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You Belong: A Call for Connection Kindle Edition

by Sebene Selassie (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 347 ratings

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"A POWERFUL WORK OF SPIRITUALITY AND ANTI-RACISM"—Publishers Weekly

"IF YOU READ ONE BOOK IN 2020, MAKE IT THIS ONE."—Tricycle

From much-admired meditation expert Sebene Selassie, You Belong is a call to action, exploring our tangled relationship with belonging, connection, and each other

You are not separate. You never were. You never will be.

We are not separate from each other. But we don’t always believe it, and we certainly don’t always practice it. In fact, we often practice the opposite—disconnection and domination. From unconscious bias to “cancel culture,” denial of our inherent interconnection limits our own freedom.

In You Belong, much-admired meditation expert Sebene Selassie reveals that accepting our belonging is the key to facing the many challenges currently impacting our world. Using ancient philosophy, multidisciplinary research, exquisite storytelling, and razor-sharp wit, Selassie leads us in an exploration of all the ways we separate (and thus suffer) and offers a map back to belonging.

To belong is to experience joy in any moment: to feel pleasure, dance in public, accept death, forgive what seems unforgivable, and extend kindness to yourself and others. To belong is also to acknowledge injustice, reckon with history, and face our own shadows. Full of practical advice and profound revelations, You Belong makes a winning case for resisting the forces that demand separation and reclaiming the connection—and belonging—that have been ours all along.

From the Publisher

buddhism; spirituality book; buddhism book; belong; belonging; book belonging; buddhist teacher

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you read one book in 2020, make it this one." — Tricycle

“With grace, intelligence, and palpable compassion, Selassie weaves discussions of implicit bias, intergenerational trauma, and white supremacy throughout her coverage of more traditional spiritual topics, such as ego and conscious awareness. . . . This is a powerful work of spirituality and anti-racism.” — Publishers Weekly

“Sebene Selassie is one of the most highly respected and beloved newer voices in the mindfulness world. Her vision of belonging is one where we all find a home somewhere...in this body, this mind, with one another, on this planet. With depth and understanding (plus flashes of really funny humor) in this book Sebene skillfully traces a path we would all do well to follow.” — Sharon Salzberg, Bestselling author of Real Change

“This powerful and timely book shines a clear light on the root of our personal and societal suffering, the misperception that we don’t belong. Sebene is a wise, brave and trustworthy spiritual guide—the teachings, stories and reflections in You Belong reveal the shared field of awareness and love that is our true home." — Tara Brach, Author of Radical Compassion

“In You Belong, Sebene Selassie guides us in exploring all the ways we feel we don't belong. The good news is we do belong – to everyone and everything. That may be the bad news too. We belong to the feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and separation as much as to the love and connection. We belong to each other (even those we don't like or agree with), and our joy and freedom depend on recognizing this truth. With wisdom and humor, this book shows us that belonging has always been possible and it's the only way through our challenging times.” — Iyanla Vanzant, Bestselling author of Acts of Faith

About the Author

Sebene Selassie has studied Buddhism for more than twenty-five years and received a BA from McGill University and an MA from the New School, where she focused on Buddhism, Hinduism, cultural studies, and race. She is a graduate of the Community Dharma Leaders Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and of the Professional Coaching Course training program at New Ventures West. She was the Executive Director of New York Insight Meditation Center, where she currently teaches and on the board of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. A native of Ethiopia, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B081D13YJG
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperOne (August 25, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 25, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1122 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 247 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #284,016 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #330 in Interpersonal Relations (Kindle Store)
- #382 in New Age Meditation
- #1,152 in Motivational Self-Help (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 347 ratings

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Sebene Selassie

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Sebene Selassie is a teacher, author and speaker who explores the themes of belonging and identity through meditation, creativity and spirituality. She is a much admired teacher on the Ten Percent Happier meditation app.

Born in Ethiopia and raised in Washington DC, Sebene began studying Buddhism 30 years ago as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. She has an MA from the New School where she focused on race and cultural studies.

For over 20 years Sebene worked with children, youth, and families nationally and internationally for small and large not–for–profits. Her work has taken her everywhere from the Tenderloin in San Francisco to refugee camps in Guinea, West Africa. A strong believer in the power of arts-based learning, she has planned, coordinated, and taught a variety of creative programs including intergenerational photography, digital storytelling, and youth media.

Sebene is a three-time cancer survivor of Stage III and IV cancer.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

347 global ratings

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Pamela A.

Amazing book!

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2024

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I checked this book out from my local library and liked it so much that I ordered a copy to keep. The author is refreshing, thought-provoking, and authentic. I think anyone reading this book would come away with a few new ideas about how to look at diversity, inclusion, and belonging. I did and I work in this field!

