“…Sometimes downright droll.”

From Astoria, Oregon's Our Coast Weekend, a review appeared, titled "Journeying through the sacred and mundane" by Barbara Lloyd McMichael. Referring to the Buddhist glossary at the back of the book, she adds, "But if this should sound intimidating, I hasten to add that Berger’s writing is also very accessible, and sometimes downright droll." She recommends the book as a unique kind of arm-chair travel writing, ending her piece with "What a gift to get a glimpse into a very different way of journeying through life."

"The whole book…like one long poem"

Ruth Yeomans wrote on Amazon that she loved Small Boat, Vast Ocean. She recommends others to "read it for insights that will happen for you, for descriptions of the ancient Tibetan traditions that worked to transform the author, for the descriptions of encounters with the ocean and clouds and animals and dreams and forests, for the honest descriptions of mental states both difficult and joyful, for the beautiful writing that made the whole book seem like one long poem."

The practice of goodness ~

Small Boat, Vast Ocean is beautifully done, the writing itself lovely, too. I couldn't keep my intention to read the book slowly – it kept me up for a long time a couple of nights. Yet it still felt slow in a way, it's so dense and rich with detail. It felt as if the passage of time was authentic and I could sense it as it arose. 

Dividing the journal parts and the italicized present commentary was done in a clear and unobtrusive way, and is very helpful in navigating the experience and putting it into a framework. 

The nature parts and animal apparitions and the dreams created an atmosphere of letting go of the “brain” part of life. The dreams, and the cloud shapes, are invitational; they also seemed a natural aspect of solitude in nature. And it was amazing how many wild creatures persisted even in a suburban context in Washington state.

The bumpy mental states reported so frankly upon, especially at the beginning, but all through, help to de-romanticize and make real how progress is nonlinear... Diane’s courage stands out for me as does her delight.

And as for the exquisite interruptions/emergent world of the imaginal which were described so beautifully and carefully – those kinds of things seem a Vajrayana blessing and are reassuring and liberating even as they are evanescent.  They seem to emerge from purity and space... although of course they are no more or less Dharma than anything else, that's the paradox. 

And lastly, I so appreciated the teaching that was beyond experience, the intention to freedom and compassion that infused the whole retreat from the beginning – the practice of goodness.

– Kate Lila Wheeler, novelist, essayist, and Buddhist teacher