Original Love

"Powerful, poetic, transformative."—Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance "Henry Shukman is one of the wisest and most poetical teachers of dharma we have today. In an increasingly fragmented world, he is unusually good company."—Sam Harris New York Times bestselling author of Waking Up and host of the Making Sense podcast, he essential meditation guide for the twenty-first century: renowned Zen master and mindfulness teacher Henry Shukman replaces the concept of original sin with original love, teaching us to tap into the love that shapes our world and can transform who we are. An increasing number of people today feel disconnected, disengaged, and lonely. Many of us are seeking solace, beginning with ourselves. Original Love is the secular spiritual handbook for inner peace we need to ease our troubles and find the highest possible happiness. Henry Shukman, spiritual director of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, provides a way forward based on four paths—Mindfulness, Support, Absorption, and Awakening—that promote spiritual growth and healing through meditation for practitioners of any level. And it works! Shukman includes inspiring stories from the students of his Original Love program that reveal how it has transformed their lives. Urgently needed, Original Love helps us create peace for ourselves and our times by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression; relaxing the mind and body; easing feelings of worry, regret, anger, and irritation; and improving decision-making and executive functioning. Finding a sense of love is a critical purpose of meditation. Finding your way back to the loving peace that lives at the center of things is Original Love.