What if joy isn’t a destination—but your default?

A Buddhist Path to Joy, an expanded edition of The New Middle Way, is a warm, practical guide to living Buddhism in real life—without gatekeeping, perfectionism, or getting lost in jargon. Mel Pine offers a fresh middle way between over-secularized mindfulness and ossified tradition, so regular folks can actually wake up.

Inside you’ll find:

--Simple practices you’ll actually do: 2–10 minute meditations, metta, awareness of mind

-Grown-up ethics: skillful, flexible precepts that reduce harm (no moral grandstanding)

--Clear guidance on teachers and sanghas—with real-world red-flag radar

--A Rimé (nonsectarian) spirit: go deep in one path, stay open to others

--A friendly take on Pure Land, chanting, and deity practice—no litmus tests

--Science-meets-spirit curiosity (quantum strangeness, mind-first models, even AI)

--Lived wisdom: trauma, loss, aging, and returning to joy—again and again

You’ll learn to:

--“Pull out the arrows” of needless suffering—here and now

--Rest in awareness and make friends with your mind

--Act from compassion with confidence (“vajra pride”)—not self-importance

--Be “enlightened enough for where you are”

If you’ve ever thought, “There has to be a saner way,” this book hands you the compass. One breath. One kinder choice. One moment of awareness. And then another.

For seekers, skeptics, and seasoned practitioners ready for a grounded, open, human path to joy.