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The Bodhi Tree Bookstore Founded in 1970

Melrose Avenue is one of the most colorful streets in West Hollywood. It is famous for its majestic blue and green Pacific Design Center, its modern art galleries, its glamorous eateries and its high fashion outlets. But in 1970, it was a quiet shady street lined with small, low key businesses and the property of the Pacific Design Center was a sprawling lumberyard. In July 1970 the Bodhi Tree Bookstore began life in this quiet neighbor hood offering a wide range of metaphysical and religious titles. Its name comes from the "tree of enlightenment" under which Gautama sat in meditation until he achieved the state of grace that made him the Buddha. In a small area to the rear of the bookstore, grows a Ficus Religosa (bodhi tree), given to the Bodhi Tree Bookstore in the early 70s by a neighbor who grew it from a seed. In 2008, at nearly three stories high, it provides inspiration, shade, and respite -- a place where staff gathers to talk, read or rejuvenate.

The founders of the Bodhi Tree Bookstore, Dan Morris, Stan Madson and Phil Thompson met and worked together in Aerospace at Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica, California during the 1960s. They started reading books by D. T. Suzuki, and Alan Watts. They learned basic meditation by initiating into Transcendental Meditation and doing Buddhist meditation at Zen Center Los Angeles under the direction of Maizumi Roshi. They read the books and attended the public meetings of Jeddu Krishnamurti, who had a spiritual center in Ojai, California. Out of all of this, the idea of creating a new kind of bookstore and spiritual center begin to grow.

When The Bodhi Tree Bookstore started in 1970, Melrose Avenue was a quiet street, but it was at a time of sweeping challenges to society brought about by the Beat Generation, the Vietnam war, political assassinations, psychedelics, flower children, hippies, and the Beatles. Along with these happenings, a spiritual community emerged which talked about a new, wonderful, fresh way to live infused by the “Wisdom of the Ages” or the “Perennial Philosophy” and one that could transform everything into beauty, light and love. This clarion call spoke to something within the minds of the founders so they dropped out of the Aerospace Engineering community and inaugurated the Bodhi Tree Bookstore. In those days, spiritual books were not readily available and their destiny was to gather them together and make them accessible to all. It was the right time and place and the Bodhi Tree Bookstore became a Mecca for all things spiritual. There was the sense that the wisdom contained in the books stocked by the store could transform not only oneself and the community but the entire society as well. Governments would mature and the entire cosmos would be different.

Of the founding members, Fran and Stan Madson, and Elsa and Phil Thompson remain as active participants and managers.

The Bodhi Tree Bookstore has grown into a flourishing landmark with its roots strongly grounded in the spiritual community. It is a way station for eclectic spirits -- for people interested in bridging the insights drawn from Eastern and Western religious and mystical literature. Inside, the store is a series of small, intimate rooms with wooden bookcases, and chairs for relaxed browsing. Lining the walls are pictures of authors, seers, sages, senseis, prophets, gurus, imams and rebbes benignly blessing all who pass within. Among the soothing sounds one hears are the tinkling of chimes, the subtle strains of classical and world music mixed with the buzz of seeker’s conversations. There are pots of free herbal teas on a table in the center of the store and a container of free “mystery” incense on the front counter. In the book “Joy’s Way”, Brugh Joy mentioned experiencing a consciousness breakthrough while in the store. Many people have commented that the nature of the material found at The Bodhi Tree Bookstore and the sense of the physical space has helped them open into consciousness and find their place in the cosmos. For some people, it was a sanctuary from the outside world.

The original store was a stucco-clad, single story, two bedroom California bungalow, built in the 1920s, and converted to a storefront. For the first two years, from 1970 to 1973, it was called The Bodhi Tree Book and Tea Shop. In 1973 it became The Bodhi Tree Bookstore. It was at this time that Dan Morris along with his wife Marj Morris left the store, moving to the Northwest to pursue other interests. In 1978, the building next door at 606 Westbourne Avenue was acquired and the vital and treasured Bodhi Tree Used Book Branch came into being. In January 1994, The Bodhi Tree Bookstore acquired the adjacent storefront at 8383 Melrose Avenue. It has become an integral part of the Bodhi Tree experience as the meeting room for author readings and book signing events, and a wide variety of workshops including Reiki, psychics, travel programs, and metaphysical discourses.

