In Buddhist mythology, the final night prior to the Buddha’s awakening is described as a black night, a night in which all of his greatest anxieties attacked and threatened his spirit.
The Buddha’s ability to remain in his place and accept the presence of those anxieties, as part of his path, had made it possible, in the Buddhist tale’s words, “to turn the arrows into flowers”.
Not only did his anxieties not destroyed him, but they became an engine which accompanied him towards his awakening into the nature of himself and the world.
Inspired by this wondrous Buddhist tale, this book is an invitation to accept any event that happens to us as “life materials”, precious living energy which accompanies our life’s journey.
Working with these burning life materials– fear, pain, rage, guilt, shame, jealousy and more – will enable us to melt away the hindrances, defenses and glass walls that had been built around our hearts over the years,
And to create the meaning of our existence, on our own, here and now.
This book is an invitation to awaken into our lives, just as they are, to turn the arrows into flowers.
אסף לב
Assaf Lev, psychotherapist, poet, advocate and thinker, life coach, have been a student of Zen Buddhism and existential philosophy on the last thirty years, born in Jaffa, Israel.
