Buddhism Books

Book SynopsisMeditation master Chögyam Trungpa applies the foundational teachings of Buddhism to mental healthMore and more mental health professionals are discovering the rich tradition of Buddhist psychology and integrating its insights into their work with clients. Buddhist tradition teaches that all of us are born with what Chögyam Trungpa terms "basic sanity," or inherent goodness, health, and clear perception. Helping ourselves and others to connect with this intrinsic ground of sanity and health is the subject of this collection of teachings, which the author gave to Western psychologists, psychotherapists, and students of Buddhist meditation over a number of years. The Sanity We Are Born With describes how anyone can strengthen their mental health, and it also addresses the specific problems and needs of people in profound psychological distress. Additionally, the author speaks to the concerns of psychotherapists and any health care professionals who work with their patients'' states of mind. The collection includes teachings on: · Buddhist concepts of mind, ego, and intelligence, and how these ideas can be employed in working on oneself and with others · Meditation as a way of training the mind and cultivating mindfulness · Nurturing our intrinsic health and basic sanity · Guidance for psychotherapists and health professionals

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Book SynopsisOn the spiritual path we speak of enlightenment. But how do we reconcile the idea of enlightenment with what we see when we look in the mirror—when insecurities, doubts, and self-centered tendencies arise in our minds? Dzigar Kongtrül suggests that we need not feel “doomed” when these experiences surface. In fact, such experiences are not a problem if we are able to simply let them arise without judging them or investing them with so much meaning. This approach to experience is what Kongtrül calls self-reflection. Self-reflection is a practice, a path, and an attitude. It is the spirit of taking an interest in that which we usually try to push away. When we practice self-reflection we take liberation into our own hands and accept the challenge and personal empowerment in Kongtrül’s title: it’s up to you.

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Book SynopsisIn the Madhyamakalankara, Shantarakshita synthesized the views of Madhyamaka and Yogachara, the two great streams of Mahayana Buddhism. This was the last great philosophical development of Buddhist India. In his brilliant and searching commentary, Mipham re-presented Shantarakshita to a world that had largely forgotten him, defending his position and showing how it should be understood in relation to the teaching of Chandrakirti. To do this, he subtly reassessed the Svatantrika-Prasangika distinction, thereby clarifying and rehabilitating Yogachara-Madhyamaka as a bridge whereby the highest philosophical view on the sutra level flows naturally into the view of tantra. Mipham’s commentary has with reason been described as one of the most profound examinations of Madhyamaka ever written.

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Book Synopsis“Whatever you are doing should be done mindfully, dynamically, with totality and completeness. Then it becomes meditation. It is not thinking, but experiencing from moment to moment, living from moment to moment, without clinging, without condemning, without judging.”—Munindra  Anagarika Munindra (1915–2003) was a Bengali Buddhist master and scholar who became one of the most important Vipassana meditation teachers of the twentieth century. Unassuming, genuine, and always encouraging, Munindra embodied the Buddhist teachings, exemplifying mindfulness in everything he did. Living This Life Fully is the first book about Munindra, and it features never-before-published excerpts of his teachings, stories and remembrances from Western students, a biography, and rare photographs.

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Book SynopsisThe story of the Buddha and his awakening is more than an account of the birth of a religious tradition: it is also one of the great archetypal tales of the spiritual quest, colorful in its many details and thrilling in its depiction of the world transformed by an enlightened human being. Sherab Chödzin Kohn’s retelling of the Buddha’s life is both readable and historically informed, and presents the Buddha’s teachings along with the events of his past lives to final nirvana. Library Journal called it “a splendid combination of biography and instruction.” This new edition of the book previously entitled The Awakened One has been updated to include a short history of Buddhism as well as a selection of resources for further reading.

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Book SynopsisThe Way of the Bodhisattva comes to life in this “must-have, must-read, must-contemplate” modern commentary on Shantideva’s essential treatise (Jamyang Khyentse, author of What Makes You Not a Buddhist)   The Bodhicharyavatara, or Way of the Bodhisattva, composed by the eighth-century Indian master Shantideva, has occupied an important place in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition throughout its history. It is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment through generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience. In this commentary, Kunzang Pelden has compiled the pith instructions of his teacher Patrul Rinpoche, the celebrated author of The Words of My Perfect Teacher.

