{"product_id":"a-straight-road-with-99-gregory-shepherd-9781611720112","title":"A Straight Road with 99 Curves: Coming of Age on the Path of Zen","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Deeply involving, instructive, and capable of touching any reader who cares about the search for meaning.\"--Mitch Horowitz, author of \u003ci\u003eOccult America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In being so frank about his own struggles and fantasies, Greg's personal tale becomes something more universal.\"--David R. Loy, author of \u003ci\u003eMoney, Sex, War, Karma: Notes for a Buddhist Revolution\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1971, when Greg Shepherd was in his early twenties, he left New Jersey and joined the Koko An Zendo community in Hawaii. What began as a quest for enlightenment became Greg's confrontation with his own inner demons: his need for approval, his distrust of authority, and his ego-driven fixation on achieving the profound spiritual breakthrough of \u003ci\u003ekensho\u003c\/i\u003e (\"the Big K\"). Later, in Japan, he struggled with prejudice and cultural rigidity and found his deeper meditations leading to actual panic attacks over fear of losing himself. Ultimately, he broke with Zen and his teachers to pursue a career in music.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis frank memoir traces Greg Shepherd's meandering path from seeker to disillusionment, and, over a decade later, his way back to Zen and inner peace. We experience Zen practice in Japan and Hawaii and meet Zen masters Yamada Koun Roshi and Robert Aitken, the \"dean of American Buddhism\" (who had once pegged Greg as his successor). And we understand why Zen was so appealing to the American counterculture and how its profound lessons of focus and detachment remain insightful and important.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGregory Shepherd\u003c\/b\u003e has studied Zen since the early 1970s in Hawaii and Japan. He is associate professor of music at Kauai Community College.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gregory Shepherd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1611720117\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781611720112\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Stone Bridge Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/09\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 176\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.45lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.40h x 5.20w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/15\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/11\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2013 pg. 81","brand":"Gregory Shepherd","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43938788442367,"sku":"9781611720112","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_c0ab754b-1134-484a-8739-f4bfb8f27160.jpg?v=1681437723","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-straight-road-with-99-gregory-shepherd-9781611720112","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}