An intimate guide to self-acceptance and discovery that offers a Buddhist perspective on wholeness within the framework of a Western understanding of self.For decades, Western psychology has promised fulfillment through building and strengthening the ego. We are taught that the ideal is a strong, individuated self, constructed and reinforced over a lifetime. But Buddhist psychiatrist Mark Epstein has found a different way.Going to Pieces Without Falling...

The first full-length portrait of the marriage of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln in more than fifty years, The Lincolns is a fascinating new work of American history by Daniel Mark Epstein, an award-winning biographer and poet known for his passionate understanding of the Civil War period.Although the private lives of political couples have in our era become front-page news, the true story of this extraordinary and tragic first family has never been fully told. The Lincolns eclipses...

Blending Buddhism and psychotherapy, acclaimed psychiatrist Mark Epstein shows how to radically transform your emotional life.**“One of the most sophisticated integrations of the therapeutic and spiritual disciplines.” —**New York TimesToday, the benefits of meditation practices like mindfulness and deep breathing are widely recognized by mainstream therapists. But what does Buddhist insight actually look like, how does it intersec...

“A masterpiece. . . . It teaches us how not to fear and repress, but to rechannel and harness the most powerful energies of life toward freedom and bliss.” —ROBERT THURMANIt is common in both Buddhism and Freudian psychoanalysis to treat desire as if it is the root of all suffering and problems, but psychiatrist Mark Epstein believes this to be a grave misunderstanding.In his controversial defense of desire, he makes clear that it is the key to deepening intimacy with ourselves, ea...

Daniel Mark Epstein’s poetry has been in the public eye for nearly sixty years, since the magazine publication of the poems in his groundbreaking first book, No Vacancies in Hell (1973). Critics praise the erotic and spiritual lyricism of his poetry, as well as its power in capturing crucial moments of American history in dramatic monologues, including prize-winning portraits of a yellow fever epidemic and Henry Adams’s tragic marriage.Of The Traveler’s Calendar (...

The dramatic story of a founding father, his illegitimate son, and the tragedy of their conflict during the American Revolution—from the acclaimed author of The Lincolns.Ben Franklin is the most lovable of America’s founding fathers. His wit, his charm, his inventiveness—even his grandfatherly appearance—are legendary. But this image obscures the scandals that dogged him throughout his life. In The Loyal Son, award-winning historian Daniel Mark Ep...

Dylan's songs sound as if they have been part of the folk music tradition for centuries The Ballad of Bob Dylan examines the influences behind his songs. Through a combination of first hand accounts, reportage and a wealth of interviews with those who have known Dylan for decades The Ballad of Bob Dylan is the fullest picture yet of Dylan's work in the studio. The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a vivid portrait, nuanced and insightful, of the greatest songwriter of the twentieth-century.

A noted biographer and poet illuminates the unique woman who wrote the greatest American love poetry of the twentieth centuryWhat Lips My Lips Have Kissed is the story of a rare sort of American genius, who grew up in grinding poverty in Camden, Maine. Nothing could save the sensitive child but her talent for words, music and drama, and an inexorable desire to be loved. When she was twenty, her poetry would make her famous; at thirty she would be loved by readers the world ...

"An excellent introduction and amplification of connections between Buddhism and psychotherapy . . .interesting [and] meaningful" —Michael Eigen, author of Feeling Matters and The Sensitive SelfImmersed in Buddhist psychology prior to studying Western psychiatry, Dr. Mark Epstein first viewed Western therapeutic approaches through the lens of the East. Although both systems promise liberation t...

Drawing from a career of almost fifty years, Daniel Mark Epstein’s collection of new and selected poems forms a lyrical autobiography of its author as a poet and a man. Dawn to Twilight examines universal themes such as love and aging, happiness and despair, each of which Epstein approaches differently throughout the decades of his writing career. These poems encapsulate the evolution of Epstein’s work, with the passage of time itself forming a crucial theme as the author grows from studen...

As more and more Westerners become acquainted with Eastern thought, they mistakenly feel that it is only through a negation of the self that one can achieve enlightenment. Mark Epstein, a Buddhist psychiatrist says, "It’s wrong to think that Buddhist insight wipes out the ego-self; it wipes out the identification of whatever is happening in the mind/body process; but that ability being present is actually an ego function."

Discover the latest research and theory on trauma in this illuminating audio collectionInsomnia, panic attacks, flashbacks, uncontrollable emotions: these are only a few symptoms of unresolved trauma. Millions suffer under their weight, often in shame and silence.Trauma is one of the most debilitating and misunderstood psychological conditions. Fortunately, it is also one of the most widely studied. In the last 20 years, immense strides have been made in tr...