How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America

Description

This new updated edition of How the Swans Came to the Lake includes much new information about recent events in Buddhist groups in America and discusses such issues as spiritual authority, the role of women, and social action.

Rick Fields is the author of several books, including Chop Wood, Carry Water and The Code of the Warrior. He was formerly the editor of The Vajradhatu Sun, an international journal of Buddhism, and is currently the editor-at-large of Tricycle- A Buddhist Review.

"Heroic in scope and of undeniable historic importance."-Los Angeles Times "This fascinating book delivers more than it promises. It takes the reader from the origins of Buddhism right up to the immediate past, through Buddhism's growth and spread in Asia to the personalities that opened it up to the West and those that brought it to America as well as those who were affected by Buddhism or nurtured it here. Fields possesses a clear style and infectious enthusiasm for his subject."-Library Journal "The definitive treatment of the impact of Buddhism on American thought."-Roderick Frazier Nash, Professor of History & Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara "I found this engaging book literally crammed with the sort of lively and accurate information which I had for years been longing to find assembled. The leading characters emerge with a quality of independence and individuation that certainly dispels any stereotype of the Buddhist practitioner, teacher, or layman."-Nancy Wilson Ross, The Washington Post