Sylvia Boorstein

Sylvia Boorstein is one of my favorite writers.  She writes non-fiction about Buddhist life and practice.  She has a book called “Don’t Just Do Something, SIT THERE!”  To me, that is a brain-catching title.  Somewhere in her books, she has a chapter called “Nobody’s grandmother is a Buddhist!”.  Those words came from her eight-year old granddaughter when the girl discovered her own grandmother was a Buddhist.

I think one of the difficulties Americans have is that Buddhism does not have formal joining ceremonies, according to what I read yesterday.  It has beliefs, convictions, practices.  Once those are understood, anyone can believe, be convinced, practice.

My experiences with Buddhist topics began when I read about college classes in relaxation.  I thought, “What, students come to class and just relax?”  Well, yes.  Some people, at many ages, need to improve their ability to relax.  They may need, or come to value or improve their ability, to relax, to be comfortable with themselves and their minds.