Healing Zen: Buddhist Wisdom on Compassion, Caring, and Caregiving--for Yourself and Others [Paperback]

Ellen Birx (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2003

Every day new research attests to the link between spirituality and health. In Healing Zen, nursing professor and Zen teacher Ellen Birx focuses on the Buddhist concept of "healing as wholeness" and demonstrates the practice of awareness and meditation that can help restore energy, build endurance, and suffuse our lives with compassion and joy.

Drawing on her twenty years' experience as a nurse, Birx takes us on a deeply humane and sensitive journey through the natural process of healing. She shares inspiring stories of her patients, students, family, and friends, as well as teachings from the Zen tradition, to reveal how we can find wholeness in the midst of illness.

This compact and beautifully packaged book makes a heartfelt gift for health professionals, caregivers, patients, or anyone struggling with the demands of life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ellen Birx, Ph.D., R.N., is a nurse and professor in the School of Nursing at Radford University in Virginia. She became a Zen teacher under Roshi Robert Kennedy and Roshi Bernie Glassman and is the cofounder of the New River Zen Community. She frequently lectures to patients, health professionals, Zen students, and general readers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (June 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142196142
• ISBN-13: 978-0142196144
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,221,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compassionate wisdom, June 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Healing Zen: Buddhist Wisdom on Compassion, Caring, and Caregiving--for Yourself and Others (Paperback)

Ellen Birx has written an inspiring, wise and loving book. In HEALING ZEN she shows us how to realize, in all areas of our lives, the fundamental healing unity which lies at the heart of Buddhist practice. Ellen's uniquely compassionate voice fills each page as she shares moving stories from her life as a nurse, educator, and Zen teacher. Those new to Zen and seasoned practitioners alike will be able to appreciate this wonderful, practical addition to the growing literature devoted to healing and Zen.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual practice in everyday life, June 8, 2003

By 

Ray Cicetti (Mtn Lakes, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Healing Zen: Buddhist Wisdom on Compassion, Caring, and Caregiving--for Yourself and Others (Paperback)

As a psychotherapist and student of Zen, I found this book clear and informative.So often we read esoteric spiritual teachings that don't speak to our daily struggles.This book does and you don't have to be into Zen to use what it offers.Anyone can take something from it.
The insights Zen koans have to offer,which can be confusing to understand are articulated clearly and plainly. Birx takes what could be very complex ideas and lays them out for us to use with whatever we are dealing with in our life.
Zen practice is a profound method for waking up to our life, and Ellen Birx shows us the way with insight. I recommend this book to health professionals and spiritual seekers alike.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Ocean of Compassion, June 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Healing Zen: Buddhist Wisdom on Compassion, Caring, and Caregiving--for Yourself and Others (Paperback)

This book allows the reader to see the world through the eyes of a compassionate Zen teacher and to share in her healing response to what she sees, "...that the other is myself". This book is filled with love and caring by a person who has dedicated her life to the gentle healing of the human body and the patient liberation of the human mind. Ellen shares many stories from her life as a wife, mother, grandmother, nurse, and nursing professor. These stories help to clarify Zen teachings encountered in Zen koans and poetry. Ellen's teachings are down-to-earth and practical. As Roshi Bernie Glassman writes, "The third tenet of the Zen Peacemaker Order is 'Healing ourselves and others'. In Healing Zen, Ellen Birx has given us the 'how' of this tenet. The book is a huge gift to us all and especially to those in the helping professions." Ellen's Buddhist name is 'Jikai' which means "Ocean of Compassion". While reading this book you will find yourself swimming in an ocean of compassion.