Cassidy Hall on Queering Contemplation, Letting Go of Thomas Merton, and Expanding Foundations

“Hall retrains our imaginations for a spirituality that is more strange, more beautiful, and more honest than the doctrines we’ve often been cornered into.” — Cole Arthur Riley Cassidy Hall is an author, award-winning filmmaker, podcaster, ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and leading voice in contemplative spirituality. She is the cohost of the Encountering Silence podcast and the host of Contemplating Now and Queering Contemplation podcasts. Her latest book is Queering Contemplation, Finding Queerness in the Roots and Future of Contemplative Spirituality. Cassidy is widely published and currently resides in Indianapolis, where she is studying for her …

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Dr. Larry Ward on America’s Racial Karma, the Fragrance of Wisdom, and Learning How To Suffer Less

“In this taut, fearless, and well-argued manifesto, Larry Ward offers us a deeply insightful analysis of America’s racial karma—of how it operates individually and collectively—and how it can be worked with and transformed. Drawing on Buddhist psychology, trauma theory, neuroscience, and years of practice … the result is a searing, liberative, and tender work—a book that is both urgent and necessary.” — Jan Willis, author of Dharma Matters: Women, Race, and Tantra Dr. Larry Ward is a senior teacher in Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition, the author of the book America’s Racial Karma, and co-author with …

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David James Duncan on the Unintentional Menagerie of Sun House, Friendship, and the Beguines

“Sun House is not a mere book, but a singular world in which to reside, and to feel more alive. Laced with humor and high-lonesome lyricism, this sweeping tale locates the grand in the smallest particulars, reaches its heights by flooding us with light and loss, and arrives, ultimately, in hard-won hope.” — Chris Dombrowski, author of The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water David James Duncan is the author of the classic novels The River Why and The Brothers K, the story collection River Teeth, the nonfiction collection and National Book Award finalist, My Story as …

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