“When Karr writes in his own voice, he makes good on his claim in the introduction to present ideas in clear simple English. For instance, he writes: “The way to find freedom from difficult emotions is to find it right within the feelings themselves.” Only someone who has experienced the emptiness of difficult emotions could write such a sentence. It expresses the very essence of Buddhist practice.... Of special interest was his condensation of approximately 1,000 years of Buddhist philosophy and practice methods into a few short chapters. Like time-lapse photography, the gradual evolution of practices beginning with Nāgārjuna’s Great Middle Way and climaxing in Chekawa Yeshe Dorje’s Mind Training in Seven Points unfolds before one’s eyes.... This book provides food for thought and reflection, and it may also open a way to cross [the ocean of materialistic thinking] and arrive at another shore.”
—Ken McLeod in Los Angeles Review of Books
INTO THE MIRROR
A Buddhist Journey through Mind, Matter, and the Nature of Reality
Now available from Shambhala Publications
The modern world has been incredibly successful at producing material wealth, scientific knowledge and technological innovation. But all these advances have not led to corresponding improvements in our psychological wellbeing, social harmony, spiritual wealth, or the health of this planet. Into the Mirror shows that remedies for these problems can be found within the profound insights of Mahayana Buddhism.
There is nothing we need more in this age of materialism than the profound insights of Mahayana Buddhism.
Materialism is a mirage that binds us to the relentless pursuit of dissatisfaction. There is no water to be found in a mirage and there is no lasting satisfaction to be found in anything that can be possessed. You only need to learn about the lives of the very rich and the very powerful to see that they do not escape from suffering and dissatisfaction.
Into the Mirror confronts the materialism that modernity has unleashed, using both modernity’s intellectual tools, and the powerful methods of the Buddhist tradition.
The roots of suffering and dissatisfaction are found within the mind. Only by taking mind seriously, and uncovering the wisdom that is hidden within, can we hope to find liberation from the personal, social and environmental plagues that torment the modern world. Through a variety of contemporary and traditional investigations, Into the Mirror offers readers an experiential journey through the progressive insights of the Mahayana, and offers practical advice about how to put these insights into practice.
“Into the Mirror is a love letter to the Mahayana”
— Michael Speraw
Other Books by Andy Karr
About Andy Karr
Andy is a little old Jewish guy from New York, who’s spent over fifty years studying and meditating under various Buddhist masters, but is still afflicted with cravings for wealth, praise and pleasure, and fears of loss, shame and pain.
Despite these shortcomings, he is fool enough to think he might have something worthwhile to offer those of you who aspire to freedom from delusion and suffering. That’s why he continues to write and teach.
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Photo by Terry Bell