The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path
The Gate of Tears is a beautifully written, transformative book. Jay Michaelson guides us, instead of denying, avoiding, explaining away or resisting sadness, to go right into the heart of it. There we find open space, true love of life, and, perhaps most redeeming, one another.
~ Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness
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The only thing that prevents happiness is searching for it. In this unusual book, a collection of eighty-two short, poetic meditations on sadness and the contemplative life, Dr. Michaelson describes in personal and philosophical terms how accepting and even embracing sadness can be a gateway to profound awakening.
Press
Review of The Gate of Tears in Wisdom Daily Magazine
Discussion on The Secular Buddhist podcast
Discussion on State of Belief podcast
Discussion on Buddhist Geeks podcast
Praise for The Gate of Tears
Jay Michaelson’s incisive and exquisitely profound insights into our human condition come in full force in The Gate of Tears. A Pensees for our time, The Gate of Tears offers deep thinking about our lives that gets us thinking — and feeling. Here we have an antidote to the mindless feel-good ideology, and gentle instructions in attending to the fullness of our experience so we see the value in the downs, not just the ups. Our inner world will never seem the same.
~ Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence
Jay Michaelson’s best book yet is accessible, inviting, and written like poetry. Seamlessly blending teachings from Buddhist, Jewish, and humanistic traditions, The Gate of Tears will be of enormous help to anyone hiding or fighting any part of themselves.
~ Sylvia Boorstein, author of Happiness is an Inside Job
Jay Michaelson’s writing is always bracing and brave, but The Gate of Tears has particular power. He guides us to explore — and accept — the truth of what he calls “ordinary sadness,” and stop looking for happiness so that we might actually find it. Every chapter made me feel as if he was seeing me personally. This book will change your perspective and ease your load.
~ Abigail Pogrebin, author of Stars of David
Sometimes with a Jewish eye, sometimes with a Buddhist eye, but always keenly focused on wisdom, Jay Michaelson teaches us to distinguish sorrow from despair, and sadness from depression. Surely the entrance to the gate of tears is familiar to us all, but his gift here is to walk us through the gate and lead us into a territory full of the promise of healing and redemption. A rabbi, a scholar, a poet and a leader, Michaelson is a learned but personable and personal guide, and by showing us how he has learned to be kind to himself, he teaches us how to be kind to others.
~ Rodger Kamenetz, author of The Jew in the Lotus and The History of Last Night’s Dream
The Gate of Tears is a beautifully written, transformative book. Jay Michaelson guides us, instead of denying, avoiding, explaining away or resisting sadness, to go right into the heart of it. There we find open space, true love of life, and, perhaps most redeeming, one another.
~ Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness
There are two kinds of mystics: those who talk about the mystical and those who speak from and for it. Jay Michaelson is among the latter. The Gate of Tears is an invitation to authentic mystical awakening offered by a seeker who dares to be crushed by God that he might be freed for godliness. Don’t just read this book; digest it.
~ Rabbi Rami Shapiro, author of Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent
Jay Michaelson’s exquisitely rendered Gate of Tears offers the evocative reflections of a soul who knows firsthand the poignant pain of deep sorrow, loneliness and loss, yet poetically presents a wider view that includes these dark and difficult aspects of the human condition, rather than perpetually trying to be free of them. He illuminates a contemplative perspective that allows for the full spectrum of human experience.
~ Eliezer Sobel, author of Minyan: Ten Jewish Men in a World that is Heartbroken
A stunning antidote to the plethora of “get happy” guides, Jay Michaelson reminds us that sadness is as necessary a part of the human condition as joy, and that in embracing both, we experience what it is to be fully alive. Inspired by religion, poetry, and Michaelson’s honest reflections, The Gate of Tears is a book that — in embracing sadness — celebrates life.
~ Rabbi Dan Ain, Director of Tradition and Innovation at 92nd St. Y
Have you ever picked up a book knowing that its arrival in your life at precisely this moment was a gift? That was my sense when I held Jay Michaelson’s The Gate of Tears, subtitled Sadness and the Spiritual Path. As I delved into the book, that sense only deepened. Sadness can feel like something shameful, especially for people (like me) who make a practice of practicing gratitude. But sadness is a necessary part of the emotional landscape.
~ Rabbi Rachel Barenblat, The Velveteen Rabbi and author of 70 Faces: Torah Poems and Waiting to Unfold
ISBN: 9781934730454
