Buddhism of the Heart (eBook)

Despite its 800-year history and standing as one of the most popular branches of Buddhism in the world, Shin Buddhism has been passed on primarily through an oral tradition, leaving few books written about it. Buddhism of the Heart addresses that gap. Using anecdote, reflection, humor, and more, this book invites readers into the world of Shin stories and metaphors, passed down, elaborated, and re-energized generation after generation. The truth of Shin Buddhism's sacred storytelling, explains author Jeff Wilson, lies in the degree to which it points the hearer on toward deeper humility, awakening, and thankfulness. He shows how the tradition moves us beyond the petty ego as we come closer to the entrusting heart,' the heart that is rooted in boundless gratitude and considerate awareness of others. A major new voice in Western Buddhism, Wilson evokes the warmth of Robert Fulghum and the nonjudgmental spiritual struggling of Anne Lamott in this accessible, affirming work for the modern seeker.

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Jeff Wilson started his walk on the Buddha's path as a Zen practitioner - taking up a tradition of vigorous self-effort, intensive meditation, and meticulous attention to rectitude in every action. But in Jeff's case, rather than freeing him from his suffering, he found those Zen practices made him nothing short of insufferable. And so he turned to Shin Buddhism - a path that is easily the most popular in Zen's native land of Japan but is largely unknown in the West. Shin emphasizes an "e;entrusting heart,"e; a heart that is able to receive with gratitude every moment of our mistake-filled and busy lives. Moreover, through walking the Shin path, Jeff comes see that each of us (himself especially included) are truly "e;foolish beings,"e; people so filled with endlessly arising "e;blind passions"e; and ingrained habits that we so easily cause harm even with our best intentions. And even so, Shin holds out the tantalizing possibility that, by truly entrusting our foolish selves to the compassionate universe, we can learn to see how this foolish life, just as it is, is nonetheless also a life of grace. Buddhism of the Heart is a wide-ranging book of essays and open-hearted stories, reflections that run the gamut from intensely personal to broadly philosophical, introducing the reader to a remarkable religious tradition of compassionate acceptance.