Description
Book SynopsisA thoughtful, down-to-earth look at helpful ways to lessen human suffering. This book takes you on a lively, sometimes light-hearted, journey through nine Buddhist practices that can bring "blessed relief" to a wide range of human suffering—and teaches you skills to reduce suffering in the long term for yourself and others. The practices help you: Loosen the grip of suffering Engage and question limiting views, thoughts and opinions Deconstruct ten common assumptions Be present in each moment Survive emotional storms Develop peaceful communication skills Deepen communication with your partner Appreciate mortality and the preciousness of life Cultivate compassion As you read the chapters and engage in each practice, you will work with your own stories of suffering—stories in which you have felt abandoned, deprived, subjugated, defective, excluded or vulnerable—and you will learn how to release yourself from suffering by investigating it with curiosity and kindness.
Trade Review"A spiritual banquet ... to heal our psyches and awaken our hearts. Helps us open to the unconditional love that is intrinsic to both Christianity and Buddhism." —Tara Brach, clinical psychologist; author, Radical Acceptance "Both a moving personal story and a source of valuable insight for all those who are wrestling with questions of suffering in their lives. It is a serious book that is also fun to read." —Phillip Moffitt, founder and president of the Life Balance Institute; author, Dancing With Life “Meets our contemporary struggles with refreshing clarity and power. Peerman's understated humor in relating ordinary life encounters frequently had me weeping with the laughter of self-recognition.” —Marjorie J. Thompson, author, Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life “Exceptional…. With uncommon vulnerability, engaging humor, and sure-footed counsel, Gordon Peerman invites us to hear and make our own a far vaster story arising from deep sources of wisdom East and West, whose language conveys the liberating spaciousness of being truly awake, aware and alive.” —John S. Mogabgab, editor, Weavings Journal “A guide to freedom from fear, filled with stories to make us laugh, sigh, cry, and wake up to compassion for ourselves and all the world.” —Margaret McGee, author, Sacred Attention: A Spiritual Practice for Finding God in the Moment “Remarkable. A spiritual exploration that unites centuries of Buddhist teachings with Christian wisdom. [The] approach is not only inspired, but also eminently practical … yet profoundly powerful.” —Derek Lin, translator/annotator, Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained
Table of ContentsIntroduction ix The Buddha Way and the Christian Way ix What Helps and What Doesn't xi Dropping Your Story Line xii Finding Freedom xiii 1. Big Mind, Big Medicine 1 Everything Changes 1 The Heart of Mindfulness 5 The Weakest Link 7 Small Mind, Big Mind 10 Renunciation Practice 13 A Refuge from Words 16 Dropping into Freedom 19 Blessed Relief: The Three-Minute Breathing Space 24 2. The Cry for Help 27 The Why and the What of Suffering 27 An Exit from Hell 29 Bearing Suffering 32 The Work 36 Clearing the Lens 38 The Judging Mind Goes on Retreat 41 Blessed Relief: The Work 45 3. Beyond Belief 49 A Happy Accident 49 Spacious Awareness 52 Incline Your Mind 55 Who's Talking? 57 The Cloud of Unknowing 60 Blessed Relief: The Practice of Inquiry 63 4. Quiet Ambition 65 Not Enough 65 Kind Attention 69 Spontaneous Joy 72 The Hungry Ghost 74 Blessed Relief: The Sacred Breath 77 5. An Instrument of Peace 79 Angr-r-r-y 79 Self-Soothing: Bringing Attentiveness to Anger 81 Self-Defining: Being Willing to Speak Your Truth 85 Self-Transcending: Bringing RAIN to Blame 91 Blessed Relief: Working with RAIN 98 6. Meeting Our Edges 101 "You All Belong" 101 The Failed Buddhist Bypass 104 Nonviolent Communication 110 May the Circle Be Unbroken 114 Blessed Relief: Nonviolent Communication (NVC) 117 7. Beginning Anew 121 Unwrapping the Experience 121 A Place to Begin 123 True Intimacy 125 Zazen in the Devil’s Cauldron 129 Blessed Relief: The Practice of Beginning Anew 134 8. The Dharma of Dying 137 Remembrances 137 The Great Way 140 Bowing to the Moment 143 Old Wounds 147 Blessed Relief: The Five Remembrances 150 9. Mobile Loaves and Fishes 153 Compassion Rising 153 Beyond Us and Them 157 A Retreat on the Streets 159 Softening the Heart 161 Blessed Relief: Compassion Practice 166 Afterword 168 Glossary 173 Suggested Resources 175 Acknowledgments 179 Credits 182