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Book SynopsisMost of us have never experienced such deep anxiety and uncertainty in the world as we are in these current times; this anthology of Buddhist teachings offers an antidote. While we can’t control the home foreclosures, job losses, dwindling savings, and the other myriad challenges facing our society, Buddhism teaches us that there is one thing we can always control: our own state of mind. How we react to the ups and downs of life makes all the difference, and Buddhism offers a wealth of wisdom and practices to help us maintain a stable, wise, and helpful state of mind no matter what happens. In the Face of Fear shows us how to    • remain open, joyful, and caring, even when life is stressful    •  avoid old behavior patterns that only make things worse    •  access our innate confidence and fearlessness    •  turn difficult times into opportunities for spiritual development    • learn why caring for others is the best way to relieve our own suffering    • discover that our true nature is always awake, wise, and good, no matter what is happening This anthology features the greatest contemporary Buddhist teachers and writers—people renowned for addressing precisely the problems we’re facing today—including the Dalai Lama, Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, Chögyam Trungpa, Sylvia Boorstein, Jack Kornfield, Norman Fischer, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Sharon Salzberg, and many others.

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Book SynopsisA clear and concise introduction to the teachings and philosophies of the three main vehicles of Buddhism—Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana—through a Tibetan lensThis comprehensive guide to the Buddhist path from the Tibetan point of view is as accessible as it is complete. Traleg Kyabgon breaks the teachings down conveniently into the three traditional “vehicles,” while never letting us forget that the point of all the Dharma is nothing other than insight into the mind and heart. Along the way he provides vivid definitions of fundamental Buddhist concepts such as compassion, emptiness, and Buddha-nature and answers common questions such as:• Why does Buddhism teach that there is “no self”?• Are Buddhist teachings pessimistic?• Does Buddhism encourage social passivity?• What is the role of sex in Buddhist tantra?• Why is it said that samsara is nirvana?• Does it take countless lifetimes to attain enlightenment, or can it be achieved in a moment?

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Book SynopsisLessons on the true purpose and power of meditation, from one of the great mastersAccording to the Buddha, no one can attain basic sanity or enlightenment without practicing meditation. It is the essential spiritual practice—and nothing else is more important. In The Path is the Goal, Chögyam Trungpa teaches us to let go of the urge to make meditation serve our ambition; thus we can relax into openness. We are shown how the deliberate practice of mindfulness develops into contrived awareness, and we discover the world of insight that awareness reveals. We learn of a subtle psychological stage set that we carry with us everywhere and unwittingly use to structure all our experience—and we find that meditation gradually carries us beyond this and beyond ego altogether to the experience of unconditioned freedom. The teachings presented here—all in Trungpa''s concise, accessible style—provide the foundation that every practitioner needs to awaken as the Buddha did.

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Book SynopsisThere’s a rebel within you. It’s the part of you that already knows how to break free of fear and unhappiness. This rebel is the voice of your own awakened mind. It’s your rebel buddha—the sharp, clear intelligence that resists the status quo. It wakes you up from the sleepy acceptance of your day-to-day reality and shows you the power of your enlightened nature. It’s the vibrant, insightful energy that compels you to seek the truth. Dzogchen Ponlop guides you through the inner revolution that comes from unleashing your rebel buddha. He explains how, by training your mind and understanding your true nature, you can free yourself from needless suffering. He presents a thorough introduction to the essence of the Buddha’s teachings and argues that, if we are to bring these teachings fully into our personal experience, we must go beyond the cultural trappings of traditional Asian Buddhism. “We all want to find some meaningful truth about who we are,” he says, “but we can only find it guided by our own wisdom—by our own rebel buddha within.”

