The Cushion in the Road: Meditation and Wandering as the Whole World Awakens to Being in Harm's Way

by Alice Walker

This gorgeous collection gathers Alice Walker’s wide-ranging meditations—many of them previously unpublished—on our intertwined personal, spiritual, and political destinies. For the millions of her devoted fans, and for readers of Walker’s bestselling 2006 book, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, here is a brand new "gift of words" that invites readers on a journey of political awakening and spiritual insight.

The Cushion in the Road finds the Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist, poet, essayist, and activist at the height of her literary powers, sharing fresh vantages and a deepening engagement with our world. Walker writes that "we are beyond a rigid category of color, sex, or spirituality if we are truly alive," and the pieces in The Cushion in the Road illustrate this idea beautifully. Visiting themes she has addressed throughout her career—including racism, Africa, Palestinian solidarity, and Cuba—as well as addressing emergent issues, such as the presidency of Barack Obama on health care, Walker explores her conflicting impulses to retreat into inner contemplation and to remain deeply engaged with the world.

Rich with humor and wisdom, and informed by Walker’s unique eye for the details of human and natural experience, The Cushion in the Road will please longtime Walker fans as well as those who are new to her work.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Spirituality, Biography, Writing, Meditation, African American

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Noted American writer Alice Walker won a Pulitzer Prize for her stance against racism and sexism in such novels as The Color Purple (1982).

People awarded this preeminent author of stories, essays, and poetry of the United States. In 1983, this first African woman for fiction also received the national book award. Her other books include The Third Life of Grange Copeland , Meridian , The Temple of My Familiar , and Possessing the Secret of Joy . In public life, Walker worked to address problems of injustice, inequality, and poverty as an activist, teacher, and public intellectual.

Reviews

[Thomas DeWolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I checked this one out at the library and added it to the significant stack of books on my nightstand. I realized there's no way I'd get through them all so figured this to be among those I'd return unread. I opened it to the middle and read a random essay and was pulled right in... strong. I began reading, and savoring, each page, each word, slowly... tok omy time... reading as if I'm sitting on the cushion meditating...

I love Alice Walker's super power; what she does with words. The stage she was at in life about 10 years ago when many of these essays were written, is where I am now. She's almost exactly 10 years older than me. When she speaks of the desire, when she turned 60, to "bring all of my wandering self home to sit on my cushion, in a meditation room... and never really leave," I totally relate. But bombs still fall on children and their mothers. Oppression still harms so many people. There is so much to do; so many places to go to help our world transform into a more just, loving, kind, caring, and peaceful place. And she dreamed of her cushion resting in the middle of a road. "So what do I believe?" she writes in the Introduction, "That I was born to wander and I was born to sit. To love home with a sometimes almost unbearable affection, but to be lured out into the world to see how it is doing, as my beloved larger home and paradise."

As I reach my mid-sixties, I can't imagine a more perfect gift to myself and my continuing journey and awakening, than The Cushion in the Road. Thank you, Alice Walker.

[Yasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Walker is without a doubt one of my favourite authors of the 21st century! She is a fantastic human being. She is a great comfort and wonderful writer. Full of insight and hope in a world that has so much sorrow she is able to show us again the joys and beauty that also exist in the world. With open eyes and an open mind Alice Walker goes to Congo, Cuba, Palestine, Brazil, Mexico-where she has been she always been compassionate and understanding. Everything she writes is well thought out and full of intense feeling. Her absolute peace, harmony with the Earth is inspiring, she is unapologetic in her strong beliefs and is always encouraging for new ideas and a way for reflection with oneself and the environment around. There are never enough words to praise her integrity, her spirit, her courage, her Womanism, her everything.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Walker is an old radical. Just when you thought the U.S. government under Obama must indeed be “liberal” because the Republicans keep telling us so Walker comes along to say, no, Obama’s policies are a long way from liberal. Reading Walker, we can see what “liberal” really means.