The Bodhi Tree Bookstore offers almost daily events or workshops in the Annex building. It is a large, comfortable room that seats approximately 65 people. “The Artist’s Way Workshop” conducted by Kelly Morgan has been a popular ongoing twelve week lecture series. It draws on the work pioneered by Julia Cameron. This three-month program designed for creative people in all walks of life integrates new habits with the spiritual path of the artist into ones daily routine using exercises and a supportive group to recover creative flow from excessive self-criticism, perfectionism, jealousy, limiting beliefs, addictions and other inhibiting blocks. Educator Roger Weir has taught several cycles of his “Yoga of Civilization”. Weir is noted for his dynamic, broad-reaching cosmic lectures that range from the most esoteric spiritual teachings to the latest in scientific exploration while planting the seeds of dynamic personal transformation and nurturing self education. The Krishnamurti Foundation has been conducting monthly workshops since 2002. They explore the work of J. Krishnamurti, one of the most influential and independent spiritual teachers of the 1900s, by showing one of his archived talks followed by a dialogue discussion.

Some of the notable authors who have made presentations in the Bodhi Tree Bookstore Annex are Lynn Andrews, Brandon Bays, Melody Beattie, Gregg Braden, Sylvia Browne, Julia Cameron, Lucia Capacchione, Deepak Chopra, Sonia Choquette, Andrew Cohen, K.C. Cole, David Deida, Dr. Masaru Emoto, Steven Farmer, Shakti Gawain, Amit Goswami PhD, Graham Hancock, Thom Hartmann, Dr. Jean Houston, Laura Huxley, Susan Jeffers Ph.D., Charlotte Kasl, Daphne Rose Kingma, Amelia Kinkade, Jonathan Kirsch, Bruce Lipton, Drunvalo Melchizedek, Deena Metzger, Dan Millman, Thomas Moore, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jacob Needleman, Judith Orloff, Gary Quinn, James Redfield, Rachel Remen MD, Leonard Shlain, Lama Surya Das, Stewart & Janet Swerdlow, Eckhart Tolle, James Van Praag, Alberto Villoldo PhD, Doreen Virtue PhD, Amy Wallace, Brian Weiss MD, Hank Wesselman, and Marianne Williamson.

By 1982, with approximately 18,000 titles, the Bodhi Tree Bookstore had grown to such an extent that the aisles were crammed leaving little room to stuff in another book, statue, candle or meditation bell. A major re-model and expansion of the existing building was started. The original building was retained but wings were added as well as a second floor. The store remained open throughout the nine months it took to complete construction, which meant moving everything five times and the entrance door three times. It was a time of controlled chaos. The result is a modernist cube with a big, round window. Inside, if you look closely, you can still see the original front porch and the oval window that overlooked the front lawn. These are now the portals to the West wing.

The Bodhi Tree Bookstore thought that more than doubling their size would provide enough room for a long time but an unforeseen event would trigger explosive interest in spirituality and unprecedented growth in spiritual material.

On a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1983, actress Shirley MacLaine wandered into the Bodhi Tree Bookstore and embarked on a journey that changed her life, the life of the bookstore and the spiritual life of mainstream America. She described her first and subsequent visits to the Bodhi Tree Bookstore in her book "Out on a Limb", in which she revealed her study and exploration of reincarnation, trance channeling and other metaphysical matters. From the publication of that book, and the television series that followed, spirituality went mainstream and the Bodhi Tree Bookstore became widely known.

And soon, new books on spirituality were pouring off the presses as every publisher strove to address the emerging interest in consciousness. The Bodhi Tree Bookstore in 2008 has a vast inventory of some 30,000 titles and a wide assortment of spiritual paraphernalia including everything and anything that could possibly be useful to a person who has embarked – or is about to embark—on the gestalt path to self-knowledge.

In 1983, the Bodhi Tree Bookstore introduced it first computer system using the Information Partner software initially developed by the Christian Bookseller Association and now owned and maintained by IRT (Information Resource Technology). The first inventory system used by the Bodhi Tree Bookstore was a hand-written system utilizing the Kardex storage system. To convert from the hand inventory system required over one year of hand data entry. The original computer operating system was Dos based but is now Unix.

