One Monk, Many Masters: The Wanderings of a Simple Buddhist Traveler

by Paul Breiter

In 1969, Paul Breiter was among the throngs of disaffected youth who traveled to the exotic East, seeking to escape the cultural and spiritual upheavals at home. He traveled first to India, thinking that indulging the senses would be his means of finding God. Instead, he found himself at a monastery in Thailand, taking the precepts of a Buddhist monk. He would spend the next seven years in robes, not indulging the senses, but depriving them. One Monk, Many The Wanderings of a Simple Buddhist Traveler is an account of Breiter’s life as a monk and his ongoing search for enlightenment after leaving the monastic robes. Breiter’s spiritual wanderings weave through the Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions under such great teachers as Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Sumedho, Kobun Chino, Lama Gonpo, and the 16th Karmapa. "Breiter relates his journey with self-effacing modesty. His knack for unadorned observation takes the reader on a worthwhile trek through modern Buddhism as journeyed by a Western layman turned monk and back again." —Sakula Mary Reinard, Spiritual Director, Portland Friends of the Dhamma "Breiter’s experience with [Buddhist] teachers, expressed in this book with honesty and insight, is a pleasure to read. The Dharma emerges throughout his memories as a sincere gift, and a teaching for all who are fortunate to read it." –Angie (Zuiko Enji) Boissevain

266 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Craig]

One Monk Many Masters is kind of an addendum to the author's cult classic, Venerable Father. We learn about Breiter's life before his years as a monk with Ajahn Chah in Thailand, and about his encounters with Zen and Tibetan Buddhist teachers afterwards. Ajahn Chah looms large in the narrative, with about half of the book devoted to him and the years spent in Thailand. Unfortunately, the author was never as close to the Mahayana masters as he was to the Thai Forest Tradition teachers, so the book feels a bit uneven. If you have read Venerable Father and want to know more about the author, you'll probably enjoy this one.