Bo Lozoff

from cover

According to the world's great scriptures, the meaning of life is deep and the rules of life are simple. The Holy Ones promise us that we can become radiantly alive, unafraid, shining beacons of goodness and faith. You and I may look within and find that very hard to believe. Yet we hold the divine spark in our hearts, and we are aching to let it become a blazing fire which consumes all our foolishness and despair.-from the introduction

Too often we may read quick-fix books and feel so excited, ready to try this or that, and then wait, hoping to get out of whatever rat-holes we find ourselves in, whether it be mental or physical imprisonment. It's as if we watch a blank screen and expect results. This is not what Deep & Simple is about. Bo never lets us forget that there are mountains to climb, tough, rugged mountains that include every possible human situation. we can begin the climb by becoming connected to a spiritual path that will lead to our being awakened and fully alive.

In a deep, simple, and clear voice, Bo reminds us all that no matter where we are as human beings, whether in suburbia or on death row, there is a goodness inherent in the human spirit. We all matter, we all count, and we are all able to make a difference.-from the foreword, Jarvis Jay Masters

Contents

Foreword
Introduction: A Threefold Path
A Wide, Round Curve-Make it Real; Take it on Faith; When Everything Goes Wrong; Worldly Failure, Spiritual Success; The Fortress of Anger; It's Not the Top, it's the Climb; Nothing Personal; 'Buddha Time Off?'
...How Little We Need-Simple Joy; The Great Activism; Easting on Poisoned Cake; Living in Tune with Our Beliefs
Whatever I Can-Communion & Community; ...The Other Tastes Salt; To Be Able; The Myth of Personal Freedom; 'But Enough About Me...'; We Need You!
12 Practices for a Deep & Simple Life
Introduction
1. Clarifying Your Motivation
2. Mountain & Wind Meditation
3. Tonglen
4. Mantra
5. The Richness of Poverty
6. Mother Teresa's Prayer
7. Sacred Reading
8. Two Bright Guardians
9. Practicing the Presence of God
10. Working with Anger
11. Breaking Free
12. Vow Practice
Conclusion: What Has Been Said?… (more)

This is a straightforward and down to earth book on the basics of, hmmm, I would call it spiritual practice, but it gets tricky. Can effective spiritual practice be down to earth? Of course the answer is not only yes, but that is the only kind of real spiritual practice.

Lozoff divides the book into Communion and Community oriented practices, inner and outer. He proposes a kind of balanced alternation between these aspects. That is certainly a reasonable foundation.

Here is a kind of step deeper that Lozoff doesn't take. It's like seeing the inner in the outer. The challenge is ... well, Lozoff brings up the puzzle of distinguishing being judgmental from being discerning. We all do have the responsibility to help our family, friends, and neighbors however we can. So we do get stuck trying to figure out what will be best for them. We may need to express disapproval. We may need to steer them away from the course they are embarked on. Of course, this sort of thing is exceedingly problematic. What do I know? Am I just trying to make myself comfortable? Someone else's strange behavior might well make me uncomfortable because it doesn't conform to my own ideas. But maybe I can approach my own engagement with the world from a perspective where it is actually a part of my own inner practice. In deciding what to give someone, I can just think about what is going to make them happiest, what will best relieve their suffering. I don't need to put myself in the position of molding or instructing or shaping people. I can offer whatever I have, and the person can take it or leave it.

Well you can see by that convoluted logic that beyond an inch of profundity is beyond my depth and I just flounder. Lozoff doesn't go deep in this book, but then again, he doesn't flounder!

This book doesn't adhere too strictly to any particular spiritual tradition. For beginners or for advanced students of any tradition, I think this is a refreshing survey of the universal foundations. Anyway, isn't the point of all the advanced stuff just to return us to the foundations with ever more clarity, precision, courage, honesty?… (more)

Often called "The Convict's Bible", this book is also relevant and important to any spiritual seeker. Interfaith wisdom, divided into 3 sections: The Big View describes Bo and Sita Lozoff's life of activism and spiritual exploration. Getting Free is a section of detailed instruction in classic spiritual practices. Dear Bo is correspondence between Bo and dozens of the prison inmates he has challenged, encouraged, and loved. This is an amazing book, which has moved people to great extremes. The Village Voice hailed it as "one of the ten books everyone in the world should read," and it is acclaimed by prison staff and prisoners alike as one of the most helpful books ever written for true self-improvement and rehabilitation.

About the Author:

Bo Lozoff is the Director of Human KIndness Foundation and its internationally acclaimed Prison-Ashram Project. His writings, workshops and recordings have helped countless people transform their lives into sacred practice even in some of the worst prisons - prisons of selfishness, fear, anger and addiction, as well as prisons of bars and steel.… (more)