Sailing Home

SUMMARYWhen Zen teacher Norman Fischer began referencing Homer'sOdysseyin his talks, describing the hardships Odysseus faced during his journey home after the Trojan War as metaphors for the challenges we all face in our life journeys, his students responded enthusiastically. InSailing Home, he traces Odysseus's journey, retelling our hero's moments of joy and more oftentimes grief. Fischer candidly compares these trials to the hardships we all encounter in our own lives, revealing forgiveness, forbearance, and humility as compasses that can guide us in the right directions. He reflects on Buddhist, Judaic, and Christian traditions and even includes meditation exercises for the reader, so that she may follow along on her own spiritual path as our wounded warrior Odysseus makes his way home.READER QUESTIONS1. The first quotation in the epigraph to the book is about metaphor. On pages 6 and 7 Fischer discusses how metaphor can be of use to us as we navigate our life's journey. How do you think of metaphor? How does the idea of metaphor Fischer advances differ from yours? Why is metaphor so important for the spiritual journey?2. Fischer states at the beginning of the book that "The mystery (and pain!) of our lives is that we are where we need to be, but we don't know it" (page 2). Now that you've read the text that follows this statement, do you agree?3. Chapters one and five focus on our occupation with stories. What does Fischer mean when he says that it makes "a difference to know that stories are stories" (page 15)? How does the knowledge that our lives are built upon stories affect us? How does this concept of stories apply toThe Odyssey?4. After ten years of the suitors eating and drinking away his family's fortunes, Telemachus finally resolves to leave Ithaca in search of his father. Fischer examines the reasons that Telemachus chooses to set sail and describes the conditions that we all need to take action in our spiritual lives (chapter four). What are these conditions? Have you experienced them or watched a friend realize them?5. "No matter our circumstances, life is inevitably a series of sudden or gradual losses punctuated by periods of respite that are actually just staging areas for the losses still to come...The gratitude, love, or joy that we feel depends on the temporariness of things. The rarity of that for which we are grateful is why it delights us so" (page 40). Here Fischer describes the first Noble Truth: life is suffering. He also explains why this Truth is something we can rejoice in and revisits this theme throughout the book, including in the discussions on pages 67 and 86. Examine these pages; how does this Truth help explain events inThe Odyssey?6. How does the first Noble Truth apply to our own lives? Importantly, do we know for sure that life isn't the opposite way around; how do we know that it isn't actually a series of joyful events punctuated by periods of loss? Does Fischer account for this possibility in the book?7. While recounting the story of Proteus, Fischer describes the virtues of forbearance (page 66). What does it mean to practice forbearance? How can "simply holding on" help us during life's journey (page 69)?8. On page 141, Fischer states, "I began this book with the theme of time and have been circling back to it over and over again." Examine his discussions of this theme throughout the book and how the concept of time applies to our own lives.9. In chapter eleven, Odysseus escapes from Polyphemos the Cyclops by cleverly telling him that his name is Nobody. What does this encounter teach us about humility?10. Examine Fischer's ideas on forgiveness in chapter twenty-one. Does the story of Odysseus and Laertes provide an ample metaphor for our own struggle to learn forgiveness? Why or why not?11. One recurring theme of the book is learning to understand our emotions and appreciate them. In the exercise onFischer, Norman is the author of 'Sailing Home' with ISBN 9781416560210 and ISBN 1416560211.