Solid Ground: Buddhist Wisdom for Difficult Times

by Sylvia Boorstein, Norman Fisher

A lively, topical guide on how to respond to life’s inevitable difficulties—from personal crises to broader societal challenges
 
The issue of difficulty in life is at the very essence of Buddhism. One can reasonably translate the first noble truth as, “life is full of difficulties,” with the remaining noble truths serving as Buddhism’s analysis of those difficulties and how to work with them. In Solid Ground , celebrated Buddhist teachers Sylvia Boorstein, Zoketsu Norman Fisher, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche use their diverse wisdom to address the immediate and practical concerns of our lives, including individual crises as well as the political, economic, and social challenges society is currently facing. Together, they explore the most basic and profound questions of the difficulty of life in general and how we can work with that and ameliorate it.

Filled with humor and personal stories, Solid Ground offers specific teachings for concrete situations as well as a way to explore the larger questions of finding equanimity in difficult times.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Meditation

136 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2011

About the author

Sylvia Boorstein (born 1936) is an American writer and Buddhist spiritualist.

Reviews

[Serena Long ﺕ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre to the core. Loving the ending part written by Sylvia Boorstein. She made my day. Enjoy reading her meditation experience, hilarious! Accepting the suffering as we need suffering to strengthen us and get us to the next step. Suffering... is just your way of digesting a new phase in your life. This is just what you do: you go all to pieces, then you pick yourself up and you go forward. A big reorganization, which is always painful. Often suffering is needed for reorganization. We're stronger after we reorganize. Losing my beloved mommy is a big reorganization.

[Adrian at Bookshelfdiscovery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small but useful book, full of practical tips for bringing compassion and finding serenity in the everyday. Also enjoyed the short mediations at the end of each of the three sections. Each of the teachers had some wisdom to share, but I was particularly drawn to Sylvia Boorstein's contribution. Theres a lot of suffering out there at the momment and books like this can maybe help us to find some equanimity in our lives.

[Gonzalo Bacigalupe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but this book could have been just a handout or an article in a magazine.

[Marcus Vinicius · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[The Blog Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me get through the first three months of the year- which are always difficult for me. I have a yet-undiagnosed seasonal affective disorder.

I absolutely love Sylvia Boorstein- but she only wrote the last third of the book. I appreciated the contributions of the other authors as well- but they should be listed along with her as authors! I thought I was going to get all Sylvia all the time.

Anyway- like "Happiness is an Inside Job" and "It's Easier than You Think," I'm going to be coming back to this one in the future. Unlike those books, this one includes guided meditations at the end of each of the three sections which I really appreciated. I have the eBook on my iPad so I expect I'll be whipping it out again when I need some zen.

[Rubina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wonderful book comprises of just three chapters, one each from renowned Buddhism teachers Sylvia Boorstein, Norman Fischer and Tsokyni Rinpoche. Each contribution provides great insights and teachings about how we can face the sufferings in our lives with equanimity, mindfulness, loving kindness and meditation.

[Laura Siegel · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are three essays in this collection. I enjoyed the one by Norman Fischer which was about Alan Lew, one of my favorite people. Sylvia Boorstein's essay was also great as always. But I found the one by Tsoknyi Rinpoche didactic and judgmental. Two out of three is very good and this is still a great collection.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved Sylvia Boorstein's section so much I purchased more of her books. Offers practical advice that helped me find opportunities to practice during some recent challenges. Was sad when I reached the end. A very easy read for all (Buddhists and non-Buddhists).

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three fairly basic, general dharma talks (and some meditations with each). Boorstein's section is best. But, I'd recommend her other books over this one.

[Rome Doherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good meditation and Buddhist work