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A review by bioniclib
The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd by Mary Rose O'Reilley
3.0
It reads like a literary fiction book, though it's nonfiction. There's a distance between me and what's going on in the story. I have trouble getting swept up in it. Some of the transitions are abrupt and the sympathy for her suffering falls flat.
Though there are plenty of good turns of phrase to save the book. I like the middle part of the book when she was in Plum Village much more than the first and last thirds about sheep farming.
Here are my favorite quotes.
"...worries at the skill level of a forty-year-old."
"Time oppresses me, I crawl to God across the face of a clock." (86)
"As Thay says, the practice of mindfulness is a sneaky way to live a rich life." (145)
"...if you feel yourself becoming ill…you should not use metaphors ofl 'fighting it off', which rear up the spirit in a posture of violence." (148) great example of nonviolent thinking.
I should get a chiming clock to help bring me back to the now! (182)
“‘The important thing to remember, again, is that they’re your buttons, not the buttons of reality,’ Josef reminds me. ‘Someone else does not have the same buttons. Therefore, your irritation is based merely on an idea of how things should be. A relative idea. You are producing the feeling with the underlying perception skewing your judgment. You to get at the underlying idea.’” (188)
"... It's not that we exclude gadgets, it's that we want to be careful about how close we let them get ." (224) Am Amish dude in response to people wondering at their community having a shared telephone outside their house.
“...there is a rule to barn conversation that they should contain only about ten sentences, five for you and five for me…It’s rather like a Quaker meeting.” (244)
"To be yourself is to court mockery." (302)
Though there are plenty of good turns of phrase to save the book. I like the middle part of the book when she was in Plum Village much more than the first and last thirds about sheep farming.
Here are my favorite quotes.
"...worries at the skill level of a forty-year-old."
"Time oppresses me, I crawl to God across the face of a clock." (86)
"As Thay says, the practice of mindfulness is a sneaky way to live a rich life." (145)
"...if you feel yourself becoming ill…you should not use metaphors ofl 'fighting it off', which rear up the spirit in a posture of violence." (148) great example of nonviolent thinking.
I should get a chiming clock to help bring me back to the now! (182)
“‘The important thing to remember, again, is that they’re your buttons, not the buttons of reality,’ Josef reminds me. ‘Someone else does not have the same buttons. Therefore, your irritation is based merely on an idea of how things should be. A relative idea. You are producing the feeling with the underlying perception skewing your judgment. You to get at the underlying idea.’” (188)
"... It's not that we exclude gadgets, it's that we want to be careful about how close we let them get ." (224) Am Amish dude in response to people wondering at their community having a shared telephone outside their house.
“...there is a rule to barn conversation that they should contain only about ten sentences, five for you and five for me…It’s rather like a Quaker meeting.” (244)
"To be yourself is to court mockery." (302)