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Willis, Janice Dean : DREAMING ME

Riverhead Trade, 2002

ISBN 9781573229098

Raised in segregated Alabama, as an adult Willis journeyed to the monasteri es of Kathmandu. In this memoir, she remembers the segregated South of the 1950s and 1960s. She lets readers travel back with her: growing up with TV channels that had "trouble along the cable" whenever a black performer appe ared, avoiding getting swatted by the spirited "shouters" in her church or marching with Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham. She takes readers insid e the Cornell black students' protests of the late 1960s and reveals the te mptations of the Black Panthers. Ultimately she chose inner peace over carr ying a piece: it was the Buddhist path, which acknowledged suffering but fo cused on healing, that won her heart. While her Tibetan mentor, Lama Yeshe, had no personal experience with American racism, he saw his student's woun ded self-esteem and helped her cope with her perfectionism. Willis returned to America, becoming one of the first tenured Buddhist scholars in academi a (she is currently a professor of religious studies at Wesleyan University ). Although she recounts several difficult experiences from her early days as an African-American professor and practicing Buddhist, Willis is strong. She realizes that the Baptist she was raised to be and the Buddhist she ha s become share basic beliefs: "We are all human beings... all wish to have happiness and to avoid suffering." (Apr.)Forecast: Hailed by Time magazine as one of the top innovators in religion for the new millennium, Willis del ivers a gripping, intimate account of her spiritual journey that will move anyone who is compelled by the examined life. The Buddhist audience will di, Near Fine