The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path

The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path

The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path explores the insight that sadness and joy are not opposites - and that human capacities often suppressed or rejected can, instead, be gateways to deep joy, creativity, and liberation. Its eighty-two short, poetic, sometimes epigrammatic chapters draw on contemplative traditions, art, even pop songs. They are reflections on the path of surrender, alchemy, and the sacred.

Written over a ten year period, and completed in the mourning period after the death of the author's mother, The Gate of Tears is about discovering a happiness deeper than transitory joys that emerges precisely when the resistance to sadness is released. As the contemporary Buddhist teacher Lama Surya Das says in his foreword to the book, "the only thing that prevents happiness is searching for it."

Keywords: sadness and spirituality, sadness and meditation, mindfulness, Buddhism and Judaism, depression and meditation

Advance Praise

"Jay Michaelson's incisive and exquisitely profound insights into our human condition come in full force in The Gate of Tears. Here we have an antidote to mindless feel-good ideology, and gentle instructions in attending to the fullness of our experience so we see the value in the downs, not just the ups. Our inner world will never seem the same."

- Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence

"The Gate of Tears is a beautifully written, transformative book. Jay Michaelson guides us, instead of denying, avoiding, explaining away or resisting sadness, to go right into the heart of it. There we find open space, true love of life, and, perhaps most redeeming, one another."

- Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness

"Jay Michaelson's writing is always bracing and brave, but The Gate of Tears has particular power. He guides us to explore - and accept - the truth of what he calls "ordinary sadness," and stop looking for happiness so that we might actually find it. Every chapter made me feel as if he was seeing me personally. This book will change your perspective and ease your load."

- Abigail Pogrebin, author of Stars of David

Country	USA
Author	Jay Michaelson
Binding	Kindle Edition
Format	Kindle eBook
IsAdultProduct
Label	Ben Yehuda Press
Manufacturer	Ben Yehuda Press
NumberOfPages	202
PublicationDate	2015-10-24
Publisher	Ben Yehuda Press
ReleaseDate	2015-10-24
Studio	Ben Yehuda Press

The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path

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