At one time, the Bodhi Tree Bookstore published a book review magazine with the first issue coming to life in late 1992. Dana LaFontaine and Mark Kenaston were the creators and first editors. Mariam Angel played a major role as an editorial assistant.

The Book Review was 11 by 14 inches in format, printed on newsprint and 32 to 56 pages long. It contained feature articles by noteworthy authors, best seller lists, and short reviews of recently published books, CDs and video cassettes.

The Book Review started as a quarterly but eventually was published two times a year, in the Spring and Fall. At its peak, 40,000 copies of each issue were printed. About 50% were mailed out to customers and the other 50% given away to customers at the store.

In 1993, Dana LaFontaine left the Bodhi Tree Bookstore leaving Mark Kenaston as the sole editor. Then in 1994, Mark Kenaston departed and the primary editor of the book review became Stan Madson with co-editors James Culnan and Camilla Denton. Subsequent reviews were written by staff (both current and former), particularly Louise Avila, Ivy Camille Sharpe, Dana LaFontaine, and Cheryl Parker, as well as by the editors, James Culnan, Camilla Denton, and Stan Madson. Other review writers included Paul Austad, Sean Breheny, Jo Carey, Steven Konstantine, Margaret Malloy, Rose Z. Moonwater, Gretchyn Lenger, Kevin M. Maxwell, Lisa Stevenson, T. L. Krishna Streeter, William H. Stroup, and Lisa Tserling.

Many of the book and product reviews have been re-edited and appear on the Bodhi Tree web site. Several of the feature articles have also been re-edited and placed on the Bodhi Tree web site in “Lecture Transcripts”.

Publication of the Book Review ceased with the 2002 Fall issue. The last five issues of the Bodhi Tree Bookstore Book Review magazine (complete, including all pictures and advertising) have been archived as pdf files on the Bodhi Tree web site.

The Bodhi Tree Bookstore is a founding and participating member of the Los Angeles Times Book Fair. Inaugurated in 1996, the LA Times Book Fair has become one of the premium book fairs for the United States drawing large crowds. It features many well attended author presentations, hundreds of bookstore booths showing their wares, and several outdoor stages, with author readings and musical events. All the events are free (there is a charge for vehicle parking) but most author events require tickets (distributed free). A children’s book area is very popular with children and their families. The book fair is a two day event on Saturday and Sunday in the latter part of April.

The City of West Hollywood is noted for its sense of adventure and originality to create and sustain a vibrant community. In 2002, they inaugurated the West Hollywood Book Fair. It is held in the fall in the West Hollywood Park and features author presentations, panel discussions, food booths, performance stages, and bookstalls. The Bodhi Tree Bookstore has had a booth at the book fair from the beginning.

Part of the special flavor of the Bodhi Tree Bookstore is its thoughtful and helpful staff. In these times of a rapidly changing book selling environment with its ever expanding superstores and online commerce, the Bodhi Tree Bookstore remains committed to helping individuals and the community come to an understanding of themselves and their relationship to all that is outside of themselves, and to participate in the process of self and social development. There are many signs of spiritual success in spite of ongoing wars, mayhem, and other cruelties. Many people have a spiritual interest and practice that charges their daily life. And spiritual books have penetrated all aspects of society and are readily available from large and small general bookstores as well as online. As a people, we are growing from the confines of a habitual, institutional religiosity to one of personal, transformative, inspirational and visionary significance that embraces the Earth and the expanse of galactic space. Educator Roger Weir describes all of this as “shared presence”. So one can remain hopeful for all creatures and things.

You see, I want a lot. Perhaps I want everything: the darkness that comes with every infinite fall and the shivering blaze of every step up.

So many live on and want nothing And are raised to the rank of prince By the slippery ease of their light judgments.

But what you love to see are faces That does the work and feel the thirst. ..

You have not grown old, and it is not too late To dive into your increasing depths Where life calmly gives out its own secret.

Poem by Rilke translated by Robert Bly, quoted in “After the Ecstasy, the Laundry” by Jack Kornfield