Falling is Flying
The Dharma of Facing Adversity
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
What do we do when life throws rocks at us?
“Instead of trying to discipline your mind with ill will, fault-finding, guilt, punishment, and fear, use something far more powerful: the beautiful kindness, gentleness, and forgiveness of making peace with life.”—Ajahn Brahm
“In free fall, nothing is solid and there is nothing to hold on to. There is no way to control the experience. You have to surrender, and with that surrender comes the taste of liberation.”—Master Guojun
Most of us tend to live each day as if it will be just another day—like nothing will change. It always comes as a shock when we lose a job, a loved one, a relationship, our health—even though we’ve seen it happen again and again to those around us. Once we finally realize we’re not immune, then we wonder: what now? How do we continue when the terrain suddenly gets rough?
Meet your companions for this rocky part of the path: Ajahn Brahm and Chan Master Guojun—one a teacher in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, the other in the Chinese Zen tradition. These two beloved meditation masters share personal stories and anecdotes from their own experiences of dealing with life’s pitfalls. You’ll learn from their honest, generous teachings how you can live fully—even flourish—even when the road ahead looks steep and lonely.
Personal, poetic, instructive, and often laugh-out-loud funny, this is inspiring advice for people from all walks of life.
“Falling is Flying is truly unique because it offers a rare glimpse into the personal lives of two living Buddhist masters. With unflinching honesty, Ajahn Brahm and Chan Master Guojun share the struggles they’ve faced, even after becoming monks and respected teachers. Throughout the book, we see how, instead of turning away in aversion from adversity, they’ve used it as a stepping stone for finding the peace and happiness we all seek. I love this book and recommend it most highly!” —Toni Bernhard, author of How To Be Sick
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brahm, a Theravada Buddhist monk, and Guojun, a teacher in the Chan tradition, share in this informative volume of teachings on how they have faced adversity as public authority figures of Buddhism. In 2009, Brahm ordained nuns (which is controversial within the Thai Forest Tradition) and was subsequently expelled from the lineage of Ajahn Chah, his teacher. Over the last decade, Guojun writes that he has been the target of a "smear campaign" that unjustly accused him of sexual misconduct and questionable financial dealings. For both authors, the core of the controversies rested in questions about how power ought to be wielded by Dharma masters according to Buddhist monastic codes. Brahm and Guojun use their respective situations as jumping-off points for reflections on concepts such as knowing vs. experience and the nature of expectation. They also both discuss relationships to teachers and the ways their practice shaped how they have have faced adversity, which Guojun sums up succinctly: "Win or lose? Relax. It's nothing special. Very simple; very ordinary. It was about how you live when you win, or how you live when you lose." Both teach that, rather than avoiding adversity in life, it is crucial to learn how to let go of one's preferences and to meet whatever comes as it is. Readers familiar with either of the authors will find this volume an accessible and enjoyable counterpoint of tradition and perspective for facing adversity.
