Into the Hills is a contemporary novel that blends the transformative power of storytelling with the timeless wisdom of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path.
Longtime meditation teacher Stephanie Noble's students asked her to write a book to share her unique way to remember the eight aspects of the Noble Eightfold Path that the Buddha taught as the prescription to end suffering. Her 'Cooking Pot Analogy' makes each aspect memorable and shows how they all work together.
Because humans are a storytelling species, she was inspired to share the teaching as a novel with a free downloadable workbook for readers to explore the concepts more fully in their own experience.
The novel's main character, Eva, is a schoolteacher who knows little about Buddhism but more than she wants to know about suffering a difficult moment in her life. Her unskillful ways to escape the pain lead her on an unexpected adventure into the rich inner world of a meditation retreat.
Both readers with decades of Buddhist exploration and those who are certain they would never be able to meditate for more than a minute have found this novel engaging, uplifting, informative, and inspiring.
In Part One, Eva reacts to a life-changing loss in ways that ultimately put her and her dog, Trusty, in such jeopardy that they escape into the hills behind her town. Eventually, exhausted and dehydrated, Eva trips, hits her head, and falls unconscious.
In Part Two, the heart of the novel, Eva wakes to find her body miraculously healed, and Trusty relaxed and wagging his tail as, seemingly out of nowhere, they are surrounded by a friendly group of hikers who invite them along on their nature retreat. Eva reluctantly accepts, not knowing what she might be getting into.
At the campsite, she wonders how they created such a luxurious retreat space so far up in the hills, and throughout the retreat, how they keep creating fresh, delicious vegetarian meals. But, as a teacher, she's most impressed by the way the members of this Insight sangha take turns leading rich explorations into the Buddha's teachings through shared personal life experiences.
Through meditation, time alone in nature, meaningful teachings, and the quiet compassion of the sangha, she learns to observe her thoughts and emotions without judgment, recognizing how suffering arises and how it can be met with kindness and clarity. The retreat helps Eva to stop running away and instead rest in a deepening understanding and appreciation of the nature of all life.
She doesn't want the retreat to end when the roar of a rescue helicopter hovering above wakes her to the reality of her twisted ankle, bloody forehead, and Trusty frantically barking.
In Part Three, after a brief hospital stay, Eva rests at home, cared for by her two housemates, Heather and Chelsea. The bonds between the three women deepen as they face loss, vulnerability, and uncertainty together, reinforcing one of the novel's central themes: that healing does not happen in isolation, but takes a village.
Now Eva can look honestly and compassionately at the choices she made while grieving and frightened. And she realizes that Heather had been encouraging her all along to come with her to the weekly meeting she'd discovered, a Buddhist Insight Meditation sangha. And a book on the Eightfold Path had been sitting on their living room table all along, waiting for her to discover it. She decides to join Heather at her next sangha meeting.
As Eva reflects on her experience, the teachings of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path come into focus-not as abstract philosophy, but as a lived practice. The lessons of Wise View, Intention, Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration, and the ethical dimensions of Wise Speech, Action, and Livelihood are tools for everyday life, bringing awareness, kindness, and responsibility into ordinary moments.
Noble, Stephanie: - Stephanie Noble is an author, poet, and Insight meditation teacher who shares her understanding of the Buddha's teachings in her blog posts on her website StephanieNoble.com. She founded the Marin Insight Women's Sangha and guest teaches for Marin Sangha, Napa Valley Insight, Rick Hanson's Wednesday Group, and Boulder Insight, among others. Since the 1990s, she has attended numerous silent retreats, mostly at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and taken many in-depth training courses in various aspects of the Buddha's teachings, especially the Noble Eightfold Path. Before she discovered Buddhism in 1993, a lengthy illness and a wise meditation teacher led her to what she calls her nine-month horizontal retreat, which led to the publication of 'Tapping the Wisdom Within, A Guide to Joyous Living.'Her guided meditations are available on Insight Timer. She is also a widely published poet, twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
