Synopses & Reviews
An elegantly packaged "pocket-size" guide to weathering life's storms
"As founder and guilding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York, Allan Lokos has an arsenal of tools for coping with stressful situations."
Rachel Lee Harris, New York Times
We live in a turbulent world in which we are often forced to respond on a dime to challenging or even life-altering situations. To react wisely in difficult moments one needs to be quick on one's feet, but also quick of mind. In Pocket Peace, interfaith minister and Buddhist practitioner Reverend Allan Lokos provides readers with concise yet incisive daily "pocket practices" that will enable them to act in accordance with their truest and best selves.
If you want to run a marathon, you must train slowly and purposefully for months. Likewise, if you want to be your best self and learn to confront whatever comes your way with kindness, compassion, and generosity, you need to . . . practice. This elegantly packaged little book is full of wisdom and teachings the reader can literally pull from their pocket each day. A small yet powerful spiritual companion that intertwines personal anecdotes and age-old wisdom with practical guidance, Pocket Peace sets readers on the path to inner peace and lasting happiness.
Review
"As founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York, Allan Lokos has an arsenal of tools for coping with stressful situations."
—Rachel Lee Harris, New York Times
Praise for Patience:
"This book, both practical and profound, is a wonderful demonstration of just how to bring patience and a new way of being right into our daily lives. It is filled with insight, warmth, and compassion." —Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness and Lovingkindness
“Patience is a thoughtful and always interesting book, and one that engages our attention. It challenges many of the assumptions and misconceptions we have about ourselves and the world. It offers us the means to find release from self-inflicted (and other-inflicted) pain. As The Beatles sang many years ago, 'we all want to change the world.' Patience would be a terrific place to start.” —The Huffington Post
"Along with suggesting exercises and meditation practices for cultivating mindfulness and patience, Lokos offers testimonials from individuals who have enhanced their lives by learning patience. His laugh-out-loud chapter on raising children is a treasure. A great deal of the world's problems could be solved by taking Lokos's advice." —Susan DeGrane, Booklist
"Allan Lokos has a depth of experience that is woven throughout this fine book. He reaches with both mind and heart into the nature of patience. As Lewis and Clark mapped our way into the timeless beauty of the Northwest, Lokos is a very wise and human guide who breaks trail into the country of patience, marking all the sacred sites along the way and honoring all the sacred guides who have come before." —Mark Nepo, author of The Book of Awakening
"Down-to-earth, full of ways to become more patient in challenging situations at home and at work, this book helps you develop one of the most important of all virtues for fast-paced, stressful, and often frustrating life today." —Rick Hanson, Ph.D., author of Buddha's Brain
"In this gem of a book Allan Lokos invites us to attend to and practice what is perhaps the most overlooked of all spiritual qualities. Patience is an important read for everyone." —Andrew Olendzki, Ph.D., Senior Scholar, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies
"Allan Lokos has written an essential and profound book that can change your life. Spiritual growth is not like fast food. It takes time for its roots to grow and that requires us to be receptive and patient. Patience delves into its vital subject with wisdom and compassion and offers us a path to our own higher self. Understanding the challenges of our hurried and harried world, Lokos has written a remarkable and practical guide to becoming a truly patient and spiritually effective person." —Rabbi Zalman SchachterShalomi, author of Jewish with Feeling
"Drawing on Buddhist teachings and his own deep wisdom, Allan Lokos reminds us of the peace and freedom that is possible when we cultivate genuine patience. The stories and exercises give practical guidance in coming home to an openhearted presence in the midst of difficulty. This book is a compelling and beautiful invitation to pause and arrive fully in our life." —Tara Brach, Ph.D. Author of Radical Acceptance
Praise for Pocket Peace:
"Stress is a sure happiness killer, but the antidote just might be Pocket Peace by Allan Lokos . . . Lokos brings a calming Buddhist slant to urban angst, doling out creative, easy-as-pie practices (choose a belonging you really like and give it away to discover how you feel about attachment issues) to help soothe your way, offering another great option for turning over new pages in your life." —The Boston Globe
"A beautifully lucid and heartwarming book. Through many personal stories and simple practices, Allan Lokos shows us the possibility of wise living. His understanding, clarity, and open-heartedness move us from theory to action as we navigate through our lives." —Joseph Goldstein, author of A Heart Full of Peace and One Dharma
Review
“There is a statue of Buddha from a thousand years ago that has no eyes and no hands, and yet the truth and love of the Universe seem to glow where its eyes and hands once were, as if the statue had endured and weathered time solely to reveal that truth and love. Allan Lokos has suffered and been worn like this, and truth and love glow from his person and his words.
