17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Radical Refreshment, One Jewel at a Time, December 10, 2003
This review is from: 365 Nirvana Here and Now: Living Every Moment in Enlightenment (Hardcover)
"LOOKING AT EVERYTHING AS IF FOR THE FIRST TIME REVEALS THE COMMONPLACE TO BE UTTERLY INCREDIBLE, IF ONLY WE CAN BE ALIVE TO THE NEWNESS OF IT." RUTH BERNARD (venerable San Francisco photographer)
This book, by former Zen priest Josh Baran took 10 years to be selected, and consists of 365 koans, reminders, and poetic utterances from utterly disparate sources ranging from the Western poetics of Walt Whitman and Rainier Maria Rilke to traditional Buddhist teaching to Alanis Morrisette's pop lyrics to the more anecdotal remembrances of the assuredly non-famous.
It's worth the wait. Some of the daily selections benefit from Baran's closing commentary, either asking a question limned by the above reading or making a small statement that deepens the accompanying text.
365 Nirvana has the aspect of the I-Ching, a prayer book, a small book of wisdom. A shallow dip rewards deeply.
Many are crystal clear nondual utterances from Buddhist or Advaitic sources.
Others are pragmatic, poetic, and personal; for instance:
"For years, as a Zen meditator, I praved for a mystical ray gun that could zap away every negative thought. Then I discovered that thoughts weren't the enemy, and I learned to welcome them with open arms." Josh Baran (accompanying text to Francis Lucille's "Real Meditation." p. 102)
". . . "What is this miracle?' he cries. `What are these mysteries called: trees, sea, stones, birds?'" Nikos Kazantzakis
Another exercise: When you wake up tomorrow morning, see everything as miracle, as mystery. (p. 255)
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gentle reminders when faced with uncertainty, December 25, 2005
My husband bought this for me for Christmas. We're faced with giving birth in February to a child who will require several open heart surgeries. I've been struggling with the anticipation and fear - mostly of the unknown. It's made the days hard to get through.
I've picked up this book no less than 10 times in the few hours since he's given it to me, and each page contains a small wisdom that reminds me to focus on where I am at this moment - even if it means embracing the anger and the fear. Each page is a gentle reminder that the moment is where we are; to dwell in the unknown is to miss living fully in the now. All the rest, everything before and beyond the now, is out of our control - and this book makes that concept a little less frightening.
Highly recommended.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everyday Enlightenment, April 10, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: 365 Nirvana Here and Now: Living Every Moment in Enlightenment (Hardcover)
This is a book to read everyday. I just open it at random and read a page or two. So many incredible, simple and clear reminders that IT is all right here - peace, truth, heaven on earth. No beliefs, no dogmas, no demands. Just pointers to be present to reality as it is - right here and now. I love reading these pieces after sitting quietly or just when i wake up. Also, this is a great gift book for almost anyone because of the wide and unique passages that Josh Baran has put together.
As someone who has been meditating for a very long time and has read hundreds of spiritual books, I find that 365 Nirvana Here and Now is a refreshing simple stop sign.
Also, there is a terrific afterword in the book - a long dialogue with the author that clarifies the essence of this collection.
for Power of Now fans, for seekers of any kind, for meditators -- this book is for you.
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