"A Fierce Heart is a book whose time is an eternal now: sacred help, made beautifully accessible, by the wild and determined spirit of a no-nonsense female teacher, a bodhisattva, brown as Earth, real as Oxygen." - Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple Spring Washam is a founder of the East Bay Meditation Center, one of the most diverse and accessible meditation centers in the United States. In A Fierce Heart, Washam shares her contemporary, unique interpretation of the Buddha's 2,500-year-old teachings with powerfully written chapters that get to the heart of mindfulness, wisdom, and compassion. Woven throughout the book are stories from the author's life, family, and community, along with many soulful, heartfelt stories from all over the world. Washam's teachings truly focus on strength, courage and wisdom, making the Dharma welcoming to as large and wide a community as possible. Anyone who has suffered will benefit from the life-saving teachings of this charismatic teacher. Her humor, enthusiasm, and energy are a balm.