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This book plays like a Zen version of the film "Altered States". It is like a psychedelic journey to the buddhist afterlife but with a very personal connection to the narrator's perspective. Full of very religious themed illustrations that progresses like a picture book or graphic novel at times. It's very beautiful and haunting like a preview for the great journey that all go through. It seems like someone came back from a near death experience and shared their vision.

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Editorial Reviews
Book Description
The first part of this book recounts the religious experiences of Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett when she was gravely ill and near death in 1976. When a doctor told her she had three months to live, she began an intensive meditation retreat to prepare for death. How to Grow a Lotus Blossom is a diary, verbal and pictorial, of her spiritual experiences over the following ten months. It describes, in very personal terms, what in Zen is called the third kensho; it is invaluable in clarifying both the nature of kensho experience and the purpose of Zen training in the broadest sense.

At first glance the immensity of the experiences described here may leave a new meditator wondering what benefit there could be in studying them---they seem so removed from one's own experience but, when we look more closely, we begin to see parallels in our own practice and realize that, although there are many levels of religious experience, the fundamental process of growth is always the same, repeating itself in cycles. It is at this point that How to Grow a Lotus Blossom becomes a useful tool for all trainees regardless of their level of development.

The crucial difference between the first and third kensho is that the first reveals one's true spiritual nature while the latter is the complete acceptance of that nature as one's own. To realize Truth in one moment of time is one thing---to purify every aspect of oneself to such a degree that the spiritual vision becomes our normal everyday mind is quite another. Rev. Jiyu-Kennett has done Zen Buddhism a service in demystifying the kensho experience and clarifying the true purpose of religious training.

The second part of this revised edition includes additional visions, with commentaries, that have occurred since the events of 1976.

How to Grow a Lotus Blossom is handsomely covered with a durable plastic jacket with gold embossed lettering.

About the Author
Born in England in 1924, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett became a Buddhist at an early age, studying Theravada Buddhism. She was later introduced to Rinzai Zen Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki in London, where she held membership in, and lectured at, the London Buddhist Society. She studied at Trinity College of Music, London, and Durham University, and pursued a career as a professional musician before meeting her future master, the Very Reverend Keido Chisan Koho Zenji.

Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett began her priest training in 1962, with her ordination into the Chinese Buddhist Sangha in Malaysia by the Very Reverend Seck Kim Seng, Archbishop of Malacca. She then continued her training in Japan under Koho Zenji, who was then Chief Abbot of Dai Hon Zan Sojiji, one of the two head temples of Soto Zen Buddhism in Japan. In 1963 she received Dharma Transmission from him and was later certified by him as a Roshi (Zen Master). She held several positions during her years in Japan including that of Foreign Guestmaster of Dai Hon Zan Sojiji and Abbess of her own temple in Mie Prefecture.

It had always been Koho Zenji's wish that Soto Zen Buddhism be successfully transmitted to the West by a Westerner. He worked very hard to make it possible for Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett to train in Japan and, after his death, she left Japan in order to carry out this task. In November 1969, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett came to San Francisco on a lecture tour, and as her following of disciples grew rapidly, the Zen Mission Society was founded and moved to Mount Shasta, where Shasta Abbey was founded in November 1970. The "Zen Mission Society" was reorganized as "The Order of Buddhist Contemplatives" in 1978.

Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett served twenty-six years as Abbess and spiritual director of Shasta Abbey, ordaining and teaching monks and laypeople until her death on November 6, 1996. She founded Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey in England in 1972 and was Head of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives, with its two monasteries and its priories and meditation groups in North America and Europe. Her written legacy as a Zen Master includes the books Zen is Eternal Life; How to Grow a Lotus Blossom; The Wild, White Goose; The Book of Life; and The Liturgy of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives for the Laity.

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Originally posted by spoonboy:
[qb] It's supposed to drive you crazy. That's the whole point.
[/qb]

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Transformative learning involves experiencing a deep, structural shift in the basic premises of thought, feelings, and actions. It is a shift of consciousness that dramatically and irreversibly alters our way of being in the world. Such a shift involves our understanding of ourselves and our self-locations; our relationships with other humans and with the natural world; our understanding of relations of power in interlocking structures of class, race and gender; our body awarenesses, our visions of alternative approaches to living; and our sense of possibilities for social justice and peace and personal joy.