It is refreshing to me to have someone thoughtful (but not a political consultant) give a considered opinion on anything these days. Walker surprises me with the range of her concerns and the vehemence with which she addresses them. She has so much generosity, respect, and righteous anger built in to her worldview that one wonders how such a person would govern. A Daoist, perhaps: “Let the forces rule.” But really, Walker is a spiritualist of every sort. She is animist, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim. She believes in the basic tenets common across religions: Be thoughtful. Be kind. Be generous. Enough is as good as a feast.

This is a book of essays, letters, articles she has written for publication, diary notes, or sometimes transcripts of lectures she has given. It gives us Walker’s thinking, the things she has struggled with, the things she struggles with still. More importantly, it gives us some idea of how to approach our own thinking about problems that plague us.

Take, for instance, the question of Pfc. Bradley Manning. Manning was the young man who allegedly gave government secrets to Julian Assange to publish. How should we deal with this question in an enlightened way? What is the best solution? I guarantee Walker will make you question again things you thought you’d already decided.

One of the pieces in the book that I liked best was “12 Questions: Korean Women’s Soul Questions.” South Korean women, confused about how to live fulfilled in the strict patriarchy of South Korean society, asked Walker and a prominent South Korean feminist, Hyun Kyung Chung for their opinions. Some of the questions are ones we have heard before, e.g., Can women and men be friends? and Should women change their bodies to interest men? But Walker’s responses are always interesting and get right to the heart of this old radical’s worldview, encompassing all her deepest themes. This is a woman who has studied oppression of one kind or another her entire life and knows whereof she speaks.

Anyway, Walker’s articles in this book are a short sharp shot of something strong and fiery. It goes right to the bloodstream and jumpstarts the brain. Of course, it can only be taken in small doses, but you may find you develop a taste for a woman with opinions, and crave to hear what a bright, thoughtful human might say on the state of our affairs. Her point of view adds depth and richness to the human response sent into the universe when negotiating the maelstrom that is life.

"Mother Nature presents a very different kind of army than the ones we are used to fighting: the armies of poverty, colonization, weapons of all kinds, media doublespeak, that keeps us confused. In fact, what is so chilling about Mother Nature is how indifferent She can be to who should be punished for the crimes committed against her. We are all being punished. And this is because we have forgotten one of the most basic of the things that made us beautiful: that we must never fail to have respect for her. And we must cease, at once, taking more than she is willing to give.”

[Sam Cox]

i didn’t read this cover to cover, but i read the entirety of the section On Palestine in one sitting, and a few other essays, and i think this is my favorite thing i’ve read of Walker’s. i feel like i have a much better understanding of her personal politics, and while it doesn’t always mesh with me, i do think she’s very cool.
a couple months ago i was made aware of claims that Walker is antisemitic, and either i’m missing something, or her words are being completely misinterpreted. after reading these essays, it’s pretty clear to me that her longtime support for Palestine has been twisted into allegations of antisemitism, just as the very same false equivalence is being used to punish support of Palestine today. that’s not to absolve her of criticism or say that actually she’s a perfect person, but i’m less worried that she’s going to be posted on “you’re fav is problematic.”
it was very interesting to read about the Palestinian occupation in more recent history from Walker’s perspective. she compared the occupation to segregation in the South from her own childhood, and then Palestine’s struggle she compared to the civil rights movement that she took part in as a young woman. i really appreciated her perspective, and that she always stuck to her “peace and love” ideals (i will admit that i rolled my eyes at it sometimes but that’s because i am a hater and a skeptic :/).
overall very cool!

[Sasha Greer]

DNF because she said how much she admires Fidel Castro and how she wishes our American political leaders were like him…. Had to draw the line there

[cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A review in quotes and poem snippets from this lovely and timely (still) meditation on so much that is painful in the world:

"NEW FACE

I have learned
Not to worry About love:
But to honor
Its coming
With all my heart."



"A SHORT WHILE AGO I published a small book called Overcoming Speechlessness: A Poet Encounters The Horror in Rwanda, Eastern Congo, and Palestine/Israel. In it I write that the horrors of the world are so great, and have been for such a long time, that most humans have no words for them. That we become speechless before atrocities done to other humans, to animals, and to the Earth itself because it is almost impossible to believe what we are witnessing. I have spent a lifetime finding and using my voice, so easily silenced as a young person by the overwhelm of grief. Looking back, I see that claiming my voice, asserting it in writing, became a practice that in many ways saved me. Saved me from despair, from hopelessness, from total and complete withdrawal, emotionally, from other human beings. Those human beings I knew, and those I did not know."



