A collection of talks she gave between 1987 and 1994, the book is a treasury of wisdom for going on living when we are overcome by pain and difficulties. Chödrön discusses:    •  Using painful emotions to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and courage    •  Communicating so as to encourage others to open up rather than shut down    •  Practices for reversing habitual patterns    •  Methods for working with chaotic situations    •  Ways for creating effective social action

    The message for the retreat participants—and for the reader as well—is to be with oneself without embarrassment or harshness. This is instruction on how to love oneself and one's world. This Shambhala Pocket Classic is an abridged version of The Wisdom of No Escape.

    Weaving together traditional stories, personal experiences, and a deep understanding of the Buddha's way of mindful living, Thich Nhat Hanh's Teachings on Love provides step-by-step practices that foster understanding and intimacy in any relationship and extend our love even to those who cause us pain. This book, written in the author's trademark clear, encouraging style, contains essential guidance for couples, families, co-workers, or friends who wish to nourish the gift and strength of their relationships and deal creatively with weaknesses and difficulties. Teachings on Love provides a time-tested path that anyone can follow to nurture the deepest love in themselves and others. Nhat Hanh has written an illuminating new introductory chapter for this second edition.

    This fascinating book examines the life of Padmasambhava—the revered Indian teacher who brought Buddhism to Tibet—to illustrate the principle of crazy wisdom. From this profound point of view, spiritual practice does not provide comfortable answers to pain or confusion. On the contrary, painful emotions can be appreciated as a challenging opportunity for new discovery. In particular, the author discusses meditation as a practical way to uncover one's own innate wisdom.

    The Heart Sutra, one of the best known and most popular of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, contains the essence of Buddha's teachings on emptiness and the methods to develop the wisdom that understands this ultimate reality. In this explanation of the Sutra, Geshe Kelsang reveals its explicit and implicit meanings, and relates them to the five Mahayana paths that lead to full enlightenment. He also explains how an initial understanding of emptiness can be used in conjunction with the Sutra to overcome both internal and external obstacles to our happiness.

    

    In the White Lotus Sutra, bursting with symbols, imagery and myths, we meet the Buddha as a story-teller. Indeed, this sutra tells the greatest of all stories, that of human life and human potential. This great story takes the cosmos as its stage and all sentient beings as its players, yet within it lie many tales that address aspects of our lives or personalities. This delightfully illustrated commentary on one of the most influential, revered and well-loved Buddhist scriptures brings these stories vividly to life and shows how they relate to our own spiritual quest.

    Watts traces the Indian beginnings of Buddhism, delineates differences between Buddhism and other religions, looks at the radical methods of the Mahayan Buddhist, and reviews the Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path

    Despite his religious and artistic sophistication (he excelled in scriptural studies, in calligraphy, and in poetry), Ryokan referred to himself as "Great Fool, " refusing to place himself within any established religious institution. In contrast to Zen masters of his time who presided over large monasteries, trained students, or produced recondite treatises, Ryokan followed a life of mendicancy in the countryside. Instead of delivering sermons, he expressed himself through kanshi (poems composed in classical Chinese) and waka (poems in Japanese syllabary) and could typically be found playing with the village children in the course of his daily rounds of begging. Great Fool is the first study in a Western language to offer a comprehensive picture of the legendary poet-monk and his oeuvre. It includes not only an extensive collection of the master's kanshi, topically arranged to facilitate an appreciation of Ryokan's colorful world, but selections of his waka, essays, and letters. The volume also presents for the first time in English the Ryokan zenji kiwa (Curious Accounts of the Zen Master Ryokan), a firsthand source composed by a former student less than sixteen years after Ryokan's death. Consisting of anecdotes and episodes, sketches from Ryokan's everyday life, the Curious Accounts is invaluable for showing how Ryokan was understood and remembered by his contemporaries. To further assist the reader, three introductory essays approach Ryokan from the diverse perspectives of his personal history and literary work.

    

    Cultivating the Mind of Love-interweaves these themes with an examination of Buddhist texts.

    They flourished in Tibet, the Roof of the World, in its golden days. These teachers belong to the Longchen Nyingthig lineage of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, a cycle of mystical teachings revealed by the great scholar and adept Jigme Lingpa. From the first master, Garap Dorje, to the present, each spiritual personality has his or her own distinctive role to play in this great lineage. In retelling their stories in his own words, the author has sought to bring out their inner feelings as well as their external activities: how they faced and healed physical pain, how they dealt with emotional turmoil, how they overcame spiritual or meditative illusions, and most important, what experiences they had when they awakened their own inner Buddha Mind and Buddha qualities. These biographies not only provide great sources of teachings on meditation, but will also kindle a spiritual flame in the hearts of readers.

