Nothing Is Hidden

The Psychology of Zen Koans

By: Barry Magid

Narrated by: Barry Magid

In this inspiring and incisive offering, Barry Magid uses the language of modern psychology and psychotherapy to illuminate one of Buddhism's most powerful and often mysterious technologies: the Zen koan. What's more, Magid also uses the koans to expand upon the insights of psychology (especially self-psychology and relational psychotherapy) and open for the listener new perspectives on the functioning of the human mind and heart.

Nothing Is Hidden explores many rich themes, including facing impermanence and the inevitability of change, working skillfully with desire and attachment, and discovering when "surrender and submission" can be liberating and when they shade into emotional bypassing.

With a sophisticated view of the rituals and teachings of traditional Buddhism, Magid helps us see how we sometimes subvert meditation into just another "curative fantasy" or make compassion into a form of masochism.

©2013 Barry Magid (P)2020 Barry Magid

Integrative Masterwork

This audiobook made sense out of my own experience with years of psychoanalysis, which I was advised I had completed, and decades of Zen practice, which is ongoing.
I had previously been taught that psychological work and Zen practice were separate, each sufficient unto itself. I was told that a healthy ego was a prerequisite for Zen practice. Then rigorous practice would dissolve the ego. This model proved counterproductive.
Barry Magid's book provides a different approach. His work is a synergistic integration of listening to the psyche and engaging in the sacred. I am most grateful.