For those of us who are committed to a life of awakening and truth, Sluyter gives us deep insight into the writings of such luminaries as Mark Twain, William Blake, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, J.D. Salinger and many more. You’ll not be bored in his class as he takes us deep into the spiritual insights hidden in the writings of these revered literary geniuses. Dean Sluyter lived in New Jersey for 33 years where he developed the Literature of Enlightenment Program at the Pingry School and worked with inmates at Northern State Prison and Mountain View Youth Correctional Facility. He now lives in Santa Monica, California and teaches natural methods of meditation and awakening throughout the United States and beyond. He's known for his funny, down-to-earth style and for making life-transforming teachings accessible and easy. He is the author of many books including The Zen Commandments (Tarcher/Putnam 2001), Why the Chicken Crossed the Road and Other Hidden Enlightenment Teachings (Tarcher/Putnam 1998), Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies (Three Rivers Press 2005), Natural Meditation: A Guide to Effortless Meditative Practice (Tarcher/Penguin 2015) Fear Less: Living Beyond Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and Addiction (TarcherPerigee 2018) and The Dharma Bum's Guide to Western Literature (New World Library 2022)

Interview Date: 4/1/2022     Tags: MP3, Dean Sluyter, William Blake, Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn, Gary Synder, Jack Kerouac, Poetry, Ernest Hemingway, Haiku, Basho, kenshō, Big Two-Hearted River, PTSD, Farewell to Arms, To the Lighthouse, Anattā, non-self, Dr. Suess, Cat in the Hat, Caravaggio's Calling of St. Matthew, J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, Seymour Glass, Glass Family stories, Gautama Buddha, Meditation, Education, Writing, Art & Creativity, Buddhism