Embracing Life as It Is.

Embracing Life as It Is

Alan Gettis & Carl Genjo Bachman

Goodman Beck Publishing

PO Box 253, Norwood, NJ 07648

www.goodmanbeck.com

9781936636013, $14.95, PB, 144pp, www.amazon.com

Synopsis: In haiku poetry, we pay attention to the moment without embellishment. We embrace the moment as it is, not how we would like it to be. Just this, right here, right now.

Wabi-sabi is valuing imperfection, impermanence, and the natural devolving of everything born or made. Just this, right here, right now, as is.

Zen also teaches us to pay attention. The past is gone. The future is unknown. The only thing we have is this present moment. Meditation helps us to mindfully attend to this moment, just this breath, right here and right now. We learn to be where we are completely.

The premise in "Embracing Life as It Is: Lessons from Wabi-Sabi, Haiku, and Zen" by clinical psychologist Alan Gettis and Carl Bachmann (who received Dharma transmission from Roshi Robert Kennedy in 2010 and obtained the White Plum Asanga title of sensei. He took the dharma name "Genjo," meaning "original silence") is that wabi-sabi, haiku, and zen all provide important lessons in many things, including selflessness, acceptance, non-discrimination, compassion, and self-compassion.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Embracing Life as It Is: Lessons from Wabi-Sabi, Haiku, and Zen" is an ideal introduction to the practical application of these Eastern practices to modern daily life in the West. Of special note is the illustrative and evocative images by fine art and nature photographer Cyndi Goetcheus Sarfan. "Embracing Life as It Is" will prove an enduringly welcome addition personal reading lists and community library collections.