"For it is true, an inner discipline of the spirit develops the character that is then visible to others in our behavior, but it is also true that "acting as if" also works; which is to say, conscious development of our outer, discernable behavior, in a direction that we desire, also has the power to move us along. This truth may well be discovered as one goes along in life, but how much more useful to have someone teaching it when one is young."



"I used to think the most important thing about love was to receive it. Now I understand it is more important to feel and to give it. That the good feeling we associate with love is generated by us, not by a lover of us. Their love is very nice, and I welcome it, but the feeling of actually generating love within one's self is so exquisite it almost leaves being loved by another in the dust! My greatest joy comes from loving everything and everyone I can. And it is amazing how big this can get! Daffodils, coconuts, frogs, catamarans, indie movies, dogs, bougainvillea, tribal art, snowstorms, old people, the Alps, chickens, my various "children," regardless of what they think of me, and so on."



"When I was a child I read books for entertainment and information; I now think of books as lifeboats. Each book that comes rushing down the stream of my life is checked for its relevance to our survival and prospering as a species. For the use to which Earthlings, and all beings, might put our incredible intelligence to save our tiny, sinkable, ship."



"This must be the same blind heart and unseeing gaze that was turned on the slave trade, during its four horrendous centuries, when black people coming to America on slave ships were treated as cruelly as these hogs, their lives often eaten up by forced labor within as little as seven years. What have we turned off in ourselves to be able to bear the mistreatment of the precious other animals that inhabit the planet with us? The carnage, in this one case, is so bad that the countryside around the facility is completely, densely polluted, and the people who live there are sick. The freeing of animals, the returning of land and habitat to them, must become part of what it means to be human. Part of what it means to be animal. Without the other animals the land is dead in spirit, as it is dead in spirit when indigenous human life is removed from it. Find the Human Sunrise that love of animals draws you to, and stay close to it, for that is the way of a future without self-deception and shame. Always remember that there is nothing too small any of us can learn to do to help us out of our predicament, and that learning to extend the range of our compassion is activity and work available to all. If we are open to it, we will be taught by masters."



"Use the rocks, the bones of the ancestors to hold the photographs in place. Light your candles, place them on either side of the photographs. Light sage or incense and smudge each other. And now, in whatever way Spirit moves, facing Ocean, speak.

Mother Ocean is so immense that she touches every shore; She can accept your tears, they are of her substance, and She can hold them.

After speaking, return to silence. Burn the photographs. Sabo's first, in gratitude for having been spared his life and his fate; Governor Ridge's next, in joy that your descendants will never need to remember you as someone who wished to kill, or who actually did kill, the Be-loved. Then burn Mumia's and Leonard's photographs together, reminding us that those who work for justice are seldom without allies.

Bless these ashes, all of which are made holy by your love and your restraint, and send them out to sea. Ask the children to let their flowers accompany them. When your ceremony is finished, hopefully at sun-set, sit on the sand, facing the ocean, and share the oranges, symbolic of the sun that those in prison rarely see; a sun so generous in its nature that men have had to build prisons to hide other men away from it. Go home, gather around a good, light meal, no part of which was tortured or enslaved. Answer every child's questions thoroughly and with patience."


"WE CAN OFFER WHAT WE ARE

Headed to Gaza With

CODEPINK

FEBRUARY 20, 2009

DURING THE RECENT RUTHLESS ASSAULT on the people of Gaza when so many people were injured or murdered, I lost my own sister; she had been ill for many years. The loss of this one person, whose death was anticipated, was such a blow, that when I considered the losses to the people of Gaza-of mothers, children, fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, and friends, I wondered how the anguish of so much tragic loss could be sustained. Housing, hospitals, nurseries, libraries, schools were also lost. Surely the blow to the human spirit would be intolerable for many, and there would seem little reason for continuing to live.

