Enlightenment is an Accident: Ancient Wisdom & Simple Practices to Make You Accident Prone

Written by Tim Burkett

Narrated by Kyle Tait

A warm-hearted guide to Buddhist practice for those ready to contend with the reality that enlightenment-the realization of non-self-can't be achieved by the self.

A well-known spiritual saying goes, "Enlightenment is an accident. But we can make ourselves more accident-prone." As an authentic American Zen takes shape, enlightenment continues to be misunderstood as a project to be completed, a goal to be achieved, or a prize to be awarded. Tim Burkett's new book unhooks enlightenment from the hot air balloon of ego and brings it back down to earth.

Drawing on stories of his first teacher, the Zen master Shunryu Suzuki (author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind), and Burkett's decades of practice and teaching, he reveals how to live in the world with a deep joy that comes from embracing the work and play of this very moment. With the wisdom and humor of a seasoned practitioner familiar with all manner of eccentric fixations and silly dead-ends, he offers views and practices we can use to support the paradoxical process of letting enlightenment happen on its own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Apr 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798350895667

Tim Burkett

Tim Burkett began studying Zen in 1964 with Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and was ordained as a Zen priest in 1978 by Dainin Katagiri, author of Returning to Silence and other books. Tim has been the guiding teacher at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center for the last 19 years. Tim is the author of Nothing Holy About It (Shambhala) and Zen in the Age of Anxiety: Wisdom for Navigating Our Modern Lives (Shambhala, 2018), which was selected as one of the 100 best spiritual books of 2018.