LIVING NOW: Equanimity | Intention | Legacy | Peace & Grace
Finding Balance – Stepping Into the Flow
Stone, Time, & the Flow of Water. St. Vrain, Colorado copyright 2014 JBolane
Joan Halifax
Standing at the Edge
Finding Freedom Where Fear & Courage Meet
Roshi Joan Halifax, a revered anthropologist, teacher and author brings deep wisdom and insights for living in her newest book. Roshi Joan identifies five psychological territories she calls Edge States―altruism, empathy, integrity, respect, and engagement―that epitomize strength of character. Yet each of these states can also be the cause of personal and social suffering. In this way, these five psychological experiences form edges, and it is only when we stand at these edges that we become open to the full range of our human experience and discover who we really are. Recounting the experiences of caregivers, activists, humanitarians, politicians, parents, and teachers, incorporating the wisdom of Zen traditions and mindfulness practices, and rooted in Halifax’s groundbreaking research on compassion, Standing at the Edge is destined to become a contemporary classic. A powerful guide on how to find the freedom we seek for others and ourselves, it is a book that will serve us all.
Find Standing at the Edge at your local library or order it online
Roshi Joan Halifax is the founder of the Upaya Zen Center
Also by Roshi Joan Halifax: Being With Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death
Listen to Roshi Joan Halifax describe her new book: Standing at the Edge
Frank Ostaseski
The Five Invitations
Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully
by Frank Ostaseski
Awareness of death can be a valuable companion on the road to living well, forging a rich and meaningful life, and letting go of regret. The Five Invitations is a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us.
Find the book at your local library or order it online
Frank Ostaseski is a founder of the Zen Hospice Project and the Metta Institute
Listen to Frank Ostaseski talk about Preparing for Dying
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
The Will to Live & Other Mysteries – Audio CD
Recorded essays by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
An inspiring recording from the beloved author of My Grandfather’s Blessings and Kitchen Table Wisdom. This beloved teacher and healer of the heart probes the experience of Mystery and illuminates its power to literally transform our lives. We are a culture that worships science, Dr. Remen begins, even though science is unable to fully explain the mystery of how we heal. In her own words, Dr. Remen shares compelling stories of people who – against all odds – embodied the will to live and opened to the power of mystery as a healing resource. This source of wonder and hope, she says, is available to all of us at any time. Find the audio CD or Audiobook here
Dr Remen is the founder of The New School at Commonweal
and Rishi – Remen Institute for the Study of Health and Illness
Follow Dr. Remen’s work on her Facebook page:
The Art of Living Every Minute of Your Life
University of California San Francisco
Mini Medical School Series for the Public
Explore measures that can be taken to not only live longer but also live better with Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, an early pioneer in the mind/body holistic health movement.
Ram Dass
Polishing the Mirror
by Ram Dass
For five decades, Ram Dass has explored the depths of consciousness and love and brought back insights as his service to others. With Polishing the Mirror, he gathers together his essential teachings for being and loving, here and now, in the eternal present. For those just starting on the path, this is a primer for living from the spiritual heart. For those already practicing it, is a reference point for daily life in the spirit.
Find both the ebook and the Audio CD version on Sounds True
Also by Ram Dass – Walking Each Other Home, Conversations on Loving and Dying with Mirabai Bush. –
Death as an Advisor To Life
Roshi Joan Halifax, Vanessa Callison-Burch, Frank Ostaseski, & Ram Dass
Listen to a wise and informative discussion of what embracing dying can show us about living now.
Stephen Jenkinson
Griefwalker – DVD
Stephen Jenkinson, Tim Wilson
A film about the redemptive power of deep love for life when we glimpse it’s end by author and wisdom-keeper Stephen Jenkinson. Thought provoking observations on the true meaning of dying and coming to terms with our fears.
Find this book and films here.
Stephen Jenkinson and his wife Natalie are the founders of the Orphan Wisdom School
Die Wise, A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul
by Stephen Jenkinson
“With lyrical prose and deep wisdom, and stories from two decades of working with dying people and their families, Stephen Jenkinson places death at the center of the page and asks us to behold it in all its painful beauty. And in the process, teaches us the skills of dying by living deeply and well.”
