Original Love

Outline

Original Love (2024) presents meditation as a way of recognising the natural love, peace, and sense of connection already present within every person. Henry Shukman organises the spiritual journey around four supportive stages, using mindfulness, self-acceptance, focused awareness, and awakening to help readers work with difficult thoughts and emotions. Combining Zen teachings, personal stories, and practical exercises, the book shows that meditation is not about perfecting oneself but about discovering an inner wholeness that has never been absent.

• Love, peace and a sense of connection are already present in every person, and meditation helps you recognise them rather than create them.
• Henry Shukman organises the spiritual journey around four supportive stages: mindfulness, self-acceptance, focused awareness and awakening.
• These practices are meant to help you work with difficult thoughts and emotions instead of pushing them away.
• Meditation is not about perfecting yourself but about discovering an inner wholeness that has never been absent.
• The book blends Zen teachings, personal stories and practical exercises, so the ideas come with ways to try them.

Henry Shukman is an English Zen teacher, meditation guide, author, and poet. He is an authorised teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition and served for many years as the spiritual director of the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in New Mexico. He is also a cofounder and lead teacher of The Way meditation app, where he offers structured guidance designed to make meditation accessible to modern practitioners.