"An alternative to the ceaseless hustle and bustle of modern American life."

Life in the 21^st century moves at break-neck speed. Yet despite our slavish dependency on instant coffee, express buses, ATMs, and 140 character tweets, we're all strapped for time and desperately wish for more hours in the day. What if someone had a solution for how busy and stressed out we've all become?

Now in Buddha Standard Time: Awakening to the Infinite Possibilities of Now, Lama Surya Das, national bestselling author and one of the foremost Western Buddhist teachers, offers an alternative to the ceaseless hustle and bustle of modern American life.

The problem begins, Das says, with our relationship to time - we experience it linearly by moving forward doing and accomplishing things. But we are human beings not human doings, and the thinner we spread ourselves the more disconnected we become. That leaves us vulnerable to high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, insomnia, digestive ailments, and depression. We must eschew the notion that stress will melt away if only we could adapt to the frenetic pace of life. Instead the aim is to experience the Eternal Now, or what Das calls "Buddha Standard Time" - the realm of timelessness where every choice, every action, and every breath can be one of renewal and infinite possibilities. 

With "Mindful Moments" exercises and "Time Out" meditations, Das equips readers with tools to cure the "disease to please," kick addictions, reconnect with nature, and gracefully embrace loss, sickness, and death. When we incorporate Buddha Standard Time, stress melts away, and we find greater focus, fulfillment, creativity and even wisdom. Finally Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike will find inner peace and live more sanely and joyously by realizing we have all the time in the world.

Please join us as we welcome Lama Surya Das on Thursday, June 2 at 7pm.

"A singular portrayal of familial sacrifice and loss...Achingly authentic ... "

-- Publisher's Weekly

When a bird flies into a window in Spring Green, Wisconsin, sisters Milly and Twiss get a visit. Twiss listens to the birds' heartbeats, assessing what she can fix and what she can't, while Milly listens to the heartaches of the people who've brought them. These spinster sisters have spent their lives nursing people and birds back to health.

But back in the summer of 1947, Milly and Twiss knew nothing about trying to mend what had been accidentally broken. Milly was known as a great beauty with emerald eyes and Twiss was a brazen wild child who never wore a dress or did what she was told. That was the summer their golf pro father got into an accident that cost him both his swing and his charm, and their mother, the daughter of a wealthy jeweler, finally admitted their hardscrabble lives wouldn't change. It was the summer their priest, Father Rice, announced that God didn't exist and ran off to Mexico, and a boy named Asa finally caught Milly's eye. And, most unforgettably, it was the summer their cousin Bett came down from a town called Deadwater and changed the course of their lives forever.

Rebecca Rasmussen's masterfully written debut novel is full of hope and beauty, heartbreak and sacrifice, love and the power of sisterhood, and offers wonderful surprises at every turn. 

Please join us on Sunday, June 5 at 3pm as we welcome Rebecca Rasmussen reading from and discussing The Bird Sisters.

The 22nd annual Garden Affairs tour features exceptional properties that range from a Cotswold cottage-style garden to a serene, river-view garden. A benefit organized by the Museum's Guild of  Volunteers, the tour of Concord's lovely gardens is self-guided and self-paced, beginning each day at 9:00 a.m. and continuing until 4:00 p.m., rain or shine.

Garden-goers should arrive at the Museum to pick up their maps prior to starting out.  Tickets are good for either or both days, but each garden may only be visited once. 

For more information visit the Concord Museum's website.