Saying Yes to Life (Even the Hard Parts)

by Bayda, Ezra; Bartok, Josh; Moore, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780861712748
• ISBN10: 0861712749
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-29
• Publisher: Wisdom Publications

Summary

Told in blissfully simple language, the thoughts and messages in Saying Yes to Life (Even the Hard Parts) provide inspiration for each day. These nuggets of wisdom range from a page-long reflection to a simple aphorism and stress the importance of drawing meaning from life's paradoxes — opening to the unwanted, recognizing the happiness in difficulty, and living for now rather than later. Page after page reveals truths that can be put into action in the moment, yet also stand up to multiple interpretations and thorough examination. Insightful and never convoluted, Saying Yes to Life (Even the Hard Parts) is a great companion for life's long journey.

Author Biography

Ezra Bayda has been meditating since 1970. He was authorized to teach Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck in 1998, and now lives, writes and teaches at the Zen Center of San Diego.

Josh Bartok has served as in-house staff editor at Wisdom for almost 13 years and has worked on almost 200 books in all traditions of Buddhism. He is the co-author, with Ezra Bayda, of Saying Yes To Life (Even the Hard Parts), and the authoring editor of Daily Doses of Wisdom, Daily Wisdom, More Daily Wisdom, Lama Zopa Rinpoche's How to Be Happy, and Lama Yeshe's When the Chocolate Runs Out.

He is also head teacher and spiritual director at the Greater Boston Zen Center, and one of the guiding teachers of Boundless Way Zen. He is a full member of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association and the American Zen Teachers Association, and is a friend of the Lay Zen Teachers Association. Josh has served on the Board of Directors for the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and on the planning committee of the first-ever Next-Generation Dharma Teachers event, part of the Mahasangha Gathering that took place at Garrison Institute in July of 2011.

Josh graduated from Vassar College in 1993 with a degree in cognitive science. Recreationally, Josh is an amateur photographer who shows locally and regionally. His work is influenced by John Daido Loori, Kaz Tanahashi, as well as sumi-e and abstract expressionist painters. His photos can be seen online at shobophoto.com.

Thomas Moore is the bestselling author of Care of the Soul.
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Table of Contents

the human dilemma	7	(2)
the energy for awakening	9	(4)
self-observation	13	(4)
ideals	17	(4)
judgment	21	(2)
discomfort	23	(4)
meditation	27	(4)
transformation	31	(4)
"what is this?"	35	(6)
emotions	41	(4)
anger	45	(6)
anger as practice	51	(4)
saying yes to fear	55	(4)
illusions	59	(4)
the world of why	63	(4)
no one to be	67	(4)
rituals and reality	71	(4)
meditation as detour	75	(4)
goals	79	(6)
resistance	85	(2)
perseverance	87	(4)
fear	91	(4)
fear in others	95	(6)
relating from big mind	101	(4)
students and teachers	105	(4)
relationships	109	(2)
what we want from others	111	(2)
the spiritual practice of relationships	113	(4)
seeing others	117	(4)
betrayal	121	(4)
fundamental security	125	(6)
conflict in relationships	131	(4)
anger and blame in relationships	135	(4)
empathy in relationships	139	(4)
forgiveness	143	(4)
grief	147	(4)
breathing into loss	151	(8)
the pace of change	159	(4)
efforts and resistance	163	(4)
inside and out	167	(4)
history	171	(4)
the addiction of blaming	175	(4)
blaming as defense	179	(4)
the heart of suffering	183	(4)
sex	187	(4)
work	191	(4)
mindfulness at work	195	(4)
money	199	(4)
activity and awareness	203	(4)
doing what is right	207	(4)
the need to help	211	(8)
taking a leap	219	(8)
balance	227	(4)
taking pauses	231	(2)
two kinds of food	233	(4)
nature	237	(4)
the mystery	241	(4)
who we truly are	245