Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist Inspirations

One of the basic practices of Buddhism is to remain mindful, and one way this is achieved is simply through reminders. Josh Bartok, a publishing-house editor and practitioner of Zen Buddhism, has mined the literature for a yearlong collection of daily reminders. Ranging in length from a sentence to a short page, these reminders include poetry,meditation instruction, practical advice, and thoughts on the way things are. A cynic might notice that all of the selections are from books published by the editor's own press, and therefore dismiss the book as a sly attempt at self-promotion, but when the selections are brilliant quotes from the likes of Ayya Khema, Alan Wallace, Milarepa, Henepola Gunaratana, Martine Batchelor, and the Dalai Lama, one wishes to read them rather than dismiss them. In beautiful verse, the Chinese poet Chia Tao tells of a bell heard during a stroll in the mountains at daybreak. The monk Henepola Gunaratana reminds us that "pain is inevitable, suffering is not." Retain this kind of inspiration throughout the day, and peace will be yours. --Brian Bruya