One Blade of Grass
352 Pages
Published: 10/15/2019
This heartfelt and beautifully written memoir provides one of the most insightful, informative, and honest accounts of Zen practice yet to appear in English.
Stephen Batchelor, author of After Buddhism
About
ย “If you’ve ever wondered how a messed up kid like you or me might master the wisdom of Zen, One Blade of Grass is the adventure for you. It’s great companyโand after reading it, you might recognize that you’re further along than you imagined.” โDavid Hinton, editor and translator of The Four Chinese Classics
One Blade of Grass tells the story of how meditation practice helped Henry Shukman to recover from the depression, anxiety, and chronic eczema he had had since childhood and to integrate a sudden spiritual awakening into his life. By turns humorous and moving, this beautifully written memoir demystifies Zen training, casting its profound insights in simple, lucid language, and takes the reader on a journey of their own, into the hidden treasures of life that contemplative practice can reveal to any of us.
โThis is the book Shukman was born to write โ a record of how we evolve from ignorance and suffering… to peace and the ground of being.โ
Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones
Reviews
โLovely prose . . . This memoir will resonate most with readers wanting to understand the slow, rocky process of practicing Zen.โ
โPublishers Weekly
โHow Zen led one man to awareness of the miraculous . . . A graceful, insightful, and disarmingly candid memoir . . . Zen, Shukman writes, teaches not to withdraw but to accept life, pain, suffering, and beauty: ‘Unless a path leads us back into the worldโreincarnates us, as it wereโit’s not a complete path.’ Shukman now leads his own Zen center in New Mexico. A vibrant chronicle of a profound spiritual journey.โ
โKirkus Reviews
โInstead of depicting any dark night of the soul, One Blade of Grass focuses on describing how an illโatโease young man is gradually made calmer and kinder by Zenโs central insight: the self is an illusion, and beyond the deceptive veil of thinking, reality is but an infinite, loving void . . . There is plenty to admire here. Sections are captivating, and poignant: we find the same plain lyricism that animates Shukmanโs poetry. His epiphanies are well rendered, and some of them are shockingly trippy . . . One Blade of Grass has a sincerity and generosity that make one feel that it must be pretty marvellous to attend a retreat at the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, where Shukman is now a teacher . . . The weight of lifeโs ephemerality is what pushes many people towards Buddhism. One Blade of Grass evokes this disquiet with tender force . . . Henry Shukman is earnest and warmโhearted in his attempts to show readers a better way. Yet like Zen itself, One Blade of Grass offers a quicksilver kind of wisdom, eluding even as it charms.โ
โM. M. Owen, The Times Literary Supplement
โIt is a marvelous book . . . Anyone interested in writing, anyone interested in Zen, and anyone interested in writing in Zenโthe book is marvelous, and also you can read it just for fun. It’s a really interesting book about [Henry Shukman’s] life, which has been extraordinary, leading into [his] Zen practice.โ
โAbigail Adler, The Last Word
โI read a spiritual book just about every week in preparation for my next interview. This one really drew me in. Having been a professional writer for decades; being an honest, open, and loving person; and having achieved a deep degree of realization, Shukman has written a book that resonates on all levelsโhead, heart, and gut. Heโs the kind of guy with whom youโd enjoy taking a crossโcountry drive. The time would fly, and youโd never be bored.โ
โRick Archer, Buddha at the Gas Pump podcast
โRiveting . . . As Shukman traces his transformation in exquisite prose, even those discomfited by his intimate revelations canโt help but be inspired by his courage and persistence. Shukmanโs journey reassures us that a profound awakening is possible for practitioners willing to go to any lengths.โ
โJoan Duncan Oliver and Cara Dibdin, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
โDeeply honest chronicle . . . There’s plenty to realize in this book about meditation and Zen wisdom, and yet there’s so much more, too. Shukman expresses his depth of feelings, insights, and observations with an incisive candor that is magnetic . . . he taps into so many things worth knowing.โ
โWolf Schneider, Fine Lifestyles Magazine Sante Fe & Albuquerque
โThrough Henryโs personal storiesโthat are eminently readableโwe get to find the profound insights of Zen and how they can lead one to living a gentler, kinder, and more fulfilling life.โ
โStillness Speaks
โThis is the book Shukman was born to writeโIโve been waiting a long time for someone to write thisโa record of how we evolve, from ignorance and suffering as a young boy, tracking his accidental awakening, discovering in fits and starts his wayโseeking mind to peace and the ground of being. So beautifully written, the reader immerses along with the author on his stumbling path to wholeness. In parts hilariously funny, I cannot say enoughโI love this book.โ
โNatalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones and The Great Failure
โWhat a wonderful and generous book this is, Roshi Shukman sharing so openly his particular path into the depths of Zen, and sharing also those depths themselves. If youโve ever wondered how a messed up kid like you or me might master the wisdom of Zen, One Blade Of Grass is the adventure for you. Itโs great companyโand after reading it, you might recognize that youโre further along than you imagined.โ
โDavid Hinton, editor and translator of The Four Chinese Classics and author of The Wilds of Poetry
โThere’s no two ways about it. Henry Shukman has a seductively natural style of writing. And the story he tells is both informative and inspiring. Shukman grew up in a culturally rich but physically and emotionally painful situation. Upon encountering the writings of Zen Master Dogen, he was fortunate to have an early experience of the reality that mountains dance. This planted a seed which eventually bore the fruit of happiness at the deepest levelโhappiness independent of conditions. Read and be encouraged.โ
โShinzen Young, author of The Science of Enlightenment
โThis heartfelt and beautifully written memoir provides one of the most insightful, informative, and honest accounts of Zen practice yet to appear in English.โ
โStephen Batchelor, author of After Buddhism
โHenry Shukmanโs autobiographical journey from childhood trauma to healing teacher, from the glamorous life of a successful young writer to the quiet of the meditation cushion, from the torment of eczema to the ecstasy of noโself, fascinated me all the way, in part because Shukman can articulate both inner and outer experience with poetic precision and nuance. He manages to capture here how one might have a profound experience just this side of ineffable, and how it might become central to a personโs life. There is Zen wisdom here for those who want to learn more about Zen, presented in the most unpretentious way possible, with writing that resonates in the heart and mind long after it is read. You will meet in One Blade of Grass many great teachers, and one more who stands among them and shines with them all.โ
โRodger Kamenetz, author of The History of Last Night’s Dream and The Jew in the Lotus
โHenry Shukman is a wonderful and brilliant teacher who has affected me deeply. His journey from a troubled kid to a widely respected Zen master is a fascinating story in which everyone can find inspiration. One Blade of Grass is a mustโread for anyone interested in human spirituality and gaining practical wisdom about how to navigate this thing we call life.โ
โKirsten Powers, CNN political analyst and USA Today columnist