"Were it not for the Buddhadharma, says Charles Johnson in his preface to Turning the Wheel, "I'm convinced that, as a black American and an artist, I would not have been able to successfully negotiate my last half century of life in this country. Or at least not with a high level of creative productivity." In this collection of provocative and intimate essays, Johnson writes of the profound connection between Buddhism and creativity, and of the role of Eastern philosophy in the quest for a free and thoughtful life. In 1926, W. E. B. Du Bois asked African-Americans what they would most want were the color line miraculously forgotten. In Turning the Wheel, Johnson sets out to explore this question by examining his experiences both as a writer and as a practitioner of Buddhism. He looks at basic Buddhist principles and practices, demonstrating how Buddhism is both the most revolutionary and most civilized of possible human choices. He discusses fundamental Buddhist practices such as the Eightfold Path, Taming the Mind, and Sangha and illuminates their place in the American Civil Rights movement. Johnson moves from spiritual guides to spiritual nourishment: writing. In essays touching on the role of the black intellectual, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Ralph Ellison, Johnson uses tools of Buddhist thinking to clarify difficult ideas. Powerful and revelatory, these essays confirm that writing and reading, along with Buddhism, are the basic components that make up a thoughtful life.

Buddhist teachings like the eightfold path, the four noble truths, and karma pervade Buddhist literature—but how often do we read what the Buddha himself had to say about these topics? Here is an accessible look at the Buddha’s First Discourse, which contains the foundation for all further Buddhist teaching. Ajahn Sucitto offers a new translation of this revolutionary teaching, known as The Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truth. He then walks us through the text, offering engaging and practical point-by-point commentary that makes the Buddha’s words come alive and reveals how the text’s wisdom can inspire our own liberation.

Dennis Orphen, in writing a novel, has stolen the life story of his friend, Effie Callingham, the former wife of a famous, Hemingway-like novelist, Andrew Callingham. Orphen’s betrayal is not the only one, nor the worst one, in this hilarious satire of the New York literary scene. (Powell personally considered this to be her best New York novel.) Powell takes revenge here on all publishers, and her baffoonish MacTweed is a comic invention worthy of Dickens. And as always in Powell’s New York novels, the city itself becomes a central character: “On the glittering black pavement legs hurried by with umbrella tops, taxis skidded along the curb, their wheels swishing through the puddles, raindrops bounced like dice in the gutter.” Powell’s famous wit was never sharper than here, but Turn, Magic Wheel is also one of the most poignant and heart-wrenching of her novels.

In his previous book, Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts, Reb Anderson Roshi described how we must become thoroughly grounded in conventional truth through the practice of compassion before we can receive the teachings of the ultimate truth. In The Third Turning of the Wheel, he introduces us to the next stage of our journey by invoking the wisdom of the Samdhinirmocana Sutra. According to Anderson, the main purpose behind this enigmatic sutra is to reconcile the apparent contradictions between the original teachings of the historical Buddha and the later teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. Anderson reflects on the great metaphysical questions proposed in the Samdhinirmocana Sutra—the nature of ultimate reality, the structure of human consciousness, the characteristics of phenomena, the stages of meditation, and the essential qualities of a buddha—with the clarity of a scholar and the insight of a practitioner.

"What goes around, comes around." Truer words were never spoken, as evidenced by the complex interactions and fates of the characters in "The Turn of The Karmic Wheel." When the residents of Raleigh begin to hear music and voices that aren't "there," and to receive frightening messages from no discernable source, it soon becomes apparent that changes must - and will - be made: to their everyday lives, to their relationships, to their bodies, and, most importantly, to their souls.

The Turn-the-Wheel board books let even the smallest children change the scene themselves by moving the wheel embedded in each book. The short and simple texts use dialogue (and talking animals!) to bring each vehicle and experience to life. Readers will learn about the lives and work of firemen, fishermen, farmers, and animal rescue workers. As children turn the wheel to find each page's corresponding image, they will exercise their small-motor-skills. A miniature driving tour that parent and child can take together, each of these books focuses on a different vehicle: Animal Ambulance, Fire Engine, Fishing Boat, and Tractor. From an early age, children are fascinated with driving. HereGÇÖs a book to let themsteer on their own.