One person found this helpful

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Janet H. Landis

Life changing, life affirming

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2021

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This book literally changed my life. I have never felt the impact of any book more. As someone with chronic illnesses, being the mother of a disabled son who died in 2018, survivor of childhood trauma, and rape, this book gently, compassionately and wisely led me to want to reconnect with my body, my deepest, darkest experiences and allow myself to feel them safely. Sebene’ is a masterful writer, teacher and human being who reaches tenderly into the heart, however injured or scarred, and applies the healing balm of acceptance to all people, of all ethnicities, and identities and joins us together by honoring each person’s journey though life, the family and cultural messages that shaped us, and our path to letting go and becoming our authentic selves. Read this book. It is a treasure beyond measure.

17 people found this helpful

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Kofi Jamal Simmons

Belonging

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2024

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I started off listening to the audiobook of "You Belong: A Call for Connection." After a few chapters, I went and picked up the book to read and highlight different phrases and lines that connected with me. In many ways I feel Sebene's journey and at times felt "outside of it all." Finding that internal peace is important and her story and life lessons that she shares are universal and timely.

Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2020

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The practice of embodied awareness as a path to a sense of belonging--without the need to code switch, assimilate, or relegate things to the shadow. One of my favorite images in the book is the lone boy in the Ethiopian highlands dancing to his own rhythm, maybe because it echoed my own desert travels long ago, but definitely because the pandemic requires a different sort of connecting. And what better time to explore the subject than now that we're not constantly triggered by social situations. I love the pacing of the book and its humor. The author lists her numberless pursuits of self-knowledge all the while stating that the self is elusive: You think you're thinking your thoughts but you're not: you're thinking the culture's thoughts. Some concepts were new to me and helpful, like "standpoint theory" and "semiotic vigilance", and I enjoyed reading about Ubuntu philosophy. This is an honest, fierce, and timely spiritual memoir.

28 people found this helpful

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Will B

The perfect book in this moment

Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2020

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I didn't know quite what to expect from this book but it blew me away. I've been wondering how to process all of the feelings that this year has thrown up - isolation, grief, race relations - as well as wrestling with the usual list that love and life throw up. This was a beautiful way to start. It's very well written - has a colloquial feel at times, while still presenting a lot of information. Each method/idea presented is clear and the book is a real journey in that it invites you to pause your reading and practice the methods and consider the ideas, which has meant each has really stuck with me. Like all great pieces of work, at its center this is a book about a very simple idea about our place in the world but it's such a profound idea and one I had gone through life not seeing that the book feels truly revelatory. Can't wait to read it again!

73 people found this helpful

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John Sullivan

This is a classic! Loved this book

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2023

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I really think this has already become a Buddhist classic. A lot about grounding
and being as well as doing.

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2023

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I’m a huge fan of Sabine Selassie! She is one cool meditation teacher. I highly recommend this for anyone working on their sense of belonging and self advocacy.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Touted,...but dsappointing

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2021

I completed the library audiobook of "You Belong" by Sabene Selasi last night. Not a lot of value to me, and a bit of disappointment that I spent more than 9 hours to complete it. It would have been much better to have simply reviewed a summary form, and not slogged through the unabridged version. The author narrated it, and she had a calming voice, which caused me to continue longer than I should have. Her main theme is "belonging' and she twisted every relationship possible from self to world to try and include it. Her concentration and suggestion were to meditate on everything, as this is what she does as a profession. She has a minor theme of racial bias, and though I want to be sensitive to realities, she didn't draw me in to want to know more and how to address the issue. That was a shame. It was buried in her documenting her personal struggles, and her small victories, and many smaller disappointments as she tries to progress. Obviously, though she's had her life challenges, the most serious, cancer, my initial admiration, and sympathy dwindled as she left that as an introduction subject. I personally find her writing sophomoric and representative of a young and inexperienced in the tougher issues of life. Coaching in meditation centers as a profession, I find her a bit spoiled. Total waste and not worth reading? No, I get something out of everything I read if only a lesson of things not to do. But the quick 20-page summary would have yielded 2 or 3 things worth noting and looking deeper. It's worth a half-hour to an hour but probably not much more.

11 people found this helpful

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lsk

You should read this book

Reviewed in Canada on May 18, 2022

Verified Purchase

Keeping this one in my book shelf to read again in the future. Thank you for reminding all of us why we belong, if we exist, we belong. Simple as that.

Saron

A very misleading book.

Reviewed in Germany on December 19, 2020

Verified Purchase

It shouldn’t be allowed for every one to write a book unless it’s clear what audience is in her mind. She knows where she belongs too.