The Chocolate Cake Sutra demonstrates that when the best aspects of a spiritual life converge, we are better able to take the slings and arrows of our lives in stride with grace and a grin. What are the right ingredients for a life filled with delectable treats?

• 3 cups of living an adventurous life
• Include a large portion of true friendship
• Add a dash of genuine generosity, extreme tolerance, and clear-headedness
• Leave dish open to all kinds of knowledge
• Stir with great energy
• Bake ethically and serve with exceptional amounts of wisdom

Chock full of moving and enlightening stories, The Chocolate Cake Sutra will help you let go of perfectionism and celebrate the sacred nature of the life you already have.

"Because everyone yearns for a recipe for a fruitful life, many may gravitate to this friendly, accessible 'cookbook.' A Buddhist priest and confessed chocolate cake devotee, Larkin (Stumbling Toward Enlightenment) started Still Point Zen center in inner city Detroit. In the best Zen tradition, she recounts many personal anecdotes that find their flavor percolating in that everyday existence. These stories rise to make vivid points in focused, economical chapters. Larkin points us toward joy, extreme ethics, tolerance, a capacity to keep going, clear headedness, a penchant for surprise adventure, and wisdom. Her previous career as a management consultant may contribute to her breezy, hip conversational style that may or may not stand the test of time. But such lingo as 'Even after years of attending or leading long retreats, there is always a moment when most of me says, "This so sucks. I'm gone,"' may perfectly ring the unstruck bell to some modern ears. Her heart offerings, however, have an eternal chime of truth: 'Everything and everyone is holy. And the point of our being on this sweet planet is to be of service to all of it. And when we understand this truth in our bones, joy fills our hearts.'" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Because everyone yearns for a recipe for a fruitful life, many may gravitate to this friendly, accessible 'cookbook.' A Buddhist priest and confessed chocolate cake devotee, Larkin (Stumbling Toward Enlightenment) started Still Point Zen center in inner city Detroit. In the best Zen tradition, she recounts many personal anecdotes that find their flavor percolating in that everyday existence. These stories rise to make vivid points in focused, economical chapters. Larkin points us toward joy, extreme ethics, tolerance, a capacity to keep going, clear headedness, a penchant for surprise adventure, and wisdom. Her previous career as a management consultant may contribute to her breezy, hip conversational style that may or may not stand the test of time. But such lingo as 'Even after years of attending or leading long retreats, there is always a moment when most of me says, 'This so sucks. I'm gone,' ' may perfectly ring the unstruck bell to some modern ears. Her heart offerings, however, have an eternal chime of truth: 'Everything and everyone is holy. And the point of our being on this sweet planet is to be of service to all of it. And when we understand this truth in our bones, joy fills our hearts.'" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

A meltandndash;inandndash;yourandndash;mouth chocolate cake is the perfect metaphor for where we can land if we introduce the correct ingredients into our lives. When the ingredients merge and melt together, we become spiritual warriors able to take the slings and arrows of our lives in stride with grace and a grin. The ingredients? Living life as an adventurer, being a true friend, genuine generosity, extreme tolerance, energetic effort, clear headedness, opening our arms to crazy wisdom, ethical conduct with a strong subset of whistle blowing as an art form, and bringing so much wisdom to our own tables that we might as well change our middle names to Yoda.

The Chocolate Cake Sutra is about how everyone and everything is precious. Lots of traditions say everyone and everything is holy.....maybe we all say that. But, this book holds that particular behaviors can actually lead to, or feed, this experience. Chocked full of moving and enlightening stories, everywhere from the life of the Buddha to living in innercity Detroit, this book will charm and inspireandndash;andndash;comfort food for the soul. "Is everyone and everything holy?" If our answer is anything but, "of course," there is work to be done, and The Chocolate Cake Sutra will help sustain you along the way.

Geri Larkin gave up a successful career as a management consultant to start a Zen meditation center in the heart of inner-city Detroit. An ordained Dharma teacher, she is the author of Stumbling Toward Enlightenment, Building a Business the Buddhist Way, Tap Dancing in Zen, First You Shave Your Head, and The Still Point Dhammapada. She currently lives near Seattle.