Sanctuary: A Meditation on Home, Homelessness, and Belonging, Paperback

Sanctuary: A Meditation on Home, Homelessness, and Belonging examines the interface between inner and outer sanctuary, and the ways they affect one another.

``Sanctuary`` is the home we can return to when our lives are under threat, where we can face what's difficult to love, and have a place where we can truly say, ``I am home``--and spiritual teachers often emphasize sanctuary's inner dimensions, that ``our true home`` is within. ``Homelessness,`` in turn, can be viewed as a forced experience or one in which there is a spiritual void in being or feeling home.

Drawing from her life as a Zen Buddhist priest whose ancestors labored as slaves in Louisiana, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel explores the tension between oppression--based on race, religion, ability, class, orientation, gender, and other ``ghosts of slavery``--and finding home within our own hearts. Through intimate personal stories and deep reflection, Manuel helps us see the moment when what has gone unacknowledged surfaces is ``the time we have been practicing for,`` the epiphany when we can investigate the true source what has been troubling us. This insightful book about home and homelessness, sanctuary and refuge offers inspiration, encouragement, and a clear-eyed view of cultivating a spiritual path in challenging times.