Book Event: D Allen reads from and talks about the themes of his new book.
APRIL 13, Sunday, 1pm
RIVER HOUSE BOOKS Carmel Crossroads Carmel, California
The book is available in paperback at River House Books in Carmel Crossroads, Luminata Books in Monterey, and online as an ebook, in both English and Spanish.
PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE!
What the book offers
“The World Cannot Be Broken” says D Allen in the title of his new book, available in both English and Spanish editions. Allen is a zen teacher in a tradition that reaches back into ancient China during a chaotic time of civil wars, mass migrations, drought, famine and plague. It was a time not so different from the tumult happening now. “In one way or another, we’re all looking for shelter now. Yet this life is full of wonder, and maybe the shelter we yearn for is here in the lives we already have. The world shines and sings for us every moment we’re available to it, even in moments of sadness and confusion.”
The book draws on an accessible form of “meditation for real life” and presents koan-stories that function as doors into insights and personal transformations for meeting our difficulties and predicaments. The surprise is that this wisdom is already ours. We just need to move deeply and widely into the lives we have in order to embody it. The meditation and koan-stories help us do that. Throughout the book, personal experiences from Allen’s life show us how this has unfolded for him.
Meditation & Conversation Salons
in the Monterey, CA, area
Join us for new meditation and conversation salons starting soon. Lightly guided meditation, zen koan-stories, and group conversation. We look together into the difficulties and impossible situations we encounter. We share experiences from our everyday lives in which we've noticed the world shines and sings for us. We enter more fully into the lives we have.
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Open to all. No experience necessary, just curiosity and an openness to listen and learn together. Free with donations much appreciated. ​
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D first met meditation and zen in the 1970s.. With the enthusiastic interest of Oaxacan friends, a meditation group formed in 2004 which eventually morphed into Oaxaca Zen. He has also led meditation and koan groups and retreats in California, and for a time taught meditation in local hospitals there. He lives with his partner and always a dog or two with whom he continues to walk the nearby trails. In early 2025 D received recognition as a zen roshi from his teacher Rachel Boughton, roshi.
Many of the personal stories in the book take place in Oaxaca, Mexico, where Allen has facilitated groups for many years. “Oaxacans appreciate this ‘real life’ style of zen meditation, and appreciate the liveliness and richness of zen koans like ‘This is the stone, drenched in rain, that points the way.’ Oaxacan culture in turn has spiced up traditional zen practice and understanding.”
