Zen Heart: Simple Advice for Living with Mindfulness and Compassion - Hardcover

Bayda, Ezra

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590305434 ISBN 13: 9781590305430

Publisher: Shambhala, 2008

Synopsis

There's a secret to spiritual practice, and it's surprisingly simple: learn to be present with attention. Do that, and the whole world becomes your teacher, you wake up to the sacredness of every aspect of existence, and compassion for others arises without even thinking about it. It's indeed just that simple, says Zen teacher Ezra Bayda, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's easy—especially when being present brings us up against the painful parts of life. Bayda provides a wealth of practical advice for making difficult experiences a valued part of the path and for making mindulness a daily habit. He breaks practice down into three phases:

   ·  The Me Phase, in which we uncover our most basic and tightly-clung-to beliefs about ourselves, observe our emotions, and become intimate with our fears
   ·  Being Awareness, in which we cultivate a larger sense of what life is, transforming our limited experience into a more spacious sense of being
   ·  Being Kindness, in which we learn to connect with the love that is our true nature, and learn to live from that place of kindness and compassion

About this title

About the Author:

Ezra Bayda teaches at Zen Center San Diego. He is also the author of Being Zen, At Home in the Muddy Water, Saying Yes to Life (Even the Hard Parts), and Zen Heart. For more information, visit www.zencentersandiego.org.

Review:

"Bayda writes with exceptional clarity and simplicity about the awakened life. His style is as plain spoken as Pema Chödrön's. He deserves membership in the ranks of respected meditation teacher-authors."—Publishers Weekly

"This book is like a personal retreat. I'd like to read it once a year. It has the best of the Zen spirit—not indulging but experiencing every ounce of life, good and bad. You will have to read closely, because the lessons are more difficult than they appear. At the same time it is a beautifully simple reflection on what it means to be, rather than to try to be. I'm certain of its wisdom because it is not there to be grasped and celebrated. The wisdom is all in the spaces, the pauses, and the wonderment."—Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and A Life at Work 

"A clear and comprehensive guide to life transformation. Readers will find down-to-earth advice and effective practices for going beyond basic fears and conditioning to live a more awakened and openhearted life."—Dennis Genpo Merzel, Roshi, author of Big Mind, Big Heart: Finding Your Way

About this edition

• Publisher: Shambhala
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1590305434
• ISBN 13: 9781590305430
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208