Going to Gaza is our opportunity (my partner Garrett Kaleo Larson's and mine) to express solidarity with the people there. To demonstrate the concern we feel each day for the suffering endured. To remind the people of Gaza and ourselves that we belong to the same world: the world where grief is not only acknowledged, but shared; where we see injustice and call it by its name; where we see suffering and know the one who stands and sees is also harmed, but not nearly so much as the one who stands and sees and says and does nothing. We can bring our witness, one of life's strongest gifts, as others have come to our side, witnessing our struggle, when life appeared impossible to bear. When all is lost, or nearly lost, tenderness remains, or could. We can offer what we are."


"The world is, at last, finding its voice about everything that harms it. In this sense the twin teachers of catastrophic climate change (some of it caused by war) and the Internet have arrived to awaken the voice of even the most silenced. Though the horror of what we are witnessing in places like Rwanda and Congo and Burma and Israel/Palestine threatens our very ability to speak, we will speak. And, because almost everyone on the planet now acknowledges our collective slide into global disaster unless we profoundly change our ways, we will be heard."

[Cara Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

"And so, my dears, Grandmother and you now share a history that connects us to our common horse. Get on. Don't be afraid. I know it's dark. But darkness, like truth, exists to be made visible. An old white-haired man named Jung that Grandmother like a lot has written about this. And yes, it's going to be a long and bumpy ride" (177).

Overall, this book captures Walker's current state of being and her viewpoints, whether on Palestine, Cuba or contemporary novels/films (like _The Help_ and _Frozen River_. Many of her meditations and "wandering[s]" come from her personal blog (http://alicewalkersgarden.com) and they read like more conversational entries than well-organized essays. This collection does not have the power that earlier works have, but her love of the natural world and her passion for international politics have not changed.

I read this book alongside the PBS American Masters documentary on Walker, _Beauty in Truth_ (http://video.pbs.org/video/2365171000/), which was really helpful and informative.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been my non-fiction book for the last several months. Alice Walker is a good writer even when her subjects veer widely and her take on subjects are intensely personal. This is perhaps the 5th or 6th book by her that I've read. She always makes me think and sometimes adjust my own thinking. The last third of this book is about Palestine and her trip to Gaza. She calls the pre-Civil Rights South equivalent to apartheid but one of the most encouraging things she says in the book is that she can travel through the South now without feeling overwhelming residue from that time period. My favorite parts of the book were the pieces about her home and garden in Mexico.

[VJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got the best explanations of what was going on in Burma (Myanmar) and Anh Sang Suu Kyi, as well as several quotes and ideas from Howard Zinn, and a thorough discussion of Palestine/Israel relations and why Israel is very, very wrong in their actions.

There is a map presented of Palestine as it was before Europeans came in and began messing in folks' business. The reduction in the land mass of Palestine and the increase for Israel is stark and startling.

I read AW for techniques. She always gives me a new perspective on a variety of objects of interest.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Walker is one of my favorite authors. She never disappoints and often shocks.

This is a collection of meditations and essays.

From the cover: ..Walker explores her conflicting impulses to retreat into inner contemplation and to remain deeply engaged in the world."

With age one has experience and wisdom to share, but at the same time there is a pull towards going inward for peace and self exploration.

Finding the balance between the two is the struggle.

[Michaela H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This being my first nonfiction work of Alice’s I’ve read, it kind of feels like a “don’t meet your idols” moment :/

I appreciate her passion for Earth, her affection for peoples across the world. There were a few passages that I paused after to reflect and sit with. There is no denying Alice Walker is one of the most important and gifted writers of our generation.

And yet, I felt disappointed to know she knowingly married a z1onist despite her advocacy and grief over the occupation. I felt exhausted by the love for the Obamas due to identity politics, despite his commitment to war and murder of “terrorists.” She lost me with “I love Obama despite not agreeing with everything he stands on,” and the disagreement being something as big as continued violence. I also felt at some moments there was this western savior complex.

I’m grateful for her knowledge and reflections during and post travel, but like all humans, we have our contradictions.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meditations and essays. Worth reading for the history of Israel/Palestine alone.

"I see policemen as victims of the very system they're hired to defend.....I see soldiers the same way."