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Book SynopsisThe sudden death of the Persian Emperor in 522 BCE is one of history’s great mysteries. Was his demise self-inflicted, accidental, an assassination, or due to natural causes? The author contends that during this incident Siddhartha Gautama may have been the leader of Babylon's Magi, an interfaith order that assumed governance of the region. The situation exploded when Darius the Great seized the throne. Simultaneously the Magi Order was purged as Siddhartha, prince of the Saka nation headed back east to the Indus. Could this event have inspired the creation of Buddhism as a pacifist movement dedicated to the pursuit of self-transformation, goodwill, and universal compassion?The Buddha from Babylon: The Lost History and Cosmic Vision of Siddhartha Gautama uncovers new evidence that solves this age-old mystery and discovers Babylonian influences in the Buddha's revelations. The Buddha from BabylonL The Lost History and Cosmic Vision of Siddhartha Gautama is a double winn er of the USA Best Book Awards for (World) History-Non-Fiction and for Eastern Non-Fiction books.Trade ReviewTo know the truth of where and how Buddhism all began still holds mystery...The Buddha from Babylon could be the answer to many questions... This is a fascinating and hugely informative read. -- Mariel Hemingway, actor and producer; host of Spiritual Cinema; co-author of Running with NatureHarvey Kraft's ambitious and groundbreaking book, The Buddha from Babylon, challenges conventional beliefs about who the Buddha actually was and shows how Buddhism began just as the military might of the Persian Empire arises. -- David Rasch, PhD, Psychologist/Ombuds at Stanford University, and author of The Blocked Writer's Book of the DeadMr. Kraft will take you on a roller coaster of historical information; describing the cycle of religions in ancient times that were based on power and greed. -- Robyn Lebron, author, Searching for Spiritual Unity: A Guide to Forty of the World's ReligionsHarvey Kraft's perspective as a spiritual archaeologist allows him to merge his keen understanding of Buddhism and ancient religions into a unique perspective that is at once insightful and revolutionary. -- Dan Shafer, author of The Power of I AM, and the international bestseller, HyperTalk Programming

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Book SynopsisBuddhism teaches that the present moment contains the seeds of all things, including liberation from samsara (the world of suffering). In this live audio retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, you experience firsthand the traditional Buddhist practices designed to touch the energy of mindfulness that you carry within, and learn how to open to the joy that is always present and waiting to enter our lives. As a humble Buddhist monk in 1966, Thich Nhat Hanh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. Since that time, he has developed a special way of teaching the dharma (essential Buddhist truths) in the West—a way that addresses the spiritual challenges unique to our day, while honoring all faiths. The seeds of internal and external peace are already inside you, he teaches. You need only learn to contact and nurture them. This is the path to transcending fear and anger; this is the path to a more peaceful world. You will learn a treasury of detailed meditations to help you walk, breathe, communicate—even cope with traffic—more deeply and consciously. The Present Moment is a rare opportunity to learn ancient Buddhist practices directly from a living master of the tradition—practices that are life-changing today, just as they were thousands of years ago. More than seven hours of direct instruction from this living master of Buddhist meditation techniques. Learn More About: The Five Skandhas • The Five Wonderful Precepts • The Heart Sutra • The Five Prostrations • Birth and death • How to practice breathing as the living dharma (truth) • The greatest gift of meditation and mindfulness: nonfear • How to break the habit of forgetfulness, and replace it with the real peace of mindfulness • Buddhist awareness practices to apply to driving your car, answering the phone, even eating and reading • The hungry ghost—what Thich Nhat Hanh calls the most important phenomenon of our time • Principles of Buddhist psychology • How to transform difficult emotions within yourself

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Book SynopsisFor more than 800 years, Tibetan Buddhists have used the practice of lojong, or mind training, to transform difficulties into insights. Lojong training is grounded in a special meditation technique and complemented by 59 written maxims—a treasury of practical wisdom that inspires everyday awareness. On Awakening Compassion, Pema Chödrön, one of the Western world's best-known lojong teachers and practitioners, shows you how to use your own painful emotions as stepping stones to wisdom, compassion, and fearlessness. You will learn how to make friends with the painful parts of your life experience and how to use your natural courage and honesty to transform even the most difficult situations. With an informal teaching style, both playful and insightful, Pema Chödrön makes this timeless way of bringing compassion into the world easy to understand and apply to your own life. More than seven hours of practical, compassionate guidance for shedding your cocoon and meeting your world with fresh appreciation. Includes a nine-page study guide with lojong slogans and additional resources. Learn More About: How to see your life freshly, clearly, and vividly • Using the lojong slogans to cultivate your bravery • The attitude of a bodhisattva, or fully awakened person • Practical techniques for working with jealousy, resentment, and rage • How to open your heart in even the most difficult situations • On-the-spot practices for dealing with anger, jealousy, and fear • How to change the habits that shut you off from those who love you most • The secret of transforming conflict into genuine communication

