a new book

Here's the next life-changing book for me: At Hell's Gate by Claude Anshin Thomas. Mary Ann Finch, my supervisor at Care Through Touch Institute (www.carethroughtouch.org) recommended it. It's the autobiography of a Vietnam veteran who becomes a Buddhist monk. He is honest about what he did in Vietnam and how it haunts him, and he speaks accessibly in his analysis of how and why he came to do it--drawing conclusions about the broader world, reflecting truths he found in Buddhist Scriptures. In doing so, he helps me figure out my own shit, growing my awareness about when and where it happens that I want to hurt others. And he encourages me not to fight it, but to consider it. In considering, I end up having a choice in how I act. Which is pretty damn difficult, but cool when it happens. Reminds me of a conversation I had with EJoye, about learning habits without realizing it--and how sometimes an act of difference, breaking that habit, can snap us into awareness about our own behaviors. It's kind of cool.