A beautiful and flowing conversation with the author and Zen Buddhist monk Claude AnShin Thomas on his wonderful new book, Bringing Meditation To Life. We also touch on his compelling earlier masterpiece, At Hell's Gate. Claude shares so much deep and profound wisdom here.

Claude AnShin Thomas is a Zen Buddhist monk and the author of the books At Hell’s Gate: A Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace and Bringing Meditation to Life. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the US Army and served in the Vietnam War as a helicopter crew chief. Since that time, he has been working to heal the wounds of war—emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Ordained in Auschwitz in 1994 by Bernie Tetsugen Glassman, he walked on pilgrimage from Auschwitz to Vietnam, begging for alms along the way in the ancient Buddhist tradition of takuhatsu. He has walked several other pilgrimages since then in the United States and Europe.

Claude AnShin is the guiding teacher at the Magnolia Zen Center in Mary Esther, Florida, and the founder of the Zaltho Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes meditation and nonviolence. Claude AnShin teaches frequently in the United States, Europe, and South America.

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Paul Samuel Dolman, author, podcaster, and speaker, presents What Matters Most (the book!) a series of interview transcriptions from more than twenty inspirational Nashville and Tennessee residents, including special guest the journalist and author Bill Moyers.

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, former Governor Don Sundquist, Academy Award-winning actress Patricia Neal, Grammy Award-winning entertainer Wynonna Judd, and many more share intimate and inspirational aspects of themselves.

This twentieth anniversary edition also features bonus material from thirty more notables from Tennessee, including local business owners, spiritual leaders, coaches, radio personalities, authors, and educators.