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The Moon in the Water: Reflections on an Aging Parent | 
 enlarge | Author: Kathy J. Phillips
Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $9.97
You Save: $9.98 (50%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 539611
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 6.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 082651586X
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.874084609969
EAN: 9780826515865
ASIN: 082651586X
Publication Date: April 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. 100% money back guarantee. All books shipped from Strand Bookstore, New York City, USA.
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Product Description
In a series of moving vignettes, the author begins by describing a particular representation of Water-Moon Kuan Yin, a Buddhist teacher and goddess associated with compassion, who often sits on a precarious overhang or floats on a flimsy petal. Then Kuan Yin steps out of the frame to join the author in the mundane challenges of caring for her father-transferring his health insurance, struggling with a wheelchair van, managing adult diapers, or playing in the fictions of dementia. From perplexed to poignant to funny, the vignettes record the working-class English of a fading but still wise dad, and they find other human versions of Kuan Yin in a doctor who will still make house calls or kind strangers in the street.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Using the Goddess of Compassion to Cope with Elder Care August 3, 2008
Kathy Phillips writes of her experiences as she takes her aging father from his house in Connecticut into her apartment in Hawai'i. She is middle-aged and single with a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, but considers herself "a closet religion major." He is a retired fireman who needs a wheelchair and has memory loss.
The author uses the symbolism and iconography associated with Water Moon Quan Yin, a specific aspect of the Buddhist boddhisattva (enlightened soul), to frame her compassion and caring as she copes with the problems and adjustments both people must face in dealing with their new living situation. Anyone who has been in this situation of suddenly caring for an aging parent knows the difficulties of such a change. The author has a brilliant idea to call on the Goddess of Compassion as a guide at this time of her life.
Each chapter begins with a description of some painting or other depiction of Water-Moon Quan Yin pointing out the symbolism and meaning. She then goes on to describe an event in her life with her father that is wonderfully gentle and compassionate (even when the reader can see the frustration and difficulties behind the text). It is in these loving depictions of the process of interpersonal integration that this book is at its best.
The verbal descriptions of Quan Yin and her role in Buddhist thought are well done and ideally suited to the non-academic reader. While a lesser part of the book, they are a joyful addition. I would not recommend this book as a first source for Quan Yin study, but it is a pleasant benefit for those seeking information on elder care.
I feel that the weakest part of the book is the Quan Yin iconography. Either absent, poorly reproduced in black and white plates, or sketched by the author they leave me craving more. The author does provide a 6 page listing of "Sources for Art Works Described or Reproduced" for those like me who cry out for more. However full-color prints would have been a delight to match the gentle prose of the text.
 The moon over the water. March 16, 2008
it is well written and from the heart. well worth the read and to take heed on how to enjoy taking care of an elderly parent.
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