The Monk from Brooklyn

The Monk from Brooklyn

Author: Antonio Graceffo

Publisher: Gom Publishing, LLC

Published: 2004-07

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1932966102

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The Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Kung Fu and modern Chinese Buddhism, is the oldest and most mysterious Kung Fu school in the world. It is an exotic and mythical destination of daydreams to millions of people. In the history of the temple, very few foreigners have ever had a chance to study there. Foreigners have been allowed to study in many of the Shaolin schools, near the temple, which have taken the Shaolin name as a marketing ploy, but less than fifty foreigners have studied at the original Shaolin Temple. Antonio Graceffo was lucky enough to be one of the few, and this is the chronicle of his experience. Antonio has twenty-five years of experience with martial arts, so it is with a knowing eye that he observed the training at the temple. But it is his background that gives him a very unique perspective. An Italian-American from Brooklyn, New York, and a former investment banker, Antonio was educated in some of the best universities that Europe and Asia had to offer. His articles are informative, humorous, and irreverent. He doesn't pull any punches writing about the filthy conditions and the diminished mental capacities of people who spent a lifetime learning to kick, but never bothered to learn to read and write. The title says it all. Put a Chinese-speaking Italian-American, from Brooklyn in the holiest of Buddhist temples, and watch the racial harmony flow.


Dust & Grooves

Dust & Grooves

Author: Eilon Paz

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Published: 2015-09-15

Total Pages: 577

ISBN-13: 1607748703

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A photographic look into the world of vinyl record collectors—including Questlove—in the most intimate of environments—their record rooms. Compelling photographic essays from photographer Eilon Paz are paired with in-depth and insightful interviews to illustrate what motivates these collectors to keep digging for more records. The reader gets an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions, including Gilles Peterson and King Britt, as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts. Driven by his love for vinyl records, Paz takes us on a five-year journey unearthing the very soul of the vinyl community.


Buddhaland Brooklyn

Buddhaland Brooklyn

Author: Richard C. Morais

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-07-09

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1451669232

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The elderly Buddhist priest Seido Oda considers the life that brought him from an idyllic mountainside village in Japan to the bustling streets of Brooklyn, New York


A Monk Swimming

A Monk Swimming

Author: Malachy McCourt

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2024-03-05

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1504093445

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In this “irresistible memoir that’s equal parts pathos and belly laughs,” the Irish American writer and actor shares stories from his first decade in the US (People). Malachy McCourt left behind a childhood of poverty and painful memories of his father and mother in Limerick, Ireland, when he followed his brother, Frank, to America in 1952. In A Monk Swimming, McCourt recounts the decade that followed. With not much to his name other than his sharp wit and knack for storytelling, McCourt was unsure what he would do after arriving in New York City. He worked as a longshoreman on the Brooklyn docks, became the first celebrity bartender in a Manhattan saloon, performed on stage with the Irish Players, and told tales to Jack Paar on The Tonight Show. Although McCourt gained success, money, women, and, eventually, children of his own, he still carried memories of the past with him. So, he fled again. He found himself in the Manhattan Detention Complex, otherwise known as the Tombs. He was arrested several times: poolside in Beverly Hills, in Zurich with gold-smugglers, and again in Calcutta with sex workers. McCourt’s journey also took him to Paris, Rome, and even Limerick again, until finally he was forced to grapple with his past. “[A] funny, oddly winning book.” —The New York Times “A rollicking good read that, as the Irish say, would make a dead man laugh.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer “A triumphant tale. . . . You will find yourself laughing through the tears.” —Newsday “Howlingly funny.” —Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Build[s] on the story of the McCourts’ early life so dazzlingly told in Angela’s Ashes by his brother Frank.” —Thomas Keneally, author of the international bestseller Schindler’s List


A Psalm for the Wild-Built

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Author: Becky Chambers

Publisher: Tordotcom

Published: 2021-07-13

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 1250236223

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Winner of the Hugo Award! In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, bestselling Becky Chambers's delightful new Monk and Robot series, gives us hope for the future. It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They're going to need to ask it a lot. Becky Chambers's new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.


