From Boxer to Buddhist

In Life as a Spiritual Path, Bill Gordon did his best to put into print the many levels of inspiration that guided his life from its beginnings in Depression Chicago. Twenty years later, just after he was introduced to the gumbos of New Orleans, he went through the awful experience of exploding shells and machine-gun fire as he lay prone on the battlefield in WWII. Bill survived war knowing that he wanted more from life. He sought meaning with the French in Paris and found exquisite taste in food as well as interesting thought. Then, inspired by Thomas Merton's Seven Story Mountain, Bill spent four years in a Catholic monastery. When his health broke down, he returned to New Orleans. He then found inspiration in the work of Henry Miller and wrote one book about him, The Mind and Art of Henry Miller, and one with him, Writer and Critic; a Correspondence with Henry Miller. Bill then made a career out of teaching English and American literature at the University of Kentucky. A sharp change occurred when he found, while on sabbatical, a book by Tibetan Meditation Master Chogyam Trungpa, Meditation in Action. He began studies with Trungpa, then started a meditation center in Lexington, KY. After continued studies with Shambhala International, Bill began a life of teaching and practicing dharma. Now, thirty-five years later, and retired from teaching both at the University and at the Shambhala Center, Bill has hoped to share his long and many-sided life with others by writing this book.