The Deepest Peace: Contemplations from a Season of Stillness [Paperback]

This beautiful glimpse into the mind of a modern Zen priest shows us how we can cultivate and experience peace through silence, stillness, and practice.

“A balm for our troubled hearts and minds . . . soulful, warm, and welcoming, and—at times—heartbreaking.” —Lion's Roar

While there is suffering in the world and in each of us, there is also the possibility and the experience of peace. As Zenju Earthlyn Manuel—a Zen priest and disciple of Thich Nhat Hanh who has written at length on race, gender, sexual orientation, and homelessness—writes in the introduction: “I have testified many times of my suffering. Before I die, I must speak of peace.” 
 
The Deepest Peace is a poetic, lyrical ode to the ways contemplative practice illuminates daily life. It is at once a window into Zenju’s personal practice and an invitation to begin our own. A balm for our troubled hearts and minds... Manuel's voice is soulful, warm, and welcoming, and—at times—heartbreaking; it's a music we can hear in our bones.
—Lion's Roar

Reading this book is a profound meditation in itself. Exquisitely crafted and perfectly paced—you will feel your whole being calming down, responding with layered grace to the rich gifts offered here.
—Naomi Shihab Nye, Young People's Poet Laureate

Solitude, silence, the warmth and chill of the earth, the ancientness of time held in the arms of the ancestors ... such is the atmosphere of Zenju Earthlyn Manuel’s new book. Neither memoir, nor dharma teachings, norlã