Turning Words

ALAN SENAUKE, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, is well-known for his decades-long work in engaged Buddhism. Having served with a number of national and international service organizations, he founded and runs the Clear View Project, a nonprofit organization that has worked extensively on humanitarian projects in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India. Alan is the author of Heirs to Ambedkar, The Bodhisattva’s Embrace, and other books. Also a musician, he has recorded the Buddhist folk albums Everything Is Broken and Wooden Man. 

When you re a true student, everyone and everything is a teacher this is the underlying lesson of this beautiful, engrossing book that invites us all, in turn, to become students in this way. Alan Senauke tells us of many encounters with many people, from those he has known intimately his father, his main Buddhist teacher to people he has encountered only indirectly, such as the seventh-century Chinese sage Huineng and the character The Dude from The Big Lebowski (but you have to read the book to figure that one out). Rebecca Solnit, author of Orwell s Roses

In most of our lives there are bends in the road. Turning Words honors those curves that stop us, if only for a moment, to take another look at how we are living this life. The encounters along the way of Senauke Roshi s walk with teachers, family, and friends are intimately shared here. If nothing else, the gems that were laid on the ground before him are made available to lead you in a new direction or perhaps to a new road altogether that you never knew existed. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, author of The Shamanic Bones of Zen

Humble and sincere, Alan listens to people he encounters and allows them to change him. Moment by moment, touching others, he is a new person. Can t we all do that? Kazuaki Tanahashi, author of Painting Peace

A humble and striking acknowledgment of the wholeness that affects us all. Like a tree who hears the birds chattering, Alan Senauke brings to life the eccentric, wise, and odd words of teachers and ordinary folks words that turned into wisdom as they reached Alan s own heart-mind. Roshi Pat Enkyo O Hara, author of A Little Bit of Zen

Like the waters of a tumbling mountain creek, these turning words flow naturally and are a joy to read. What Alan learned from his teachers not only provides us with nuggets of wisdom for our own learning but also informs us about Alan s own journey as a Dharma traveler, which has culminated in his role as Abbot