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Book SynopsisWhat is enlightenment? Is it a myth or is it real? On The Science of Enlightenment, you will learn that the liberated state is as real as the sensations you are having right now. For it is through the investigation of your own thoughts and feelings that you can awaken to clear insight and a happiness independent of conditions: the state of enlightenment. Through his expertise in both science and spirituality, meditation teacher Shinzen Young demystifies the principles of awakening hidden within the world's great spiritual traditions and shows you how to use them in your own life. Here, in an unequaled 14-CD course covering traditional teachings, scientific insights, and practical instructions, you will test for yourself the discoveries of the great wisdom traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Jewish mysticism, Sufism, Hinduism, shamanism, and many others. Why is single-pointed concentration so highly regarded on every contemplative path? How do you move beyond emotional/intellectual blocks and into a state of highest presence? Where do psychic powers and other mystical phenomena fit in the architecture of enlightenment? How do you know if your meditation practice is working? On The Science of Enlightenment, Shinzen Young elucidates these questions with precision and intelligence, demonstrating why he is regarded as one of the Western world's most articulate and understandable teachers of classical mystical experience. The search for awakening is not limited to a chosen few. It is a field open for you to investigate—once you possess the inner technologies to do so. Now you can begin that investigation with The Science of Enlightenment. Includes six complete guided meditation sessions. Learn More About: Six common traps on the path to awakening - and how to avoid them • Ancient mystical teachings in clear, modern language • Fascinating research about meditation and your brain-wave states, perceptual acuity, oxygen levels, and aging • How meditation enhances your learning, athletic performance, relationships, and emotional life • Why your body is the greatest mystical teacher • How to digest harmful mental blockages through inner work • Samadhi—your inner microscope for self-understanding • Inner healing techniques you won't learn in psychotherapy • What to do if you lack discipline • An expansive survey of awakening practices from their tribal roots to the Information Age Course objectives: Discuss the benefits of having a regular meditation practice • Recognize the similarities between the world’s oldest and largest spiritual traditions in terms of practices of concentration and ideas of enlightenment • Utilize meditation practices that focus on relaxation, the body, thinking, the sense of self, expanding and contracting, and the sensory field • Describe the meaning of enlightenment and the Buddhist practices used to reach enlightenment • Summarize the Buddhist perspective on the self, "the no-self," and how this is brought into meditation practice • Apply Western scientific knowledge to Eastern spiritual practices in order to understand the benefits of both • Identify the differences between reaching the source of consciousness/enlightenment, and the realm of power/new age phenomena

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Book SynopsisAn American Buddhist nun examines the root of happiness, explains why our methods of obtaining happiness only make matters worse, unmasks the mystery of this paradox, and helps us cultivate a sense of happiness.

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Book SynopsisEnter the “Ordinary State” of Enlightenment Many of us share the belief that enlightenment is rare—that true spiritual awakening only happens for extraordinary people. According to Adyashanti, this idea may actually be the most powerful impediment to our awakening. On Spontaneous Awakening, he invites you to inquire into the “ordinary nature” of enlightenment—and the profound truth of who you really are. “Do not think that enlightenment is going to make you special—it’s not. If you feel special in any way, then enlightenment has not occurred,” teaches Adyashanti. So where do we start? With the desire to look fearlessly at and inquire passionately into truth, explains Adyashanti. “When you stop resisting experience, what remains is the bliss of sheer nothingness. And everything that is possible lives in that nothingness.” With more than seven hours of teachings, two guided meditations, and an exclusive Sounds True interview, Spontaneous Awakening is an eye-opening program that explores topics including: The self-authenticating nature of spiritual discovery • The link between personal awareness and awareness itself • How attachment can lead to complete freedom and unattachment • Why genuine spiritual knowing requires mental subtraction—not addition.

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Book SynopsisIntroduces a complete course for those new to meditation, helping listeners honestly meet and compassionately relate with the mind--the fundamental skill in meditations--as they explore the basics of mindfulness, overcoming common obstacles, guided sessions for resting in the nature of the mind, and more.

