Welcome
Hello At Last is about spiritual friendship — specifically, ways of deepening our connections with others.
My interest in this subject began when I interviewed members of a Buddhist group in India and learned their practices for cultivating openness, trust, warmth, and caring communication. I began to explore similar practices in this country, from simple exercises in reflective listening to meditative dialog — on retreat, with a friend, and even in a chat room.
Although my experiences have been in the context of Buddhist meditation practice, the approaches described in this book apply generally to human relationships.
The title comes from the final words in a book by Allan Gurganus, spoken by an angel greeting newcomers to heaven —
Hello at last.
You have only
just begun to
know each other.
— and is intended to suggest the true, deep, free way of being with others that we all long for.
Sara Jenkins
Sara Jenkins has been a Zen student under the guidance of Cheri Huber for more than twenty years. Her first book is This Side of Nirvana: Memoirs of a Spiritually Challenged Buddhist. To read more about her work, see www.presentperfectbooks.com.