Saffron Days in L.A.: Tales of a Buddhist Monk in America

I am writing from a personal bias, because I have known Ven. Piyananda from about age 5 onwards (20 years). Correction: I *thought* I knew Ven. Piyananda before I had read this book. He had taught me all of the fundamentals of Theravada Buddhism, and he even gave great support to me when as a child I was encountering a great amount of prejudice at a Christian missionary school my parents sent me to. Not only did he teach me about Buddhism by word, but his very character struck me as being the essence of what the Buddha taught.After I read this book, I saw that Ven. Piyananda had many experiences which I had barely knew of. I had no idea he had his own encounters with religious fundamentalists, or that he gave helpful advice to other young people. I see that he had lived a very interesting life beyond my own relatively brief meetings with him. Although I was surprised by some of the experiences he has had, I was *not* really surprised in the way he dealt with them- with the same dignity and intelligence I have always associated with him.Someone here has complained that the book appeared to be egotistical. Well, the very *purpose* of this book was to describe some of Ven. Piyananda's own personal experiences in the US!!! There are trillions of books on Buddhist doctrine out there written by a wide assortment of characters, from highly respected academics and experienced monastics to the lowest of hacks and frauds. Here is a book about the experiences of a Sri Lankan monk in the US. If you are not interested in this topic, don't buy this book and then complain that it was 'only' about the experiences of a SL monk in the US. However, if you are curious about how a practitioner of the Dhamma has dealt with some of the craziness one can find in Los Angeles, then I could recommend no better book.

Nowadays , Buddhism is viewed as somewhat cerebral . Indeed , it seems to attract the more philosophical amongst us . Not without probable cause , Buddhism starts with the mind and its perspectives / perceptions . With Mahayana , we see this coming to its logical ( or illogical as the case may be ) fruition with a plethora of mind bending philosophical schools .It is therefore quite refreshing to read a book about a monk's everyday experience . Better still , couched in these experiences are the Buddha's Teachings . Its so much easier to digest a new way of thinking when the context in which it is told is something we can all quite easily identify with . Bhante's little anecdotes are often quite funny , but the message is powerful .I recommend this book .

Bhante Walpola Piyananda is a sri lankan monk who came to the united states on,of all days,july 4,1976.{there is a humorous account of this in this volume] He has been the spiritual advisor and friend to countless southeast asian immigrants,and westerners who are attracted to the middle path. This volume is a collection of vignettes that he has collected through the years,all the while gently inflecting Buddhist teachings . From confrontations with a gang, to a cuckold husband, to a "hopeless "alcoholic, Bhante is there with compassion and wisdom. There is a lightness here, not a lack of depth ,but a freshness lacking western cynicism that is both invigorating and assuring. There is no magic here,no easy way to nirvana passed out to gullible desperate people. Bahnte grounds himself seriuosly in Buddhist scripture,and the result is a delight and,well enlightening. Well done, a decpetively easy read and a very interesting monk.

Bhante Piyananda takes the hairiest of situations--punks confronting him on the boardwalk, catholic-buddhist marriages in trouble, murders in the monastery--and shines the light of metta and compassion upon them. He is a truly amazing person, and this is a truly amazing book. It will make you more mindful just by reading it, I guarantee!