Waking Up to What You Do: A Zen Practice for Meeting Every Situation with Intelligence and Compassion

Description

Diane Rizzetto presents a simple but supremely effective practice for meeting every moment of our lives with mindfulness. This Zen Buddhist guide to mindful living is "athoughtful, sensitive examination of how to be a genuinely good person in this world" (Sharon Salzlberg, author of Lovingkindness) Life is rising up to meet us at every moment. The question is- Are we there to meet it or not? Diane Rizzetto presents a simple but supremely effective practice for meeting every moment of our lives with mindfulness, using the Zen precepts as tools to develop a keen awareness of the motivations behind every aspect of our behavior-to "wake up to what we do"-from moment to moment. As we train in mindfulness of our actions, every situation of our lives becomes our teacher, offering priceless insight into what it really means to be happy. It's a simple practice with transformative potential, enabling us to break through our habitual reactions and to see clearly how our own happiness and well-being are intimately, inevitably connected to the happiness and well-being of everyone around us.

Diane Rizzetto is the Abbess and Guiding Teacher of the Bay Zen Center in Oakland, California. A dharma heir of Charlotte Joko Beck, she teaches extensively in Europe, as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the United States.

"Rizzetto's discussions are intelligent and compassionate, practical and engaging: while giving pragmatic suggestions, she persistently affirms that the precepts are not about following 'some outward moral authority,' but rather about engaging 'the power of awareness so that we can see more clearly what deeply held beliefs are behind our actions'-a liberating invitation for anyone wanting to break open their usual 'reactive thinking' and instead 'find real freedom to engage life.'" -Publishers Weekly, starred review "The distinctive charm of Rizzetto's book is that she not so much explains Buddhism as applies its precepts to an active, committed, and contemporary life." -Library Journal "A thought-provoking book that invites the reader to sharpen mindfulness in the presence of the most ordinary, everyday moments." -Ascent Magazine "Rizzetto's book is an inspiring as well as practical guide. How refreshing! Please read this good book and then pass it on to a friend so that the circle of investigation and engaged practice widens." -Inquiring Mind "A gem of a book; relevant for all schools of buddhadharma. This work goes well beyond listing and explaining rules to live by. We are given tools of discernment that bring these guidelines to life and make the precepts a far more interesting and creative dharma practice." -Larry Rosenberg, author of Breath by Breath and Living in the Light of Death "Diane Rizzetto has written a thoughtful, sensitive examination of how to be a genuinely good person in this world. Steering a wise course between recklessness and self-righteousness has never been an easy task in life, and she does a beautiful job guiding that journey." -Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Faith "A wonderfully honest, wise, and useful book, and an important one, as we find a way to express a spirituality of compassion in our troubled world." -Joan Halifax, Upaya Zen Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico "Waking Up to What You Do, besides being an inviting title, is also an excellent description of what Buddhist practice is fundamentally about. Diane Rizzetto knows this terrain extremely well. She has lived and practiced it her whole life; her methods, insights, and anecdotes invite readers to do the same. This book is about more than just Buddhist precepts. It is a roadmap toward a more awakened and illumined life." -Lewis Richmond, author of Work as a Spiritual Practice "No aspect of Zen practice is more crucial today than precepts, the bodhisattva mode of expressing compassion and insight in our troubled world. Diane Rizzetto's book provides a good introduction to actual practical engagement in the life of precepts. Her detailed examples from everyday situations clearly demonstrate how to find our own helpful deep awareness." -Taigen Dan Leighton, author of Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression