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The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy

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The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy

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Overview

We all encounter obstacles on a daily basis—from small inconveniences and nuisances to the really big hardships wreaking havoc with our lives. Sometimes just the small things are enough to set us reeling. Andrew Holecek offers us a progressive path beginning with common, easily understood hardships and moving on to more subtle and challenging ones that commonly arise on our spiritual journeys.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781559393317
Publisher:	Shambhala
Publication date:	03/16/2010
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Andrew Holecek is an in-demand teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. As founder of the Forum of Living and Dying, he teaches seminars throughout the country on spiritual hardship and the Tibetan views of life, death, and beyond. He is also the co-founder of the Himalayan Dental Relief Project, which serves impoverished children in five Asian countries. Dr. Holecek is affiliated with Shambhala centers worldwide and was adjunct faculty at Naropa University and the Ngedon School of Buddhist Studies. Additionally, he has contributed to a number of Buddhist magazines and has an ongoing column in Bodhi Magazine published by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.

Foreword Dozogchen Ponlop Rinpoche ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1

Part I The First Turning 17

1 The Power 19

2 The Pain 29

3 Necessary and Unnecessary Hardship? 37

4 Progress or Regress? 50

5 Suffering or Pain? 66

6 Always Practicing 75

7 Repetition 82

8 Put It in Perspective 92

Part II The Second Turning 103

9 The Pain of Letting Go 105

10 Fear Is the Fare 116

11 Spiritual Detox 126

12 Ground Addiction II 137

13 Emptiness 144

14 The Mistake of the Ego 155

15 Frustration by Design 168

16 Working with the Skandhas 178

Part III The Third Turning 187

17 The Art of Working with Emotions 191

18 Applying the Four ARTS 208

19 The Blessing and Curse of Deep Meditation 220

20 The Origin of Confusion 232

21 Hardship as Loss of the Feminine 244

Bibliography 257

Notes 263

Index 271

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Editorial Reviews

"From Andrew Holecek's first words, you know you can trust him. He writes from deeply felt experience as well as a masterful grasp of the vast dharma. His essential point is riveting: the path leading to the cessation of suffering necessarily includes suffering. This book is the essence of good meditation instruction."—Irini Rockwell, author of The Five Wisdom Energies

"With brilliance and kindness, Andrew Holecek brings the shadow side of the spiritual path into the light helping the practitioner navigate the hardships he or she will inevitably discover. Holecek shows them for what they are—necessary obstacles on all levels of the path that can either hinder or strengthen our practice, and we can indeed be grateful to him for so clearly and completely elucidating this profound and necessary but rarely mentioned side of the spiritual path."—Dr. Jeremy Hayward, author of Warrior-King of Shambhala: Remembering Chögyam Trungpa

"The spiritual hardships that each of us face along the way can be literally hard to bear whether these are purely psychological pressures or events that impact us on a physical level as well. Yet they can be ameliorated when we see their connection to our path as a whole. That is the distinctive gift of The Power and the Pain for contemporary Buddhist practitioners. It helps us make sense of our individual experiences which, as unique as they are, have been challenging practitioners in different ways since the time of the Buddha. . . . When we move beyond our theories about the spiritual path into the actual practice of it, that is when the insights and methods offered in this book will become truly useful. Andrew's book is, in this sense, a compassionate refuge for troubled times."—Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, author of Rebel Buddha

"When practicing on the spiritual path, often people do encounter difficulties and hardships. It is important to understand what these hardships are and how to deal with them when they occur. I am very glad that Andrew Holecek, who has studied and practiced Buddhism for many years, has written this book that will help people work through the situations they face as they practice the path."—Thrangu Rinpoche

"A wonderful guidebook for spiritual travelers who are facing the challenges of daily living—and that is most of us surely."—Mandala Magazine

"A demanding yet valuable take on the joys and challenges to be found on the Buddhist path. The author places particular emphasis on pain and strife, applying philosophy from Tibetan Buddhist practice to direct readers toward mastery of problematic emotions."—Publishers Weekly

"Andrew Holecek helps us to accept the inevitability of difficulty and find new ways of coping with challenge."—Andrea Miller, Shambhala Sun

"At last, a book that really spells out what you're in for when you step onto a serious spiritual path. . . .[A] profound and powerful book . . . probes deeply into our dark corners . . . but also comes up with some singular antidotes."—Buddhist Review

"Even though I am not a practicing Buddhist, I found that The Power and the Pain spoke to me as a guide and I often went back to passages that connected how outside pressures and events can affect one's spirit, which made the connection click."—Noemi Martinez, Feminist Review

"Through clear and patient wisdom warmed with subtle humor, Holecek helps make sense of the hardships that shock, scare, and surprise us on the path. The Power and the Pain expands our view of good news to include chaos and destruction as means for transformation."—Elephant Journal

From the Publisher

At last a book that really spells out what you're in for when you step onto a serious spiritual path—[a] profound and powerful book—probes deeply into our dark corners, but also comes up with some singular antidotes

Paki Wright

From Andrew Holecek's first words, you know you can trust him. He writes from deeply felt experience as well as a masterful grasp of the vast dharma. His essential point is riveting: the path leading to the cessation of suffering necessarily includes suffering. This book is the essence of good meditation instruction.

Irini Rockwell

The spiritual hardships that each of us face along the way can be literally hard to bear, whether these are purely psychological pressures or events that impact us on a physical level as well. Yet they can be ameliorated when we see their connection to our path as a whole. That is the distinctive gift of The Power and the Pain for contemporary Buddhist practitioners. It helps us make sense of our individual experiences, which, as unique as they are, have been challenging practitioners in different ways since the time of the Buddha . When we move beyond our theories about the spiritual path into the actual practice of it, that is when the insights and methods offered in this book will become truly useful. Andrew's book is in this sense a compassionate refuge for troubled times.

The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

The first book from Bodhi magazine columnist Holecek is a demanding yet valuable take on the joys and challenges to be found on the Buddhist path. The author places particular emphasis on pain and strife, applying philosophy from Tibetan Buddhist practice to direct readers toward mastery of problematic emotions. Readers should have some understanding of the religion's basic practices because Holecek is concerned more with theory than mechanics. Discussions on meditation are lengthy, but with little instruction on actually how to meditate, newcomers may feel baffled. The challenges of this volume are due not only to the rigors of its content but also to the lengthy passages and poems from other authors that are included. The detours are long, indirectly related to the topic, and often muddy the waters. Some patience to plow through the extra sources should be enough for make apparent Holecek's keen understanding and frequent insights. Casual readers may find the author's emphasis on ego dissolution a bit unnerving. Others will enjoy the book for that very reason. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy

The Power and the Pain: Transforming Spiritual Hardship into Joy

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Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

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Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

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Customer Reviews