Ten Thousand Joys and Ten Thousand Sorrows: Poems of Han-shan and Assorted Riffraff by Joseph Bobrow

ISBN:  9781969031229

For all those who fantasize about leaving it all behind, shedding the dust of the world and living the life of a free spirit in the mountains, Han Shan has long been an ideal model. Joe Bobrow instead introduces us to a man of sorrows, grief and regret alongside freedom and joy—a complicated man—and thereby adds emotional depth to an idealized Zen archetype. His own poems, which he calls ‘riff raff’ in ironic homage to Gary Snyder’s Riprap, display an openness, playfulness and honesty passed down from the old masters.”—BARRY MAGID, author of Nothing is Hidden: The Psychology of Zen Koans (2013)

“Joseph Bobrow’s poems know that every day we are dying and that every one of those dying days we are also fully alive. He writes that ‘memory and inclination are subject to conditions on the ground,’ and so they are in these moving poems which are the gift of seeing and of the ability to respond to tragedy and delight in equal measure while weaving them into the fabric of a life fully realized.” —DAN GERBER, Author of Sailing through Cassiopeia, 2013 Book of the Year Award in Poetry from The Society of Midland Authors.

“In the dense moments of Bobrow’s writing, intensity hovers, swells. Pain and bliss rise, fall, rise again. Which will it be moment to moment? Where can we go when it is happening? Seek refuge in a poem? These poems accost us with more of how it feels to be alive. Be ready.” —MICHAEL EIGEN, author, of Eigen in Seoul, including: Pain and Beauty, Terror and Wonder (vol. 3, 2021), The Challenge of Being Human (2018), and many other titles.

JOSEPH BOBROW practices psychotherapy and psychoanalysis and is the author of four previous books, two of poetry. His approach is informed by years of practicing and teaching Zen mindfulness. He lives and practices in Studio City, California, and consults and teaches widely on psychotherapy, Buddhism, and how they enrich each other in transforming suffering.

Joseph is also the founding director and Roshi of Deep Streams Zen Institute, which offers Zen practice, interdisciplinary education, and community service. He has long been bringing together the best from Buddhist and psychodynamic traditions to harness the power of community in alleviating individual and collective anguish. He also developed integrative retreats for military veterans, their families, and their care providers that help heal the unseen wounds of war.

Front cover photo by Aaron Bobrow