How the essence of flowers, nature and Buddhist wisdom provided solace during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How the essence of flowers, nature and Buddhist wisdom provided solace during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buddhism (general), Flowers, Inspiration & personal growth
In 2020, as COVID-19 spread from Asia to North America, Zen Buddhist and ikebana practitioner Joan Stamm was forced to cancel her long-anticipated trip to Japan, where she had planned to research a flower temple pilgrimage and learn the deeper meaning of flowers known as 'little Buddhas.' But with lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, Stamm, who lives on a mountain on an island in the Salish Sea, sequestered herself like a hermit and turned to her own flower garden for solace and meaning as the pandemic engulfed the world around her. The Language of Flowers in the Time of COVID tells the story of Stamm’s life and spiritual journey through these difficult times. Using traditional Japanese flowers as seasonal indicators, Stamm speaks the poetic language of flowers to explore ancient flower metaphor as it relates to the pandemic and the many manifestations of impermanence in one of the most tumultuous years in American history.
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Beautiful and eloquent, the delightful The Language of Flowers in the Time of Covid is a reflective work that revisits the two years that, for many, changed their lives permanently and, for others, made little difference or allowed their innermost obsessions to surface. FULL REVIEW: https://bluewolf-reviews.com/books/new-age/the-language-of-flowers-in-the-time-of-covid/ ~ BLUE WOLF REVIEWS, Review
The Language of Flowers in the Time of COVID: Finding Solace in Zen, Nature and Ikebana is dutifully laced with some of the most beautifully curated, colourfully-hued details and descriptions that you will close your eyes after reading each chapter and see (maybe even smell) each and every flower that is being oh-so lovingly described. ~ Exclusive Magazine, Review
Fascinating, inspiring, eloquent, contemplative, thought-provoking, "The Language of Flowers in the Time of COVID: Finding Solace in Zen, Nature and Ikebana" offers a combination of personal memoir, Buddhist philosophy, and the biological science/metaphorical interpretation of flowers in a time of universal crises. While available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99), "The Language of Flowers in the Time of COVID: Finding Solace in Zen, Nature and Ikebana" will prove a welcome and enduringly popular addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Buddhism, Biography/Memoir, and Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections. ~ Midwest Book Review, Review
When the onset of the pandemic upends cherished plans for a flower temple pilgrimage in Japan, Stamm combines her knowledge of flower symbolism and Buddhist teachings to navigate a year of global loss, anxiety, disappointment, despair, and unrest — all through the wisdom of flowers. Deeply informed and insightful, this book relates the spiritual pilgrimage nearly all of us took courtesy of COVID, a journey into a great and fearsome unknown. ~ Karen Maezen Miller, author of Paradise in Plain Sight: Lessons from a Zen Garden
This book, spirited, intimate, and thoughtful, stands with the pulse of suffering humanity in a tangle of crises while held in a landscape of extraordinary beauty and resilience. The writing blossoms Buddha Mind. We are struck through with nature’s transcendent presence in the complexity of the song of a flower, healing the heart in a time of global anguish. A very special treasure. ~ Eido Frances Carney Roshi, Teacher & Abbess, Olympia Zen Center; author of Kakurenbo or the Whereabouts of Zen Priest Ryokan
A tale of the healing power of flowers: Stamm meets 2020's unbelievable shifts and changes as a journey of transformation. We travel together with Joan from deep disappointment and shock through a gradual dawning of acceptance of the ancient truths of impermanence. The seasons of that difficult year unfold as flowers bud, bloom, and fade. Plans are made, perfected, and abandoned. Along the way we're joined by Zen and ikebana masters, heroic Chinese doctors, wise and corrupt American politicians, and passionate protestors as we return again and again to a quiet garden on a mountain on an island. A reflection sad, hopeful and wise. ~ Nomon Tim Burnett,Guiding Teacher, Red Cedar Zen Community; and Executive Director of Mindfulness Northwest
Joan has skillfully interwoven our collective experience during the pandemic with the enlightened teachings from the flower world. We can always look to flowers, and this book, to remind us of the preciousness of our existence and that even in unprecedented times, we live within the cycles of nature. Flowers can be our teachers to guide us through all of the seasons of our lives. . ~ Anjie Cho, dharma arts teacher at Shambhala Center New York, and author of Holistic Spaces:108 Ways to Create a Mindful and Peaceful Home
