Description
Triple Award Winner including: 2018 SILVER NAUTILUS BOOK AWARD and 2019 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BRONZE MEDAL for Memoir, and 2019 NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARD FINALIST for Spirituality
To the chagrin of her Holocaust survivor parents, the author chose a Buddhist path at the age of 19. More than three decades later, she felt the presence of spirits who had perished in the Holocaust. Their question, "How can you still believe in basic goodness?" sent her on a series of life-changing journeys to find the answer. In 2006, she began traveling to Poland, the Holocaust's largest graveyard, to connect past and present, and to reconcile a cosmic wound with basic goodness. Would years of Buddhist meditation prove helpful to her family lineage instead of being a betrayal?
Beyond recovering a lost family history, Buried Rivers reveals powerful connections between spirituality and trauma, and intimately explores family loyalties, crossing religious boundaries, and the invisible blessings of ancestors. With unflinching honesty channeled through a poetic spirit, this riveting page-turner reveals how healing, magic, and life itself can transform fear and open our hearts despite unimaginable suffering. Braided within the memoir is the original Auschwitz survivor account by the author's uncle before his death.
". . . provides a fresh take not only on the Holocaust, but also the proper response to the seemingly inerasable stain left by profound anguish . . . A moving and original contribution to an inexhaustible body of literature." --Kirkus Reviews
Product Details
| Publisher | West Lake Books |
| Publish Date | October 15, 2018 |
| Pages | 320 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Paperback / softback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781641840170 |
| Dimensions | 9.0 X 6.0 X 0.7 inches | 1.0 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"A rich prose journey into the author's ancestral homeland where she unearths her Jewish family's trauma legacy. Her search for answers is gutsy, yet elegant. Hers is a tempered soul, refined by her spiritual practice--Tibetan Buddhism--which adds a surprising layer of complexity to her quest. A beautiful and important memoir that uplifts as much as it compels." --Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, PhD, author of With Roots in Heaven and Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma (2019)
"A powerful testament to human resilience and courage, this book reflects the power of inquiry in a world riven with suffering, and the capacity to transform that suffering into wisdom. --Rev. Joan Jiko Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center and author of Standing at the Edge
"Part memoir, part spiritual chronicle, Buried Rivers takes the reader on a journey into our most pressing real-life questions about good and evil. This Buddhist reflection on the intimate legacy of the Holocaust is a riveting page-turner." --Judith Simmer-Brown, Distinguished Professor of Contemplative and Religious Studies, Naropa University, author of Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism
"A compelling personal spiritual journey that crosses religious boundaries in order to tackle some of the deepest mysteries of life and death. Revealing how the past, present, and future intersect in the very cells of our bodies, Buried Rivers shows how we can more fully discover spiritual truth and personal healing through the conscious meeting of our ancestors as they appear to us in the here and now." --Zvi Ish-Shalom, Ph.D., founder of the Kedumah Institute and author of The Kedumah Experience: The Primordial Torah
"Ms. Mains takes us on a courageous personal and historical journey into the world of her Jewish ancestors and the atrocities of the Holocaust. What makes her venture so remarkable is the haunting question that accompanies her and a deep conviction in the human disposition for goodness. By shedding light on something so dark, she demonstrates that healing, opportunity, and magic can emerge from the densest suffering." --Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, author of The Power of an Open Question and The Logic of Faith
"A wise and deeply stirring memoir that takes the reader on a powerful journey of body, mind, and heart." --Lama Tsultrim Allione, author of Wisdom Rising: Journey into the Mandala of the Empowered Feminine
"An evocative and deeply spiritual book about a journey through space and time that also unfolds into a mystery about how the body carries and receives messages from the past. Read this and be prepared to think about your own ancestors in a new way." --Sonya Huber, author of Opa Nobody and Pain Woman Takes Your Keys, and Other Essays from a Nervous System
"Deepening insights culled from years of Buddhist contemplative practice, and courageously assembling the puzzle pieces of her family's past in Polish cities and remote villages, the author shares a colorful and revealing picture of contemporary life in post-Communist Poland and her own inner life. An intimate and illuminating memoir that depicts how trusting in the spontaneous wisdom of one's own body and heart can heal intergenerational trauma." --David I. Rome, author of Your Body Knows the Answer
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