About Peace: 108 Ways to Be at Peace When Things Are Out of Control

by Scott Shaw

These are Zen meditations for modern times -- cold comfort, maybe, for some of us who might want platitudes and the promise of peacefulness being handed to us on a silver platter. Because, as Shaw points out, conflict is a part of life. Zen Buddhism was even founded in conflict. No one can give anyone else peace. Peace comes to those who seek it -- in the moment and for the moment only. The pace of lives continues to accelerate, though, with more and more demands being placed on us by both others and ourselves. This collection, aimed at gaining inner peace, is wonderfully suited to the breakneck pace of our lives today. The future is too full of work, laundry, family, and other commitments -- not to mention the unknown. The past is gone. There's no time like the present to make like the eye of the hurricane and choose to be at peace with ourselves.

The 108 meditations in this book offer a very contemporary respite from internal and external conflict. Their number and their form, however, is steeped in tradition. One-hundred-and-eight is a sacred number in Buddhism, where there is also the tradition of meditating with malas -- strung beads, which come in multiples of nine -- 27, 56, or 108. Their form follows Buddhist tradition as well -- they're modern koans, or riddles to ponder, and dharma stories.

120 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2001

About the author

Born in the filmmaking capital of the world, Hollywood, California, Scott Shaw spent his early youth in South Los Angeles before returning to Hollywood for his adolescence. Shaw began writing poetry and long-form prose at a very young age. As his teenage years dawned he also added songwriting to his creative process.

Shaw was first published by poetry magazine in the 1970s. He continued forward and found an audience for his poetry and biographical literary fiction via journals and small presses from the 1970s into the 1980s.

By the end of the 1980s Scott Shaw had become a mainstay of martial art publications. This was based on his years of training in the Korean martial arts of Hapkido and Taekwondo, which began at the age of six years old. He also found that his writing on Yoga and Zen Buddhism were embraced due to his life-long emersion in mysticism.

Shaw, who has spent many years returning to, living, studying, and teaching in various geographical locations throughout Asia, has maintained his focus on this process and continues to be conduit for bringing Asian understandings to the Western mind. Hand-in-hand with his travels, Shaw emerged as a definitive photographer.

As the 1990s dawned, Shaw expanded his ability of capturing still images onto filmmaking. At this point he developed a new style of filmmaking that he titled, Zen Filmmaking. With Zen Filmmaking as his basis he moved forward and has made numerous films based upon this ideology.

To date, Scott Shaw has witnessed his writings published on a vast array of subjects. He maintains his focus on Eastern mysticism and the martial arts while continuing to break new ground with his works of poetry and literature.

Reviews

[Sarah Far · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتابی خیلی خوب،کوتاه،جیبی و ۱۰۸ از راه حل های برای رسیدن به صلح 🏩

[Jeanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Ebook was a really quick read and I would like to read it again. Many thought provoking viewpoints. If Peace is worth seeking, this book is a guide.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers 108 great reflections on finding and maintaning peace.

Here's my top 5 favorite tidbits:

"Frustration results from your inability to love what's happening at the moment."

"Choices that bring you peace today will bring you peace tomorrow."

"Is peace something you get, or is peace something you are?
If you can get it, you can lose it.
If you are it, it is never gone."

"Peace is a choice. Choosing peace takes practice."

"Be positive. Let others be who they are."