201 Little Buddhist Reminders: Gathas for Your Daily Life.

Berkeley, CA Ulysses Press, 2006. Paperback First Ed thus [2006]; First Printing indicated. First Ed thus [2006]; First Printing indicated. Very Good+ in Wraps: shows indications of very light use: very light wear to extremities; mild rubbing to wrapper covers; faint soiling at the bottom and fore-edges; binding shows the slightest lean, but remains perfectly secure; text clean. No longer pristine, but remains structurally sound and tightly bound, showing very light wear and with a clean text. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. Oblong 16mo. 248pp. Trade Paperback. 201 Little Buddhist Reminders: Gathas for Your Daily Life is one of more than 30 books written by Barbara Ann Kipfer. According to the "About the Author" page in this book, she is quite an accomplished scholar with two Ph.D. degrees (linguistics and archeology), an M.Phil. in linguistics and an M.A. in Buddhist studies. This book provides short (two-to-five-sentence) Buddhist perspectives and advice on ordinary daily activities. Although traditional gathas are usually in "verse" form, Kipfer has written informal gathas using normal declarative sentences. Each entry begins with an activity, action, feeling, or experience. Then each suggests an example of a Buddhist interpretation of those activities, feelings, etc. For example, one entry deals with laundry: "doing laundry - As I sort clothes for a laundry load, I am mindful of the effort it took to make the clothes and the machines that will care for them. As I do my part, my mind is still. I rejoice in having fresh, clean clothes." Another entry addresses an activity or experience: "restraint - Practicing conscious restraint with small desires gives me strength of mind when there are powerful desires. Restraint is seeing that wise activities bring greater happiness and understanding - and that unwise activities lead to further suffering and conflict." I read one or two of these per day over a lengthy period of time and I found them to be informative and useful way to help integrate Buddhist thinking with my experience of daily life. Kipfer's "Little Buddhist Reminders" should be a very calming, enjoyable, addition to the reading of anyone interested in a Buddhist perspective, whether they are beginners or long-time practitioners. I will continue to read random entries from this book in the future.