Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Norman Fischer deftly incorporates Buddhist, Judaic, Christian, and popular thought, as well as his own unique and sympathetic understanding of life, in his reinterpretation of Odysseus's familiar wanderings as lessons that everyone can use. We see how to resist the seduction of the Sirens' song to stop sailing and give up; how to bide our time in a situation and wait for the right opportunity -- as Odysseus does when faced with the murderous, one-eyed Cyclops; and how to reassess our story and rediscover our purpose and identity if, like the Lotus-Eaters, we have forgotten the past.

With meditations that yield personal revelations, illuminating anecdotes from Fischer's and his students' lives, and stories from many wisdom traditions, Sailing Home shows the way to greater purpose in your own life.You will learn a new way to view your path, when to wait and when to act, when to speak your mind and when to exercise discretion, how to draw on your innate strength and distinguish between truth and deception, and how to deal with aging and changing relationships. Sailing Home provides the courage you need for your journey, to renew bonds with your loved ones, and to make the latter portion of life a heartfelt time of spirit and love, so that -- just as Odysseus does -- you can defeat the forces of entropy and death.

Average Customer Rating:

return to your true nature

Customer Rating:

I just finished this book at a critical time when I was involved with major life decisions. It was helpful to me to gain understanding of what I was going through and feeling, as I travel. This book weaves new meaning into the story of Odysseus. I love how Fischer uses the Odyssey as a way to explain a new way of working with life's "twists and turns" through awareness of life, and integrates his years of zen practice into understanding deeper levels of this ancient human story. The Odyssey, Fischer says, is about coming home, for people who "have encountered twists and turns of pain and suffering, and so are ready to come home." Fisher has a delightful way of explaining how a Odysseus, a human, is at the mercy of the sea and life, and at the mercy of his own human failings, yet he goes on. He states "To respect the sea is to trust that we can welcome life's immense and unknowable currents rather than resist them. .. " This book is for seekers of all faiths, yet makes the practice and principles of zen accessible to the average person through this story. The book is broken into Parts: Setting Forth (waiting, grief, body practice, etc) and Disaster (working with disaster, pleasure and time; death, desire, the siren's call and impossible choices); and Return (revealing yourself, love's risk, and forgivenss) particularly good for those practicing meditation and particularly zen practice, but I would recommend this book to non meditators who are interested in a different way to view life's hard times, and to gain a new perspective of faith, practice on living truly, and finding love and compassion for ourselves and others by not resisting life's offerings.

A Modern "Classic"

Customer Rating:

Norman Fischer has written a "classic" commentary on The Odyssey. What I mean by "classic" is that it is one of first rank as Norman Fischer makes Odysseus' journey of almost a generation ours. With heartfelt prose, Mr. Fischer shares his experience as someone deeply immersed in his Buddhist tradition to find his way home. Not preachy, through the travails of Oddysseus, Mr. Fischer offers a way to show the readers how to reconsider what it means to live a good life, to ask the right questions and give due care to those we love. I wished the book went on and on after I finished it. In graceful ways, Mr. Fischer shows us how to separate the wheat from the chaff in our lives. I wish him many more books to write which are as conversational and as learned as this book.

A wonderful journey to oneself

Customer Rating:

I found this book to be one of the most enjoyable and life changing moments in my life. I was so engaged and intrigued by the premise and the easy way Norman Fischer was able to convey his profound understanding of the human condition. The honesty and integrity of his experiences are so wonderfully shared through the trials and tribulations from Homer's Odyssey as the ground for our personal work. It is a book that you just want to savor every word. Besides, at the end of each chapter are wonderful guided meditations.

life's journey	Customer Rating:
I definetely recommend this book. He uses examples from Zen Buddhism, Greek mythology, Judaism, and Christianity to emphasize the kind of struggles many have to face in life and how to deal with those struggles. So he's really a very open-minded person.

Sailing Home is like fresh air...

Customer Rating:

Norm Fischer is a heartful, compassionate teacher with a great gift for expressing his and our human beingness...I've been carrying Sailing Home around with me for several weeks, cherishing the gift of his awareness and experience as a person...a person who has immersed himself in the practice of meditation, Buddhist, Judaic, Christian teachings and life itself. He is a very intelligent person who can bring even Homer's Odyssey down home in a valuable meaningful way using metaphor so that even I am understanding it. I am grateful that this book came my way. Blessings for your journey home. Joan Fenold