"The Long Road Home: A Collection of Poems from an Open Heart" is the first published collection of poetry by Brandon Thompson. Its poems reflect the penetrating immediacy, passion, and compassion of a mindful lover on the path of Awakening. By means of its five sections, "Contemplations," "Love and Awakening," "Shadow of Love," "Fire of Love," and "Letters," it tells the story of the author's explorations with sacred love and relationship, the trials and challenges of his shadow, and the joys of spiritual/contemplative living. Brandon intends for this book to be an offering to the world, providing hope, inspiration, and peace to those walking the path of love and illumination. For those on the Path, the author wishes for you to know, by means of this work, that you are never alone. "The Long Road Home" is currently in its Second Edition, and includes a sixth section, "Glimpses," which will give the reader a taste of what poet Brandon Thompson has been writing since first publishing this book in 2012. With humility, Brandon offers the reader a glimpse of what's to come in future publications.
About the Author:

Brandon Thompson is a poet, a scholar, a musician and a lover of music, and a Buddhist practitioner and teacher. He is a faculty member in Sofia University's Global Master's Program, and spends his days joyfully guiding students from all over the world. Brandon has been a student of Mahayana Buddhism since 1999, and has taught in this tradition since taking his bodhisattva vow in the summer of 2007. He finds his home practices in lojong (mind training) and tonglen (sending and taking) meditation, first prescribed by the Buddhist sage Shantideva in the 8th century. Brandon has published four books of ecstatic poetry, "The Long Road Home: A Collection of Poems from an Open Heart," "From the Back of a Thirsty Camel: Ecstatic Longings," "The Medicine is in the Poison: Poems from the Path of Lojong," and "Fire and the Moon: Poems for my Daughter." He is a co-author of "Ecstatic Encounters," collaborative synthesis of ecstatic poetry and visual art. He regularly facilitates ecstatic poetry workshops across the United States.

Brandon's current work involves bringing ecstatic poetry more fully into his life and into the world. Through his publications, scholarly writing, teaching, and workshops, Brandon is seeking to engage with ecstatic poetry as a visionary art: an art form with transformative potential and mystical underpinnings. Entering into this visionary art dialogue is at the forefront of Brandon's work at present.