About the Author

Koshin Paley Ellison, MFA, LMSW, DMIN, co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, the first Buddhist organization to offer fully accredited chaplaincy training in America. The organization delivers contemplative approaches to care through education, direct service, and meditation practice. Koshin teaches in the Integrative Medicine Fellowship program at the University of Arizona Medical School's Center for Integrative Medicine and is the academic advisor for the Buddhist students in the master in pastoral care and counseling at New York Theological Seminary. He is the co-director of Contemplative Care Services for the Department of Integrative Medicine and the chaplaincy supervisor for the Pain and Palliative Care Department at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, where he also serves on the Medical Ethics Committee.

He is the co-editor of Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-of-Life Care (Wisdom Publications, 2016). He's also the co-author of "Rituals and Resilience" in Creating Spiritual and Psychological Resilience (Routledge, 2009) and the author of "The Jeweled Net: What Dogen and the Avatamsaka Sutra Can Offer Us as Spiritual Caregivers" in The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work (Wisdom Publications, 2012). He is a senior Zen Buddhist monk, Dharma teacher and student, ACPE supervisor, and Jungian psychotherapist.

Reviews

"Wholehearted generously presents and elucidates, via engaging and clear daily life examples, the core foundations of spiritual practice . . . This is a book to return to again and again for support and encouragement to show up for life--and, most of all, to enjoy!" --Josh Korda, Buddhist teacher and author of Unsubscribe

"Wholehearted is also full of nuance, humor, and tenderness. I found it such a useful guide to the profound teachings, and it left me with lots to think about and to try to activate in my own life." --Laurie Anderson, avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director

"Wholehearted is good medicine for a healthy life. Inspiring, heartfelt, and wise, it offers a fresh, personal, and authentic integration of Buddhist fundamentals. A kind guide for meeting life's challenges with more equanimity, resilience, and compassion." --Frank Ostaseski, author, The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully

"Wholehearted is wonderful guidance for the sixteen bodhisattva precepts written by an American Zen teacher for American people. An excellent work to make the Dharma available for people living in the modern society." --Shohaku Okumura, Roshi, author of Living By Vow

"A master storyteller, combining profound spiritual wisdom with irreverent humor and captivating life lessons, Koshin Paley Ellison takes us on a grand tour of the human soul's journey to being fully present, one simple step at a time. Every page of this well paced treasure radiates compassion, challenging us with humor and humility to pick lentils out of our ashes and to finally come home." --Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, founding spiritual leader of Lab/Shul

"I am so grateful for the light Koshin brings to the world. His wisdom teachings in Wholehearted will transform your heart, mind, and soul." --Donna Karan, fashion designer and founder of the Urban Zen Foundation

"In Wholehearted, Koshin Paley Ellison offers his personable and creative approach to the precepts, making it clear that compassion and unselfish caring are at the heart of Zen." --Norman Fischer, poet, senior Zen priest, author of The World Could Be Otherwise

"Intimacy is based on the willingness to open ourselves to many others, to family, friends, and even strangers, forming genuine and deep bonds based on common humanity. Koshin Paley Ellison's teachings share the way forward into a path of connection, compassion, and intimacy." --His Holiness the Dalai Lama

"It is difficult to be honest and simple, and in today's world it is so necessary and healing. Koshin uses the Buddhist precepts to stay real and available, which makes his writing valuable and crucial. His commitment to transparency makes it possible for me to show up as my true self so that pure communication is exposed as the recipe for being alive and joyful." --Rodney Yee, yoga teacher and author of Moving Toward Balance

"It seems that in the twenty-first century, more and more people are spending their lives in isolation from each other--not the isolation that comes from living alone, though this seems to be a growing problem in some societies, but the isolation that is the result of creating artificial barriers between ourselves and others. Koshin Paley Ellison has written a manual for personal growth and change based on a contemporary interpretation of Buddhist refuge and precepts, making it accessible to everyone, not just those interested in or practicing Buddhism. Using anecdotes, quotes, and reflective questioning, he prompts us to become aware of the barriers we have erected around ourselves and suggests ways by which we can dismantle them. His message is one of hope: that through personal transformation we can develop courage, open-heartedness, and compassion in our relationships with others, and enrich our own lives." --His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje

"It was a delight to read Koshin Paley Ellison's book Wholehearted. The common view of precepts is that they are rigid commandments about how to lead a virtuous life. Koshin's take on the Zen precepts is illustrated with many examples from his life and from Zen literature that show how nuanced the precepts can be. Although the book is serious in content, Koshin's lightheartedness shines through. Precepts do not have to be a heavy subject, but can be viewed as joyful guiding lights, as Koshin demonstrates." --Gerry Shishin Wick, Roshi, abbot of Great Mountain Zen Center and author of The Book of Equanimity

