Nothing to It: Ten Ways to Be at Home with Yourself

Good-natured monk Hai quips that "Buddhism is very big on lists" in his debut, a "structured learning course" for an at-home retreat, drawn from a series of talks he gave at California's Deer Park Monastery. Taking its framework from a teaching story in which the Buddha asks the novice Sopaka what each of the numbers one to 10 means in Buddhism, the guide explores well-known numbered concepts such as the Eightfold Path as well as lesser-known sets, including the Seven Factors of Awakening, the Five Skandhas, and the Nine-Point Death Meditation. Each is translated through Hai's personal stories of happy monastic life, traditional tales of the life of Buddha, and readings from Thich Nhat Hanh's Chanting from the Heart and other texts, followed by questions for reflection and suggested practices in meditation and mindfulness. Hai is always careful to come back to unity after all this division, emphasizing that all these factors "inter-are" and depend on each other. Beginners and experienced practitioners both will find plenty of food for thought and a kind invitation to "skillful spiritual gardening" in Hai's gentle, joyful dharma conversations. (Nov.)