If you are reading these words, it means that you either realize you're not at peace and want to be, or the sound of the word drew you … it's something you haven't really thought about, but it resonates and you want it in your life.
If you want inner peace, believe it or not the choice is yours. But it means freeing yourself from the prison of your mind, from the emotions, judgments, attachments, and cravings that you've always identified with but are actually the cause of your suffering. Instead reconnect with your true self, which is your heart, and find the inner peace that is your birthright.
This is not some new age theory. These truths have been taught for thousands of years by the mystical traditions of all three Abrahamic faiths … Christian Gnosticism, Kabbalah, and Sufism … as well as Buddhism.
Helping people of all faiths as well as non-believers learn these truths and walk this challenging path is the purpose of this book. It is reality-based; it grows out of the turmoil of life. And it lays out a practical, step-by-step approach to finding inner peace.
After a lifetime of much turmoil, fear, insecurity, and guilt, Ron Hirsch knows something about the search for inner peace. The teaching shared in this book is formed by his own experiences and an understanding of the ego, happiness, and our culture that has developed while walking the path of Zen Buddhism for 25 years, since finding Buddhism at age 49. Hirsch has had a varied career as a teacher, survey researcher, nonprofit executive, composer and writer. His blog, www.ThePracticalBuddhist.com, was selected as one of the top 50 Buddhist blogs on the web. He is the author of three books on Buddhist practice and one ecumenically spiritual work, Raising a Happy Child, which was praised as, "A common sense approach to compassion and self-care that all of us need to hear. ... A precious book, well-written and very clear." He is also the author of We Still Hold These Truths, acclaimed by James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic, as "Agree or disagree with his conclusions, the questions he is asking are the right ones for the public this year." He grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania and resides in Massachusetts.