Thursday, August 21, 2008

Great Book for those who suffer from trauma, PTSD, etc.

Are you a trauma survivor? Do you suffer from PTSD? I think you might be able to benefit from this book by Claude Thomas, a Vietnam vet who became a Zen monk. Claude has suffered greatly in his life. He was abused as a child, went to Vietnam and entered combat at 17, and lived a long life of anger, fear, violence, drugs, and mistrust. This book tells his story.

More importantly, Claude is really wise. He has a simple but very deep way of talking about the transformation of suffering.
On almost every page I see sentences that are zingers- great pieces of wisdom.

I hope you are not scared away from this book because Claude is a Zen monk. There isn't a lot of Buddhist jargon in the book although there are a lot of references to how Claude uses his spiritual practices to deal with his own personal PTSD and other issues.

Check it out, buy it, whatever. Just read it. Claude's Book

2 comments:

sp said...

i have only read a few chapters in this book yet i am struck by how Claude describes his experiences. He includes his feelings. i like that. i also like how he explains living in the present along with the past and the future - all at once. To accept and learn to live alongside our pain.

Cliff H. said...

yes, I agree- I posted the book here because it is outstanding-- Claude does a great job of helping the reader get inside the mind of a trauma survivor.