Untangled
Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Though we are seemingly more connected to our world than ever before, many of us cannot ignore a nagging sense of loneliness and isolation. To keep this anxiety and discontentment at bay, we can search for connection through unhealthy distractions, believing these will bring us true nourishment. And yet, loneliness is on the rise, exacting detrimental effects on our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. Even those of us who have succeeded in the ways that society applauds, often feel unanchored, disengaged, and purposeless. If true pleasure is what we desire, how do we look past the surface, to discover a life filled with meaningful connection and genuine relationships?
Untangled is a welcoming guidebook to finding expansive ease and true joy through what is traditionally called the eightfold path, one of Buddhism’s foundational teachings. Psychotherapist and Zen teacher Koshin Paley Ellison compassionately walks readers down these eight roads, leading them on a path of transformation and to experience true joy. Combining teachings from both Eastern and Western wisdom traditions, Paley Ellison equips readers with the tools needed to untangle our tangles and make profound change, inside and out. Infused with Paley Ellison’s own anecdotes of his life as a young gay kid facing abuse and discrimination, this approachable guide will help you transform your ever day interactions, your most intimate relationships and offers a path for social healing. It is an ancient cure that’s up to the challenge of healing the modern dysfunction of our times.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Buddhist monk Paley Ellison (Wholehearted) delivers an outstanding guide to the essentials of Buddhist practice. To counter the "tangle" of fears and resentments engendered by modern life, Paley Ellison urges readers to follow the Eightfold Path of Buddhism. "We're not ever going to actually get good" at following the Path, Paley Ellison asserts, emphasizing that Buddhism is a way of life rather than a goal to be achieved. The author recounts how, early in his Buddhist practice, he lost sight of Buddhist principles in his eagerness to please his instructors and suggests that to achieve "right intention"—a tenet of the Eightfold Path—one must stop seeking validation in others and accept "life as it is." He tells of getting chased through the woods by teenagers shouting "hunt the Jew" when he was 10 and shares how he learned to "regulate" his lingering fear through meditation. Such reflection questions as "What do you conceal about your life?" and "Are there stories or thoughts you use to beat yourself up?" encourage readers to consider how to integrate Buddhist principles into their lives. Paley Ellison's candid anecdotes show the principles in action and his passion comes through on every page. Additionally, his theology manages to be accessible without oversimplifying. This walks the walk.