Through the Flames will make you feel what is tender and listen to what is lasting, and make you want to carry what matters through everything.”
—Mark Nepo, author of The Book of Awakening, The Endless Practice and Reduced to Joy
“Through the Flames is the story of the incredible resilience of the human spirit, and the fact that we can each learn how to access it and to trust it.”
—from the foreword by Sharon Salzberg, New York Times bestselling author of Real Happiness and Lovingkindness
“Through the Flames illustrates how we can awaken our hearts through whatever events unfold through our lives. With deep wisdom, honesty and humanity, author and Buddhist teacher Allan Lokos shares the inside story of not just surviving a deadly plane crash, but being profoundly spiritually transformed through the harrowing aftermath. Whether your crash is a divorce, death of a dear one, loss of financial security or serious illness, this beautifully written story will guide you in finding the blessings of love, peace and freedom in the midst.”
—Tara Brach, Ph.D., author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge
"As founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York, Allan Lokos has an arsenal of tools for coping with stressful situations."
—Rachel Lee Harris, New York Times
Review
"As founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York, Allan Lokos has an arsenal of tools for coping with stressful situations."
—Rachel Lee Harris, New York Times
"Stress is a sure happiness killer, but the antidote just might be Pocket Peace by Allan Lokos . . . Lokos brings a calming Buddhist slant to urban angst, doling out creative, easy-as-pie practices (choose a belonging you really like and give it away to discover how you feel about attachment issues) to help soothe your way, offering another great option for turning over new pages in your life."
—The Boston Globe
"A beautifully lucid and heartwarming book. Through many personal stories and simple practices, Allan Lokos shows us the possibility of wise living. His understanding, clarity, and open-heartedness move us from theory to action as we navigate through our lives."
—Joseph Goldstein, author of A Heart Full of Peace and One Dharma
"Pocket Peace is a beautifully written, practical guide to transforming our everyday experience into one of greater peace. Allan Lokos warmly takes us by the hand and leads us, as a friend, into an exploration of a genuine path to happiness."
—Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness
"A wonderfully heartfelt and pragmatic toolbox of meditative skills that anyone can practice, anywhere, at any time."
—Stephen Batchelor, author of Buddhism Without Beliefs.
"'The way up is the way down,' said Heraclitus and for twenty-five centuries spiritual seekers have found this insight to be deep and true. But how to put it into practice? With a winning warmth and with altogether unpretentious wisdom, Allan Lokos provides a guidebook. If we let him show us the way down into everyday spirituality, we may find ourselves raised higher up than we ever dared to hope."
—Brother David Steindl-Rast, author of Gratefulness
"Pocket Peace is a book of little gems for great progress. Hurdle with joy with this book in your purse."
—Judy Collins, singer-songwriter and author of The Seven T's and Sanity and Grace
Synopsis
After miraculously surviving a plane crash in Myanmar, Allan Lokosshareswhat his long and painful recovery process is teaching himabout humanity s ability tosurvive and even thrive in the face of suffering.
InThrough the Flames, Allan Lokos tells the terrifying story of being on board a plane on Christmas Day with his wife, Susanna, when it crashed and exploded in flames. Lokos was severely burned in the accident, and in the days and weeks following the crash, Susanna was told by the many doctors who examined Lokos that he would not survive.
As founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York City, Lokos had spent decades cultivating compassion and non-attachment.Since the plane crash, hisBuddhist practice has been mightily tested. In this inspiring account of his against-all-odds recovery, Lokos uses his experience as a windowthrough which toexamine thechallengeof human suffering in general and addressesthe question of how we can thrive in the midst of pain and uncertainty."
Synopsis
After miraculously surviving a plane crash in Myanmar, Allan Lokos shares what his long and painful recovery process is teaching him about humanitys ability to surviveand even thrivein the face of suffering.
In Through the Flames, Allan Lokos tells the terrifying story of being on board a plane on Christmas Day with his wife, Susanna, when it crashed and exploded in flames. Lokos was severely burned in the accident, and in the days and weeks following the crash, Susanna was told by the many doctors who examined Lokos that he would not survive.
As founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York City, Lokos had spent decades cultivating compassion and non-attachment. Since the plane crash, his Buddhist practice has been mightily tested. In this inspiring account of his against-all-odds recovery, Lokos uses his experience as a window through which to examine the challenge of human suffering in general and addresses the question of how we can thrive in the midst of pain and uncertainty.
About the Author
Allan Lokos is the founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center located on New York Citys Upper West Side. He is the author of Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living and Pocket Peace: Effective Practices for Enlightened Living. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Tricycle Magazine, The Huffington Post, and www.Beliefnet.com.