Opening to Darkness, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Opening to Darkness, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
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Opening to Darkness
Eight Gateways for Being with the Absence of Light in Unsettling Times

Author: Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

Narrator: Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

Unabridged: 9 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/21/2023


Synopsis

“In darkness, we become devoted to clarity, courage, peace, and harmony. We discover the basic goodness of all humanity when we experience darkness together,” Zenju Earthlyn Manuel writes. “Life itself is a dark experience—a magical experience.”

When you hear the word “darkness,” what does it make you feel—horror, danger, or maybe despair? We’ve been conditioned to fear and avoid darkness and blackness, yet Zenju Earthlyn Manuel challenges us to consider: “What if we chose to go deeper into darkness instead of running from it? What might we find there beyond our longing for light?”

Drawing on the ancient wisdom found in Zen Buddhism and African and Native American indigenous traditions, Osho Zenju reveals how a change in perspective and increased wisdom can help us awaken to the sacredness of dark experiences in our lives—so we may experience a reality beyond avoidance and fear.

Opening to Darkness will take you on a courageous journey into the mandala of darkness, a symbolic expression of your inner world, where you will travel through eight gateways that are inspired by Buddha’s Eightfold Path. Along your way, you will meet dark mothers from India, Nigeria, Japan, Haiti, and Dahomey, who both protect and destroy. Osho Zenju provides reflective inquiry, blessings, and meditations as you navigate your way through the vast depths of the unseen.

It is through this spiritual pilgrimage that we learn how to:

• Experience the wonders of life that can flourish only in the dark
• Discover a collective doorway to healing and deep transformation
• Awaken to the illusory nature of light versus dark
• Illuminate false perceptions and beliefs of darkness
• Heal the fear and anxiety around darkness and blackness

Wrapped in gorgeous lyrical prose, Osho Zenju’s offerings provide deep soul relief and collective strength to embrace the dark—so we may reunite with the sacred process of darkness that flows through the canvas of our lives.

About Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, PhD, is an author, poet, ordained Zen Buddhist priest, teacher, and artist, whose diverse background, education, and experience all provide a unique integral and cultural perspective within the space of religion and spirituality. She is the author of The Shamanic Bones of Zen, The Way of Tenderness, The Deepest Peace, and more. Manuel is a native of California and now resides in New Mexico. Learn more at zenju.org


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tucker on July 30, 2023

Appreciated these insights. There is so much to say about what we can't know or don't know. Or the places that feel like they're holding us back, but really we're all holding each other together. That's where the most fertile ground is. Wrote more here.......more

Goodreads review by Cherie on January 19, 2023

I was attracted to this book because I've been working on my aversion to darkness and winter.. It is an exploration of spiritual darkness through various religious and cultural avenues.......more

Goodreads review by Mark on April 04, 2023

This is the third book I have read from Zenju Earthlyn Manuel. I read this prior to receiving her teaching later this month, which I look forward to. There is a lot to contemplate and work work with. The eight gates are very interesting and I resonated with parts of them in different ways. Sometimes......more

Goodreads review by Gabrielle on August 01, 2023

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel did engage me. She proposes that the reader open to, accept, and grow from darkness. Her book is filled and overflowing with how to achieve being with the/our darkness. How to see and let go of pre-conceived notions about darkness and to become empowered through the process. Sh......more

Goodreads review by Fluencer on September 19, 2024

One of the best books on spirituality that I have come across. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel has an urgent message for the world, a world that increasingly values light and shuns darkness. This is message that many are not willing to hear, even in spiritual circles, but it is very important to hear, and won......more