LOVE; 365 Happy Meditations

LOVE; 365 Happy Meditations by Richard Kirsten Daiensai. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781933245218.

Richard C. Kirsten, whose spiritual name as a Zen Buddhist priest is Daiensai, is known for his paintings, original prints, bronze sculpture, and especially his meditations. Love: 365 Happy Meditations is his second in a series of published collections of meditations and art, expanding on his 2004 collection titled Smile. Daiensai s art and writings celebrate the connectedness of heart, mind, and spirit. In this book, he focuses on the vitality of love through meditations as well as 52 images of his original artwork. Much more than an emotion, love for Daiensai is an essential mode of being in the world. His meditations reveal love to be the cornerstone of a happy and fulfilling life. Beyond ecstasy and pain, love, as Daiensai describes it, is the secret to bringing these extremes into balance. Although Daiensai has numbered the meditations, this is more for reference than to indicate a reading order. While each meditation stands alone as an inspiration in itself, there is often meaningful interplay between several nearby meditations, as well as a circling back to ideas and themes touched upon in other parts of the book. While the number of meditations corresponds to the number of days in the year, this is not meant to symbolize the beginning and ending of a year. Rather, it is meant to evoke a coming full circle, the eternity that unfolds from the cycle of years. Because of this, there is no wrong way to read the meditations. Daiensai s hope is that you take meaning and fulfillment from them as you find your own path through the book.