New York, NY — As a first time meditator, Rose Elliot, an award-winning author of over 50 vegetarian cookbooks, did not know what to expect when she hosted a Theravada Buddhist monk and 15 other novice meditators at her home for a meditation course. Instigated and organized by her husband, Robert, to whom the book is dedicated, the classes were an opportunity for others to learn what he had in a nearby Buddhist monastery. Ms. Elliot, spiritual but not religious herself due to her own past, found that over the time of the classes, she was able to connect to many of the teachings of the Buddha and to mindfulness meditation. The peace she was and is able to find would ultimately be central to her ability to survive a tragic family situation.
Written in the first person, Elliot’s new book, I Met a Monk, is both an autobiography and guide meant to be read and pondered over 8 weeks. Ms. Elliot describes the monk’s teachings and her own and the group’s reactions to them, but also includes short meditations, quick refreshers, and practices at the end of each chapter. Designed for those struggling with or new to meditation, Ms. Elliot gently recommends techniques we can all do to find happiness, freedom and peace.
Having grown up at a retreat center run by her grandmother and parents, Ms. Elliot generously shares her feelings about her unique child and young adulthood and how it influenced her spirituality. She says she owes much of her current success as a best-selling vegetarian cookbook writer to that experience, as she developed recipes when she cooked for guests. However, she ultimately left the center in order to try to find out what she herself believed.
One of the things she loves most about Buddhism is the idea of cultivating “metta”, or “lovingkindness.” “You will know you’ve ‘got’ metta when you can let someone else be exactly as they are, even if you disapprove of them—or they disapprove of you—and love them just the same; when you feel open-hearted and accepting of everyone; when you can hear their good news and celebrate their success and joy exactly as if it were your own. And that is the most joyful feeling imaginable.”
Directly after the chapter on metta, we learn of her family crisis. Clearly, there is a direct line between Ms. Elliot’s love and gratitude for her family and the writing of this book. She shares with us the ways in which “meeting the monk” prepared her for this life experience, and helped her find peace amid it, not that it is always easy. Ultimately, this book is a work of love- written for them and us.
About the author
Rose Elliot, M.B.E. pioneered the current wave of interest in vegetarian cookery with Simply Delicious, which she created while cooking at her famly’s spiritual retreat center in England. She is a patron of a number of organizations, including the Vegetarian Society of Great Britain and Vegetarian International Voice for Animals (Viva!). In 1999, Rose was awarded an M.B.E. for services to vegetarian cookery. To find out more, visit www.RoseElliot.com.
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About the Book
ISBN: 978-178028-836-9
$12.95 trade paperback original
315 pages
On-sale: May 5, 2015
