The Messy Buddha
Dancing on the Soul's Growing Edge
Keep Moving Through and I'll Know Why
Dragonfly Woman from Kate McLennan on Vimeo.
My Dad is Dying
The circle of life sometimes pulls me into the moment.
Birthing this beautiful book
While saying goodbye to ...
My Dad is dying.
My siblings and I face this moment together
Hoping to love each other more through the journey.
Moments in the hospital ...
In the nursing home where my Father’s numerous friends visit ...
Precious and sacred moments together
and apart.
We’ve shared with each other the times when we “cried like babies.”
Wept when I told my Dad what the Dr. said,
Wept over the steering wheel in my hot car in the hospital parking lot.
I’m exhausted, weary, and out of words.
The only words that reverberate in my ears--
My Dad is dying.
And this, too, is spiritual practice.
Being awake to the pain ...
To the sadness ...
To life ...
And death.
Breathing in and out.
My Dad is dying.
Press Release!
hope and tools for living in these troubled times.
The Blessed Arrival. Dang that UPS guy is cute!
The bouncing baby books.
Texas Author Rev. Dr. Kate McLennan Releases The Messy Buddha: Dancing on the Soul’s
Growing Edge
By Outskirts Press, Inc.
Dated: May 14, 2009
Part spiritual memoir, part instruction manual, Author Rev. Dr. Kate McLennan's new book, The Messy
Buddha: Dancing on the Soul’s Growing Edge, is a unique and soulful guide to approaching life and art as
spiritual practice.
Austin, TX and Denver, CO – 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
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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
Category Publishing
Tags rev dr kate mclennan, the messy buddha, body mind spirit / growth, outskirts press
Email Click to email author
Phone 888-672-6657
Fax 888-208-8601
Address 10940 S. Parker Rd #515
City/Town Parker
State/Province Colorado
Zip 80134
Country United States
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