bodhi tree swaying

10.01.10 is the date (US-style) of when my book, Living As a River, is published by Sounds True. The date has a rather symmetrical loveliness.

I just got the MS back from my editor today, along with her suggested changes and with some lovely comments.

She said: “I have totally fallen in love with this book.”

She also said: “It has opened my heart and mind up in countless ways.”

These are nice things to hear.

At the source, at the very source are live streams.
Through my body trickles air like birch sap.
And the buzz of bees, the midsummer sun
Ripple inside me and ripple above.

At the source—living streams…
I won’t ask where they flow.
Only blend into the floating shadow of a tree,
wrap myself in a bird’s tremulous melody.

At the very source is a glow.
I don’t ask whither flows the stream.
At the deepest source is a glow.
Through me ripple grasses and the sky,
Birch trees and the midsummer sun.
What am I in this eternal flow?

From “Intermezzo,” by Janina Degutytė, translated by Gražina M. Slavėnas

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I received this email from my publisher today:

I saw the content from the book that you sent to Jaime, and it really looks like it’s coming along. I think it’s going to be a truly brilliant book.

We had a meeting today to discuss the title and subtitle, and to brainstorm a bit around it. The goal was to create a title that really represents what’s in the book, but also conveys the benefit the reader might receive. This is a tough balance to strike! But we hammered something out that Tami and I both think is great. You’ll see we stole from the title of the podcast here, which we both liked a great deal. With some subtitle iterations, and in the order of our preference, our proposals are:LIVING AS A RIVER: Finding Fearlessness in the Face of ChangeLIVING AS A RIVER:

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"Forthcoming" in this case means you might be able to get it as a Christmas present in 2010! However, I’m hard at work on my book on the Six Elements, to be published by Sounds True, and I’m most of the way through the sixth element, consciousness. Here’s what one advance reader, Steve Bell, had to say in his blog:

Bodhipaksa is working on a book developed out of reflections on the 6 Element practice, and he’s allowed me to read 4 of the chapters so far. It’s an amazing book, I can’t wait till it comes out.In the 6 Element Practice you contemplate how the elements of earth, water, air, fire (energy), space and consciousness are inside of us, outside of us, then you say, "they are not me, they are not mine."It leads to a kind of spiritual death,

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This is the introduction to a book I’m writing on the Six Element Practice, which is a traditional Buddhist reflection on impermanence, interconnectedness, and non-self. For some reason I posted the first part of a draft of the first chapter before I posted this, which is unfortunate since there’s a reference in the first chapter that makes no sense until you’ve read this. Comments are very welcome. I’d like this to be a good book, and feedback is an important part of honing the writing. Chapter One has changed a lot since I posted it, so once it’s done I’ll re-post it in its entirety. In future you’ll be able to find drafts of the Six Element Book by following the six element book tags. Enjoy!

Andrew walks into a laboratory in the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and stands opposite a plastic mannequin. …