the wisdom of no escape, or: from zen mind to this lousy world

from zen mind to the wisdom of no escape
Last year, there was one book that accompanied me almost through the whole year in reads and revisits of passages - i actually started to read it in November 2011: "Zen Mind, Beginners Mind". The classic zen book by the Shunryu Suzuki, who founded of the first western zen monastery. With its 147 pages, it's not a thick book by size. But it's like an ocean of thought, with chapters about Practice, Non-Dualism, Attitude, Self-Study, Emptiness, Attachment, Experience and so on. i blogged a bit more about it, here: Zen mind

For 2012, i looked for a similar-but-different book. and think i found it: "the wisdom of no escape" is written by Pema Chodron, an exceptional ordained nun and teacher. After reading her introduction to the book, i looked for a video, curious for her voice. And found several. The first includes an intro with a bio, and the second gives an idea of her humour and her thoughtfulness:

an interview with Pema Chodron (bio included)



and here some minutes from one of her talks. this one is on dealing with this world at large and in detail. listening to it made me think of my own former yoga teacher, who once joked about our excuses for not showing up at class: "too much snow in winter, too hot in summer, too busy at work, and isn't it neat that you can always find something, if you want... "

This lousy world