Dick Dorworth

The Grand Canyon of the Colorado is one of the wonders of the world. Those fortunate enough to have visited it have had an experience they will never forget. Those who have not been there are encouraged to do so, or, if that's not possible, buy "Rambles, Ruminations And Changing Rivers In The Grand Canyon".

Lessons From The Cave is an autobiographical book of essays and a poem written over several years about the author's life as a skier, climber, writer and wanderer through the mountains of the world. It was published when the author was 83 years old and reflects those life experiences through lenses of gratitude, regret, pain, joy, fear, disappointment, determination (and lapses of will), lessons learned and not learned, loneliness and love.----------------The author intends the book to be a dharma lesson for the reader, as his life itself and the experience of writing and publishing the book have been to him.

The title "What Are You Doing" is designed to encourage readers to ask that question of themselves in the context of being compassionate (Buddhist) citizens in the modern world of global warming, human over-population, environmental disintegration, species extinction, perpetual war, the military-industrial complex, social and species inequality and other challenges to the well-being of the Sangha of life on Earth. The personal qualities of kindness and compassion developed by Buddhist practice are in themselves a beneficial influence in the larger world. When consciously applied by engaged Buddhism they become an intellectual, social, environmental, spiritual and even political force for change.Five of the essays, including the title one, are about my personal journey towards, and then along the path, including finding my first Buddha as an inebriated teenager, being introduced to and exploring the answers to the title question and then consciously integrating them into the experiences of my everyday life.Two of the essays are book reviews, both books involving the influence of Gary Snyder and his significant influence on the growth of Buddhism in America and its consequent impact on the larger culture.The other essays and one haiku are a wide variety of perceptions, experiences, questions and old and some new stories of master's lessons for the world of Buddhist practitioners and, one hopes, for non-Buddhists. The success of "What Are You Doing?" will be measured in number of people who are inspired to keep that question in mind after reading it, and, of course, their answers.

Dorworth has written elsewhere, "We were young ski racers in 1953, boys in love with an activity that took me out of myself and into a world of mountains, snow, crystal clean air and focused vision, out of the anger, confusion, and encompassing fury of my particular set of circumstances within a rage-filled generation. Skiing and, more specifically, ski racing probably saved my life, allowing me to grow into a social critic instead of the sociopath I might have become in response to society's violent and small-minded hypocrisies, pretensions, and shallow smugness. Skiing kept anger, adolescent hormones, and confusion in check enough to focus on a path that was to take me skiing all over the world. It formed and informed my life at least as much as the dynamics of family, the structure of schools, the warmth and generosity of true friends, the betrayals of false friends, and the other (and normal) vicissitudes of life."The Only Path is a depiction of how that love saved him from dysfunction, alcoholism, and alienation.

This book features rare, once-thought-lost photos of the 1968 first ascent of the California Route on Cerro Fitz Roy, the third ascent of the mountain. With accompanying retrospective essays. Climbing Fitz Roy,1968, presents photo documentation of the climb, places it in the social and climbing context of the times, and reflects how this momentous trip influenced the lives of those involved, and in a greater context, the lives of so many others.