
The poems relate the story of Yashodhara in a poetic form that was popular in ancient and medieval India, Sanskrit, and non-Sanskrit literatures. The season-poems follow a strict poetic structure and represent the voice of Yashodhara; the longer narrative poems that interject the season-poems are written in the voice of a contemporary narrator.