    Includes teachings on the Four Frames of Reference, the Four Right Exertions, the Four Bases of Power, the Five Faculties, the Five Strengths, the Seven Factors for Awakening, and the Noble Eightfold Path.

    Presents Buddhist teachings on a wide range of social and moral issues in the modern world.

    He includes excerpts from the exemplary lives of teachers (such as Longchen Rabjam) to illustrate the ways of training in Dzogchen.

    The essence of Garab Dorje's message is "The Three Statements that Strike the Essential Points." Patrul Rinpoche wrote a brilliant commentary, together with practices entitled "The Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King"—here translated with notes, commentaries, and a glossary of terms.

    Combining the traditional and the contemporary, Stone Boy and Other Stories contains ten works of short fiction that illuminate Buddhist themes and Vietnamese culture.

    Peaceful and infinitely adaptable, these teachings are as useful for today's busy world as they have been for centuries. Written by the tutor to the seventeenth Karmapa, Essentials of Mahamudra is a commentary on Tashi Namgyal's famous Moonlight of Mahamudra - a text that the sixteenth Karmapa had identified as the most valuable for Westerners. Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche recognized that Western meditators don't just need to know how to maintain our meditation practice - we need to know why we should do it. Unmatched in its directness, Essentials of Mahamudra addresses both these needs, rendering one of the most advanced forms of meditation more easily adaptable to our everyday lives.

    Trungpa Rinpoche shows that dharma art provides a vehicle to appreciate the nature of things as they are and express it without any struggle or desire to achieve.

    A concise introduction to the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Dzogchen, this text presents the quintessence of this path to spiritual attainment and contains instruction in awareness and meditation.

    Anyone who has read more than a few books on Tibetan Buddhism will have encountered references to the Six Yogas of Naropa, a preeminent yogic technology system. The six practices—inner heat, illusory body, clear light, consciousness transference, forceful projection, and bardo yoga—gradually came to pervade thousands of monasteries, nunneries, and hermitages throughout Central Asia over the past five and a half centuries.

    During the final 14 years of his life he journeyed throughout Tibet, Bhutan, India, and Nepal, returning to places of his youth and previous phases of his life; at every

    This translation of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta has Roman-script Pāli with an English translation on facing pages as well as an introductory article and detailed footnotes explaining Pali terms and phrases. This highly significant text will be of interest to any serious student of meditation or of the Buddha's teaching.

    It offers readers a tour through more than a millennium of writing, presenting one masterpiece after another in chronological progression. "You can dip into the waters of this stream, again and again, at any point Finding refreshment and perspective, " notes Robert Aitken in his introduction. "A year From now you can dip in again and find treasures that were not at all evident the First time." From lectures to letters, brief poems to extended disquisitions, this collection is an ideal point of entry For newcomers to the Zen tradition, and an essential sourcebook For those who are already " on the way.""Now the masterpieces of Zen Buddhist writing are availa6le in a single volume," applauds Library Journal. "[This] will be the standard introduction to Zen Buddhism For years to come."

    But when we mentally grasp and emotionally cling to our wants and worries with all our energy, we lose our own enlightened freedom and healing power, only to gain stress and exhaustion, suffering and overexcitement, like the turbulent waves rolling on the surface of the ocean. Our minds possess the power to heal pain and stress, and to blossom into peace and joy, by loosening the clinging attitudes that Buddhists call "grasping at self." If we apply the mind's healing power, we can heal not only our mental and emotional afflictions, but physical problems also. This book is an invitation to awaken the healing power of mind through inspiring images and sounds, mindful movements, positive perceptions, soothing feelings, trusting confidence, and the realization of openness. The healing principle on which these exercises are based is the universal nature and omnipresent power envisioned in Mahayana Buddhism. Yet for healing, we don't have to be believers in any particular faith. We can heal body and mind simply by being what we truly are, and by allowing our own natural healing qualities to manifest: a peaceful and open mind, a loving and positive attitude, and warm, joyful energy in a state of balance and harmony.

    During the golden age of ancient Indian civilization, Dharmakirti articulated and defended Buddhist philosophical principles. He did so more systematically than anyone before his time (the seventh century CE) and was followed by a rich tradition of profound thinkers in India and Tibet. This work presents a detailed picture of this Buddhist tradition and its relevance to the history of human ideas. Its perspective is mostly philosophical, but it also uses historical considerations as they relate to the evolution of ideas.

