Tell Me Something About Buddhism

One of the first African American Zen priests provides “clear, beautiful, and inspiring answers to questions about Buddhist practice” (Charles Johnson, National Book Award–winning author of Middle Passage and Turning the Wheel).

For anyone curious about the teachings of Buddha and modern Buddhist practice, Tell Me Something about Buddhism offers the perfect introduction. Written by Soto Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel and organized in an easy-to-use question-and-answer format, this concise book answers the many common questions people have about Buddhism, everything from who was Buddha to why do monks, nuns, and priests shave their heads.

Manuel, who has been involved in Buddhist practice for over twenty years, after growing up in Los Angeles in an African American Christian church, intertwines throughout the book her personal experiences as one of the first African American Zen priests. Her life in the Sangha, her teaching in local communities, and her travels around the world meeting other Buddhist practitioners enliven her answers to the most fundamental questions about Buddhist practice, accompanied by her charcoal-and-pencil illustrations. As she writes: “Had I not opened myself to the many teachings from the earth, such as Buddha’s wisdom, it would have been nearly impossible to survive the fires of my soul.”

“Offers both the story of her spiritual rite of passage from a black girl to a Buddhist priest, and a hands-on manual with the basic questions that many are afraid to ask.” —Dr. Marlene Jones, contributor to Dharma, Culture, and Color: New Voices in Western Buddhism