![]() Overall, Haubner’s unorthodox take on the spiritual search, marked by moments of grace, and his strength as an essayist will win over a specific audience willing to accept his dare. ![]() The collection is uneven: funny, self-deprecating essays about the hard realities of life as a Zen monk jostle against sometimes self-indulgent dissections of his nastier traits. ![]() Tender portraits emerge as Haubner brings hard-won Zen insights to the legacy of a sometimes violent, “radical conservative” father, and finds a beloved mentor in a hard-living former Zen monk. Haubner writes of defecating in his robes rather than leave his post at a meditation session musing on the abortion “koan” due to a pregnancy scare tormenting his oddball kitchen assistant. The author’s search to “grow into a true human being” is described with startling metaphors, acute insights, and humor (his seduction by the “lush, seething dharma” of American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron’s writing is priceless). ![]() American Buddhist monk Haubner (a pseudonym) asks his readers to “lease be embarrassed for me” in provocative essays exploring his experiences of Zen. ![]()
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