Saffron Days in L.A.: Tales of a Buddhist Monk in America.

Boston, MA Shambhala Publications, 2001. Paperback First Edition [2001]; First Printing indicated. First Ed; First Printing indicated. Very Good++ in Wraps: shows only minor indications of use; barely discernible spot of dampstaining at bottom edge near the backstrip, but the text appears unaffected; binding shows slight spine lean, but remains perfectly secure; text clean. Mild rubbing; top edge of the pages dusted a bit. Still close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder. NOT a Book-Club Edition. NOT an Ex-Library copy. 8vo. 185pp. Foreward by the Dalai Lama. Trade Paperback. The author taught me all of the fundamentals of Theravada Buddhism, and he even gave great support to me when as a child I was encountering a great amount of prejudice at a Christian missionary school my parents sent me to. Not only did he teach me about Buddhism by word, but his very character struck me as being the essence of what the Buddha taught. After I read this book, I saw that Ven. Piyananda had many experiences which I had barely knew of. I had no idea he had his own encounters with religious fundamentalists, or that he gave helpful advice to other young people. I see that he had lived a very interesting life beyond my own relatively brief meetings with him. Although I was surprised by some of the experiences he has had, I was *not* really surprised in the way he dealt with them- with the same dignity and intelligence I have always associated with him. Someone here has complained that the book appeared to be egotistical. Well, the very *purpose* of this book was to describe some of Ven. Piyananda's own personal experiences in the US! There are trillions of books on Buddhist doctrine out there written by a wide assortment of characters, from highly respected academics and experienced monastics to the lowest of hacks and frauds. Here is a book about the experiences of a Sri Lankan monk in the US. If you are not interested in this topic, don't buy this book and then complain that it was 'only' about the experiences of a SL monk in the US. However, if you are curious about how a practitioner of the Dhamma has dealt with some of the craziness one can find in Los Angeles, then I could recommend no better book.