Best of
Buddhism

2002

Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen


Shunryu Suzuki - 2002
    Suzuki knew he was dying at the time of the lectures, which gives his thoughts an urgency and focus even sharper than in the earlier book.In Not Always So Suzuki once again voices Zen in everyday language with the vigour, sensitivity, and buoyancy of a true friend. Here is support and nourishment. Here is a mother and father lending a hand, but letting you find your own way. Here is guidance which empowers your freedom (or way–seeking mind), rather than pinning you down to directions and techniques. Here is teaching which encourages you to touch and know your true heart and to express yourself fully, teaching which is not teaching from outside, but a voice arising in your own being.

Reflections On A Mountain Lake: Teachings On Practical Buddhism


Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo - 2002
    Personable, witty, and insightful, Tenzin Palmo presents an inspiring and no-nonsense view of Buddhist practice.

Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion


Pema Chödrön - 2002
    Gleaned from Pema Chdrn's best-selling books, these passages explore topics of loving-kindness, mindfulness, "nowness," letting go, and working with painful emotions. They also offer meditation instructions for heightening awareness and overcoming habitual patterns that block happiness. By the end of the cycle of teachings, the listener will have completed the basic training for becoming a "warrior-bodhisattva," one who courageously takes up the path of awakening compassion.

The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace


Jack Kornfield - 2002
    To remember that no matter where you are and what you face, within your heart peace is possible.In this beautiful and graceful little book, internationally renowned Buddhist teacher and meditation master Jack Kornfield has collected age-old teachings, modern stories, and time-honored practices for bringing healing, peace, and compassion into our daily lives. Just to read these pages offers calm and comfort. The practices contained here offer meditations for you to discover a new way to meet life’s greatest challenges with acceptance, joy, and hope.

The Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama's Heart of Wisdom Teachings


Dalai Lama XIV - 2002
    This concise text, so rich and laden with meaning, concentrates the very heart of Buddhism into a powerful and evocative teaching on the interdependence of all reality. In Essence of the Heart Sutra, the Dalai Lama masterfully unpacks the Heart Sutra so that any reader can benefit from its teachings - teachings meant to help us release ourselves from suffering and live with true compassion. Comprised of his "Heart of Wisdom" talks, originally delivered to thousands of listeners in 2001, the book offers the Dalai Lama's commentary as well as his easy-to-follow overview of Buddhist philosophy that places the sutra within its historical and philosophical context. With additional contributions by scholar and translator Thupten Jinpa, Essence of the Heart Sutra is the authoritative presentation of a text seminal to the world's religious heritage.

Healing with Form, Energy, and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra, and Dzogchen


Tenzin Wangyal - 2002
    In the Tibetan tantric view the elements are recognized as five kinds of energy in the body and are balanced with a program of yogic movements, breathing exercises, and visualizations. In these Dzogchen teachings the elements are understood to be the radiance of being and are accessed through pure awareness. Healing with Form, Energy, and Light offers the reader healing meditations and yogic practices on each of these levels. Tenzin Rinpoche's purpose is to strengthen our connection to the sacred aspect of the natural world and to present a guide that explains why certain practices are necessary and in what situations practices are effective or a hindrance. This is a manual for replacing an anxious, narrow, uncomfortable identity with one that is expansive, peaceful, and capable. And the world too is transformed from dead matter and blind processes into a sacred landscape filled with an infinite variety of living forces and beings.

Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity


Soko Morinaga - 2002
    In his singularly humorous and biitingly direct way, Zen abbot Soko Morinaga tells the story of his rigorous training at a Japanese Zen temple, his spiritual growth and his interactions with his students and others. Morinaga's voice is uniquely tuned to the truth of the condition of the human mind and spirit and his reflections and interpretations are unvarnished and succinct. His great gift is the ability to lift the spirit of the reader all the while exposing the humility and weakness in the lives of people, none more so than his own. Read on to see what everyone from Publishers Weekly to well-known Buddhist figures and even New York Times bestselling author Anthony Swofford have to say about this one of a kind book!

Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment


Dalai Lama XIV - 2002
    One of Atisha's main accomplishments in Tibet was his writing of the seminal text, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, in which he extracted the essence of all 84,000 teachings of the Buddha and organized them into a clear, step-like arrangement that makes it easy for any individual practitioner to understand and practice the Dharma. This genre of teachings is known as lam-rim, or steps of the path, and forms an essential part of every school of Tibetan Buddhism.In this book, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gives a commentary to not only Atisha's revolutionary work but also to Lines of Experience, a short text written by Lama Tsong Khapa, who was perhaps the greatest of all Tibetan lam-rim authors. In bringing together Atisha, Lama Tsong Khapa and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this book offers readers one of the clearest and most authoritative expositions of the Tibetan Buddhist path ever published, and it is recommended for those at the beginning of the path, the middle and the end.

The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Volume 2)


Tsongkhapa - 2002
    The author Tsong-kha-pa (1357–1419) completed this masterpiece in 1402 and it soon became one of the most renowned works of spiritual practice and philosophy in the world of Tibetan Buddhism. Tsong-kha-pa took great pains to base his incisive insights on the classical Indian Buddhist literature, illustrating his points with classical citations as well as with sayings of the masters of the earlier Kadampa tradition. In this way, the text demonstrates clearly how Tibetan Buddhism carefully preserved and developed the Indian Buddhist traditions. Volume One covers all practices that are prerequisite for developing the spirit of enlightenment (bodhicitta). Volume Two explains how to train in the six perfections in order to develop the heart of compassion indispensable for any student who wants to put the Dharma into practice. Volume Three contains a presentation of the two most important topics to be found in the Great Treatise: meditative serenity (shamatha) and supramundane insight into the nature of reality (vipasyana).

The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (Volume 3)


Tsongkhapa - 2002
    The author Tsong-kha-pa (1357–1419) completed this masterpiece in 1402 and it soon became one of the most renowned works of spiritual practice and philosophy in the world of Tibetan Buddhism. Tsong-kha-pa took great pains to base his incisive insights on the classical Indian Buddhist literature, illustrating his points with classical citations as well as with sayings of the masters of the earlier Kadampa tradition. In this way, the text demonstrates clearly how Tibetan Buddhism carefully preserved and developed the Indian Buddhist traditions. Volume One covers all practices that are prerequisite for developing the spirit of enlightenment (bodhicitta). Volume Two explains how to train in the six perfections in order to develop the heart of compassion indispensable for any student who wants to put the Dharma into practice. Volume Three contains a presentation of the two most important topics to be found in the Great Treatise: meditative serenity (shamatha) and supramundane insight into the nature of reality (vipasyana).

Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness


Sylvia Boorstein - 2002
    Now Sylvia Boorstein, nationally bestselling author of It’s Easier Than You Think, has taken the 2500-year-old practice of developing the qualities of a compassionate heart—the core of the Buddha’s own practice—and made it accessible to all. Pay Attention for Goodness’ Sake is the first book ever to guide Western readers on the path of the Buddha’s Ten Paramitas, the Perfections of the Heart. Boorstein combines traditional Buddhist teachings and parables with stories from her own life, as well as easy-to-follow meditations, to show how the practice of Mindfulness—paying attention in everyday life—can lead to these perfections that all of us strive for, including Generosity, Morality, Wisdom, Energy, Patience, Determination, and Equanimity.When we take on this practice, Boorstein notes, “our vision becomes transformed. We see, with increasing clarity, the confusion in our own minds and the suffering in our own hearts. . . . And we also see the extraordinariness of life, how amazing it is that life exists.” Boorstein’s lively and practical lessons about everyday generosity, morality, making and mending mistakes, the bliss of blamelessness, and other human concerns and frailties, help to clarify our distractions and connect us with our own goodness, “the part of ourselves that wishes it had done differently.” For Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike, Pay Attention for Goodness’ Sake is a cheerful, inspiring book that offers the possibility of a transformed life.

One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism


Joseph Goldstein - 2002
    One of America's most respected Buddhist teachers distills a lifetime of practice and teaching in this groundbreaking exploration of the new Buddhist tradition taking root on American soil.

Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics


Allan Hunt Badiner - 2002
    Zig Zag Zen launches the first serious inquiry into the moral, ethical, doctrinal, and transcendental considerations created by the intersection of Buddhism and psychedelics. With a foreword by renowned Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor and a preface by historian of religion Huston Smith, along with numerous essays and interviews, Zig Zag Zen is a provocative and thoughtful exploration of altered states of consciousness and the potential for transformation. Accompanying each essay is a work of visionary art selected by artist Alex Grey, such as a vividly graphic work by Robert Venosa, a contemporary thangka painting by Robert Beer, and an exercise in emptiness in the form of an enso by a 17th-century Zen abbot. Packed with enlightening entries and art that lie outside the scope of mainstream anthologies, Zig Zag Zen offers eye-opening insights into alternate methods of inner exploration.

One by One: The World is Yours to Change


Daisaku Ikeda - 2002
    This Japanese Buddhist leader and peacebuilder challenges readers to examine stereotypes, overcome prejudices and keep open minds to the possibility of a world without violence or war. In intimate essays, the author introduces his personal friends to the reader--friends who have demonstrated that sincerity and perseverance can achieve dreams of peace. These friends range from household names such as Gandhi to obscure Japanese scholars and priests from El Salvador. He challenges young people to dare to believe that, like these individuals, they can live their ideals. The DVD, ""Another Way of Seeing Things,"" is a film about our common humanity. With historical footage and recreated images, it demonstrates that the exotic, mysterious, threatening "other" whom we regard from afar is simply a human being.

Lady of the Lotus-Born: The Life and Enlightenment of Yeshe Tsogyal


Gyalwa Changchub - 2002
    This classical text is not only a biography but also an inspiring example of how the Buddha's teaching can be put into practice. Lady of the Lotus-Born interweaves profound Buddhist teachings with a colorful narrative that includes episodes of adventure, court intrigue, and personal searching. The book will appeal to students of Tibetan Buddhism and readers interested in the role of women in Buddhism and world religions.

The Buddha and His Teachings


Sherab Chödzin Kohn - 2002
    This anthology draws on traditional Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan sources as well as teachings by contemporary Buddhist masters. Among the contributors, both classical and modern, are: Ajahn Chah, Pema Chödrön, The Second Dalai Lama, Dogen, S.N. Goenka, Dainin Katagiri, Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi, Milerepa, Padmasambhava, Reginald Ray, Shunryu Suzuki, Nyanaponika Thera, Thich Nhat Hanh, Chögyam Trungpa, and Burton Watson.

The Path Of Serenity And Insight: An Explanation Of Buddhist Jhanas


Henepola Gunaratana - 2002
    Ven. Dr. Gunaratana examines these Jhanas within the context of Buddhist teaching as a whole and particularly within the meditation disciplines taught by the Buddha.

Riding the Ox Home: Stages on the Path of Enlightenment


John Daido Loori - 2002
    The ten Ox-Herding Pictures, the accompanying ancient poems, and a modern commentary by John Daido Loori, sketch the spiritual path encountered in Zen training, a path of exhaustive study of the self and the realization of the ultimate nature of reality. The Ox-Herding Pictures can be our companion on the Way of self-discovery, our compass and perspective when we need one. They are a bottomless source of mysterious wisdom to which we can return again and again for inspiration, and they translate easily into the gritty reality of spiritual practice that emerges from and grounds us in the inescapable relevance of our daily lives.The exquisite versions of the pictures found in the book are traditional Chinese nanga brush paintings by Gyokusei Jikihara Sensei, a modern Japanese master of calligraphy and a teacher in the Obaku School of Zen. The traditional verses accompanying them have been translated by John Daido Loori and Kazuaki Tanahashi, translator and editor of Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen.

