It is common in both Buddhism and Freudian psychoanalysis to treat desire as the root of all suffering and problems, but psychiatrist Mark Epstein believes this to be a grave misunderstanding. In his defense of desire, he makes clear that it is the key to deepening intimacy with ourselves, one another, and our world. An enlightening tapestry of psychotherapeutic practice, contemporary case studies, Buddhist insight, and narratives as diverse as the Ramayana and Sufi parables, Open to Desire brings a refreshing new perspective to humanity's most paradoxical emotion.

Reflecting the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, the four sections in Dr. Epstein's book form a liberating approach to interpersonal connections and the daily longings that confound us. Proposing that spiritual attainment does not have to be detached from intimacy or eroticism, Open to Desire begins with an exploration of the dissatisfaction that causes us to both cling to, and fear, desire. Offering a new path for traversing this indulgence or suppression, but by learning a new way to be with desire.

Full of practical advice, this is a lasting guide for finding peace both in ourselves and in our most highly charged interactions.

Open to Desire: The Truth about What the Buddha Taught , Mark Epstein, Gotham Books, Paperback, 226 Pages, $16.00

Mark Epstein, M.D., has a private practice in New York City and has been an instructor at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. �A graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Medical School, he is a consulting editor to Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

Table of Contents

Introduction The Baby and the Bathwater
PART I: For Want of Desire
Ramayana 21 (14)
The Left-Handed Path 35 (26)
Discontent 61 (20)

PART II: Clinging
The Flavor of Separation 81 (14)
The Backward Glance 95 (14)
Renunciation 109(22)

PART III: The End of Clinging
From Object to Subject 131(12)
A Facilitating Environment 143(18)
The Fruit 161(20)

PART IV: A Path for Desire
Advice 181(18)
Jumping In 199(6)

Endnotes 205(8)
References 213(6)
Index 219