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Book Synopsis"You've felt it your whole life. You've always known there's something inside of you that's sought to be born fresh and real–something far beyond your imagination trying to break out and be. Everyone feels this inside. But to allow life to express itself in that way, with that much abandon, requires a true surrender into the unknown."—AdyashantiAdyashanti asks us to let go of our struggles with life and open to the full promise of spiritual awakening: the end of delusion and the discovery and expression of our essential being. After 15 years as a spiritual teacher, Adyashanti has found that the simpler the teaching, the greater its power to initiate this awakening. On Falling into Grace, he shares what he considers fundamental insights to "open ourselves to that mysterious element that enters in the hidden and quiet moments and sparks a revolution in the way that we perceive life." Wherever you may be on your own spiritual path, you will find in these sessions down-to-earth guidance on breaking the trance of ego, experiencing the raw energy of emotion, cultivating inner stability, transcending the world of opposites, and more. In the same way that we fall into the arms of a loved one or drop our heads on the pillow at night, we can surrender into the beauty and truth of who and what we really are. Falling into Grace is a program that gets to the core of why we suffer, and allows us to explore Adyashanti's invitation "to be taken by a moment of grace and fall into a sense of life when it is not separate from you, when life is actually an expression of something indefinable, mysterious, and immense." Highlights: The human dilemma–the concept of a separate self and the choice to stop believing the thoughts that perpetuate suffering • “Taking the backward step” into the pure potential of the present moment • Why spiritual awakening can be a disturbing process • Intimacy and availability–feeling absolute union with every part of our experience • True autonomy–the unique expression of our own sense of freedom Adyashanti began teaching in 1996 at the request of his Zen teacher of 14 years. Adya's teachings have been compared to some of the early Ch'an (Zen) masters of China as well as teachers of Advaita Vedanta in India. His award–winning books include Emptiness Dancing, The End of Your World, and True Meditation.

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Book SynopsisIn Chinese Zen, author Prof. Yansheng shows how Zen, with its universal concern for the human condition, can help the individual achieve happiness and spiritual stability through a "eureka moment" of enlightenment that liberates the mind from its world of competing interests.By drawing on the vast literature of Chinese Zen Buddhism, Prof. Yansheng presents traditional Buddhist sayings, stories and dialogues that illustrate the way historical masters of Zen sought to induce their pupils to reduced inner conflict. In so doing, he allows the reader a panoramic view of the origins and development of Zen Buddhism in China and demonstrates its influence on literature in particular.

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Book SynopsisWisdom for "Generation Next" on how to make your work meaningful, satisfying, and of benefit to others Does it ever seem that a lot of the people you work with are, well, jerks? This book is about how not to let work turn you into one of them. Apply the simple Buddhist teachings and practices Lodro Rinzler provides here to whatever you do for a living, and you’ll not only avoid jerk-hood, but you’ll be setting out on the path toward making your livelihood an expression of your inherent wisdom, honesty, and compassion. You’ll discover practical ways to bring mindfulness into administrative support, cabinet-making, financial management, nursing, truck-driving, or latté-brewing. In the process, you’ll discover genuine empathy for the folks you once found so difficult. You’ll also learn leadership skills that apply compassion to management in a way that increases happiness along with efficiency.This is career advice of the profoundest kind, geared toward today’s twenty- and thirty-something workers and job-seekers whose employment outlook is radically different from that of a generation ago. As Lodro shows, even if the path of work shifts beneath your feet, it’s possible to make your livelihood a source of satisfaction and of deep meaning.

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Book SynopsisIn Tibet, vajra songs became popular when Milarepa gave teachings in that style to his disciples. His example influenced all Tibetan Buddhist schools, particularly the Kagyu lineages. People commonly memorized such songs and sang them with beautiful melodies. But vajra songs are much more than pleasant tunes or ordinary poetry. A vajra song reflects the enlightened mind of its author by encapsulating precisely profound meaning in just a few words. Thus, it can be difficult for the unenlightened to penetrate their meaning. Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen learned to sing vajra songs at his mother''s knee. Later in life, he learned of their profound meaning from masters of Tibetan Buddhism, which allowed him to finally experience their depth in solitary retreat. Rinpoche brings this tradition into a Western context by translating songs composed by iconic Buddhist figures and explaining them in contemporary terms. Rinpoche presents the outer and inner meaning of nine vajra songs by Milarepa (ca. 1052–1135) and Jigten Sumgön (1143–1217). He describes the Buddhist path of wisdom and compassion that leads to ultimate peace and happiness, and shows how to develop our mental qualities. In ancient times, these teachings were given to help others reach spiritual maturity. Here, we are invited into the world of transmission from master to disciple in order to discover truth for ourselves—to open the eye of wisdom that reveals the mind that cannot be seen.

