Standing at the Edge is an evocative examination of how we can respond to suffering, live our fullest lives, and remain open to the full spectrum of our human experience.

Joan Halifax has enriched thousands of lives around the world through her work as a humanitarian, a social activist, an anthropologist, and as a Buddhist teacher. Over many decades, she has also collaborated with neuroscientists, clinicians, and psychologists to understand how contemplative practice can be a vehicle for social transformation. Through her unusual background, she developed an understanding of how our greatest challenges can become the most valuable source of our wisdom–and how we can transform our experience of suffering into the power of compassion for the benefit of others.

Recounting the experiences of caregivers, activists, humanitarians, politicians, parents, and teachers, incorporating the wisdom of Zen traditions and mindfulness practices, and rooted in Halifax’s groundbreaking research on compassion, Standing at the Edge is destined to become a contemporary classic. A powerful guide on how to find the freedom we seek for others and ourselves, it is a book that will serve us all.

Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D., is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest and anthropologist. She is Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Institute and Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She was a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Library of Congress and is currently the founder of Upaya Prison Project and the Nomads Clinic in Nepal.

Gaetano Kazuo Maida is the founder and executive director of Buddhist Film Foundation, which has produced its International Buddhist Film

Festival in ten cities on three continents. A photographer and filmmaker, his credits include: producer/director of Peace Is Every Step—The Life and Work of Thich Nhat Hanh.