The Invention of Wings

The Invention of Wings

Author: Sue Monk Kidd

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2014-01-07

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0698175247

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The newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection: this special eBook edition of The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd features exclusive content, including Oprah’s personal notes highlighted within the text, and a reading group guide. Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world. Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women. Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love. As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements. Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better. This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved. Please note there is another digital edition available without Oprah’s notes. Go to Oprah.com/bookclub for more OBC 2.0 content


The CEO and the Monk

The CEO and the Monk

Author: Robert B. Catell

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2004-01-16

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9780471450115

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In a business era in which executives are taken away in handcuffs and corporate malfeasance and scandal dominates the business headlines, there is tremendous value in the stories of ethical companies and spiritual business leaders. The CEO and the Monk is one such compelling story, the story of KeySpan, the nation?s fifth largest energy giant and a profitable, Fortune 500 company, and the two KeySpan executives?one a former monk?whose unique working relationship is based on something as simple and powerful as "doing the right thing." This isn?t yet another prescriptive business guide written by breathless consultants. It is a story about a real business and how two unusual and dedicated humanists can keep their eyes on profits and ethics at the same time.


A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Author: Becky Chambers

Publisher: Tordotcom

Published: 2022-07-12

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13: 125023624X

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A USA Today Bestseller! “Tender and healing... I’m prescribing a preorder to anyone who has ever felt lost. Stunning, kind, necessary.” —Sarah Gailey on book 1: A Psalm for the Wild-Built A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a story of kindness and love from one of the foremost practitioners of hopeful SF. After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home. They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe. Becky Chambers's new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.


One Monk, Many Masters

One Monk, Many Masters

Author: Paul Breiter

Publisher: Cosimo Books

Published: 2017-09-05

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 1945934220

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In 1969, Paul Breiter was among the throngs of disaffected youth who traveled to the exotic East, seeking to escape the cultural and spiritual upheavals at home. He traveled first to India, thinking that indulging the senses would be his means of finding God. Instead, he found himself at a monastery in Thailand, taking the precepts of a Buddhist monk. He would spend the next seven years in robes, not indulging the senses, but depriving them. One Monk, Many Masters: The Wanderings of a Simple Buddhist Traveler is an account of Breiter’s life as a monk and his ongoing search for enlightenment after leaving the monastic robes. Breiter’s spiritual wanderings weave through the Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions under such great teachers as Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Sumedho, Kobun Chino, Lama Gonpo, and the 16th Karmapa. "Breiter relates his journey with self-effacing modesty. His knack for unadorned observation takes the reader on a worthwhile trek through modern Buddhism as journeyed by a Western layman turned monk and back again." —Sakula Mary Reinard, Spiritual Director, Portland Friends of the Dhamma "Breiter’s experience with [Buddhist] teachers, expressed in this book with honesty and insight, is a pleasure to read. The Dharma emerges throughout his memories as a sincere gift, and a teaching for all who are fortunate to read it." –Angie (Zuiko Enji) Boissevain


Warrior Odyssey

Warrior Odyssey

Author: Antonio Graceffo

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780897501903

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Following the author’s landmark decision to quit his job on Wall Street and become a martial arts student, this chronicle captures one man’s ongoing adventure across the Far East. Beginning in Taiwan, this autobiography documents how the protagonist learned the Chinese language, kung fu, and twe so, then journeyed on to the Shaolin Temple in mainland China. His next trek found him studying at the last Muay Thai temple in Thailand. Reflecting on a decade of travel, this recollection illustrates a perpetual quest as the author continues to voyage and practice both familiar and obscure fighting styles. Tracing his expeditions through 10 countries altogether, the odyssey also ventures through Hong Kong, Cambodia, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, and Burma.