Avrom Altman is the author of Flowers of Emptiness: Imaginal Haiku, now available in an expanded 2nd edition.

Avrom is Professor Emeritus at Pacifica Graduate Institute where he served as Associate Chair, Director of Research, and Academic Senate President. He is the recipient of PGI’s Distinguished Service Award and Award for Extraordinary Accomplishment as Soul Tender in the World. Avrom began studying Zen Buddhism and sitting zazen in 1969, is a licensed psychotherapist, certified Hakomi Therapist, and member of the Gurdjieff Heritage Society’s Board of Directors. A selection of his talks are available on his YouTube channel.

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Praise for Flowers of Emptiness: Imaginal Haiku

Part meditation, part reflection, part nostalgia in remembering human frailty, Avrom’s haiku tell the story of a life lived in deep consciousness of the ordinary with “an astonished heart.” As a reader, I was stopped in my tracks frequently by the divine insights so many of his haiku express. Avrom’s Flowers of Emptiness: Imaginal Haiku does not avoid facing the blisters also gathered in his life’s journey, informed so elegantly by Buddhist wisdom and practice. I loved reading them and delighted further in rereading them. Haiku, like all poetry, are to be reread, especially aloud. They live on a deeper level when heard. Let them resonate within you.

Dennis Patrick Slattery, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and author of The Way of Myth: Stories’ Subtle Wisdom.