Blessed Relief

Suffering may well be the most difficult part of life, as Episcopal priest and therapist Dr. Peerman knows first-hand. Based on his conviction that Buddhist teachers have a lot to teach about dealing with suffering, what helps and what doesn't, Peerman takes readers on a lively, even light-hearted, journey through eight Buddhist practices that can bring "blessed relief" to a wide range of human suffering: Fear / Big Mind; Anxiety / Spacious Awareness; Anger / Kind Awareness; Stress / Beginning Anew; Judging / Dropping the Story; Hurt / Compassion Meditation; Grief / Bowing to the Wound. Peerman's experience of coming to Buddhist practice, by way of Thomas Merton and the Trappists, has been evolving over a 25-year time span, but rather than abandon his Christian tradition, Peerman brings the riches he has discovered to his birth community. Peerman's writing is warm and down-to-earth, his stories moving and interesting, and his suggested exercises wonderfully useful.