Bodhi Tree

The Bodhi Tree Bookstore stands at the metaphysical crossroads of Greater Los Angeles. With more than 30,000 tomes covering everything from Christian mysticism and Buddhist philosophy to crystals and magic to such modern-day self-help guides as "Powermind" and "Law of Success," the Bodhi Tree--at Melrose Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard--helped launch today's spiritual book boom.

The problem with Eddie Murphy? It is not a problem of talent or fearlessness. He has plenty of both. But in "A Thousand Words," shot in 2008 and now available for your viewing displeasure, he's a first-rate talent stuck in yet another third-rate piece of bleccch, written by Steve Koren, who shoveled us the Adam Sandler leavings "Click" and "Jack and Jill," and directed by frequent Murphy collaborator Brian Robbins, whose résumé includes "Norbit" and...

West Hollywood's Bodhi Tree Bookstore has been selling spiritual enlightenment, by way of books, incense and all manner of religious ephemera, since 1970. On a Saturday afternoon, it's abuzz with customers looking to make their weekend, and perhaps their lives, a little more meaningful. We spoke to four shoppers. * Renee Gontarski, owner, graphics company, West Hollywood Buying: Noam Chomsky's CD "Free Market Fantasies." What were you in your past life? Someone told me I was a monkey.

For nearly a decade, Sandra Acosta and Noe Ramirez made a monthly pilgrimage to the Bodhi Tree Bookstore on Melrose Avenue in search of life wisdom. Enveloped in the aroma of incense and the gentle strains of meditative music, the Long Beach couple would explore books on martial arts, women's spirituality, Native American philosophy, Zen Buddhism and whatever else piqued their curiosity. But their visit Friday would be their last. The bookstore will close its doors at 5:30 p.m. Saturday after four decades of serving as a world-renowned spiritual mecca for seekers of all persuasions — including Gov. Jerry Brown, Beatle Ringo Starr and actress Shirley MacLaine, whose memoir chronicled how her metaphysical journey began at the Bodhi Tree in 1983.

In the article by Garry Abrams, "Nobel for Arab a Reminder of a Wider Literary World" (Oct. 14), he mentions a number of bookshops that did not carry the works of this year's literature winner, Naguib Mahfouz. I use each year's Nobel winner as a new reading list, and each year make a search-and-destroy attack on the Los Angeles bookstores. When Wole Soyinka won I found most of his books at the Aquarian Bookshop; last year when Joseph Brodsky won I found two of his books at B. Dalton and Book Soup; this year, after an extensive search of L.A. bookstores I found two of Mahfouz's books at the Bodhi Tree, and a whole selection of them in Santa Monica at the Midnight Special Bookstore.

It was 24 years ago that L.A.'s center for all things metaphysical, the Bodhi Tree Bookstore, opened for business on Melrose Avenue. The brainchild of Stan Madson and Phil Thompson, engineers for Douglas Aircraft who were swept up in the social revolution of the '60s and were itching to get out of the aerospace industry, the store was launched (with a third partner, Dan Morris) with a modest nest egg of $18,000 and an inventory of 2,000 books.

On a summer afternoon in Moscow, shortly after Sputnik circled the Earth in 1957, American astronomer Al Wilson was attending a series of meetings with Soviet geophysicists. On the final day of the meetings, a Soviet professor, G. Tikhov, gave a garden party in Wilson's honor. After many toasts, Tikhov strolled over to a tree in the middle of the garden. It was a ginkgo, one of the most ancient species of plant life on Earth.

A woman named Rose Rosetree warned of the dangers of cosmetic surgery. Never mind the possibility of a botched job or post-operative infection, the real peril is that in fixing the bump on your nose, you have unwittingly altered your destiny. A curved nose, she explained, marks a creative soul; straighten it, and the soul, like the nose, simply becomes more average. Rosetree is a physiognomist -- a face reader. She can also read auras and chakras and is a trained empath.

On a recent afternoon, Los Angeles urban planners Chancee Martorell and Alex Holsheimer looked at a nondescript intersection and envisioned the makings of a signature plaza that would bring a physical focal point to the six-block area along Hollywood Boulevard known as Thai Town. The parking lot at Hobart Boulevard, Holsheimer mused, could be transformed into a central plaza and green space featuring a tree linked to Buddhism, which infuses Thai culture: The sacred fig, also known as the Bodhi tree, is said to have shaded Buddha when he achieved enlightenment.

Your article (March 23) on Nathan Shapell was a welcome one! His autographed photo in my office always evokes questions, which lead to lengthy explanations about the accomplishments of this man, so I am more than happy to have this newsprint to frame beside it. Many years ago, you did a splendid feature on Mr. Shapell and his wife, Lily, in your magazine section, and I was fascinated by one facet of his character--his punctuality. At that time, he used to set his watch 10 minutes ahead, so that he would never be late to his many meetings.

