Rating: 
Summary: A Dream-like Journey to a Timeless Land
Review: It is often easy to despair over the perverse and even insane things people do to other people, especially in the name of ideology and religion. Occasionally a book comes along that provides a glimmer of hope in the chaos. "Bones of the Master" is just such a book. An admittedly imperfect man (George Crane), who is not exactly sure who he is or what he wants and has failed in two marriages and is now on his third, meets an old Ch'an monk (Tsung Tsai), who has moved to a nearby self-built house in Woodstock, New York. He is then drawn into the monk's project to find the bones of Shiuh Deng, Tsung Tsai's old teacher, who is buried in an unknown location in the middle of China's forbidden Inner Mongolia. His understanding third wife lets him go on this apparently mad venture (although their daughter is not quite so forgiving). The resulting book describes the complex and difficult trip that eventually takes them (without official permission) into the heart of the Yin Shan Mountains and very nearly kills them both.
In his philosophic conversations with Crane, Tsung Tsai both decries superstition in his positive attitude toward science and negative one toward foolish beliefs, and seems to placate it in his talk of hungry ghosts and of the fox god. However the reader is left with the uncanny feeling that the old Ch'an monk is just playing with the concepts of emptiness and the Tao (early Taoist ideas are deeply ingrained in Ch'an). In many ways I think that Tsung Tsai recognizes that metaphor can be a powerful truth without being literally true. In the process of making this trip he also exudes compassion for all beings- a goat about to be slaughtered, a child with a burned face and a man dying of cancer, among others. I only wish that all "religious" people on this planet could also have this view as it would eliminate much of the world's problems.
As a scientist I believe in a basic Aristotelian methodology. Evidence is important to establish literal truth and thus not all ideas are equal. Still, there are great mysteries about our world, our life and the other living things with which we share it, which science has yet to resolve (if it is indeed possible to do so). In addition, there are metaphoric "truths" that only fit within the human social context and need not be taken literally to have value within that frame of reference. In this I am not talking about obvious delusions or frauds (such as astrology, UFOs, magic, witchcraft, faith healing, séances or Satanism and many others), but of a broad conceptual realm that gives people some foundation for living in an often difficult world.
Whether you think there is something to Ch'an or Tibetan Buddhism or not, this is a very good book to read. Despite Crane's interjections of his own biases and faults (or perhaps in part because of them), this tale leads one to compassion for all of the participants. Perhaps this is the best gift that any religion can give us!
Rating: 
Summary: Masterful Bones
Review: Many things struck me as I read this book. First, the carefully crafted structure of the writing itself was very Zen-like. Each sentence and phrase was executed with a poet's sensibilities, resulting in a work that is more expressive, more meaningful, and more pleasurable with less. Next, I was thrilled by the often-subtle appearance of humor that colored the complex relationship between George and Tsung Tsai and allows the reader to understand the love and friendship the men shared. The history and culture of Mongolia was smoothly woven into the modern-day tale, supporting readers with a necessary understanding of a part of the world largely unknown to westerners. With the vivid portrayal of the harsh and bitter existence in Mongolia, Tsung Tsai's quest was made all the more compelling. The details of daily life, and death, added poignancy for western non-Buddhist readers, and a temporal view of the transcendence of Zen. I look forward to the rest of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful Bones
Review: Many things struck me as I read this book. First, the carefully crafted structure of the writing itself was very Zen-like. Each sentence and phrase was executed with a poet's sensibilities, resulting in a work that is more expressive, more meaningful, and more pleasurable with less. Next, I was thrilled by the often-subtle appearance of humor that colored the complex relationship between George and Tsung Tsai and allows the reader to understand the love and friendship the men shared. The history and culture of Mongolia was smoothly woven into the modern-day tale, supporting readers with a necessary understanding of a part of the world largely unknown to westerners. With the vivid portrayal of the harsh and bitter existence in Mongolia, Tsung Tsai's quest was made all the more compelling. The details of daily life, and death, added poignancy for western non-Buddhist readers, and a temporal view of the transcendence of Zen. I look forward to the rest of the story.