Find this book and films here.
Come of Age
The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble
by Stephen Jenkinson
Jenkinson argues that elderhood is a function rather than an identity–it is not a position earned simply by the number of years on the planet or the title “parent” or “grandparent.” He interweaves rich personal stories with iconoclastic observations that will leave readers radically rethinking their concept of what it takes to be an elder and the risks of doing otherwise.
Find this book and films here.
Stephen Jenkinson – the Meaning of Death
Pema Chödrön
Archarya Pema Chödrön is the principle teacher at Gampo Abbey, Nova Scotia, Canada
The Wisdom of No Escape
This book is about saying yes to life in all its manifestations—embracing the potent mixture of joy, suffering, brilliance, and confusion that characterizes the human experience. Pema Chödrön shows us the profound value of our situation of “no escape” from the ups and downs of life.
Available online in different formats from Shambhala Publications
Shambhala Publications
An excellent source for books and recording by Pema Chodron as well as many other fine publications.
Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better
by Pema Chödrön
When her granddaughter was accepted to Naropa University, the celebrated author Pema Chödrön promised that she’d speak at the commencement ceremony.
Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better contains the wisdom shared on that day.
“What do we do when life doesn’t go the way we hoped?” begins Pema. “We say ‘I’m a failure.’” But what if failing wasn’t just “okay” …but the most direct way to becoming a more complete, loving, and fulfilled human being? Pema Chödrön offers us her heartfelt advice on facing the unknown—in ourselves and in the world—and how our missteps can open our eyes to see new possibilities and purpose. For readers of all faiths who are at a life crossroads.
Find this book at Sounds True .
Sounds True
An excellent source for books and recording many fine publications.
Making Friends with Yourself through Loving Kindness & Compassionate Attention
Ira Byock, MD
The Four Things That Matter Most
by Ira Byock, MD
In this down-to-earth and helpful book Dr. Byock demonstrates the value of “stating the obvious” and provides practical insights into the benefits of letting go of old grudges and toxic emotions. His stories help us to forgive, appreciate, love, and celebrate one another and live life more fully.
Find the book at your local library or order it online
Ira Byock, MD is the founder of the Institute for Human Caring.
Dziger Kongtrul
It’s Up to You:
The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path Paperback
by Dzigar Kongtrul
Self-reflection is a practice, a path, and an attitude. It is the spirit of taking an interest in that which we usually try to push away. When we practice self-reflection we take liberation into our own hands and accept the challenge and personal empowerment
Dzigar Kongtrül suggests that we need not feel “doomed” when the experiences of insecurity, doubt and self-centeredness surface in us. In fact, such experiences are not a problem if we are able to simply let them arise without judging them or investing them with so much meaning.
Find the book in a library or order it online
Natalie Goldberg
Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home
by Natalie Goldberg
Through a direct and grounded narrative, Natalie illuminates a path through illness: that we need to be in love with the life we have, to embrace the dark and the light in our life. For Natalie, writing and painting represent the light, and her cancer takes her deeper into her art practices. Balanced with a Zen practice that helps her to face death, this book is a moving meditation on living life in full bloom.
Find the book at your local library or order it online
Judith L Leif
Making Friends with Death: A Buddhist Guide to Encountering Mortality
by Judith L. Lief
A revered faculty member at Naropa University, Judith Leif offers health professionals, students of death and dying, and people who are helping a dying friend or relative useful guidance and inspiration. It will show them how to ground their actions in awareness and compassion, so that the steps they take in dealing with pain and suffering will be more effective.Through a combination of contemplation of death and mindfulness practice, Leif offers a series of guidelines to help us reconnect with dying persons, whether they are friends or family, clients or patients.
Find this book at your library or order it online
Sharon Salzberg
Real Love:
The Art of Mindful Connection
by Sharon Salzberg
A leading expert in loving-kindness meditation, Sharon invites us to shift the responsibilities of the love that we give and receive to rekindle the powerful healing force of true connection. By challenging myths perpetuated by popular culture, we can undo the limited definitions that reduce love to simply romance or passion and give the heart a much needed tune-up to connect ourselves to the truest experience of love in our daily lives.Available in several formats including audiobook and Audio Cd read by the author.
