Texas Author Rev. Dr. Kate McLennan Releases The Messy Buddha: Dancing on the Soul’s Growing Edge
Austin, TX, May 16, 2009 --(PR.com)-- In February of 1999, “the poster child of clean and healthy living” was blind-sided with a leukemia diagnosis. Already on a spiritual path and listening deeply for the still small voice, Rev. Dr. Kate McLennan began to ponder these questions: Why do bad things happen when you know you’re doing all the right things? Is illness merely a wakeup call, or is there a deeper spiritual meaning? How does one find meaning when life deals a difficult hand? A long time Buddhist practitioner and dharma teacher, her training taught her that being a buddha means being awake—and sometimes that means being awake to live the questions.
Honoring both her Christian roots and Buddhist practices, McLennan offers an interfaith approach to spirituality, which she defines as “deepening our connection with Spirit and … awakening to live life fully in the moment.” And awakening to life’s sumptuous and messy fullness is her destiny after her harrowing bout with cancer, a near death experience, and the struggles and gifts inherent in returning to tell the story.
Part spiritual memoir, part instruction manual, her new book, The Messy Buddha: Dancing on the Soul’s Growing Edge, published by Outskirts Press, is a unique and soulful guide to approaching life and art as spiritual practice. Weaving insights, music, and spiritual guidance into an inspiring story, McLennan dares her readers to dance on the soul’s growing edge—leaving our safety zones, risking falling into the abyss, and trusting that we will fly. Why The Messy Buddha?
“My life partner, Sharon, named me ‘the messy buddha’ when I was in the hospital for months with leukemia. She said that most of the time I was calm, peaceful, and buddha-like with my beautiful bald head. Then there were times when I would totally lose it. … Why couldn’t I be more sage-like and accepting? Living authentically in the moment is sometimes messy. Certainly being a buddha—which means being awake—is messy business. The art of being alive is the ability to breathe and live each messy moment.”
Empowering individuals to deepen into their own spirituality and the messiness of their own lives, The Messy Buddha appeals to spiritual seekers—beginning and experienced. Speaking compassionately to people whose lives are touched by serious illness, McLennan invites readers to creatively search for meaning in these painful rites of passage. An accomplished singer/songwriter, she encourages creativity as a spiritual path through mindful awareness and intention. This 200-page retreat in skillful living teaches meditation, body prayer techniques, and explores the way of the mystic, artist, and prophet as a roadmap for spiritual living. In her own words: “I invite you to dance on your soul’s growing edge. Your guide is messy, imperfect, and not the greatest dancer. But I am willing, and offering my hand and my heart.”
ISBN: 978-1-4327-3550-0 Format: 6 x 9 paperback SRP: $16.95
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit / Growth
About the Author: Rev. Dr. Kate McLennan is an interfaith minister with a Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of Creation Spirituality, a dharma teacher in the Vipassana lineage, and a captivating performing artist. Her leukemia survival story was filmed for the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s website. Kate lives in the Texas Hill Country on the outskirts of Austin with her beloved partner of several decades, five dogs, and one ancient cat who actually sleeps on a hot tin roof.
For more information or to contact the author, visit www.outskirtspress.com/MessyBuddha or www.MessyBuddha.com.
About Outskirts Press, Inc.: Outskirts Press, Inc. offers full-service, custom self-publishing services for authors seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining all their rights and full creative control. Available for authors globally at www.outskirtspress.com and located on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, Outskirts Press represents the future of book publishing, today.
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Outskirts Press, Inc., 10940 S. Parker Rd - 515, Parker, Colorado 8014
http://outskirtspress.com 1-888-OP-BOOKS
Honoring both her Christian roots and Buddhist practices, McLennan offers an interfaith approach to spirituality, which she defines as “deepening our connection with Spirit and … awakening to live life fully in the moment.” And awakening to life’s sumptuous and messy fullness is her destiny after her harrowing bout with cancer, a near death experience, and the struggles and gifts inherent in returning to tell the story.
Part spiritual memoir, part instruction manual, her new book, The Messy Buddha: Dancing on the Soul’s Growing Edge, published by Outskirts Press, is a unique and soulful guide to approaching life and art as spiritual practice. Weaving insights, music, and spiritual guidance into an inspiring story, McLennan dares her readers to dance on the soul’s growing edge—leaving our safety zones, risking falling into the abyss, and trusting that we will fly. Why The Messy Buddha?
“My life partner, Sharon, named me ‘the messy buddha’ when I was in the hospital for months with leukemia. She said that most of the time I was calm, peaceful, and buddha-like with my beautiful bald head. Then there were times when I would totally lose it. … Why couldn’t I be more sage-like and accepting? Living authentically in the moment is sometimes messy. Certainly being a buddha—which means being awake—is messy business. The art of being alive is the ability to breathe and live each messy moment.”
Empowering individuals to deepen into their own spirituality and the messiness of their own lives, The Messy Buddha appeals to spiritual seekers—beginning and experienced. Speaking compassionately to people whose lives are touched by serious illness, McLennan invites readers to creatively search for meaning in these painful rites of passage. An accomplished singer/songwriter, she encourages creativity as a spiritual path through mindful awareness and intention. This 200-page retreat in skillful living teaches meditation, body prayer techniques, and explores the way of the mystic, artist, and prophet as a roadmap for spiritual living. In her own words: “I invite you to dance on your soul’s growing edge. Your guide is messy, imperfect, and not the greatest dancer. But I am willing, and offering my hand and my heart.”
ISBN: 978-1-4327-3550-0 Format: 6 x 9 paperback SRP: $16.95
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit / Growth
About the Author: Rev. Dr. Kate McLennan is an interfaith minister with a Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of Creation Spirituality, a dharma teacher in the Vipassana lineage, and a captivating performing artist. Her leukemia survival story was filmed for the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s website. Kate lives in the Texas Hill Country on the outskirts of Austin with her beloved partner of several decades, five dogs, and one ancient cat who actually sleeps on a hot tin roof.
For more information or to contact the author, visit www.outskirtspress.com/MessyBuddha or www.MessyBuddha.com.
About Outskirts Press, Inc.: Outskirts Press, Inc. offers full-service, custom self-publishing services for authors seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining all their rights and full creative control. Available for authors globally at www.outskirtspress.com and located on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, Outskirts Press represents the future of book publishing, today.
###
Outskirts Press, Inc., 10940 S. Parker Rd - 515, Parker, Colorado 8014
http://outskirtspress.com 1-888-OP-BOOKS
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888.672.6657
www.outskirtspress.com
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