Healing Zen Awakening Life Wholeness Compassion While Caring for Yourself Others

by Birx, Ellen

• ISBN13: 9780670030538
• ISBN10: 0670030538
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-03-04
• Publisher: Viking Adult

Summary

Every day new research attests to the link between spirituality and health. In Healing Zen, which focuses on the concept of "healing as wholeness," a nursing professor and Zen teacher demonstrates how the practice of awareness and meditation can help restore energy, build endurance, and suffuse our lives with compassion and joy. Drawing on her twenty years' experience as a nurse, Ellen Birx takes us on a deeply human journey through the nonlinear process of healing. Profound and inspiring stories are set alongside teachings from the Zen tradition to illustrate how wholeness is found in the midst of illness and disease. Wise and down to earth, Healing Zenshows how daily activities like eating, touching, and bathing are vital aspects of the art of healing, how pain and death are part of life, and how those who are healthy can learn from those who suffer. The author demonstrates how listening keeps us present in the moment; perseverance ensures progress and helps us cope with grief, recurrence, and other challenges; accepting our ordinariness and reconnecting with the flow of daily life give us the power to let go of the drive to excel. This beautifully packaged book, complete with an introduction to meditation and a resource list, makes a heartfelt gift for health professionals, caregivers, patients, or anyone struggling with the demands of life.

Author Biography

Ellen Birx, Ph. D., R.N. is a nurse and professor in the School of Nursing at Radford University, Virginia. She became a Zen teacher under Roshi Robert Kennedy in the lineage of Roshi Bernie Glassman. She is the cofounder of the New River Zen Community.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Preface	xiii
I. Daily Practice: Taking Time to Heal	1	(86)
Wholeness: Becoming Aware of Wholeness	3	(6)
Presence: Being Present to Yourself and Others	9	(5)
Breathing: Living Life One Breath at a Time	14	(7)
Energy: Living with Vitality	21	(6)
Confidence: Having Confidence in Yourself and Trust in Others	27	(5)
Being Grounded: Staying Rooted in the Earth and Practical Activities of Life	32	(6)
Being Natural: Discovering Natural Beauty	38	(6)
Being Yourself: Living Your Life Fully	44	(5)
Discipline: You're Stronger Than You Think	49	(5)
Simplicity: ``'Tis a Gift to Be Simple''	54	(6)
Being Ordinary: The Ordinary Is Extraordinary	60	(5)
Experiencing Directly: Knowing for Yourself	65	(6)
Paying Attention: Staying Awake and Alert	71	(5)
Opening: Having an Open Mind and Heart	76	(5)
Perseverance: Keep on Going	81	(6)
II. Vital Signs: Changes That Come Through Healing	87	(82)
Not Knowing: Journey into the Unknown	89	(4)
Emptiness: Vast and Boundless Like the Sky	93	(5)
Beyond Speech and Silence: What Is It?	98	(6)
Just This: A Life of Elegance	104	(5)
Nonduality: There Is No Other	109	(6)
Being Inclusive: Not Excluding Anything	115	(6)
Spirituality: The Mystery and Wonder of Life	121	(7)
Suffering: Letting Go	128	(5)
Acceptance: Things Just as They Are	133	(7)
Balance: Integrating Opposites	140	(7)
Right Here: Transcending Space	147	(5)
Right Now: Transcending Time	152	(5)
Freshness: Always New	157	(6)
Appreciation: Saying Thank You	163	(6)
III. Compassionate Action: Reaching Out with Healing Hands	169	(78)
Touching: The Touch That Heals	171	(5)
Cleaning: Making Life Sparkle	176	(7)
Working: Making a Contribution	183	(6)
Seeing: Responding to What You See	189	(5)
Hearing: Responding to What You Hear	194	(6)
Eating: Nourishing Yourself and Others	200	(5)
Laughing: Sharing Laughter	205	(5)
Crying: Sharing Tears	210	(5)
Intimacy: Sharing Your Whole Self	215	(6)
Freedom: Liberating Yourself and Others	221	(5)
Community: Supporting One Another	226	(5)
Service: Doing What Needs to Be Done	231	(5)
Peacemaking: Let Peace Begin with Me	236	(5)
Compassion: Creating an Ocean of Compassion	241	(6)
Epilogue: Awakening to Healing	247	(2)
An Introduction to Zen Practice	249	(8)
Selected Books and Resources	257	(4)
Notes	261	(6)
Index	267