Customer Reviews

Bare-Bones Meditation: Waking Up from the Story of My Life

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Yes, I know that line is taken, but its how I felt several times while reading this book.

Joan Tollifson's birth defect seems to have spun her off a downward path from which she turned away only after a great deal of suffering and no small amount of effort. Part of what she did to herself was to become a habitual in-your-face type of person and a compulsive joiner. These are qualities that by one-third of the way through the book I found made Joan a bit hard to take.

Once she manages to shake loose of her drinking problem and to move out of the orbit of groups which focused on her identity as that of one sort of victim or another I had a brief feeling that this was turning into a soft, warm, fuzzies type of book. No such luck, Joan continues to be a compulsive joiner - only this time she's a guru-chaser, one after the other, after the other and back again. There were times if she'd been in the room with me I would have given her a good shaking and probably screamed, "Stick with something, you ninny! Just stick with something for once."

It was at those moments that I most realized exactly how much this woman and I were alike. And her frenetic flitting from one "enlightenment" thing to another was embarrassingly familar.

So, I end up with a one-handed, lesbian, guru-chaser as a mirror. Could be worse.

I think, for me, this was lesson enough. By the end of the book I didn't have the idea that Joan Tollifson was ready to hand down any secret doctrine. In fact, that may just put this book leagues ahead of those that attempt to do so.

This book is a very intimate look at the author's process. Here she is, suffering like the rest of us, living on an emotional roller coaster, compelled by habitual behaviours, confused, and at the same time engaged in her practice.

She struggles. She learns not to struggle. Then she struggles again. Layers of confusion, resistance, and suffering drop away.

At times reading this book was painful. I can see so many aspects of the author in myself.

Almost everyone who is engaged in meditation practice should read this book. It is a very personal account, but at the same time it really is about all of us.

Joan Tollifson writes with such directness she causes us to see. Taking us through the muddy waters of her early life--born without a hand, rejected and rebellious, she takes us through her coming out as a lesbian, her fierce love affairs and battles with alcohol and drugs, with being a victim. And yet the book is not about any of this. It could be any life struggle; the essence is seeing it clearly. And through the aid of several meditation leaders she finds her own ability to see and know. Her writing is a cup of tea thrown against our face. When we recover our breath it is easy and full, relaxed with her. Our vision penetrates to the bottom of the pool. At a time when "meditation" books are overflowing the market, this is one you'll want to take into your life. -Larry Smit

As the most visible practices of religion in this country now seem to come from cranks and their crankiness, Joan Tollifson offers a wild ride from crankiness into contemplation. What a relief! She is a disabled lesbian who internalizes her marginalization into something far more painful and crippling than meets the eye. (I very briefly washed dishes next to her, without knowing she was a lesbian and very impressed with her dexterity, which over-matched my two-armed pot scrubbing.) In this book she moves in and out of this despair with the practices of clearness, simplicity, humaneness and directness than Toni Packer has so stunningly written about. It is moving and fascinating to share so intimately in this very human chronicle.

This book is written by a remarkable woman who is handicap, a recovered addict and a lesbian. Already you are into this or turned off. The interesting thing is that the author's "handicaps" are not the important aspect of this book at all. As a reader, one forgets all about joan as a person because it is so easy to identify one's self with her. Through her journal like writing, the reader gets to experience her awakenings with her and it is a great experience. I would reccomend it to anyone.

Joan's writing is so sincere and honest that it engages our identity beyond the outer trappings of who we are. I am not gay or handicapped and have lived a rather straight and narrow life, but was completely identified with Joan on her journey. I have been practicing meditation for twenty years, and have read many books on the subject. This is one of the most engaging.

Heart-warming and mind-opening, written with tremendous honesty and directness and down-to-earth intelligence. Absolutely recommended.

I stumbled on this book looking for something 'light' on meditation and I'm glad I did. Who of us hasn't or isn't searching, seeking, yearning, troubling, struggling to find that seemingly ever elusive thing called happiness? Is it just a concept? I was mesmerized by Joan's honesty and grateful she should share her journey with all of us. I look forward to more from her.

Everyone's spiritual path is unique and entwined with all simultaneously. Joan's account of her personal trials and tribulations is a reflection that is being offered for each of us. Read it and laugh and cry. Her openess and honesty has helped me to look into my own dark corners. When I read her about her equivocations -- they are mine, just in a different form. Her insight, humor and boldness -- the same. This is a beautiful story because it is ours. People often buy guidebooks in preparation for a visit to foreign lands; why not read Joan's book about the familiar territory you may have left behind?

If you are searching,you may find this book helpful. If your search is full of missteps and misdirections or different directions, "Bare Bones Meditation" may be a validation of your search - a constant questioning and finding "real" answers and finding that the real answers yesterday are not the same today-over and over again. This book demonstrates that as human beings we all have the same problems in our search. This book is on my bedstand.