{"id":21943,"date":"2015-05-28T00:01:57","date_gmt":"2015-05-28T07:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=21943"},"modified":"2015-05-28T00:01:57","modified_gmt":"2015-05-28T07:01:57","slug":"jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Greenwald and Kevin Griffin &#8212; A Funny Buddhist and a Happy One"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FByPu1jdq7o\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Jeff Greenwald read from his book at Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n<p>One of the nice things about being a writer is that you wind up with\u00a0lots of writer friends and acquaintances &#8212; poets, memoirists, biographers, sages, humorists. And it&#8217;s always a pleasure to\u00a0talk about their books.<\/p>\n<p>Today I&#8217;d like to introduce two students of Buddhism. The first is Jeff Greenwald, author, storyteller, traveller, and master of\u00a0the upstart\u00a0art of finding God\u00a0funny. The <!--more-->other is\u00a0Kevin Griffin, a buddy from\u00a0of one of my writing groups who has spent the past couple of decades uncovering and sharing\u00a0the commonalities between twelve-step programs and the Dharma.<\/p>\n<h6><strong>Jeff Greenwald: Shopping for Buddhas<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p>I\u2019ve been hoping for some time\u00a0to get my hands on a copy of Jeff&#8217;s merry book, <em>Shopping for Buddhas. <\/em>It&#8217;s the story of his youthful search through the streets and bazaars of Kathmandu for the perfect Buddha statue.<\/p>\n<p>Buddhism plus shopping? With a dash\u00a0humor? My kind of book.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_21967\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21967\" style=\"width: 290px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2015\/05\/28\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/\" rel=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2015\/05\/28\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-21967\" src=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/greenwald-buddha-387x580-2-334x500.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Greenwald, author of &quot;Shopping for Buddhas,&quot; settled on purchasing this Buddha during his shopping serach in Nepal. It is the touching the Earth Buddha mudra. Photo by Barbara Newhall writers\" width=\"290\" height=\"435\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-21967\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shopper Jeff Greenwald finally settled on this Buddha figure. Its mudra is &#8220;Touching the Earth&#8221; in which the newly enlightened Buddha enlists the witness of the Earth against evil. <em>Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Unfortunately, <em>Shopping for Buddhas<\/em>\u00a0was published way back in 1990 and it&#8217;s been thoroughly out of print for some time. The publisher Travelers\u2019 Tales has come\u00a0to the rescue, however, with a 25<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary edition. I showed up at the nearest\u00a0book signing and grabbed myself one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Buddha is not a simple thing to shop for,\u201d Jeff writes. \u201cHe comes in infinite sizes, a full spectrum of colors, and a daunting variety of postures and poses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Poses, postures &#8212; and mudras. Mudras are the various hand positions the Buddha might take, Jeff explains. Each mudra represents one of the Buddhas many attributes. \u201cFear Not\u201d or \u201cTurning the Wheel of the Law\u201d or \u201cCalming the Ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And, \u201cOnce, at a temple in Thailand,\u00a0I think I saw a gesture called \u2018Forbidding His Relatives to Fight with One Another.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So many shopping choices. So many Buddhas. Enough to fill a book. Thanks, Jeff.<\/p>\n<h6><strong>Kevin Griffin: Buddhism for Recovering Addicts<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p>Kevin has\u00a0written a number of books on Buddhism for folks in recovery.\u00a0His latest, <em>Recovering Joy: A Mindful Life after Addiction<\/em>, arrived in my mailbox earlier this week.\u00a0I cracked it open immediately and\u00a0searched for tidbits of Buddhist wisdom that might help me as I stumble along on my own rocky spiritual journey.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2015\/05\/28\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/\" rel=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2015\/05\/28\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-21962\" src=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/griffin-kevin-recovering-joy-book0001-390x580-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of Kevin Griffin's book, &quot;Recovering Joy,&quot; 2015, Sounds True. writers\" width=\"215\" height=\"320\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Kevin&#8217;s\u00a0title, <em>Recovering Joy<\/em> caught my eye right away. I\u2019ve been thinking \u00a0about joy a lot lately \u2013 specifically joy as a spiritual discipline.<\/p>\n<p>Martin Verhoeven talked about joy in the form of Buddhist equanimity during our interviews for<a href=\"http:\/\/WrestlingWithGodBook.com\"> <strong><em>Wrestling with God<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0And my book\u2019s token atheist, Anthony Mack, talked about the joy of simply being a living, breathing creature on this planet.