Endorsements for Dancing with Life
“Phillip has written a profound book about the relationship between happiness and suffering. It is filled with wisdom about how to live a more effective and satisfying life. I recommend it for anyone who is struggling with change in their lives.” —Dean Ornish, M.D., author of The Spectrum
“The ancient practice of mindfulness is increasingly being shown in scientific studies to have remarkable consequences for healing and well-being across the lifespan. Dancing with Life systematically maps out a rigorous and profoundly loving choreography for cultivating mindfulness in the service of embodying our full potentiality as human beings, utilizing whatever circumstances we happen to find ourselves in. It is a practical and reassuring dharma guide for a great many people in the ongoing development of their practice and lives. It is very different from most dharma books in that it has such an elaborate and friendly structure to it, nested within and around the Four Noble Truths and Ajahn Sumedho’s lovely voicing of dharma. I love the precision of Phillip’s teaching of the embodiment of each insight, and the stories about his students and their challenges. And also, his willingness to share his own trials, travails, and openings along the path.” —Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Full Catastrophe Living and Arriving at Your Own Door
“For each of the Four Noble Truths there are three aspects, which form a paradigm of reflection, investigation, and insight. Thus, there are Twelve Insights contained within the Four Noble Truths, which free one from suffering. This investigation Phillip calls ‘dancing with life.’ As he reveals, in order to dance with life, you need to give yourself completely to the dance, and the way to do this is through the development of mindfulness. I welcome Phillip’s excellent book.” — Ajahn Sumedho, Amaravati Buddhist Monastery
“I just want say how much we have appreciated your book on the Four Noble Truths. It is a wonderful commentary and explication of Ajahn Sumedho's teaching and for several weeks we had our tea-time readings from it. Great job! I hope it is found to be useful to many people and that it receives the plaudits it deserves.”
—Ajahn Amaro, Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery
“The Four Noble Truths are at the heart of every Buddhist tradition. Phillip Moffitt’s wonderful book, Dancing with Life, plumbs their timeless wisdom with a refreshing depth of insight. Phillip’s pragmatic and incisive understanding transforms theory into practice and helps actualize the liberating potential of these teachings. This book is an important contribution to our journey of awakening.”—Joseph Goldstein, author of A Heart Full of Peace and One Dharma
“Dancing with Life is a classic teaching that is both profound and accessible. This is a book that will be on the reading lists for sincere Buddhist students for generations ahead.”—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart
“Phillip Moffitt has given us a clear and practical guide to dealing with the unhappiness and frustration that come our way in life. He leads us on a path of connection rather than isolation, and compassion rather than fruitless anger and self-judgment. Everyone could benefit from reading this book.”—Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
"Phillip Moffitt's book is filled with practice tools for applying the timeless teachings of the Buddha to life in the 21st century. As a hospice chaplain, I have found the book immensely helpful in the way it introduces, and then fleshes out, the human condition and the skillful choices we can make to the inevitable pain, disappointment and betrayal we all experience as we breathe our way through life. In the midst of the suffering that so often accompanies the end of life in our culture, the book has helped me use lovingkindness and compassion to keep my heart open for myself and my patients."—Ellen Robinson-Haynes, MA, MTS, Chaplain, Bristol Hospice