    A history of the Kagyupa and Shangpa Lineages and some explanation of the principles of Tibetan medicine complete this survey of Tibetan Buddhism.

    In this book, she draws on down-to-earth Zen stories, her friendships with Japanese Zen teachers, and her experiences as a concert pianist to apply the inner meanings of Buddhism to practicing the basic ethics of daily living—nowness, unselfishness, compassion, and good will toward every living being. She emphasizes that inner growth comes through our own efforts and intuition, especially as we cultivate them through meditation practice. We can then take what we have learned in meditation and use it to respond to our daily lives in a straightforward and creative way, guided not by concepts or dogma, but by direct insight into the reality of the present moment.

    Its advice is timeless and its relevance is universal. This commentary by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, as expounded during Kalachakra teachings at Bodh Gaya, is characterised by its clarity, practicality and profundity. Each stanza of the root text is elucidated precisely and in accessible language. In addition, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives introductory talks at the start of each day of teaching in which he touches on every aspect of our daily lives. Studying this text leads us to feel that His Holiness is speaking directly to each one of us, and it is universal in its application.

    So too does Buddhism. This books is a translation of an indispensable exposition of the three sets of vows that are central to Tibetan Buddhist codes of discipline--the pratimoksa vows of individual liberation; the vows of the bodhisattva, who selflessly strives for the liberation of all beings; the vows of the esoteric path of tantra.Here, the late Dudjom Rinpoche provides his authoritative commentary on the role of ethics and morality in Buddhist practice, outlining in detail the meaning and scope of the vows, and giving practical advice on maintaining the vows as supportive tools in the journey toward enlightenment.

    A clear explanation of the Buddha's fundamental teaching on meditation, helpful to meditators from all traditions.

    This book answers pressing questions and provides vital instruction and inspiration for both beginner or long-time Zen practitioners and those using meditation as part of their spiritual path.

    Lovingkindness Meditation is her guide to this traditional six-step meditation, designed to access the human heart's own limitless source of supreme energy -- the energy of love. A perfect introduction to this healing, enriching, and life-changing practice, originally taught by the Buddha himself."In clear and simple words, 'Loving-kindness Meditation' conveys a lifetime of study, practice, and inspiration". -- Joseph Goldstein author of The Experience of Insight

    His energy-packed words of shocking openness are filled with such spiritual power that they can strike us like a flash of lightning, shattering the logic of our conceptual thinking. On every page of this book Master Kopp shows us the true being and in it we recognize our ever-present buddha-nature.

    Challenging the popular stereotype that represented the accumulation of merit as the domain of the layperson while monks concerned themselves with more sophisticated realms of doctrine and meditation, Professor Schopen problematizes many assumptions about the lay-monastic distinction by demonstrating that monks and nuns, both the scholastic elites and the less learned, participated actively in a wide range of ritual practices and institutions that have heretofore been judged 'popular,' from the accumulation and transfer of merit; to the care of deceased relatives;.... Taken together, the studies contained in this volume represent the basis for a new historiography of Buddhism, not only for their critique of many of the idees recues of Buddhist Studies but for the compelling connections they draw between apparently disparate details." --Donald S. Lopez, Jr.

    The Genjokoan addresses in terse and poetic language many of the perennial concerns of Zen, focusing particularly on the relationship between practice and realization.

     Two themes predominate; firstly, it argues that we cannot understand the Buddha unless we understand that he was debating with other religious teachers, notably Brahmins. For example, he denied the existence of a "soul"; but what exactly was he denying? Another chapter suggests that the canonical story of the Buddha's encounter with a brigand who wore a garland of his victims' fingers probably reflects an encounter with a form of ecstatic religion. The other main theme concerns metaphor, allegory and literalism. By taking the words of the texts literally-despite the Buddha's warning not to-successive generations of his disciples created distinctions and developed doctrines far beyond his original intention. .One chapter shows how this led to a scholastic categorisation of meditation. Failure to understand a basic metaphor also gave rise to the later argument between the Mahayana and the older tradition. Perhaps most important of all, a combination of literalism with ignorance of the Buddha's allusions to Brahmanism led Buddhists to forget that the Buddha had preached that love, like Christian charity, could itself be directly salvific.

    Through simple exercises and meditations, readers can learn how to open themselves up to their emotions, good and bad.

