Self and liberation Book

Okay, I'm biased. I think this guy is one of the best writers about psychology, and the psychology of Buddhism around. I LOVE his four books, though his first Thoughts Without A Thinker and his most recent Open To Desire are his best, and this collection of articles is simply a delight to read and savor!

At the mundane level, to read these essays is to plot Epstein's course over the years, from his earliest, more academic, deeply refereneced articles from the 80s, published in such journals as The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, The International Rreview of Psycho-Analysis, and The Internatinal Journal of Psychoanalysis, through his articles for Buddhist journals such as Tricycle and Buddhadharma and various essays and lectures for specific events and venues up to 2006.

Because of the nature of this book being a collection of varied writings on the subject, there is repetition of certain themes, but this actually aids in assimilation, as each time he adds another facet or comes at it slightly differently. Epstein does not shy away from addressing uncomfortable topics from either the psychoanalytic or from the Buddhist side of things, while showing how an informed integration can be a great aid to either and both processes. His concluding essay on art is brilliant, and offers a wealth of insight for further development.

Finally, even in his most scholarly essays, Epstein writes masterfully, and poetically. In the more popular-oriented writings, this comes to the fore. One inspiring passage, the final paragraph from his essay "Meditation as Art, Art as Meditation," concludes the book beginning with a quote from British analyst Adam Philips:

"'To improve society spend / more time with people you haven't / met,' John Cage advises. You can't help but do this, Freud says, because the person one hasn't met is also oneself. (Phillips, 1996, p. 15)"

"The person one hasn't met is also always oneself. Suzuki was a messenger from another time and place who reminded a generation of this basic truth. The people who heard him most easily were artists. The art that they made, and the artists they in turn have inspired, continues to carry his message, asking us to question ourselves instead of settling into complacency, to open ourselves instead of closing down around what we already know, and to embarrass ourselves instead of worrying what other people think. Artists, like psychoanalysts and Zen teachers are people who can fail and fail and go on."

As Dogen once said about his practice: "It's one continuous mistake."