The Buddhist Centre

428: The Sound of One Hand


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Sometimes a new Dharma book turns up that manages to seem both effortlessly profound and very funny. Of course, Satyadasa's The Sound of One Hand is actually the product of hard-won experience, and we're delighted to welcome him to the podcast to talk about his wonderful memoir as a tale of struggle, inspiration and the meeting of twin lineages in his life: Dharma practice and family.

We hear Satyadasa's account of the challenges and joys to be had figuring out how to find a spiritual path when you have a "visible disability" (he was born without his left hand fully formed). Learning to do this within established communities, institutions, and set ways of conceiving of a Buddhist life was the cause of much soul-searching, but Satyadasa has wry anecdotes to spare as he freewheels like his hero Bob Dylan from childhood meditation experiences with his grandfather to studies at Oxford to Buddhist London in the early part of this century.

No one is fixed, Satyadasa reminds us, and this conversation is also a reflection on telling your life story as a deeply creative act: a way to discover more about the past than you could ever have known otherwise. And to bring into the light your own trove of learning about friendship, love, loss, doubt, and the courage needed to transcend the constrictions of self-view.

Join us to discover the sound of one hand as it echoes across the airwaves and around the world.

Show Notes
Buy The Sound of One Hand by Satyadasa

Read a review of The Sound of One Hand

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Theme music by Ackport! Used with kind permission.

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