Radical Soul Book Club: December 2024

December's title is Opening to Darkness: Eight Gateways for Being with the Absence of Light in Unsettling Times.

When you hear the word “darkness,” what does it make you feel―horror, danger, or maybe despair? We’ve been conditioned to fear and avoid darkness and blackness, yet Zenju Earthlyn Manuel challenges us to consider: “What if we chose to go deeper into darkness instead of running from it? What might we find there beyond our longing for light?”
Drawing on the ancient wisdom found in Zen Buddhism and African and Native American indigenous traditions, Osho Zenju reveals how a change in perspective and increased wisdom can help us awaken to the sacredness of dark experiences in our lives―so we may experience a reality beyond avoidance and fear.
Opening to Darkness will take you on a courageous journey into the mandala of darkness, a symbolic expression of your inner world, where you will travel through eight gateways that are inspired by Buddha’s Eightfold Path. Along your way, you will meet dark mothers from India, Nigeria, Japan, Haiti, and Dahomey, who both protect and destroy. Osho Zenju provides reflective inquiry, blessings, and meditations as you navigate your way through the vast depths of the unseen.
It is through this spiritual pilgrimage that we learn how to:
• Experience the wonders of life that can flourish only in the dark
• Discover a collective doorway to healing and deep transformation
• Awaken to the illusory nature of light versus dark
• Illuminate false perceptions and beliefs of darkness
• Heal the fear and anxiety around darkness and blackness
Wrapped in gorgeous lyrical prose, Osho Zenju’s offerings provide deep soul relief and collective strength to embrace the dark―so we may reunite with the sacred process of darkness that flows through the canvas of our lives.

Buy the book.

About the Author

Osho Zenju Earthlyn Marselean Manuel, poet, author, ordained Zen priest, and medicine woman of the drum is the dharma heir of Buddha and the late Zenkei Blanche Hartman in the Shunryu Suzuki Roshi lineage through the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC). She was Shuso (head Student) with Kiku Christina Lehnherr Roshi and her Dharma Transmission was completed by Osho Shosan Victoria Austin. Prior to enter Zen Buddhism, Zenju practiced in the Nichiren/Soka Gakkai tradition for 15 years. She entered Zen in 2001 and began again as a beginner on the path.

Zenju’s practice is influenced by Native American and African indigenous traditions. She participated in ceremony with Ifá diviners from Dahomey, Africa and briefly studied Yoruba. She was raised in the Church of Christ where she was an avid reader of the Bible and adored the true mystic teachings on Christ’s path well into adulthood. She holds a Ph.D. and formally worked for decades as a social science researcher, development director for non-profit organizations and those serving women and girls, cultural arts, and mental health.

About Radical Soul

Radical Soul is a newsletter, blog, podcast, and event series about modern spiritual movements that center justice, offer healing from religious trauma, and reject white and Christian supremacy. It's the creation of Jera Brown (they/them), a former Christian turned Buddhist/lover of tarot/practitioner of spiritual BDSM.

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