e-Sangha discussion

The Novice: A Story of True Love
Thich Nhat Hanh (Author)

Not only is it a moving story of a young monk, but a powerful demonstration of love and compassion. I probably didn't describe that right, you really have to read it.

Has anyone read this?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90...
I think there's some controversy about the author, but I found his non-denomination approach refreshing in the beginning of my exploration. I'm not sure what others think of it?
Also, I have found this book is one I go back to again and again because it's both simple (for the lay person) but also scholarly (with sutra references, so you have a thread to follow to dig deeper.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39...

I wrote this book over the course of eleven days after a near death experience. It investigates the answers to life’s most important questions with the philosophy that we are one with the Source of it all and need only grow in our awareness of that oneness to find true peace and joy. This is the story of a spiritual journey that many people have told me they are able to relate to and appreciate. I posted a few videos on my profile that share some of the insights of these ideas if you'd care to take a look. Please share your thoughts anytime.

Travis wrote: "Has anyone read this?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90...
I think there's some controversy about the author, but I found his non-denomination approach refreshing in th..."

Travis wrote: "Has anyone read this?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90...
I think there's some controversy about the author, but I found his non-denomination approach refreshing in th..."

I read Batchelor's book a few years ago and went to hear him give a lecture when he was in NY. Like you, I found his approach refreshing. Then as I learned more about the variety of Buddhist practices and beliefs and sat with a variety of teachers, I began to see him as at one end of a spectrum of belief and practice whose other end consists of people including some Western monks and nuns who take the teachings quite literally. I think each practitioner needs to find the place where the practice resonates most for him or her.

Once at a workshop Joseph Goldstein spoke about past lives and nonembodied beings. A man in the audience stood up and said, "You mean that metaphorically, right?" Goldstein smiled and said actually, he meant it literally. But, he added, his mantra on such questions was, "Who knows?"