Hsuan Hua (1918–1995)

I picked up a free copy of "Dew Drops: Pearls of Wisdom by the Venerable Master Hua" at the California Library Association's 2008 conference. I am usually rather selective of what books I purchase (as opposed to, say, borrow from a library), but have a harder time resisting freebies. (I can if necessary, e.g. I didn't bring home from the same conference a free copy of a Ron Hubbard's children story.)

I had no reason resisting Dew Drops though. On the contrary I found the book aesthetically so pleasing that I coveted it. I do not recall any other book, where not only the cover is printed on soft gradient green-yellow colors, but every page has similar background. To be more specific every page has different background, they may change in color (including blue, purple, and orange) or the directions of the colors dissolve into each other.

Eveery second page has a short poem, adage or nugget of wisdom in English and in Chinese), while on the opposing page you will find a simple, yet elegant drawing related to the topic of the quote. On the page of the quote itself there is also a single object or person drawn. In short, I was so enchanted with the presentation of the book that it took me a while to get to the content.

My organizer mindset wanted to figure out which branch of Buddhism this book presents. The problem with that is that I am no expert on Buddhism or poetry for that matter, so I could not. I understood that the orientation was to go beyond the Theravada vs. Mahayana differentiation. But that is just on the theological (and sociological level.) In the physical realm the book was published by the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, an organization I knew nothing of. I read a bit on their website (http://drba.org/) and learned more about their history, but I did not necessarily need that information to review the book.

If I try to review outside the context of the Buddhism all I can compare it to is my own religion (Judaism) and my own personal belief system. From this perspective I found most of the 45 or so aphorisms on the 90 pages that make up the bulk of the book great lifeguiding principles that I can aligned myself without any reservations. Only were a few too Confucian for my taste or contained direct reference to the Buddha that would contradict my path.

This is a beautiful book to pick up any time for looking or pondering upon. It may have been produced for children (as the suggested topics on the first page include "Conduct of life – juvenile literature"), but can be enjoyed by seekers of any age.… (mere)