"Koshin writes with the clarity of a bell. From everyday moments he takes timeless wisdom. With elegant language he blesses ordinary annoyances with breath and insight. And with simplicity he uncovers the complex heart of human stories." --Pádraig O'Tuama, poet and theologian, author of In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

"Koshin Paley Ellison generously extends a hand of spiritual friendship in this account of his open-hearted investigation into living upright. Readers will find the nourishing sustenance of wisdom and kindness in this excellent rendering of the Zen Buddhist precepts." --Egyoku Nakao, Roshi, abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles

"Koshin Paley Ellison shares his extraordinary compassion and bright wisdom with pithy advice that can help any of us cultivate a richer and more nourishing life. Wholehearted gives a vibrant wake-up call from a Zen mensch." --Daniel Goleman, coauthor of Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body

"Koshin Paley Ellison writes with authenticity, vulnerability, and depth. In Wholehearted, he prescribes connection, inspiration, and love to heal us as individuals and as a society. I consider this very good medicine." --Dr. Andrew Weil, founder of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and author of 8 Weeks to Optimal Health

"Koshin Paley Ellison, a monk living in New York City, reinterprets the timeless teachings of Zen Buddhism in a contemporary way that is conversational, insightful, and unexpectedly irreverent! Each chapter invites the reader into self-reflection through Paley Ellison's personal stories, which are smart, witty, and vulnerable, often showcasing his own mistakes. Wholehearted is a beautiful, mystical piece of work that is also timely, offering important solutions as we live through a deeply polarized time in history." --Shakil Choudhury, author of Deep Diversity: Overcoming Us vs. Them

"Koshin Paley Ellison's conversational tone is clear and flowing. Wholehearted feels like sipping cool water during a visit with a good friend. With examples from personal experiences that reveal his unpretentious humanity and good-natured humor, Koshin makes the ancient wisdom of Zen feel intuitive for our contemporary minds." --Ira Byock, MD, author of Dying Well and The Best Care Possible, active emeritus professor of medicine, the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

"Never before have the precepts been expressed with so much love and compassion, flowing through the pages like music from beginning to end. Or expressed so eloquently--Koshin shares personal experience with many beautiful references to poetry, literature, and history. A real penetration of the human condition, and the Buddhist teachings to reveal who we really are." -Dorothy Dai En Friedman, Sensei, Zen teacher at the Ocean Zendo

"Sweet. Intimate. Inviting. Genuinely a call to a wholehearted way. I recommend this book to anyone seeking clarification on this mysterious and difficult path we call our lives." --James Ishmael Ford, author of Introduction to Zen Koans: Learning the Language of Dragons

"The best Dharma talks and books offer stories that gently subvert our usual ways of understanding the world and ourselves--that make us pause, maybe even wake up a bit. Wholehearted is full of them." --David Loy, author of The New Buddhist Path

"The subtitle of this wonderful book says it all: 'Slow down, Help Out, Wake Up.' In a writing style that is elegant and eminently readable, Koshin Paley Ellison illuminates a path of connection, care, and love. The depth of his experience as a Zen teacher and practitioner reveals itself throughout this work, showing us how to live a wholehearted life." --Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

"There are SO many books about Zen and Buddhism. This is one I would recommend. Wholehearted is different--in a very good way. It makes you smile in self-recognition. It flows in directions you don't expect. It pulls you forward into the next chapter, with its perfect seasoning of accounts of the author's own times of learning--the way we all do--through his missteps along the path. It makes the precepts intriguing. Give it as a gift. It will make someone happy." --Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi, MD, teacher at Zen Community of Oregon, and author of Mindfulness on the Go and Mindful Eating

"This book is aptly named, as Koshin Paley Ellison has clearly put his whole heart into bringing this gem into the world. Seamlessly weaving together stories, teachings, and wisdom, Wholehearted serves to open and transform the reader's heart and mind, moving more and more into service of, and a deeply and connected relationship with, the world." --Judson Brewer, MD, PhD, associate professor and director of Research and Innovation of the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, and author of The Craving Mind

"This jewel of a book is packed with inspiring and timeless wisdom, pointing us toward freedom. Practical and delightful, each page is nourishing, leaving you more tender and more connected to humanity. This is a book for everyone." --Ruth King, author of Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism From The Inside Out

"This thoughtful book will take you on a journey through the practice of the Zen Buddhist precepts. Wholehearted weaves the heart of Zen with ways to question, and ways to apply those approaches in ones daily life." --Charles Tenshin Fletcher, Roshi, abbot of Yokoji Zen Mountain Center and coauthor of Way of Zen

"To meet Koshin is like being embraced by hope. This book is like having the best long-lunch conversation ever, where you leave with a new best friend. I love Koshin and now I can take him with me wherever I go." --Anthony Edwards, American actor and director, a Golden Globe awardee and six Screen Actors Guild Awardee