Find the book at your local library or order it online
John E Welshons
One Soul, One Love, One Heart:
The Sacred Path to Healing All Relationships
by John E. Welshons
How do we heal our difficult relationships and nurture our healthy ones? What is their significance in our spiritual life? In this deeply moving book, John E. Welshons answers these questions and shows us how to heal our most difficult relationships by transforming them into our greatest spiritual lessons and how to love, forgive, and care for our fellow human beings — even those we find most difficult to love and forgive.
Find it a your local library or order it online
Stephen & Ondrea Levine
Who Dies?
by Stephen and Ondrea Levine
This compassionate book was written by two dedicated pioneers in exploration of a better path to a peaceful dying experience. It shows the reader how to open to the immensity of living with death, to participate fully in life as the perfect preparation for whatever may come next. Stephen Levine also wrote One Year to Live
Find the book at your local library or order it online
Expanding life through art, poetry & music
Kazuaki Tanahashi
The Heart of the Brush
The Splendor of East Asian Calligraphy
by Kazuaki Tanahashi
This book is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the history and art of calligraphy as it’s been practiced for centuries in China, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia.It works as a guide for the beginner hoping to develop an appreciation for Asian calligraphy, for the person who wants to give calligraphy-creation a try, as well as for the expert or aficionado who just wants to browse through and exult in lovely examples.
Find the book at your local library or order it online
The Brush Mind – Calligraphy
Mark Nepo
Things That Join the Sea & the Sky
by Mark Nepo
Wisdom from poet, mentor and author Mark Nepo, this series of rich prose essays which provide poignant observations on dealing with the joys and sorrows that life hands to us as we try to keep our heads above water. The book includes a section with 100 Journal Questions that help hone in on what is essential to us in our lives.
Find the book at your local library or order it online
William Close
Earth Harp
The marvels of music as vibration from the earth’s landscapes. Invented and created by William Close. The earth Harp transforms architecture, landscape and venue into huge environmental symphonic Instruments. You will be amazed.
Explore this beauty
Forgiveness
Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr.
San Juan Mountains – Southwestern Colorado copyright 2016 JBolane. All rights reserved
Forgiveness Made Easy:
The Revolutionary Guide to Moving Beyond Your Past
and Truly Letting Go
by Barbara J Hunt
With over 25 years of experience, international mentor, coach and transformational facilitator has created steps to make forgiveness easy. She is expert in guiding her clients from “I’ll never be able to forgive you for that” to restoring peace of mind and heart, complete release from the past and authentic forgiveness.
Find the book at your local library or order it online
The Sun Does Shine:
How I Found Life & Freedom on Death Row
by Anthony Ray Hinton
In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only twenty–nine years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free. An extraordinary testament to the power of hope sustained through the darkest times. Destined to be a classic memoir of wrongful imprisonment and freedom won, Hinton’s memoir tells his dramatic thirty–year journey and shows how you can take away a man’s freedom, but you can’t take away his imagination, humor, or joy.
Find the book at your local library or order it online
TedxTalks
Sammy Rangel – The Power of Forgiveness
“We do not have to be victims of our own stories…but interestingly enough stories are a way out of our suffering. We hold the power to change our story.” Sammy Rangel ended his Ted Talk leaving the stage with a standing ovation. The stories he shares are graphic and difficult to hear about human cruelty. Rangel’s childhood was filled with so much abuse and neglect that it’s hard not to empathize with story of what lead him to a 7 year prison sentence in solitary confinement. This talk is a narrative of human survival.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Do We Have to Forgive Everything?
Revered Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh shares his wise perspectives on forgiving a person who has wronged us. The first minuets of the video are slightly disrupted by people moving in front of the camera. His perspectives are worth waiting through this distraction.
TEDxDonovanCorrectional
Rediscovering Hope Through Self-Forgiveness – Billy Johnson
Even as a high school football star, Billy fell into a dark tunnel. Within a 9-month period, Billy’s two most important people were killed and he felt responsible for both deaths. He found his light switch after 20 years of incarceration, which led him to rediscover hope through self- forgiveness.