Big Sky: Poems by Anam Thubten - Hardcover

Anam Thubten's poems are a refreshing mixture of ordinary magics, never forgetting the quotidian but braced by an inspiring upbeat "view" imbued with sacred outlook and playful comment. Big Sky encompasses anything that arises: site-specific musings, friendships, a thought of the contemplative Thomas Merton, Kentucky Fried Chicken, a "pile of Asian dumplings." One thinks of lungta, of being up for life's contradictions. These poems are charming company for the reader, with their lyrical candor, modesty and dharma wisdom. -Anne Waldman

In his poetry, Anam Thubten explores the "magical impermanence" that is everyday life.

There is a tradition in Tibetan Buddhism of Doha or Songs of Realization that express nonconceptual themes like the great emptiness, the unconditioned, boundless love, ecstatic devotion. People sang them to open their own and other's hearts as a way to experience the bitter as well as the sweet flavor of the ordinary and extraordinary truth of human life.

Anam Thubten grew up writing poems in his native Tibetan language. Since living in the West, his poems have begun to develop a new flavor. His new poetry book "Big Sky" emerged from life situations as he traveled the world offering meditation retreats.

He says: "There are so many ways to respond to life, from its beauty to when crises strike. My way of trying to stay in equanimity and hold the unconventional attitude to embrace life's experiences as blessings, is through simply writing some poems. I write poems as my way of holding that non-egoic, non-conventional attitude."

Anam Thubten is the founder and spiritual advisor of Dharmata Foundation, teaching widely in the U.S. and abroad. His teachings bring together the essential wisdom of Buddhism and his personal experience on the spiritual path, inspiring students to embrace their lives and their practice fully.