The Buddhist Studies Shelf

The Language of Flowers in the Time of COVID
Joan D. Stamm
Mantra Books
c/o John Hunt Publishing
www.johnhuntpublishing.com
9781803411903, $15.95, PB, 152pp

https://www.amazon.com/Language-Flowers-Time-COVID-Finding/dp/1803411902

Synopsis: In 2020, as COVID-19 spread from Asia to North America, Zen Buddh= ist and ikebana practitioner Joan Stamm was forced to cancel her long-antic= ipated trip to Japan, where she had planned to research a flower temple pil= grimage and learn the deeper meaning of flowers known as "little Buddhas".

But with lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, Stamm, who lives on a mountain =
on an island in the Salish Sea, sequestered herself like a hermit and turne=
d to her own flower garden for solace and meaning as the pandemic engulfed = the world around her.

"The Language of Flowers in the Time of COVID: Finding Solace in Zen, Natur=
e and Ikebana" tells the story of Stamm's life and spiritual journey as a B= uddhist through these difficult times. Using traditional Japanese flowers a=
s seasonal indicators, Stamm speaks the poetic language of flowers to explo=
re ancient flower metaphor as it relates to the pandemic and the many manif= estations of impermanence in one of the most tumultuous years in American h= istory.

Critique: Fascinating, inspiring, eloquent, contemplative, thought-provokin=
g, "The Language of Flowers in the Time of COVID: Finding Solace in Zen, Na= ture and Ikebana" is offers a combination of personal memoir, Buddhist phil= osophy, and the biological science/metaphorical interpretation of flowers i=
n a time of universal crises. While available for personal reading lists in=
a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99), "The Language of Flowers in the Tim=
e of COVID: Finding Solace in Zen, Nature and Ikebana" will prove a welcome=
and enduringly popular addition to community, college, and university libr= ary Contemporary Buddhism, Biography/Memoir, and Self-Help/Self-Improvement=
collections.

Editorial Note: Joan D. Stamm (https://joandstamm.com) is the author of A P= ilgrimage in Japan: the 33 Temples of Kannon, and the award winning Heaven = and Earth are Flowers: Reflections on Ikebana and Buddhism. She is also the=
co-founder of Cold Mountain Hermitage, a Zen Buddhist study and practice g= roup, and a certified teacher of the Saga School of Ikebana.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promo= ting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no fund=
s from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these=
reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, inte= rnet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested indivi= duals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "Califo= rnia Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwat= ch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available=
for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview=
(dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: ---:- FTN<->UseNet Gate -:--- (3:633/280.2@fidonet)