{"product_id":"shoes-outside-the-door-desire-devotion-and-excess-at-san-francisco-zen-center-paperback","title":"Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMichael Downing\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA close-up look at the scandals that rocked the San Francisco Zen Center, a leader in alternative religious practice and the counterculture in America, and their repercussions.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe remarkable forty-year history of the people who established the first Buddhist monastery outside of Asia in the history of the world has never been told. Michael Downing wondered why. \"I'm living proof of why you better not speak out,\" explained one ordained Zen priest. \"The degree to which I was scapegoated publicly was most effective in keeping everyone else quiet.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1959, a Soto Zen priest took leave of his family in Japan to minister to the congregation of a Buddhist temple in San Francisco. Alan Watts and others spread the word that an authentic Zen Roshi was living there, and students, poets, drifters, and seekers began to attend his lectures. Impressed by their sincerity and commitment, Suzuki Roshi began to offer instruction in zazen (meditation) and other Buddhist practices to these devoted young spiritual pioneers. The San Francisco Zen Center was born. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnd then, in 1983, meltdown. A sex scandal rocked Zen Center, and it triggered tragedies and headlines about abuse of power that called into question the whole matter of alternative religious practice in America. Overnight the most prominent community of Buddhists in the West found itself at the vanguard of a cultural revolt against spiritual authority. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor\u003ci\u003e Shoes Outside the Door\u003c\/i\u003e, Michael Downing spent three years studying documents and interviewing more than eighty people who were there, at ground zero. As engaging as any mystery, as mysterious as any political campaign, as political as any family gathering, this story will haunt and challenge readers as they unravel this essential chapter of American history.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichael Downing\u003c\/b\u003e's novels include the national bestseller \u003ci\u003ePerfect Agreement\u003c\/i\u003e, named one of the 10 Best Books of the year by Amazon and \u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBreakfast with Scot\u003c\/i\u003e, a comedy about two gay men who inadvertently become parents. An American Library Association honor book, \u003ci\u003e Breakfast with Scot \u003c\/i\u003ewas adapted as a movie that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. His nonfiction includes \u003ci\u003eShoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center\u003c\/i\u003e, hailed by the \u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e as a dramatic and insightful narrative history of the first Buddhist monastery outside of Asia, and by the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times \u003c\/i\u003eas a highly readable book. His essays and reviews appear in the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, and other periodicals. Michael teaches creative writing at Tufts University. He and his partner have lived together in Cambridge for more than 25 years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 406\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 15, 2002\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51760482976032,"sku":"9781582432540","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/03bd636dfa7a758d34d360b834897973.webp?v=1780181106","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/shoes-outside-the-door-desire-devotion-and-excess-at-san-francisco-zen-center-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}