Today, we want to introduce you and invite you to sponsor a book that will come out this November. It is called The Subtle Art of Caring: A Guide to Sustaining Compassion.
The Buddha taught the practices of loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. You may know and practise them as the Brahma Viharas. They are the guides and means to cultivate positive emotions and minimise harmful ones.
Poet, writer, activist, coach, and Buddhist teacher River Wolton gives new life to these teachings as resources for a life in which compassion for self and others is mutually sustaining. There is an urgent need for compassionate action in the world. Sometimes, however, the difficulty of taking action against global problems can stamp out the impulse to care. In this context, compassion alone can lead to burnout, ‘compassion fatigue’, or ‘empathic distress’. How can we respond to such challenges?
Beautifully illustrated throughout by artist Emma Burleigh, and with exercises, meditations, and reflections, River helps us to find our own answers to these question.
Reasons to sponsor The Subtle Art of Caring
It relates the historic tradition and practice of Buddhism to modern social and environmental crises. River asks us to take an honest look at our difficult emotions of fear, grief, and anger. However, by encouraging us to cultivate mindfulness and positive emotions, she teaches us to respond not with reactivity but with contemplation and creativity. We find a way forwards on a path between the paralysing extremes of denial and alarm.
It’s informed by personal experience. River is no stranger to burnout. She faced disconnection and disillusionment after working for several years with people with disabilities, and training as a social worker and psychotherapist. She explores how her exposure to socially engaged Buddhism equipped her with the perspective and the inner resources she needed to carry on.
It’s a pleasure to read. A poet and teacher of creative writing, River draws upon all of her talents in this book. Her writing moves seamlessly from the words of contemporary activists to the verses of ancient Buddhist texts. Using imagery and art, poetry and prose, she balances powerful facts with the power of imagination. She highlights the continuity between our inner and outer worlds, revealing how our innate inner capacities can be the foundation for meaningful social change.
Watch River introduce the book and the sponsorship in her own words. Click to watch this video on our YouTube channel.
Praise for The Subtle Art of Caring
‘This book is a tonic for our times… I was invited into a different way of being as I imbibed this beautiful collage of reflections, conversations, and creative explorations.’ - Prof Rebecca Crane, PhD, Director, Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice, Bangor University, UK
‘… River, a passionate contemplative artist and activist, shares with us what
she has learned in her journey of creativity, social engagement, and meditation… she shows the way to a profoundly beneficial life for ourselves and others.’ – Martine Batchelor, meditation teacher and author of Meditation for Life and Let Go: a Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits
About the author
River Wolton trained as a social worker and psychotherapist. She has offered writing workshops in schools, therapeutic and community arts groups, and is a Buddhist teacher, and LGBTQI+ and peace activist. She co-founded Sheffield Insight Meditation, and teaches at Gaia House, UK. She lives in the Peak District, with her partner. She was the Poet Laureate for Derbyshire and has published three volumes of poetry.
But why sponsor a book?
For one thing, you’ll be amongst the first to get your hands on the book as soon as it’s published, plus you will receive an eBook version for those times when a book is just too heavy to carry. Your sponsorship will also help us to continue to publish these beautiful Dharma books.
Many of us are feeling the pinch in the current economic climate. You may not know that this has also been a particularly difficult time for small publishers like Windhorse, partly due to the significant increase in costs of paper and printing since the onset of the war in Ukraine.
The extra you give now – whether that’s liking or sharing a post, recommending or buying a book, making a donation or sponsoring a book like this one – all contributes to enabling us to keep doing what we love: making Dharma books to support your practice and the wider sangha.