A guide to the Boddhisattva's way of life of Shantideva: A commentary (Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica series)


Khenchen Thrangu - 2002
    

The Buddhist Path to Simplicity: Spiritual Practice in Everyday Life


Christina Feldman - 2002
    Yet this sense of meaning and wonder is so easy to lose sight of in the hectic pace of modern living. In The Buddhist Path to Simplicity, Christina Feldman, a Buddhist teacher, shows you how to find harmony and balance by applying ancient Buddhist wisdom to the here and now. The path of conscious simplicity, she suggests, allows us to fully recover ourselves, by rediscovering our sense of meaning and wonder. As a mother, a layperson and an internationally recognized teacher, Feldman knows the stresses and strains of modern life. She addresses subjects of compassion, speech, effort, intention, mindfulness and awakening. The path to peace, she suggests, is not necessarily complex or arduous. If we simply turn our attention to this moment, it will speak to us of wonder, mystery, harmony and peace. She demonstrates that there is no better moment in which to awaken and discover everything our heart longs for than this very moment.

The New Human Revolution, Vol. 8


Daisaku Ikeda - 2002
    

The Art of Just Sitting: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza


John Daido Loori - 2002
    This peerless volume brings together a wealth of writings, from the Buddha himself to Bodhidharma and Dogen and many of modern Zen Buddhism's most influential masters, all pointing directly to the heart of this powerful practice. Edited by one of America's pre-eminent Zen teachers, this book is a rich resource for wisdom seekers and scholars alike.

Words of Wisdom from the Dalai Lama: Quotes by His Holiness


Dalai Lama XIV - 2002
    Born into a peasant family, the Dalai Lama was two years old when he was recognized as the reincarnation of his predecessor. WORDS OF WISDOM captures some of the Dalai Lama's most sage and sensible thoughts on topics that range from global peace to the meaning of life and compassion. Here the Tibetan spiritual leader's words resonate with everyone from world leaders to the common man.Quotes from the Dalai Lama:"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.""A learned person will become noble only when he or she has put into practice what has been learned, instead of just mere words."

Penetrating Wisdom


Dzogchen Ponlop - 2002
    Basing himself on The Aspiration of Samantabhadra, a proclamation in the Buddhist tantras of the Buddha Samantabhadra, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche illuminates the philosophy and meditation practices of Dzogchen, the highest and most profound teaching of all of Tibetan Buddhism. With precision that does not intimidate the uninitiated, Rinpoche explains the basic nature of our very own mind—complete enlightenment—and how we may go about making this nature of mind manifest through making profound aspirations and through relying on the skillful methods of the Vajrayana, Tibetan Buddhism's "indestructible" path of insight. While the author is a traditionally trained master in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, he has won great appreciation in the West for his humor, familiarity with Western culture, and his unique talent for using examples that are drawn directly from Western metropolitan lifestyles. The readers are served with the most profound ancient wisdom of the highest order at the same time that they are entertained and intrigued by the humor and colloquial street smarts of a master who, in every sentence, brings together the best of East and West. Since these teachings were originally given in English, the book gives an intimate connection to the feeling the author evokes in person.

No Death, No Fear


Thich Nhat Hanh - 2002
    Through Zen parables, guided meditations, and personal stories, he explodes traditional myths of how we live and die. Thich Nhat Hanh shows us a way to live a life unfettered by fear.

Being Zen: Bringing Meditation to Life


Ezra Bayda - 2002
    What we need is the willingness to just be with our experiences whether they are painful or pleasing opening ourselves to the reality of our lives without trying to fix or change anything. But doing this requires that we confront our most deeply rooted fears and assumptions in order to gradually become free of the constrictions and suffering they create. Then we can awaken to the loving-kindness that is at the heart of our being. While many books aspire to bring meditation into everyday experience, "Being Zen "gives us practical ways to actually do it, introducing techniques that enable the reader to foster qualities essential to continued spiritual awakening. Topics include how to cultivate: "Perseverance" staying with anger, fear, and other distressing emotions. "Stillness" abiding with chaotic experiences without becoming overwhelmed. "Clarity" seeing through the conditioned beliefs and fears that "run" us. "Direct" "experience" encountering the physical reality of the present moment even when that moment is exactly where we don't want to be. Like Pema Chodron, the best-selling author of "When Things Fall Apart, "Ezra Bayda writes with clear, heartfelt simplicity, using his own life stories to illustrate the teachings in an immediate and accessible way that will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers."

