"These short discourses by an old Zen priest facing his possible imminent death are relaxed and friendly in tone. They speak directly to the heart of human suffering, the confusion that comes from not understanding what is clearly available for us to feel directly and be liberated. It is a book I keep on my bedside table, at close hand when I need a dose of encouragement." -Sylvia Boorstein, cofounding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and author of Happiness Is an Inside Job
“Life is amazing when we step out of our thoughts, our selves, and become the mystery alive to itself. With kindness and Zen directness, Yoshin David Radin opens the gate of simplicity and invites us to live here, awake, free.” —Jack Kornfield, author of No Time Like the Present
“‘You should find your salvation by becoming bored with your suffering...if you can be alone with yourself, you can be comfortable anywhere.' With such unexpected and unpretentious teachings, Yoshin David Radin makes Zen completely available. A Temporary Affair is a treasure house of comforting wisdom, a book you’ll go back to again and again to undo the tangles in your mind.” —Norman Fischer, poet, Zen priest, and author of The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path
“This is a wonderful book. It is simple. It is clear. There are poetic moments. But, bottom line, Yoshin David Radin speaks to us from the heart of the matter. Here is a Zen life as an authentic life. I highly recommend it.” —James Ishmael Ford, author of Introduction to Zen Koans: Learning the Language of Dragons
“With warmth, humor, and gentle authority, Zen teacher Yoshin David Radin shares the fruits of decades of intimacy with the mind to invite us home to the heart. His very real proximity to his own death charges these dharma talks with a kind of tender beauty that touched me to my core.” —Mirabai Starr, author of Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics and God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
“Do we really need another book on Buddhism? YES! But only if that book and collection of talks is Yoshin David Radin’s A Temporary Affair. Sitting with this book is like sitting with a roshi and having the wisdom within you mirrored back to you in a way that shatters everything that keeps you from knowing who you are and aren’t. Read this book slowly. The talks may be casual, but the truth is anything but.” —Rabbi Rami Shapiro, author of The Tao of Solomon: Unlocking the Perennial Wisdom of Ecclesiastes and Judaism Without Tribalism: A Guide to Being a Blessing to All the Peoples of the Earth
“This is a collection of genuine teachings from the heart that resonate with an authenticity that comes from Yoshin David Radin’s many years of practice. It is both profound and practical, a fine line that few Zen teachers are able to walk.” —Hal Roth, professor of religious studies and director of the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University
“Reading these talks by Yoshin David Radin is sharing one’s life with a wise and kind old friend. With his gentle words he dissolves the ridges of the boundaries we presume in our life. With simple words and common images Yoshin shares his experience of dissolving distracted mind, and thereby reveals the boundless heart that is our common unity.” —Seiju Bob Mammoser, senior teacher a
