Murder as a Call to Love

...the first book by a survivor of a family mass murder to identify mindfulness as her turning point toward forgiveness and love.

About the author:
Judith Toy was ordained by Zen Master and mindfulness author Thich Nhat Hanh as a core member of his order in 1997. She and her husband, Philip Toy, also ordained, have founded three communities of practice, and now lead days of mindfulness, workshops and retreats in the US and abroad. Judith Toy has often made her living as a writer and editor of non-fiction. An excerpt from this book appeared in Best Buddhist Writing 2006, published by Shambhala. She has received numerous grants and awards in the arts; she has written and produced a play, created a graduate workshop on writing for teachers, taught children from kindergarten through graduate school, worked with homeless teens and prisoners, composes a monthly e-newsletter and sometimes makes giant street puppets.

Murder As A Call to Love
A True Story of Transformation and Forgiveness
Authored by Judith Toy

The young man who murders the author's sister-in-law and her two teenage nephews hides in the garage of an affluent neighborhood. He waits until they are asleep. In the night, he bludgeons and stabs them to death, and flees. The perpetrator is the boy across the street, a family friend, 19 years old. Lost in grief, Judith falls into the welcoming arms of Zen. Five years later, through her newfound practice of daily mindfulness and meditation, she spontaneously forgives the killer. But before she can go to him and say, "I forgive you," he hangs himself to death in his prison cell. Years later, she calls his mother. The two women cry together. Here is the intimate, revealing story of Judith's life, and her love affair with Zen. Ironically, after being ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh, whose teachings abound in this book, she goes on to lead mindfulness practice in a medium-security prison where some of the young men know the murderer.

"A compelling story which embraces the whole spectrum of human experience from darkest suffering to radiant freedom. The author manages to keep those two extremes in delicate balance, infusing the whole with a fine gift for color and light. Best of all we see step by step how to work with emotions that block our way to forgiveness and love."
--Sara Jenkins, author of This Side of Nirvana

"Here is essentially a memoir-memoir as instruction manual, a guide to true forgiveness--forgiveness under the most inconceivable circumstances. This is a book for our time--and whatever times may come."
-Chan Tue Lon

Publication Date:Nov 21 2011
ISBN/EAN13:0578089262 / 9780578089263
LCCN:2011916024
Page Count:282
Binding Type:US Trade Paper
Trim Size:5.25" x 8"
Language:English
Color:Black and White with Bleed
Related Categories:Self-Help / Spiritual