In Buddha Mom Jacqueline Kramer beautifully illuminates the ways in which motherhood can be intricately woven into the spiritual life. Drawing on her twenty-five years as a practicing Buddhist, and on many other wisdom traditions from around the world, she offers powerful insights into cultivating a more spiritual attitude toward parenting.
Through chapters organized around central Buddhist themes -- Simplicity, Everyday Practice, Joyful Service, Unconditional Love -- Kramer's personal experience of pregnancy, birth and raising her daughter to adulthood serves as a guide to integrating the roles of parent and spiritual being. She reveals how powerful an opportunity for growth each step along the path of motherhood can be, from the first pangs of pregnancy through the time when a child leaves home.
A unique celebration of all that motherhood can be, Buddha Mom is an inspiring vision of child rearing.


Buddha Mom, Jacqueline Kramer, Published by Tarcher / Putman, Hardcover, 209 pages, $23.95

Jacqueline Kramer has been a practicing Buddhist for the past 25 years, a spiritual counselor and singer.

Preface	xi
Setting Foot on the Path
Pregnancy: Turning Inward	3
Birthing: Initiation	17
Mothering: The Path of Loving Kindness	29
The Practice on the Path
Householding: Fundamental Morality	47
Simplicity: Ease	65
Homemaking: Everyday Art	75
Nurturance: Cooking with Love	87
Cleaning: Centering	102
Joyful Service: Selfless Service	111
Extended Family: Karmic Relationships	123
Self-Love: Temple Care	137
Unconditional Love: Skillful Loving	152
Attachment: Bonding and Releasing	171
Faith: Patience and Receptivity	181
Meditation: Affirmation and Prayer	193
Universal Mothering: Peace	207