Comfortable With Being Groundless: A Guide For Beginners

Have you ever questioned your assumptions about the world? Ever wondered if things are as you believe and “know” them to be? Ever wondered if how you know, is providing accurate information on how things really are?We all seek the assurance of certainty. We want to be confident that we are living in the real world, not in fantasy or illusion. And yet, paradoxically, this driving need is the origin of much despair and suffering, for we live in a world without ground, as Comfortable With Being Groundless will contend.Using the conclusions of recent scientific studies and principles of Buddhist thought, the authors explore our reliance on certainty, how we use stories to build that world of certainty, how our stories can unexpectedly bring upheaval and despair into our lives (for they are only stories), and how we can live comfortably in the groundless world we live in.

Leni de Mik is a clinical psychologist, teacher and lecturer. She has been active in and has received instruction and teaching in both Zen and Tibetan traditions, receiving teachings from H. H. The Dalai Lama, Alan Wallace, Sogyul Rinpoche, Tsoknye Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche. Leni lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Guy Gibbon is professor emeritus in the department of anthropology at the University of Minnesota. He is also a semi-retired priest at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center where he lives with his wife Ann and temple cat, Moo-san.