Stumbling Toward the Buddha

In this collection of autobiographical essays, Dawn Downey chronicles a spiritual journey that leads her from revelations at a Buddhist monastery to transcendence at a Baptist church. The author loses her way in the foothills of California and discovers oneness in the high desert of Colorado. En route, she struggles to make sense of a depression that rises from sources lost to her memory and, years later, uncovers the hidden cause: childhood abuse. Neither mysticism nor meditation delivers up enlightenment, but they push her dangerously close to self-actualization. Downey confesses to feelings she's not proud of, but she finds redemption in the middle of the muck. A book for readers who love inspiration with a pinch of humor.