"David Rynick makes everyday Zen practice come alive in this delightful, heartfelt, easy to digest volume."
This Truth Never Fails
A Zen Memoir in Four Seasons
Description
This Truth Never Fails is a playful yet well-grounded narrative of a year in the life of an unusual Zen master. Far from the silent and detached stereotype of Zen teachers, Rynick writes with disarming humor, offering both the struggles and the joys of ordinary life as opportunities for insight. Anyone looking for inspiration to bring a simple spiritual awareness into their daily lives, and also those interested in finding ways to more deeply integrate faith (in any tradition) with practice will find this book reassuring and encouraging.
This book appeals to the broad "mindfulness" and "general spirituality" audiences that transcend any one formal tradition. Leaning toward Anne Lamott's humor, universal spirituality, and Mary Oliver's love of the natural world, Rynick's writing bypasses Zen theory and doctrine. Simple, clear prose illustrates, vividly, an insightful and tender appreciation of ordinary life as the Way itself.
Includes a brief "study guide for further inquiry" offering opportunities for personal reflection and exploration on themes touched on in the book.
Genres
Pages248
Released2012
LanguageEnglish
PublisherWisdom Publications
ISBN9781614290247
SellerSimon & Schuster
About the author(s)
David Rynick is a Zen teacher in two different lineages. He has created and led numerous professional workshops and classes on leadership, systems thinking, coaching, meditation, diversity, and creativity, and has served as a college faculty member and the president of his Universalist Unitarian church. He lives in Worcester, MA, with his wife, also a Zen teacher.
Reviews
"People of any or of no religious affiliation who seek meaning, joy and aliveness in their daily walk will appreciate this wonderful, thought-filled book"
Rev. Dr. Jane Tomaine, author of St. Benedict's Toolbox
"David Rynick has a knack for converting Zen perspectives into beautiful prose. An extraordinarily perceptive paean to purposeful living."
Richard Leider, bestselling author of The Power of Purpose and Repacking Your Bags
"David Rynick is a master of the koans of everyday life: of stuckness, impatience, and self-doubt."
Barry Magid, author of Ending the Pursuit of Happiness
"I love this book! It's intimate, honest, real. A book to be savored a few pages at a time." --
Frank Jude Boccio, author of Mindfulness Yoga
"Honest, practical, and humbly incisive."
Susan Murphy, author Upside-Down Zen
"This short book features keen observations and a gentle charm. Rynick shows an ability to find grace in the smallest detail."
"This is a positive, thoughtful book that is written to inspire. In its quietly amusing and gently guiding way, it illustrates how simple tasks can be transformed into little gifts on a spiritual pathway."
"A delight to read. Rynick is a gifted writer and storyteller with a poet's eye and a Zen master's ease in dispensing wisdom. He can be counted on to deliver sensitive insights about the human spirit as revealed in ordinary experiences."
"With the ever-constant changing of the seasons as a guide, Rynick takes us on a journey, bearing witness to the simplicity and elegance of the every day, the moment in hand, the singular and unique breath."