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Book SynopsisAn amazingly succinct and accessible answer to the question “What is enlightenment?”—from one of America''s most prominent teachers of Insight Meditation Former Buddhist monk and highly regarded Insight Meditation teacher Rodney Smith describes the process of enlightenment in a way anyone can understand—demonstrating in clear language why we operate with the illusion of separation, how we can move out of it to the realization of emptiness and no-self, and how we can live from that state of awakening. He provides brief, powerful exercises that enable us to challenge the reality of our thoughts in order to free ourselves from the illusion they keep us bound to—all the while steering us away from the temptation to regard spiritual practice as a process of self-improvement or a goal to be obtained.   “With systematic precision, and with subtle wisdom born of a lifetime of practice, Rodney Smith uses science, psychology, and traditional Buddhism to explain the unexplainable: the how and why of authentic spiritual awakening . . . an original work by a contemporary spiritual master at the height of his powers.” —Norman Fischer, author of Training in Compassion

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Book SynopsisBuddhism-influenced essays, stories, and reviews by National Book Award winner Charles R. Johnson.      This wide and varied collection of essays, reviews, and short stories by the renowned author Charles Johnson offers incisive views on poltics, race, and Buddhism. Johnson notes that in his life the two activities that have anchored him and reinforce each other are creative production and spiritual practice. This book is a crystallization of what he has learned during his passage through American literature, the visual arts, and the Buddhadharma.     Essays include:   • "And if Peace Is Their Goal . . ." on the principles of enlightened politics    • "The King We Need" on the deep and sophisticated moral philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and why King''s teachings and example are important to all Americans    • "Why Buddhists Should Vote"--Johnson posits that voting can be seen as a way to reduce suffering    • "The Meaning of Barack Obama"--an appreciation of the man who became one of the most historic US presidents, even before his first 100 days were through    • "Why Buddhism for Black America Now?"--what Buddhism can offer the African-American community in the post-MLK era

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Book SynopsisA core text of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, presented in English for the first time, with commentary by Jamgön Mipham, one of the Nyingma tradition''s most lucid and brilliant minds.A concise commentary by the eighth-century Indian Buddhist master Padmasambhava on a chapter from the Guhyagarbha Tantra, which gives an overview of the different Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophical views, including the Great Perfection (Dzogchen), with an explicative commentary by the nineteenth-century scholar Jamgön Mipham (1846-1912). Padmasambhava''s text is a core text of the Nyingma tradition because it provides the basis for the system of nine vehicles (three sutra vehicles and six tantra vehicles) that subsequently became the accepted way of classifying the different Buddhist paths in the Nyingma tradition. Mipham''s commentary is the one most commonly used to explain Padmasambhava''s teaching. Mipham is well known for his prolific, lucid, and original writings on many subjects, including science, medicine, and philosophy, in addition to Tibetan Buddhist practice and theory.

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Book SynopsisAccessible and elegant teachings from a well-loved and revered woman Zen teacher.“The truth and joy of this life is that we cannot change things as they are.” The import of those words can be found beautifully expressed in the work of the woman who spoke them, Katherine Thanas (1927–2012)—in her art, in her writing, and especially in her Zen teaching. Fearlessly direct and endlessly curious, Katherine’s understanding of Zen was inseparable from her affinity for the arts. She was an MFA student studying painting with Richard Diebenkorn, the preeminent Californian abstract painter, when she met Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, in the sixties. Soon thereafter she decided to drop painting to dedicate herself to Zen, which she did for the last forty years of her life. In these essential teachings taken from her dharma talks—which make up her only book—her love of art and literature shine through in her elegant prose and her vast references, from poets William Stafford and Naomi Shihab Nye to the Zen teachings of Dogen and Robert Aitken. Ranging on subjects from the practice of zazen to the meaning of life, Katherine urges us to “develop an insatiable appetite for inner awareness, to become proficient with this mind.” This slim volume is an important contribution by a well-loved and revered teacher.

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Book SynopsisInspiration and encouragement for cultivating kindness?by embracing the joy, suffering, confusion, and brilliance of our everyday lives?from the author of When Things Fall Apart Do you want to be a more compassionate person, confident and unafraid to love yourself and the world around you unconditionally, but aren?t sure how? We often look far and wide for guidance to become better people, as though the answers weresomewhere out there. But Pema Chödrön suggests that the best and most direct teacher for awakening loving-kindness is in factyour very own life. Based on talks given during a one-month meditation retreat at Gampo Abbey, where Pema lives and teaches, her teachings here focus on learning how to see the events of our lives as the perfect material for learning to love ourselves and our world playfully and wholeheartedly?and to live in our skin fearlessly, without aggression, harshness, or shame. This is instruction for embarking on the greatest adventure of all, to come alive to your inherent human kindness. ?Perhaps what makes Pema''s message resonate so strongly with people, no matter what their religion or spiritual path, is its universality.? ?O, The Oprah Magazine