A Deeper Beauty: Buddhist Reflections on Everyday Life


Paramananda - 2002
    Using simple exercises, reflections and meditations, we can awaken to the magic of being fully present in each moment.

The Heart of Dogen's Shobogenzo


Dōgen - 2002
    This book is centered around those essays that generations have regarded as containing the essence of Dogen's teaching. These translations, revised from those that first appeared in the 1970s, clarify and enrich the understanding of Dogen's religious thought and his basic ideas about Zen practice and doctrine. Dogen's uncommon intellectual gifts, combined with a profound religious attainment and an extraordinary ability to articulate it, make Sho�bo�genzo� unique even in the vast literature the Zen school has produced over the centuries, securing it a special place in the history of world religious literature.

Thich Nhat Hanh: The Joy of Full Consciousness


Rachel Cartier - 2002
    This account of their experience shows what daily life is like in this celebrated community and provides a glimpse of the personality and teachings of the revered teacher. Thich Nhat Hanh has brought an awareness of Buddhism and his own brand of Vietnamese Zen to Europe, England, and the United States. Famous in the U.S. for his lectures and books, he is particularly admired for his early political activism on the part of the Vietnamese and his Buddhist teachings on forgiveness.

Meditation, Transformation, And Dream Yoga


Gyatrul Rinpoche - 2002
    Guidelines for formal sitting are presented here from the Dzogchen perspective in the teachings on quiescence meditation. Practices for bringing the experiences of daily life into the spiritual path are presented in the section on transformation. Finally, the teachings on dream yoga guide the practitioner in the conscious control of the dream state as well as the bardo state at the end of life. Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche's dynamic and practical commentaries on each section are specially tailored to the needs of Western students. The result is an indispensable handbook for practitioners at all levels of experience. When the Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche arrived in the West many decades ago, he was already a receptacle for an abundance of transmissions received from many of the foremost and authentic masters of our times. Since then, his noble disposition and advanced level of meditation practice has assisted innumerable people, and he has established many Dharma centers.

My Master's Robe: Memories of a Novice Monk


Thich Nhat Hanh - 2002
    The simplicity and clarity of monastic life provides the background against which characters are lovingly presented: the elderly cook, the Master who sews by lamplight, the lizard who dares to eat rice offered for the Buddha, the young French soldier seeking understanding, and others.

The Third Karmapa's Mahamudra Prayer


Khentin Tai Situpa Rinpoche XII - 2002
    It is a classic that, especially in the tradition of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, has been and is widely used whenever a disciple is given a first introduction into Mahamudra. The Third Karmapa shows how to recognize our ultimate potential as a buddha. The short root text is further explained by Khentin Tai Situpa Pema Donyo Nyingje Wangpo, the twelfth incarnation of the Tai Situpa lineage, which is one of the most important lineages of the Kagyu tradition. His deep understanding of Western culture, especially of the Western psychological perspective, allows him to expound the Dharma with a clarity and directness that is truly inspiring.

Roaring Silence: Discovering the Mind of Dzogchen


Ngakpa Chögyam - 2002
    In Roaring Silence, Vajrayana teachers Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen walk the reader through the meditation techniques that "enable us to side-step the bureaucracy of intellectual processes and experience ourselves directly"—to discover this direct experience of enlightenment that is the mind of Dzogchen. Surprisingly, the approach is very pragmatic. Offering an investigation of the necessary steps, the authors begin with how to prepare for the journey: the lama is essential; as are a sense of humor, inspiration, and determination. They continue by describing the path of Dzogchen from sitting meditation to the direct perception of reality. The chapters include exercises for sharpening the presence of our awareness, for simple visualizations, and for investigating how to "remain uninvolved" with mental activity for a period—with follow-up guidance on how to view our experiences. Both practical and inspirational, the authors' exquisitely precise guidance is all presented with the caveat, "be kind to yourself, don't push yourself beyond your limits."

