Clark Strand, a former Zen Buddhist monk and senior editor at Tricycle magazine, diagnoses the problems at the heart of modern life and offers inspiring insight into what sleeplessness is and why it is such a contemporary cultural phenomenon. But this is not just a book about sleeplessness; it is a "gospel" that will help readers in the contemporary world find their way back to being comfortable within darkness (and the Divine Feminine) and to find a deeper connection with their souls. Will include 8 to 10 illustrative prints.
About the Author :
A former senior editor of Tricycle- The Buddhist Review and former Zen Buddhist monk, Clark Strand has been studying the world's spiritual traditions for over 20 years. He is the author of the forthcoming Waking the Buddha (Middleway Press); The Wooden Bowl- Simple Meditation for Everyday Life (Hyperion); How to Believe in God- Whether You Believe in Religion or Not (Harmony), and Seeds from a Birch Tree (Hyperion). He has founded and led spiritual study groups, taught workshops and retreats, and has lectured at colleges and universities throughout the States. His extensive collection of essays and video teachings can be found on the Tricycle web site, as well as a library of "green meditation" videos on YouTube. He has been a regular writer and columnist for the Washington Post/Newsweek "On Faith" blog and is also the founder of "Way of the Rose," a growing nonsectarian rosary fellowship open to people of any spiritual background with members around the world. He lives in Woodstock, New York.
Review :
"A celebration of the life-enriching--indeed, indispensable--properties of the night . . . [Clark] Strand delivers a significant amount of experiential melding to existential thoughtfulness in this book about the sublime and elemental powers of the dark. . . . An exigent, affecting summons to rediscover the night."--Kirkus Reviews "This book is small in size and mighty in spirit. It is at once a clarion call and a meditation. Sonorous, deep, soul-stirring, and profoundly comforting, Waking Up to the Dark is a rare book that will be pressed from one hand to the next with the urgent, whispered words: You must read this."--Dani Shapiro, author of Devotion
"In a modern world flooded with artificial light, Clark Strand reminds us what we have left behind in the dark. This beautiful, haunting meditation is filled with surprises and lost knowledge. Read it by candlelight--you will never forget it."--Mitch Horowitz, author of Occult America and One Simple Idea
"In this exhilaratingly original work, Clark Strand shows us that the key to enlightenment lies where we don't want to look. It is hidden in plain sight, but we have to turn the lights off to find it."--Mark Epstein, M.D., author of Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart and The Trauma of Everyday Life
"Breathtaking and revolutionary, a small masterpiece for a world that has grown uncomfortable with the darkness and a poignant plea to take back the dark as the Hour of God, as the great friend of faith, awakening, and soul nourishment."--Gail Straub, co-founder of Empowerment Institute and author of Returning to My Mother's House
"Wonder, solitude, quiet, intimacy, the holy--darkness holds these treasures and more. If we want to connect with God, argues Strand in this wise and compassionate book, we will 'awaken to the dark.' "--Paul Bogard, author of The End of Night
"A wonderfully reassuring antidote to the punishing electronic churn of the digital mega-machine, Waking Up to the Dark offers a brave, lyrical, and singular challenge to the techno-narcissism that rules the day."--James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency and the World Made by Hand novels
"This wondrous book reminds us of a forgotten place, a place obliterated by our screens and shining surfaces that catch the glancing light and hide the depths from us. Strand proposes a 'Dark Revolt.' Join him as you read this revolutionary book!"--Joan Halifax Roshi, abbot of Upaya Zen Center and author of Being with Dying
"Clark Strand has written a powerful book, an insightful testament that reminds us what it means to be human. It enables us to revision and reclaim the dark as an ally in our need to rediscover wholeness for our world and for ourselves."--David Spangler, author of Apprenticed to Spirit and Igniting Earth