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Book SynopsisShare love with yourself, your people, and the world (alongside fun sloths) in this big-hearted bedtime meditation for children. As the day comes to a close, Goodnight Love helps children (ages 2–5) connect to the warmth of their hearts through the power of lovingkindness. We foster self-compassion by sending care to ourselves. We share kindness by wishing good things for our families and friends. And we cultivate unconditional love by radiating the wish for happiness and peace on Earth. Goodnight Love brings the heart-based practice of lovingkindness (metta) into the ritual of bedtime, with adorable sloth characters that kids will delight in practicing beside. The beautiful, richly colored art portrays a caregiver sloth guiding a young sloth through this relaxing evening meditation, helping children slip into slumber with a heart filled with kindness.

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Book SynopsisWhat did the Dalai Lama say to the pizza guy from Brooklyn? "Make me one with everything!" It’s a familiar joke, muses Lama Surya Das, but it holds a profound truth: that in addition to inner peace, meditation is a path for all-inclusive connection .With Make Me One with Everything, he invites us to experience this expansive dimension of the dharma through the art of intermeditation. "If you’ve ever felt `at one’ with something—your beloved or your child, a wooded trail, a favorite song—then you’ve experienced intermeditation," teaches Surya Das .Based on Tibetan Buddhism’s core insights into the deeply connected nature of who we are, intermeditation offers both new and experienced meditators a fresh new way to commune with every moment—on and off the cushion—in oneness with our partners, our family and friends, our enemies, those in need near or far, our higher Selves, and Nature itself.

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Book SynopsisA guided journal that provides writing techniques and exercises that are matched with Buddhist meditation instructions and teachings.This guided journal uniquely combines personal writing and meditation, two of the most beneficial self-help processes available. The two practices augment each other naturally, and many Buddhist teachers recommend a practice journal, but many people don''t know how to approach structuring a practice that draws from the benefits of both. In this book, Beth Jacobs--who has taught and written extensively on both Buddhist psychology and therapeutic writing--provides a variety of writing techniques and exercises that are matched with specific Buddhist meditation instructions and teachings. She describes meditation practices and Buddhist concepts along with writing exercises that bring the material to life. Writers will find exercises that deepen their experiences in general and writing in particular. Meditators will find Buddhist concepts clarified and techniques expanded. All readers will discover a laboratory of writing as experimentation, with structures that open ideas, break habits, and combine experience in novel ways.

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Book SynopsisDudjom Rinpoche was one of the seminal figures in Tibetan Buddhism in the twentieth century, yet very few of his religious writings have been translated into English. This volume contains a generous selection of his inspiring teachings and writings, the core of which is a lengthy discussion of the entire path of Dzogchen, including key instructions on view, meditation, and conduct, along with direct advice on how to bring one''s experiences onto the path. Also included in this book in their entirety are the oral instructions, tantric songs, and songs of realization from His Holiness''s Collected Works, along with a generous selection of the aspiration and supplication prayers.

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Book SynopsisIn Search of Wisdom is a book born of the friendship of three gifted teachers, exploring the universal human journey and our quest for meaning and understanding. This translation of the French bestseller brings readers an intimate, insightful, and wide-ranging conversation between Buddhist monk and author Matthieu Ricard, philosopher Alexandre Jollien, and psychiatrist Christophe André. Join these three luminaries as they share their views on how we uncover our deepest aspirations in life, the nature of the ego, living with the full range of human emotion, the art of listening, the temple of the body, the origin of suffering, the joy of altruism, true freedom, and much more. "We don't pretend to be experts on the subject matter or models in accomplishing the work or overcoming the obstacles involved in it," they write. "We are only travelers in search of wisdom, aware that the path is long and arduous, and that we have so much still to discover, to clarify, and to assimilate through practice . . . Our dearest wish is that when you cast your eyes on these pages, you will discover subjects for reflection to inspire you and brighten the light of your life."? In Search of Wisdom Highlights • Discovering our deepest aspirations • The ego: friend or impostor? • Learning to live with the full spectrum of our emotions • The art of listening • The body: burden or idol? • Suffering and its origins • The joy of altruism • The school of simplicity • Guilt and forgiveness • True freedom • Daily practice

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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