Coming Home: Refuge in Pureland Buddhism

Coming Home coverMy new book, for anyone who wants to find firmer ground underneath their feet. Buy now on kindle UK or kindle US, in paperback UK or US, or available from good bookshops. Read the introduction here and a sample chapter on ‘being silly at the dinner table’ here.

We all take refuge in something. How can we take refuge in something reliable?

‘Coming Home’ explores refuge in Pureland Buddhism through stories of everyday life. Meet the temple cats and bunnies, and hear about being silly at the dinner table. Read about Satya’s relationship tangles, her fondness of praise, and her chocolate addiction. Hear about where she finds joy, and where you can find it too.

Along the way you will learn about Pureland Buddhism: our simple and accessible practice, and our realistic approach to living a good life. You will be given suggestions for how you can find refuge, how you can avoid common pitfalls, and what you can do when the going gets tough. You will feel the relief of seeing that you are an ordinary, foolish being, and that you are accepted just as you are.

This book is accessible both to experienced Buddhists and to those who know nothing of Buddhism. It will help you to find your own refuges, regardless of your faith. Refuge brings us healing and happiness. It helps us to handle change, to stop blaming others and to become kinder. As we learn to lean into refuge, however we make sense of it, we will find ourselves coming home.

“Satya Robyn has written a very homely and personal account of her experience as a Pureland Buddhist. It is a delight to read, informative, amusing, and easy to identify with. Read it! It will do you good.” ~ Dharmavidya David Brazier

“Coming Home is a lovely and gentle introduction to the spiritual path of Pure Land Buddhism. Through an effective combination of personal reflections, practical advice and compelling insights into our all-too-human condition, this refreshingly honest and deeply thoughtful work urges us to seek refuge in the heart of reality itself — the illuminating wisdom and unconditional compassion of Amida Buddha. It is a vision of the undying light that pervades our everyday lives, enriching it with wonder, beauty and hope despite the shadows that beset our troubled existence. In the end, this book is a call to become fully human, in all our messy splendour, while remaining firmly rooted in the abiding joy of Immeasurable Life”. ~ John Paraskevopoulos

“Satya Robyn’s writing floods you with the light of compassion. A warm hand reaches out to you from each page, to lift you up and out of whatever dark space you find yourself in and holds you there with her, as someone who understands. In the refuge Satya creates, you can almost smell the hearty bread baking and the laughing sounds from another room. The sounds of home. Satya shows you it’s OK to feel what you’re feeling, because someone cares. Within a few pages you will know that Satya cares, the Buddha cherishes, the Dharma supports, the Sangha accompanies us, and Amida shines his light on all of us whether we believe it or not.” ~ Wendy Shinyo Haylett, Buddhist teacher, lay minister, and host of the podcast, Everyday Buddhism: Making Everyday Better

“Satya Robyn’s Coming Home allows the teachings to come alive within the struggles and joys of our ordinary, daily lives. It graces us with the warmth of acceptance despite, or precisely because of, our imperfect selves. Just as the author wishes, I felt more grateful, more playful, and more joyful upon reading this uplifting book.” ~ Kenneth K. Tanaka, Professor Emeritus, Musashino University & Past President, International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies

Satya Robyn is a priest with the Order of Amida Buddha and she runs the Amida Mandala temple with her husband Kaspa. She is also a psychotherapist in private practice, working with Internal Family Systems. Her books include ‘What Helps: Sixty Slogans to Live By’ and she co-authored an introduction to Pureland Buddhism with Kaspa, ‘Just As You Are: Buddhism for Foolish Beings’. She enjoys growing vegetables, walking on the Malvern hills, watching trashy detective series, eating vegan brownies and hanging out with the temple bunnies.