A Bolt of Lightning from the Blue


Martin J. Boord - 2002
    It was created by the three Acarya in Nepal more than twelve-hundred years ago, during a concentrated religious retreat, and was transmitted to Yeshe Tsogyal. This remarkable encyclopaedic text marks the beginning of the tantric Buddhist practice of the wrathful deity Vajrakila. It is the most important commentary to the rites of Kila.Including in this publication are many wonderful treasures, texts from India as well as Tibet, starting with a number of citations from the Sanskrit origins, which give us an idea about the development of the Kila lore in the area south of the Himalayas. The book is dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan texts and it shows us how the transmission lineage of the "Northern" school was followed and maintained.The book consists of translations, with footnotes, of many original texts, including two short Vajrakila tantras; one of them represents Padmasambhava’s own practice. There is an introduction by the translator and a bibliography and index.We believe that this book will become not only a standard work on the subject of Vajrakila, but also a great inspiration for practitioners from other traditions.This English edition has 412 pages in 24 cm x 17 cm format, printed on durable, chlorine- and wood-free paper, with a sewn binding.

Taming the Mind and Walking the Bodhisattva Path


Sakyong Mipham - 2002
    A Sourcebook based on the seminar given by Karme Choling November 1999

Rechungpa: A Biography of Milarepa's Disciple


Khenchen Thrangu - 2002
    His pride and arrogance caused him to go against Milarepa's advice three times, putting his practice at risk. Even with this obstacle, Rechungpa's undying devotion to Milarepa served as the cause for his enlightenment as evidenced by Rechungpa's achievement of rainbow body at his death."At this time, as the precious teachings of the incomparable Buddha spread throughout the world, the numbers of the faithful grow daily. These various people want to know of the great learned and accomplished holy beings who arose impartially in the past -- the chronicles of their legacy of good activity for the doctrine, their deeds, their songs, and so forth."With these needs and aspirations in mind, Namo Buddha Publications and Kamtsang Shrab Choling have collaborated to translate and publish this essential summary of the activities of Jetsun Rechung Dorje Drakpa. I rejoice in their efforts in this virtuous activity for which they have the highest altruistic intentions."His Holiness,The 17th Gyalwa KarmapaOgyen Trinley Dorje

The Beginner's Guide to Walking the Buddha's Eightfold Path


Jean Smith - 2002
    The eight steps on the path are: right understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. Smith explains exactly what the Buddha had in mind, using translations of his own words and then elucidating them for us. Throughout the book are wonderful quotes from a broad range of Buddhist teachers, giving a taste of the very best each of them has to offer. The Beginner’s Guide to Walking the Buddha’s Eightfold Path is a prescription for happiness, not just for overcoming suffering, which is how many people think of Buddhism. Here is a book for Buddhists of every tradition.

Thicker Than Blood: Friendship on the Buddhist Path


Maitreyabandhu - 2002
    This is a book about friendship - about the Buddhist ideals of spiritual friendship and the author's personal experience. By turns moving, funny, and inspirational, Maitreyabandhu's account is as compelling as a good novel.

The Heart of Compassion: A Practical Approach to a Meaningful Life


Dalai Lama XIV - 2002
    Of special note is his clear integration of the teachings of Jesus into his overall world view, showing how all teachings can find their harmony in the ultimate spiritual oneness and truth that underlies them all.

Life of Tilopa and the Ganges Mahamudra


Khenchen Thrangu - 2002
    Thrangu Rinpoche's account of the life of Tillopāda, 988-1069, the master of Mar-pa, and the Ganges Mahamudra, Tillopāda's instructions for attaining enlightenment.

Naturalness: A Classic of Shin Buddhism


Kenryo Kanamatsu - 2002
    Essays covering a wide range of subjects: spiritual symbolism, the afterlife, and more.

Buddhist Tantra: Teachings and Practices for Touching Enlightenment with the Body


Reginald A. Ray - 2002
    With Buddhist Tantra, Reginald A. Ray introduces you to this powerful path to "naked and unprecedented experience." The word tantra means "to weave through," a metaphor that points to the vibrant fabric of intelligent and living energies that are the fi nal and most basic reality of our bodies, our inner life of thoughts, feelings, and intuitions, and the external world. Through nine CDs of specifi c teachings and guided meditations designed to open your body and mind, you are invited to glimpse a wondrous realm of reality known as the "vajra world"-a vibrant fabric of intelligent and living energies that make up the essence of every cell in your body, every fl eeting thought you have, and every particle of the universe. If you have been seeking a gateway to this potent tradition, Buddhist Tantra is an ideal opportunity to approach the temple of its deepest truths.

