Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World [Hardcover]

Mary Pipher (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 19, 2009

"An absorbing chronicle of discovery" (Booklist) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Reviving Ophelia and The Shelter of Each Other

Like most lives, Mary Pipher’s is filled with glory and tragedy, chaos and clarity, love and abandonment. She spent her childhood in small Midwestern towns, the nurturing daughter of a doctor mother and a restless, jack-of-all-trades father. Later, as a wife, mother, and therapist, she was able to do what she most enjoyed: learn about the world and help others. But after the surprising success of Reviving Ophelia, she found herself overwhelmed by the demands on her time and attention. In 2002, Pipher experienced a meltdown. She realized that success and fame were harming her, and she began the long journey to a quieter, more meditative life that would carry her toward self-acceptance and joy.

In Seeking Peace, Pipher tells her own remarkable story, and in the process reveals fundamental truths about our individual search for happiness and love. Candid, surprising and moving, Seeking Peace offers a map for our own journey toward a more fulfilling, more joyously lived life.    
 

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Pipher’s account of being the worst Buddhist in the world—driven, anxious, self-blaming—is hard to put down with its smooth, compact, and insightful prose. In this quest describing a quest, best-selling Pipher describes how, after spending her life developing relationships to fend off her dark loneliness, she found that she possessed the wrong psychological makeup for public life when fame thrust her out of her support system and into an exhausting whirlwind of appearances. The woman with only two speeds—on and off—had never learned to pace herself, and instead excoriated herself for failings real and imagined. Only after her inability to disappoint others became a disaster, and she felt both totally naked and utterly hidden, could she take a first step toward self-reclamation: simplify. Time in seclusion spent petting her cat and exploring yoga and massage led her to the age-old healing found in familiar homey routines, and in laughter. Captivated by the concept of mindfulness and becoming a bird whose wings are compassion and awareness, Pipher found self-accepting peace through Buddhist meditation and in writing this absorbing chronicle of discovery. --Whitney Scott

Review

“A generous book conceived and executed by a compassionate…mind.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An absorbing chronicle of discovery.”
—Booklist 

“This is an insightful and terribly personal memoir of an active and successful life, and of how [Pipher’s] almost desperate need for inner peace amid the noise of her world has dominated so many of her days.”
—Lincoln Journal Star

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; 1ST edition (March 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594488614
• ISBN-13: 978-1594488610
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Pipher, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and author of The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding our Families and Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of our Elders. Awarded the American Psychological Association's Presidential Citation, Pipher speaks across the country to families, mental health professionals, and educators, and has appeared on Today, 20/20, The Charlie Rose Show, PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer, and National Public Radio's Fresh Air.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Five full stars plus.... March 21, 2009

By Alexandra Saperstein

Format:Hardcover

This memoir deserves more than five stars! I just finished it and had to come here and post a review. I've been waiting and waiting for this book to come out and it not only didn't disappoint, but it by far exceeded my highest expectations. Whether Mary writes about the elderly or adolescence or the experiences of refugees and immigrants, she is always among the most insightful and heartfelt writers I've ever read. Seeking Peace is her autobiography. I wasn't sure what to expect. Autobiographies of fantastic individuals somehow too often turn out to be surprisingly dull but Seeking Peace is so naturally well written, so genuine and poignant and at times very funny, and allows you throughout the chapters to make meaningful parallels to your own in such a way that by the end of the book, I was able to see into the innermost creases and particulars of my own life in compelling, unexpected new ways.

What I love about Pipher most of all is the wide pasture she has always allowed for people to be exactly who they are and her extraordinary ability to write about individuals and their challenges in such a way that you can't help but see your fellow human beings in more forgiving, compassionate, and broader ways. Learning about her own history and how she came to be who she is was a wonderful read. There wasn't one dry, unnecessary sentence in the book. Some autobiographies are filled with too much detail and content without the balance of thoughtful insight and observation accompanying it along the way. Seeking Peace wasn't like that at all. Her writing style is the best part, as if she is sitting in her living room simply reminiscing out loud. I almost wish I had gotten it on audio cd for that reason. Its a deeply personal, courageously honest, and ultimately very inspiring book.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Julie Cristal April 14, 2009

By Julie Cristal

Format:Hardcover

I am an avid reader and Amazon peruser and have never written a review, but have to respectfully post my opinion this time to statistically increase the "star rating" average!

With respect to the previous reviewer, I couldn't disagree more. Perhaps because it is from my own personal vessel of life experiences from which I read the book. I don't think I have ever identified more strongly with a writer, and I found her to be so open, giving, and thus vulnerable, with the end-effect that I simply felt changed. So "self-involved" is not at all how I would characterize the writing. Quite the opposite.

Thank you, Mary for your humble, yet startling writing. We readers are all better for it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a thoughtful, important book for every baby boomer I know May 14, 2009

By Meg Cox VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

People who think this is a how-to book are wrong, as are those who think it's a resource guide for Buddhist meditation. I think the only bad thing about it, actually, is the misleading title. Embrace this terrific little book for what it actually is: an insightful memoir by a fine Everywoman philosopher. I've been reading Mary Pipher for years and love her insightful, humanistic writing. Her previous books tended to cover a major topic of societal upheaval, like immigration issues or the aging of the population but this is a deeply personal book about who she is and how she got that way. I was shocked to read about some aspects of her childhood, reassured to learn that she stumbled starting out on her career path and incredibly moved by how difficult life became when her first book made her a national celebrity. Most people don't want to hear that the dream of becoming a bestselling author might actually turn out to be a nightmare: it certainly was to Mary. But regardless of your own dreams, this book puts things beautifully into perspective. I recommend it highly, and think it would make a perfect gift for someone reaching a major milestone birthday, like 40, 50 or 60, and wants to think about what matters in life.