So I finally reached the end, and I'm very happy to announce that the book is now for sale!
As a publisher I'm delighted to be able to finally offer this book because it achieves the goals of the project in a way that the website cannot. It combines a higher quality of calligraphy, and the use of fonts for mantras to provide a great deal more consistency and generally higher quality. It brings together other material on mantra from my blog, and I think makes an attractive package.
As an author I am painfully aware of all of the inconsistencies, the imperfections and omissions that are left. But the project needed to have an end point, and with my publishers hat on I've said "this is it". It's time to let it go, and if necessary start collecting ideas and corrections for a second edition. I only hope that my readers will be forgiving and appreciate the spirit behind the endeavour.
This book has been an incredibly difficult project - many scripts, many languages, hundreds of images, 75,000 words of text, and I have done most of it myself - though with help from many people. To get to this point, even if there are still remaining imperfections feels like a milestone in my life! The idea came six years ago on my ordination retreat when there were a lot of questions about seed-syllables and mantras that I was answering as best I could. As I say - this is a book I wanted to read rather than write.
So here it is. I must say I'm extremely anxious at this point, but here goes... I hope you will find the book as enjoyable and informative as people tell me the website is. I think the book is a great improvement on the website, and this means I have a lot of work ahead bringing the website up to scratch!
I've thanked many people in the book, including many of you who will be reading this and who have contributed via the blog or Facebook, or other media (not least to correct my spelling which seems to be getting worse lately!). Thanks again. And thanks also to those people whose donations, past and present, small and large which pay for the website, and my calligraphy pens! I'd like to make special mention of my friend Maitiu O'Ceileachair whose contribution is felt throughout the book.
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you know this, but the link to the Lulu page doesn't work. It says that the book isn't up on Lulu anymore, even when I search for it. I've been patiently waiting for this book to come out for years and to support the site further, so I hope you can get it back up soon.
Thanks
Hi Moses
ReplyDeleteIt works for me. Not sure what the problem might be, but I've clicked on various links from various sites and it works every time. Have you tired again?
Jayarava
Hmm. Well, the URL it gives when I click on it is this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=10070917
And when I get to the page, all there is is an error message that says "Visible Mantra: Visualising & Writing Buddhist Mantras - This product is not available for purchase."
Your Pilgrimage Diary, which also won't work for me but at least shows up in your Author Spotlight, gives me this:
http://www.lulu.com/product/11473269
The Namapada, which is the only link that does work, gives me this:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/namapada-a-guide-to-names-in-the-triratna-buddhist-order/14966569
The strange thing is that, for me, the Visible Mantra book doesn't show up in your Author Spotlight section at Lulu. It doesn't even come up when I search for "Visible Mantra" at Lulu. Maybe if you give me the URL that you use, it might work for me. I'll try it on another computer as well in the meantime.
Hmm, I'm not sure what happened, but now the site is working. So, I'll be ordering my copy soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks.