{"product_id":"bourgeois-to-buddha-my-trials-and-errors-across-four-continents-9781737093701","title":"Bourgeois To Buddha: My Trials and Errors Across Four Continents","description":"\u003cp\u003eBOURGEOIS TO BUDDHA is \u003cstrong\u003ea tale of one woman's mid-life inferno\u003c\/strong\u003e after her nest empties and how she exits her standard American home, husband and career to explore both intimacy and super-consciousness. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe author invites even the most dubious reader along on her leaping, trudging and wandering quest for solace and enlightenment somewhere, somehow, amidst a plethora of wellness practices and Eastern spiritual studies. Willing to believe in guidance to \"give up what you've got for what's waiting for you,\" her gutsy, more trusting, somewhat desperate self did it on limited resources.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLaurel Ann Francis might have called her memoir \u003cem\u003eHOMELESS BY CHOICE\u003c\/em\u003e: \u003cem\u003eThe Way, My Way @$10 A Day \u003c\/em\u003eas she writes about \u003cstrong\u003eher sabbatical of exploits\u003c\/strong\u003e in New Age Centers across America at Kripalu, the Omega Institute, Esalen, The Lama Foundation, Tassajara Zen Center, and Harbin Hot Springs. \u003cstrong\u003eWith a one-way ticket to India\u003c\/strong\u003e, she begins \u003cstrong\u003ea guru shopping trip\u003c\/strong\u003e to find God (or get Him\/Her\/It to find her), searching at ashrams\u003cstrong\u003e from the Himalayas to Pondicherry\u003c\/strong\u003e, signing in the Osho Commune International, and sitting at Vipassana retreats in Nepal, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy 1995, her fifth year on the path, she is celibate for spiritual reasons, but still conflicted by duality and polarity. She feels motivated to join engaged Buddhists in Auschwitz, Poland, to undertake The International Interfaith \u003cstrong\u003ePilgrimage for Peace\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eand Light\u003c\/strong\u003e, a 9-month journey, crossing 17 countries and 10,000 miles (including 2,000 on foot) to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the End of WWII in Hiroshima, Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWiser after a decade-long, four-act play of opposites, with a wry awareness of human foibles and her own shortcomings, the author returns to family revisited and reconfigured on an unfamiliar Hawaiian island, displaying a tenderness suffused with a richer understanding of both herself and the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLaurel Ann's \u003cem\u003eTrials and Errors Across Four Continents\u003c\/em\u003e reflect the spunky, sparkly style of a woman who \u003cstrong\u003elearns there are no errors\u003c\/strong\u003e. \u003cstrong\u003eShe makes fun of herself\u003c\/strong\u003e even as she seeks and sneaks up on enlightenment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrancis, Laurel Ann:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Laurel Ann Francis grew up with five siblings on the Great Lakes. She graduated from Boston University, studied in Denmark, raised a family, and received a Master's degree from the University of New Hampshire. A retired educator, she now lives in Hawaii and swims every day.","brand":"Laurel Ann Francis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50382796685586,"sku":"9781737093701","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f5037114-efce-4cb8-9d8b-922fa756304d.jpg?v=1728718287","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/bourgeois-to-buddha-my-trials-and-errors-across-four-continents-9781737093701","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}