Untangled

Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion

By: Koshin Paley Ellison

Narrated by: Koshin Paley Ellison

Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

We live in a shallow “junk” pleasure-seeking culture, searching for connection in the wrong places, keeping our restlessness and anxiety at bay with unfulfilling distractions. The results of our junk pleasure culture are obvious: hundreds of articles have been published about the rise of loneliness and its detrimental effects on our mental, emotional, and physical health. Even those of us who have succeeded in the ways that society encourages—getting married, making money, and acquiring status—often feel unanchored, disengaged, and empty. What we want is to live a life of true pleasure—a life infused with meaning, marked by genuine relationship, and aligned with what matters most to us. How do we create a life of true pleasure, one that is worth living?

Untangled is a welcoming guidebook to finding expansive ease and joy through what is traditionally called the eightfold path, one of Buddhism’s foundational teachings. Psychotherapist and Zen teacher Koshin Paley Ellison walks listeners through this time-tested map for transformation and lasting happiness. Following the eight roads creates profound change inside and out, from everyday interactions to our most intimate relationships (especially the one with ourselves). With his signature mix of storytelling and unexpected humor, Koshin uses anecdotes from his own life as a young gay kid dealing with abuse and discrimination as well as tales and teachings from Eastern and Western wisdom traditions to introduce mainstream readers to the eight roads for the first time and rejuvenate it for those already familiar. It is an ancient cure that’s up to the challenge of addressing the dysfunction of our times.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Koshin Paley Ellison (P)2022 Balance

Exactly what I needed

I couldn't have found a more perfect book to connect the elements of mindfulness and the path back to my own life and even my family story. While this is essentially Zen Buddhism for beginners, it's so much more than that.


A worthy listen for those interested in mental health and well-being, veteran Buddhists for it's unique perspective, and of course those who are new to Buddhism or are simply curious about it.


My partner repeatedly asked to turn on the book when we found quiet moments. We inevitably paused over and over again to discuss how the story of the giants or the need for validation cookies or any of the parables and ideas applied to ourselves and our relationship. Great stuff.


I'm buying the hardback as Christmas gifts for my poor unsuspecting friends and family. It's truly a gift.

Must Read. Must Listen.

A most skillfully written and delivered personal interpretation of the Eightfold Path. Koshin Paley-Ellison’s weaving of aspects of his own story with ideas and examples derived from each of our modern lives, creates a most delicious and profound guide for taking a fresh look at relationship, work, human purpose. Told also through the lens of history offering quotes and prose as a framework, Untangled is a must devour book.