Update:
Sorry, this giveaway has ended. Visit Goodreads.com to read or write reviews and add Bunny Buddhism: Hopping Along the Path to Enlightenment to your bookshelf. And stay tuned for future contests and giveaways!
From now until May 28, 2014, Goodreads.com is giving away 20 free copies of Bunny Buddhism: Hopping Along the Path to Enlightenment. Enter the Good Reads Book Giveaway now for your chance to win. May your good hops return to you in the form of a free Bunny Buddhism book!
One of the first questions that comes my way whenever someone hears about the Bunny Buddhism book is, “Why Buddhism?” Of the many reasons I could give, one jumps out at me more than the others. Quite simply, Buddhism appeals to me because it acknowledges that suffering exists.
When I first decided to learn about Buddhism, I did what many people do nowadays when they want to learn about something: I googled it and landed on Wikipedia. Before long, I came to the section on the Four Noble Truths. As soon I read that the first of the Four Noble Truths is the truth of suffering, I felt a great sense of relief.
For many, many years, I had been trying to beat depression, anxiety, and chronic myofascial pain into submission with just about every solution I could imagine. When the last wave of depression crashed down on me, I realized my methods had completely failed and I needed to try something new. I was finally ready to give meditation an honest try. And very soon, my entire world changed. At last, I could see how I was contributing to my own despair and I could begin to avoid my more destructive habits.
The other Noble Truths were much more challenging for me to embrace. I did not believe there was a way to end suffering. To be honest, I’m still not sure I do. But I am coming to understand that this “end” of suffering is not so much a promise that I will one day find lasting happiness so much as it is a guide to some practical ways to reduce unnecessary suffering, a way to let go of all those thoughts that do nothing but add to what is already quite painful.
So, why Buddhism? It’s because I suffer. It’s because we all suffer, and we can all make changes in our lives to reduce that suffering. Buddhism may be part of that process. But let’s not forget that religion isn’t for everyone. One of my all-time favorite quotes from His Holiness the Dalai Lama is, “Don’t try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist; use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are.”
In the end, it doesn’t matter whether someone identifies with Buddhism. Everyone can identify with pain and loss. Everyone can understand resistance to change and irrational fear and bad habits we can’t seem to break. And so, in deference to the fact that not everyone wants to embrace an entirely new religion, I chose to share some aspects of Buddhism with others using a bunny as my mouthpiece. The truth of the message is the same, just softer…and a bit more cuddly.
Throughout the process of writing and arranging and revising the Bunny Buddhism book, I had this overwhelming sense that it was somehow not real. Surely, it was a dream. For months on end, I worried that someone would send me an email saying, “Just kidding!” But then, just the other day, the very first hard copy of the book arrived in my mailbox.
For me, it creates an interesting internal process. As someone who spent many years self-identifying as a tortured artist, I find myself wanting to run around screaming, “It’s a book! It’s MY book! I wrote it, and it’s really real!” I want to label it as the realization of a dream, the single most important and exciting thing that has ever happened to me. Then I catch myself and go down a rabbit hole of questions. What is real? Isn’t this form, and form is emptiness (see the Heart Sutra)? Is this empty? How can it be empty if it is truly a heartfelt attempt to plant seeds of positivity? How can that be? And what does it mean for this really real book of mine?
Well, sure, it is a book. In a sense, it is something I can hold and look at. But I also know it is not an end result, and more than that – it’s not really mine. If I latch onto it as an all-important marker in my life, I stop learning. I close myself off to what comes next. This is not a beginning or an end, this is just where I am right now. And so, I try to experience each moment of this process as if it were the only moment – because it is.
Illustration by Durell Godfrey
In this particular moment, I just want to share a preview of one of the book’s beautiful illustrations by Durell Godfrey and take a moment to recognize her for her considerable talent and contribution to this project. Thank you, Durell!
So, I think it would be irresponsible for me to think of this as my book. Durell’s contribution is only one factor…I can include everything from the sun and rain that nourished the trees that grew to become the pages of this book to the workers in the lumberyard and the papermill and the publisher. I am sure there are a ton of things I can’t even think of at the moment, and then one day I know the pages of this book will eventually disintegrate and return to the Earth. Instead of thinking of it as my book or as an end result, I can think of it as a pebble of humorous inspiration dropped into the stream of life. And it will only truly live in the ripples it creates when others read it.
The release of the Bunny Buddhism book is just a month away, and I am very excited to announce an offer to express my gratitude for pre-orders!
The Offer
Anyone who pre-orders the book before April 1, 2014 is eligible to receive the following:
• A signed bookplate sticker to stick inside the cover of your book;
• A Bunny Buddhism quote magnet;
AND, if you have a bunny,
• A free quote photo featuring your very own bunny! This is your chance to see your loveable bun’s moment of bunniness shared on the Bunny Buddhism website, Facebook page, Twitter feed and/or the author’s personal Twitter feed (@Krista_Lester).
How It Works
Pre-order the book through any bookseller before April 1, 2014 and email your confirmation receipt to krista@bunnybuddhism.com, along with your mailing address and a digital photo you’ve taken of your bunny (if applicable). It’s that easy!
This particular bunny is available for adoption. Please visit http://www.missbunz.com/adoptable/ for more information about Butterscotch and her adoptable bunpals currently in foster care!
