PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Susan Murphy is an Australian Zen teacher whose passionate feeling of kinship with the natural world began during her early childhood years living near the Great Barrier Reef and the Gondwanaland rainforest. A successful filmmaker, radio producer, and writer, she received dharma transmission from Ross Bolleter and John Tarrant in 2001. She leads regular retreats around Australia and teaches an Australia-wide sangha that extends internationally online. She is the author of Upside-Down Zen; Minding the Earth, Mending the World; and Red Thread Zen.
“Susan Murphy brings the koan tradition into our urgent conversations about the climate crisis, showing us something new that is suddenly essential. Her quicksilver mind, deep dwelling in the places she calls home, and intimacy with koans come together in a tour de force with the power to change minds from the ground up.” —Joan Sutherland, author of Through Forests of Every Color: Awakening with Koans “Today we need new koans, and fresh perspectives on traditional koans, to help us understand and ‘respond appropriately’ to the ecological crisis. Susan Murphy is responding to that challenge better than anyone else I know of.” —David Loy, author of Ecodharma and A New Buddhist Path “A powerful and important plunge into the reality of the mind and climate.” —Joan Halifax, author of Being with Dying and Standing at the Edge “This is a book I couldn't put down. Courageous and wise, Murphy illuminates the one appropriate response to self-inflicted climate crisis—walk through the gateless gate of welcoming where fearlessness, intimacy, joy, and love are boundless. Our crisis. Our healing. Our home.” —Paula Arai, author of The Little Book of Zen Healing and Painting Enlightenment “As in a fairy tale, we have the impossible task of saving the earth. We know that there are sensible things that are good to do but we must also do what we haven’t thought of—seeing our lives and the earth with fresh eyes. Susan Murphy is steeped in Zen and the indigenous understanding of the Australian bush. She is an artist who can turn toward the dark forces and find a golden path. This alchemical skill makes her the right guide for the impossible tasks and inconceivable problems we face. She’s a true and terrific guide. The Red Queen said to Alice, ‘It’s jam yesterday and jam tomorrow, but never jam today.’ Susan’s book is jam today. May you read it with joy.” —John Tarrant, author of Bring Me the Rhinoceros and The Light Inside the Dark “Brims with Buddhist wisdom and unexpected, creative linkages.” —Publishers Weekly
