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Rating: 
Summary: A Spiritual Goal
Review: A wonderful and delightful meal of spiritual awareness still does not adequately described Faith Adiele's journal titled, MEETING FAITH.
What started out as a journey to travel abroad through the Rotary Club International Exchange Program lead to an exposure to the Buddhist religion and then to the decision to becoming a Buddhist nun. Faith Adiele's narrative is witty and compelling to read as she invites the reader to her coronation through the forest to Buddhism.
She describes in details her Thailand travel beginnings, her exposure to another country's way of life, her mixed emotions, and a decision to partake a spiritual baptism in becoming a Buddhist nun. Faith is forthcoming and leaves nothing to the imagination. Footnotes listed beside the text give definitions of Thai terminology and explanations for various Buddhist terms used in the book. Faith includes sections of her journal along side the text as well.
Faith's journey was intense because it strips away who you are and takes you to another spiritual level and philosophy of understanding yourself and your environment. The readers are awarded the opportunity to take a significant peek into the rituals and practices of Buddhism.
Knowing two African American friends as well as several celebrities that practice the Buddhist religion, this book gave me more insight and details about their beliefs. I enjoyed reading this book because it was definitely unique and interesting.
Faith Adiele shares with the readers an informative and revealing segment of her "forest journals of a Black Buddhist nun" in MEETING FAITH. I recommend this book for anyone who would like to know more about the practices of Buddhism and the commitment of one woman's travel towards achieving her spiritual goals, which are never-ending.
Reviewed by Kalaani
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating: 
Summary: A Remarkable Journey
Review: As I also grew up in a small town in the Northwest, find Buddhism intriguing and challenging, and detest creepy crawlies, I was captivated by this memoir. Ms. Adiele is braver and more adventurous than I, both spiritually and gustatorily, but she communicates her humanness with such wit and style that I was delighted to be on this journey with her. I recommend her book most highly.
Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable Journey
Review: As I also grew up in a small town in the Northwest, find Buddhism intriguing and challenging, and detest creepy crawlies, I was captivated by this memoir. Ms. Adiele is braver and more adventurous than I, both spiritually and gustatorily, but she communicates her humanness with such wit and style that I was delighted to be on this journey with her. I recommend her book most highly.
Rating:
Summary: Teachers and Counselors Take Note
Review: Faith Adiele's wonderful book is the kind I wish was on the reading lists in high schools and colleges. It goes to the heart of searching--and what young person isn't a searcher? It addresses the pain and wonder of growing up as part of two races and being initiated spiritually into a third. Ms. Adiele has also written a compelling story of traveling in one of Asia's most fascinating cultures. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: All Fact?
Review: Frankly, having skimmed through this book, I wonder whether all information written by the author is fact or fiction after reading about her childhood. For example, the author should ask individuals in her hometown in Washington State for their permission before slandering them in this book. Doesn't she realize she's not the only black person living in Sunnyside--there was another black family living in Sunnyside at the same time when she was there. They made great strides in school sports. Also, the reader has never heard of a certain individual trying to jockey with Ms. Adiele to be the number one Minority Smarty-pants individual and having designs on a Cheryl. Didn't realize there was a contest like that going on. It must be all in her head.
Rating:
Summary: An Astonishing Book
Review: I learned so much from this book--not only about the Buddhist traditions of Thailand and the forest temple where Ms. Adiele stayed, which was fascinating to me, but about how one young American approached the ideas of race, culture, self and spirituality in an unfamiliar setting.The book's gorgeous design also lends to its power. A fantastic book.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Personal Journey
Review: This is an amazing book! The author's writing is so vivid that the sights and sounds of the Thai jungle seem real and immediate. Her story--Harvard student on scholarship goes to Buddhist temple to find her own spirituality--is fascinating enough, but the eye for detail she brings makes this book outstanding. Even though her journey is unique, there is something about the way she sees it that speaks to everyone's experience of growing up and getting in touch with their spiritual side, finding mentors in the outside world and making peace with parents. One of the best books I've read this year.
Rating:
Summary: An Astonishing Book
Review: This was a great book about a young woman trying to find herself in today's complicated world. She chooses to ordain as a Buddhist nun in order to do this. The book is not about Buddhism as the title suggests, it is about Faith and how she discovers herself and where she wants to go and what she wants to do with her life. She is a very interesting writer and her style pulls you into the book on the very first page. Sometimes funny and sometimes sad but captivating all the way through.
Rating:
Summary: Enlightening and engrossing!
Review: Though I'm not a Buddhist, it's a topic that fascinates me, and Faith's memoir provided a riveting and highly accessible introduction to what it means to live as a Buddhist. I thought the book's format, which weaves in quotations from an amazing array of scholars and commentators, was fantastic -- very engaging and personal. The book was full of insights and surprises. Best of all, the author has a wry and appealing sense of humor about her odyssey in Thailand -- and, more broadly, about the universal quest to find spiritual fulfillment.
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