"How anyone can not see that Nature is God is amazing to me: that they'd rather worship something that can only exist, really, in their own minds."

[Lynn Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Cushion in the Road, Alice Walker takes the time to write about her work that has called her to travel to hot and cool spots around the world. She credits her insights to people like Howard Zinn, Howard Thurman, Walt Whitman, Bob Marley, Margaret Walker and a host of others. Regarding her calling, she wrote, "If you love doing it, it isn't work!"

[M. R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Walker's incredible ease in style makes heavy subject matter feel like a light breeze from an open window on a summer night. She also pulls no punches. Some people might have trouble with this book due to its subject matter, but Ms. Walker has no time to beat around the bush.

[Jess T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Alice Walkers voice. Her words are comforting and critical affirmations on how to deal with current political and social struggles.
I didn't find relevant messages in every single piece of writing but the ones that did affect me did so deeply.
Medicine for a cynical spirit.

[Fletch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing

[Lauren Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize that some of the reasons I didn't like this book may have been due to certain failures on my part: plowing through it, for instance, from beginning to end as if it were a novel instead of a collection of essays on different topics ideally meant to be sampled at random when the inclination arises. Once I realized this, I relaxed into it a little more. And it did teach me things, and there were some gems in it, but to say that I enjoyed it would be false. I couldn't get over the impression that, over and over again, Alice Walker was patting herself on the back for being Alice Walker, showcasing her knowledge and experience in a way more fit for an autobiography than for a collection of writings on mindfulness ...

And that's the other thing. This book wasn't at all what I thought it would be when I first picked it up. Upon reflection, I don't exactly know what it was I was expecting, but whatever it was, it was something more -- how do I put it? -- personal than this. This is a book about social and political awareness, which is well and good and vital, but it didn't quite strum my mindfulness strings. It didn't resonate with my inner being in a way I had hoped.

[Vrinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was okay, but I found it a little disappointing. I was hoping for some really deep and hard-hitting calls to justice, truth, and integrity, but I found it to be a bit soft and self-indulgent on all these fronts. I felt that some spaces with potential for really critical analysis were instead filled with sentimentality and creature comforts. Basically, I wanted this book to push me a little harder and to hear less about the author's massages and smoothies. I enjoyed reading it, but wanted more. I also found her a little soft on the climate change issues.... even saying that people can't change the seasons (well, we're doing just that)!!

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Walker's views on the things she sees as important and she feels we need to be aware of. It is an insight to the workings, non-workings, grief, pain and mistreatment of many peoples of the planet. This book moves you to action, expands your mind and your understanding of the workings of our civilization at large. Walker should write more if these types of books so we can learn at her feet.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a series of essays, focusing on all of the injustices human beings inflict on each other, given Alice Walker's personal and political perspective. She is a wonderful writer, and her words have forced me to examine some of my own beliefs and perspectives, and perhaps to adjust them. Highly recommended.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I may not agree with everything Alice Walker says, I certainly would like to sit down with her in a circle and drink tea and discuss problems and solutions. Well written essays about our current times-I wonder what she is saying about the current shenanigans.

[Niecy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romance and true love are different. True love is only possible when you do not need men for your happiness. All my ex-lovers are my family now. Hyun Kyung - Gloria

By far my favorite portion of the book is the "12 Questions: Korean Women's Soul Questions".

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been quite awhile since reading something by Alice Walker. This book reminded me why I enjoy reading her works. This book consists of brief writings on either certain events or people.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Lord, I love this woman. Solid intermittent crying during the last 60 pages or so.

[Winter Sophia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving, Heartbreaking & Insightful!

[Letitia · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. A bit repetitive towards the end but it was good to read something that really challenged my thinking and inspired me to consider things on a deeper level.

[Annie]

Wonderful essays. I was not aware of any of them and though most are 7-8 years old they are relevant today.

[Lisa Faye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that after the American election in November, this was a great book to pick up and those first few chapters gave me hope. In fact, I think that this book couldn't have come at a better time for me. That being said, as with most collections of essays, there were highs and lows and I found the first half far more engaging than the second. I read this over the course of 5 months and that was great as it allowed me to dip in and out, rather than just consuming it in one chunk.