Passage to Nirvana

On a beautiful spring day in 2002, Lee Carlson’s life was transformed forever when he was hit by a careless, speeding driver. Father, husband, writer, son—all that was about to change. Several days later he woke up in a hospital with a new identity: Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor. Unfortunately he knew all about Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI. Just months before, his mother had fallen down a flight of basement stairs, crushing her brain and leaving her unable to walk, speak or feed herself. Passage to Nirvana tells the story of one person’s descent into the hell of losing everything: family, home, health, even the ability to think—and the slow climb back to a normal life. Told in a unique creative style brought on by the author’s brain injury, combining short poems and essays in an interwoven, exuberant narrative, Passage to Nirvana recounts one person’s struggle and ultimate joy at building a new life. The story takes the reader through Intensive Care Units, doctors’ offices and a profusion of therapy centers, eventually winding its way to sunlit oceans, quiet Zen meditation halls, white beaches, azure skies and a sailboat named Nirvana. Passage to Nirvana is a memoir, a treasury of Zen teachings and a sailor’s yarn all rolled into one. Passage to Nirvana is an illustrative tale about finding a path to happiness after a traumatic life event, a book that will teach you about the Poetry of Living.