Books by our Founding Teachers

Wasteland to Pureland:

Reflections
on the Path to Awakening

Honest, edgy, and accessible, Wasteland to Pureland  is for anyone ready to shed limiting beliefs, and wake up to the vibrant, creative nature of reality.

Rooted in Buddhist philosophy and modern psychology, these teachings emerge out of decades of practice and study by master teachers Acariya Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat.

Wasteland to Pureland addresses very typical events in a person’s life – including relationship and career, creativity and pain, and loss and trauma. It also talks about practices that you can use, such as tantras, meditations, therapies and psychological approaches that open doors where we get stuck.

Doug & Catherine teach us how to reunite with our gifts, to become agents of compassion and transformation, personally, interpersonally and globally.

Dharma if you Dare:

Living Life with Abandon

Dharma if you Dare is a witty and compelling wakeup call for the modern world. It pulls you out of negative patterns to uncover the beauty and bliss that reside in and around us at all times. 

In an increasingly divided, financially imbalanced and environmentally taxed world, it can be easy to feel hopeless, afraid or numb.  

Dharma if you Dare points towards a life that transcends uncertain times and benefits all beings. 

Based on an eclectic range of wisdom traditions, this book offers practical teachings, tools and meditations to help you reconnect with your real purpose: spiritual awakening in this lifetime. 

The Gion Festival:

Exploring its Mysteries

In the early 1990s, I (Catherine) won Japan’s bubble-era jackpot and lived in a beautiful traditional Japanese home with a gigantic garden. Remarkably it was right in downtown Kyoto.
 
One July morning I ran out my front door and nearly crashed into a gigantic wheel about the same height as me. “What the … ?!” I thought. Some Japanese men busily worked on wooden timbers around the wheels, ignoring me.
 
When I got home later that day, the wooden timbers had taken shape as a festival float. It was decorated with a wonderful variety of textiles, like nothing I’d ever seen.
 
I had no idea what any of it was or what it was doing there.
 
With my fat Japanese dictionary in hand, I started walking around the neighborhood and asking questions. I’ve been researching the Gion Festival ever since.
 
As its mysteries continue to unfold, it gets more interesting!