    Peacock in the Poison Grove presents powerful yogic methods of dispelling the selfish delusions of the ego and maintaining purity in our motives. Geshe Sopa's lucid explanations teach how we can fight the egocentric enemy within by realizing the truth of emptiness and by developing a compassionate, loving attitude toward others.

    The brief text he has written for his disciples is presented here as Opening the Door to Certainty. Short and compact, Opening the Door to Certainty is a condensed version of the Ninth Karmapa's work, titled The Ocean of Certainty. The Karmapas are as well known in Tibet as the Dalai Lamas. They have headed the Tibetan Buddhist Karma Kagyu lineage of reincarnate masters since the 12th century and are the direct successors of Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, and Milarepa. The Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje (1556-1603) wrote several works on meditation. His most comprehensive and renowned text is The Ocean of Certainty (Ngedon Gyamtso). This voluminous book, not yet translated into any Western language, is a major classic of the Kagyupa School. It is generally used by the lamas to teach meditation. The term certainty (or absolute truth, absolute meaning, definitive meaning, true meaning) used in the title of the texts mentioned above designates the direct understanding, through experience, of the absolute nature of the mind beyond the psyche and its fluctuations, beyond concepts and emotions, beyond birth and death, and beyond space and time. The term is also used in a parallel way with the pedagogic meaning (or pedagogic truth) referring to the methods used in the psychological or conceptual domains to aid in the understanding of certainty. Certainty is thus linked with absolute truth and wisdom, whereas the pedagogic meaning is associated with relative truth and skillful means. Certainty is furthermore an equivalent term for Mahamudra, a Sanskrit word signifying great seal or great symbol. Bokar Rinpoche introduces Mahamudra in the following way: The subject of our study is Mahamudra. Mahamudra is also the mind. We call the mind that which knows, feels, and produces suffering, happiness, thoughts, sensations, feelings, and so on. We will study this mind and work upon it. Do not think of Mahamudra as another reality, like something on a higher plane than ourselves. Mahamudra is not in the sky while we are on earth. Mahamudra is not elsewhere. We are never separated from Mahamudra, although we do not recognize it. The purpose of Mahamudra is not to bring us something new but to introduce us to that which we already have. Mahamudra meditation allows us to internally grow accustomed to what we have discovered within ourselves through practice following the instructions we have received; it enables us to continuously remain within this awareness. The Tibetan word Chagya Chenpo, meaning Mahamudra, is defined as the nature of the mind, clear light, and emptiness comprising all phenomena of samsara and nirvana. Bokar Rinpoche's text is so concise that its reading by a novice risks leaving the reader with a feeling of great confusion. In fact, Opening the Door to Certainty is not intended to develop and clarify the meditation and approach to Mahamudra, rather it serves as a reminder for those who are already engaged on the path. Written in verses, the text is easy to memorize and recite ritually. Bokar Rinpoche composed this work at the request of students. It is intended to help students easily recall the various aspects of the path, showing them the exact place of each point, and inviting them to progress and deepen their understanding.

    It seems that to feel fully and vibrantly alive, these experiences are essential to us—helping us to feel in touch with all levels of our being by engaging our emotions, senses and imagination. Devotional ritual also speaks this language of the heart and can bring us closer to our highest ideals, but it can be a confronting aspect of Buddhism for some people in the West. However, for the Buddha’s teachings to have a real impact on our lives we need to have a deep feeling for the Buddha’s teaching, a clear understanding is not usually enough. Skilfully steering us through the difficulties we may encounter, Sangharakshita leads us through the sevenfold puja, a poetic sequence of devotional moods found in Tibetan and Indian forms of Buddhism. Within this he discusses the use of chanting, offerings, recitation and other activities in creating ritual space and moods. Engaging in this way can help us commit ourselves to the spiritual journey with all our heart."A useful addition to the canon of Buddhism in the West."—Publishers Weekly

    It challenges received wisdom about Chinese popular religion, which, until now, presented all Chinese deities as mere functionaries and bureaucrats. The essays in this volume eloquently document the existence of other metaphors that allowed Chinese gods to challenge the traditional power structures and traditional mores of Chinese society. The authors draw on a variety of disciplines and methodologies to throw light on various aspects of the Chinese supernatural. The gallery of gods and goddesses surveyed demonstrates that these deities did not reflect China's socio-political order but rather expressed and negotiated tensions within it. In addition to reflecting the existing order, Chinese gods shaped it, transformed it, and compensated for it, and, as such, their work offers fresh perspectives on the relations between divinity and society in China.