You may think you know the Buddha, because you have seen him standing outside a Chinese restaurant, belly burnished from being rubbed repeatedly for good luck, or hiding in the corner of a garden. But you have more to learn, grasshopper. David Grubin's "The Buddha," which airs Wednesday on PBS, is not the story of Buddhism -- whose history as a religion, like that of Christianity, really gets going after the demise of its founder and is addressed here only in a couple of lines near the end of the film -- but rather that of the historical person who said the things on which followers have based their several, differing practices.

A place of dreams Re "Booksellers step out from under the Bodhi Tree," Jan. 18 In troubled times, I often find myself dreaming that I am wandering the aisles at the Bodhi Tree. Very soon, I find myself there in real life, a cup of complimentary tea in hand, surrounded by the wisdom of the ages and new hopes for the potential of mankind. The Bodhi Tree has served our community as a starting point for countless personal journeys, and as a nexus of unexpected pathways into truer living.

For 40 years, the Bodhi Tree Bookstore on Melrose Avenue has served as the metaphysical mecca of Los Angeles. Inside, seekers of varied spiritual persuasions gather for exploration, contemplation and personal transformation amid soothing music, the aroma of pungent incense and the tinkling of wind chimes under the benevolent gaze of dozens of sages whose pictures hang on the wall as blessings. The store's 35,000 books traverse a dizzying array of disciplines, from Christianity and Buddhism to energy healing and nutrition.

On a recent afternoon, Los Angeles urban planners Chancee Martorell and Alex Holsheimer looked at a nondescript intersection and envisioned the makings of a signature plaza that would bring a physical focal point to the six-block area along Hollywood Boulevard known as Thai Town. The parking lot at Hobart Boulevard, Holsheimer mused, could be transformed into a central plaza and green space featuring a tree linked to Buddhism, which infuses Thai culture: The sacred fig, also known as the Bodhi tree, is said to have shaded Buddha when he achieved enlightenment.

A woman named Rose Rosetree warned of the dangers of cosmetic surgery. Never mind the possibility of a botched job or post-operative infection, the real peril is that in fixing the bump on your nose, you have unwittingly altered your destiny. A curved nose, she explained, marks a creative soul; straighten it, and the soul, like the nose, simply becomes more average. Rosetree is a physiognomist -- a face reader. She can also read auras and chakras and is a trained empath.

West Hollywood's Bodhi Tree Bookstore has been selling spiritual enlightenment, by way of books, incense and all manner of religious ephemera, since 1970. On a Saturday afternoon, it's abuzz with customers looking to make their weekend, and perhaps their lives, a little more meaningful. We spoke to four shoppers. * Renee Gontarski, owner, graphics company, West Hollywood Buying: Noam Chomsky's CD "Free Market Fantasies." What were you in your past life? Someone told me I was a monkey.

The problem with Eddie Murphy? It is not a problem of talent or fearlessness. He has plenty of both. But in "A Thousand Words," shot in 2008 and now available for your viewing displeasure, he's a first-rate talent stuck in yet another third-rate piece of bleccch, written by Steve Koren, who shoveled us the Adam Sandler leavings "Click" and "Jack and Jill," and directed by frequent Murphy collaborator Brian Robbins, whose résumé includes "Norbit" and...

C aution: Some people actually enjoy certain symptoms of the Neo-Nasty era--like waiting in a line at a nightclub for the crucial moment when a bouncer will decide if you're cool enough to be admitted. If you're not one of those types, then you may want the following advice. Refuse to take calls from anyone using a car phone. Don't read your therapist's screenplay. Limit yourself to only one KCET pledge break a week. Watch "Donna Reed Show" reruns. Live at Trancas Beach without a TV set.

The Bodhi Tree Bookstore stands at the metaphysical crossroads of Greater Los Angeles. With more than 30,000 tomes covering everything from Christian mysticism and Buddhist philosophy to crystals and magic to such modern-day self-help guides as "Powermind" and "Law of Success," the Bodhi Tree--at Melrose Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard--helped launch today's spiritual book boom.

It was 24 years ago that L.A.'s center for all things metaphysical, the Bodhi Tree Bookstore, opened for business on Melrose Avenue. The brainchild of Stan Madson and Phil Thompson, engineers for Douglas Aircraft who were swept up in the social revolution of the '60s and were itching to get out of the aerospace industry, the store was launched (with a third partner, Dan Morris) with a modest nest egg of $18,000 and an inventory of 2,000 books.