Tea and Cake with Demons: A Buddhist Guide to Feeling Worthy

Limbach, a meditation instructor, introduces Buddhism through a discussion of the negative effects of self-doubt and feelings of unworthiness in her engaging debut. She opens with a parable about the Buddha welcoming a fierce demon to sit down for tea, unlike local monks who made desperate plans to fight or flee from the demon. From this story, she extracts the lesson that each person has the potential for enlightenment and encourages readers to recognize the often harmful, reactive ways one copes with personal demons, namely habitual emotions and states of mind that cause pain. Limbach then lays out an unembellished explanation of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. With a keen eye and lucid prose, Limbach offers up novel understandings of key Buddhist concepts—such as her association of the raw human pain of the charnel grounds with social media, and her call to see past the idea of karma as a universal ledger that tallies each decision so as to better understand the damaging default patterns that can emerge from constantly counting one’s “good” actions. Each chapter ends with a brief exercise, and some include detailed guidance for meditation practices. Readers unfamiliar with Buddhist concepts or those looking for fresh interpretations will find this guide a welcome entry point. (July)