Rating:
Summary: He's Real
Review: My name is Siri Crane, I'm sixteen, and George Crane is my father. When I was three years old my father came into the house one day in October after a big snow storm and told my mother and I that he was going to have tea with a monk from up the mountain. Tsung Tsai has been a part of my life ever since. If he doesn't exist then I think I must not exist either. I can't picture my life without him. I drank my first cup of real tea in his kitchen, he taught me how to make dumplings when I was seven or eight, I bowed to Buddha for the first time in his home. When we met our English was on about the same level. He always says that I'm his English teacher. He is my life teacher. All the time I spent in his kitchen, sitting as quiet as I could on my father's knee watching Tsung Tsai slurp tea and talk about poetry and about the government and Mongolia and the president and about John Wayne and movies and TV and mathematics and fish and noodles and pizza and tea and New York and how I was like a little wild horse just running all over the place all the time and about dharma and thoughts and medicine and everything else in the world. I used to think that Tsung Tsai knew everything. Now I know he doesn't know everything, but I know he knows everything important. If he is a figment of my father's imagination, then my father my be a great hypnotist as well as a writer. If Tsung Tsai is like Don Juan and just an imaginary guy meant to flesh out a book, then my dad has pulled quite a story over all our eyes, especially mine, because nothing can take away all the memories I have of him and all the things I've learned from him. If he's not real then I think I like the made up world with him in it better than the real world without him. I guess I can't make you believe me. I don't know any other way to convince you he exists, save inviting you to come visit us and driving you up his hill myself. So I guess you'll just have to listen to your own judgment, or take my word for it. Tsung Tsai is as real as it gets.
Rating:
Summary: the best kind of spiritual adventure!
Review: My new favorite book. A spellbinder, illuminator and plain old good read, all at the same time. You will fall in love with this book! The only problem is what to do when it's over...I guess I could reread it!
Rating:
Summary: Part Indiana Jones, part Sir Richard Francis Burton
Review: Note: this is the paperback version of the Bones of the Master hardback; don't be confused by the change in the subtitle! So check out the hardback reviews for other opinions! It's a true story of an unlikely friendship between a renegade poet/explorer and a Chan monk who travel to Mongolia on a quest that could have come straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. Like Sir Richard Francis Burton, the man who snuck into mecca and translated the Arabian Nights tales, George Crane risks his life to search for enlightenment ... and a good tale. It's also the story of the monk's original, harrowing escape on foot through China during a period of cultural upheaval that claimed the lives of millions. A thrill to read. You'll laugh, you'll reflect, you'll be transported, and you'll wonder whether it's time to quit that 9-5 job...
Rating: 
Summary: Not about Mongolia!
Review: Readers should be aware that, despite the title, this book as very little if anything to do with Mongolia. The main character, the Monk, is a Han Chinese, and he practises a Chinese style of Buddhism. Some of the action takes place in Inner Mongolia, which is now part of China, but Inner Mongolians play a very small if any role in the proceedings. This is an interesting enough read, but a little more truth in packaging would have been appreciated.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and beautiful.
Review: Thank you George Crane for giving the world its teacher, Tsung Tsai
Rating:
Summary: The Worst Student Makes the Best Student
Review: The 17th Karmapa of Tibet has been making news lately with a tale similar to "Bones of the Master," but Tsung Tsai and Meister Crane show that ordinary people can follow the path of the bodhisattva as well, without fanfare, and perhaps without knowing it at all. This book is more than entertainment; it's inspirational.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisite tale of travel on every level
Review: The collaboration of a neer-do-well middle aged Jewish poet and a Ch'an master, this book defies description. Yes, Tsung Tsai and his people have endured Holocaust-like suffering, but this book transcends the Chinese horror story genre to become something quite different. And yes, there is a wondeful journey to Inner Mongolia at the heart of this tale, but to dismiss it as travel writing--even wonderful travel writing a la Eric Hansen--does not do it justice. What is the sound of one mind opening? Read this book and find out. It's on my list of the best 3 books of the year.
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