In the same tradition as such bestselling authors as Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg, Insight Meditation teacher Tara Brach has cultivated one of the largest and most active Buddhist meditation communities in the eastern United States. With Radical Self-Acceptance, this gifted guide brings her enthusiasm and depth of experience to a wide new arena of listeners for the first time. “Imagine what it would be like to be without anxiety about your imperfections,” begins Brach. Employing her skills in two worlds, this clinical psychologist and meditation instructor takes on what she considers to be the most difficult – and pervasive – challenge to Westerners today: the suffering caused by our feelings of unworthiness and deficiency. Here, Brach teaches the specific practices we need to become more mindful and compassionate toward the “unforgivable” parts within ourselves – and how to free ourselves from “the prison of shame and self-aversion.” Practical and supportive, Radical Self-Acceptance marks the debut of one of the most capable new voices today on the marriage between Eastern meditation and Western psychology.
Down home Buddhism It’s always a joy to hear Tara Brach’s voice, and it comes through sweet and clear in her book. Buddhism and its literature can seem harsh sometimes, like running over jagged ice, as Philip Kapleau once put it. But the I.M.S. way, which Tara represents, is more like floating down a crystal clear stream. You’ll only get bruised if you don’t stay attentive, and even that’s not a problem.Tara has always (for the past 17 years, anyway) espoused a gentler Buddhism than I imagined possible. In “Radical Self-Acceptance” she brings together all the threads of her deep commitment to that path. Doing this, she models the acceptance she advocates by showing us who she is, and how her own struggles have been “grist for the mill”. Modeling Self-Acceptance as a radical, or root, process, Tara points us toward the realization that the Self we accept isn’t our paltry ego but the life we share with all beings. Thanks, Tara, for the love you have brought to this project, and to all…
A gentle caring path of self-acceptance of oneself & others This is a lovely set of two tapes including guided meditations, which guide the listener into a space of deep relaxation and self-acceptance. The relief of past and even current pain is palpable and the feeling, at least for me, is one of gratitude and peace. I particularly liked side 2 of the first tape. In any case, after listening to all sides, I felt that if one could just practice this simple process of self-acceptance, one would likely not only draw deeply close to one’s own core, but one would have a sound basis for open, loving relationships as well. Listen and enjoy. Thank you Tara!