<\/p>\n<p>In a chapter he calls \u201cNot Unhappy,\u201d Kevin\u00a0writes:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore I got sober, I thought [happiness] meant something like being in a good mood all the time or having loads of fun with no responsibilities. That\u2019s not how I define happiness now. In fact, several years ago when stuck in a long period of difficult moods, depression, and irritability, I found myself saying, \u2018I\u2019m depressed, but I\u2019m not unhappy\u2019 . . . What I was saying was that nothing was wrong with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nothing is wrong with my life. That&#8217;s it! That&#8217;s the kind of kernel of wisdom I was hoping to get from Kevin.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, I get sad when I remember that my niece has died. Yes, I worry about my rickety knees and belly fat. Yes, I get anxious when I have to get behind a microphone and say something intelligent to a bunch of people I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m cranky, judgy and opinionated. When I\u2019m not being shy, I\u2019m pushy. But I\u2019ve finally gotten to a place where \u2013 humiliating mistakes and missteps notwithstanding \u2013 I\u2019m convinced that there\u2019s nothing wrong with my life. And that makes me . . . happy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2015\/05\/28\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/\" rel=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2015\/05\/28\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-21964\" src=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/richardson-brenda-book-ab-memoir0001-384x580-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of book &quot;You Should Really Write a Book,&quot; coauthored by Brenda Lane Richardson. writers\" width=\"130\" height=\"196\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h6><strong>Want to Write a Memoir? Go for It<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p>Also arriving in the mail recently &#8212; a copy of a book co-authored by my one-time\u00a0colleague at the Oakland Tribune, Brenda Lane Richardson.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s <em>You Should Really Write a Book:\u00a0How to Write, Sell, and Market Your Memoir<\/em>,\u00a0and it&#8217;s packed with information, practical and inspirational, for the\u00a0aspiring\u00a0memoirist\u00a0&#8212;\u00a0from how to define your memoir&#8217;s subgenre, to how to get interviewed by on-line radio.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s it for now. But not to worry, my writer friends are writing away. There\u2019s lots more where these came from.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"http:\/\/jeffgreenwald.com\/\">\u201cShopping for Buddhas: An Adventure in Nepal,&#8221;<\/a> by Jeff Greenwald, Travelers\u2019 Tales, 2014, $15.95, paper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.kevingriffin.net\/recovering-joy-a-mindful-life-after-addiction\/\">Recovering Joy<\/a>: A Mindful Life after Addiction,\u201d by Kevin Griffin, Sounds True, 2015, $16.95, paper.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You Should Really Write a Book: How to Write, Sell, and Market Your Memoir,&#8221; by Regina Brooks and Brenda Lane Richardson, St. Martin&#8217;s Griffin, 2012, $15.99, paper.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>More about Jeff Greenwald at <a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2012\/01\/09\/the-writing-room-can-this-guy-make-me-a-star\/\">&#8220;Can This Guy Make Me a Star?&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0 More about teaching Buddhism at <a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2012\/09\/22\/jack-kornfield-buddhist-teacher-on-sex-drugs-enlightenment\/\">&#8220;Jack Kornfield on Sex, Drugs and Enlightenment.&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0More about my book at <a href=\"http:\/\/wrestlingwithgodbook.com\">WrestlingWithGodBook.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2015\/05\/28\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/\" rel=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2015\/05\/28\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-22007 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/greenwald-jeff-2014-091-500x352.jpg\" alt=\"Buddhist author Jeff Greenwald. Photo by Barbara Newhall\" width=\"500\" height=\"352\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jeff Greenwald is a master of the upstart art of finding God funny. Kevin Griffin writes about the commonalities between Buddhism and 12-step programs. <a href=\"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/2015\/05\/28\/jeff-greenwald-and-kevin-griffin-a-funny-buddhist-and-a-happy-one\/\">Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,50],"tags":[1486,1487,272,34,646,683,1488,559,1459,1489,866,488,480],"class_list":["post-21943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-openers","category-on-writing-reading","tag-aleta-george","tag-brenda-richardson","tag-buddhism","tag-dont-miss","tag-getting-published","tag-jeff-greenwald","tag-kevin-griffin","tag-memoir","tag-poetry","tag-rebecca-foust","tag-shopping","tag-the-writing-life","tag-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}