Entertainment for Life—The Fort Version (08)

Some books which have meant a lot to me (in approximate chronological order):

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (and the movies!)

The works of Charles Dickens

The works of Mark Twain from Huck Finn on

Collected Poems of T. S. Eliot

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies

The Sacred Canopy by Peter Berger

The Way of Zen by Alan Watts

The Only Dance There Is by Ram Dass

What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula

Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara (Entering the Path of Enlightenment)

In Praise of Krishna by Edward Dimock and Denise Levertov

Habits of the Heart by Robert Bellah et al.

The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck

Who Dies? by Stephen Levine

Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh

Buddhism After Patriarchy by Rita Gross

A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield

The Feeling of What Happens by Antonio Damasio

Philosophical Meditations on Zen Buddhism by Dale Wright

Buddhist Practice on Western Ground by Harvey Aronson

Movies/Videos you might have missed: Koyaanisqatsi, Peter Brook’s Mahabharata, anything by Akira Kurosawa, Fantasia and Yellow Submarine, Monsoon Wedding, Deepa Mehta’s Water

Some great places to travel: New York City, the SF Bay area, Paris, Kyoto, Istanbul

almost anywhere in India

Epitaph: “We shall not cease from exploration/And the end of all our exploring/ Will be to arrive where we started/And know the place for the first time” T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding

At the eternal banquet, I would sit between: the Buddha and Confucius

And invite Shankara, Nagarjuna, Dogen, and Jesus

The music of the spheres:

Jimi Hendrix, Greatest Hits collection (the one CD on a desert island)

The Beatles from Revolver through Abbey Road

Bob Dylan, esp. The Times They Are A’Changin’

Young Rascals, Greatest Hits

Traffic, Dear Mr. Fantasy

Cream

Love

The Who, esp. Baba O’Riley

The first Doors and Led Zeppelin albums (and When the Levee Breaks)

Santana, Caravanserai

Neil Young

Joni Mitchell

Marvin Gaye, What’s Goin’ On

The Essential Paul Simon

The Essential Bruce Springsteen

Elvis Costello, esp. Armed Forces

Talking Heads, Once in a Lifetime

Van Morrison, Tupelo Honey

Jackson Browne, esp. the political stuff

Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life

Billy Bragg

Leonard Cohen

Lou Reed, esp. Magic and Loss

Joan Osborne, One of Us

John Coltrane, A Love Supreme

Stephen Sondheim

Beethoven’s symphonies and piano concertos

Ravi Shankar, and sitar music generally

Has Been, William Shatner

Outkast, Hey Ya! (the video)

Little Know It All, Iggy Pop and Sum 41