SUFFERING BUDDHA

About the Book

Long ago, the Buddha taught that we create the world with our thoughts; and the more attached we are to things being a certain way, the more we suffer. Nowhere is this clearer than with chronic illness and pain: Our self-blame, anguish, depression, fear, loneliness, anger and embarrassment are the byproducts of denying the reality of illness or pain. If we are courageous enough to set aside our beliefs, hopes, and longings for a former or mythical ideal of health, which pull us out of the present moment, we free ourselves from the hell realm of suffering. Mindfully observing what is right here-and-now enables true healing to take place--healing that moves us beyond our naive ideas of health and illness. After all, we are not brains on a stick. Mind and body are united by spirit and it is spiritual understanding that leads us to the well where wisdom, love and compassion abide--qualities vital to the recovery of wholeness and well-being. SUFFERING BUDDHA points the way to inner healing; it is not a how-to manual or glib prescription for spiritual transcendence, precisely because such are not necessary. In our own wise, awakened hearts lies the key to wellness and ease.

About the Author

Robert Epstein, a licensed psychologist and published haiku poet and writer, has lived with chronic illness and pain for more than ten years. A longtime student of Eastern spirituality, he realized, through his own meditations, that it is our thinking which causes suffering, not the mere fact of illness and pain. Beyond the conceptual categories of illness and health lies true healing. Stacy Taylor is a licensed clinical social worker, who has lived with chronic illness and pain for more than fourteen years. She specializes in her psychotherapy practice in treating others with chronic illness and pain.