Knee Deep in Grace: The Extraordinary Life and Teaching of Dipa Ma


Amy Schmidt - 2002
    Knee Deep in Grace presents the life story of Dipa Ma Barua, along with the essential spiritual teachings that make her a towering figure in contemporary Buddhism. While she experienced fame in her lifetime and had a following of many Burmese, Indian, and American students, she was like the women saints of the Vedas, remarkable women...from the dawn of history...who achieved realization while cleaning their homes and raising their children (Daughters of the Goddess: Women Saints of India).Dipa Ma was a primary teacher of Sharon Salzberg Jack Kornfield, and Joseph Goldstein, who have been among the most influential importers of Buddhism to America. Through the centers they founded and the teachers trained in them (the author among them), the example and teaching of Dipa Ma reach multitudes. Jack Kornfield described the power of Ma's influence: Without anything said or done, just the impact of meeting a person so developed can be enough to change one's whole way of life.Knee Deep in Grace is filled with intimate stories collected over a period of ten years, not only from prominent meditation teachers in the West but from Dipa Ma's daughter and grandson and her Calcutta students. Dipa Ma addressed her teaching to ordinary people in her apartment complex and her extended family, and her iconoclastic style of daily life immersion practice brought many of her students to awakening.

The Sword of Wisdom: A Commentary on the Song of Enlightenment


聖嚴法師 - 2002
    In this book, compiled from a series of lectures delivered during intensive meditation retreats, Master Sheng-yen gives valuable advice and guidance to those who are practicing Chan meditation. His lucid words offer fresh insight into a timeless philosophy that will be beneficial and inspiring to anyone who is interested in Buddhism.

Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master's Lessons in Living a Life That Matters


Bernie Glassman - 2002
    That's the premise of this book: how to cook what Zen Buddhists call "the supreme meal"—life. It has to be nourishing, and it has to be shared. And we can use only the ingredients at hand. Inspired by the thirteenth-century manual of the same name by Dogen, the founder of the Japanese Soto Zen tradition, this book teaches us how we can "enlarge the family we're feeding" if we just use some imagination. Bernie Glassman founded Greyston Bakery in Yonkers, New York, in 1982 to employ those whom other companies deem unemployable—the homeless, ex-cons, recovering addicts, low-skill individuals—with the belief that investing in people, and not just products, does pay. He was right. Greyston has evolved into an $8 million-a-year business with clients all over New York City. It is the sole supplier of brownies to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, and has even sold cakes to the White House. But financial profit is only one of two bottom lines that Greyston is committed to. The other one is social impact, and this goal is certainly being met. The bakery enterprise has led to the creation of the Greyston Foundation, an integrated network of organizations that provide affordable housing, child care, counseling services, and health care to families in the community. Using entrepreneurship to solve the problems of the inner city, Greyston has become a national model for comprehensive community development. Its giving back is more than just sloughing off a percentage of its profits and donating it to charity; it's about working with the community's needs right from the beginning—bringing them from the margins to the core. As its company motto goes, "We don't hire people to bake brownies. We bake brownies to hire people." This book is as much a self-manual as a business manual, addressing such concepts as    • Beginner's mind    • The Middle Way of Sustainability    • The "hungry ghosts" of Buddhism as a picture of all humanity    • Working with our faults    • Indra's Net and the interconnectedness of life    • Leaving no trace

Buddhist Phenomenology: A Philosophical Investigation of Yogacara Buddhism and the Ch'eng Wei-Shih Lun


Dan Lusthaus - 2002
    A richly complex study of the Yogacara tradition of Buddhism, divided into five parts: the first on Buddhism and phenomenology, the second on the four basic models of Indian Buddhist thought, the third on karma, meditation and epistemology, the fourth on the Trimsika and its translations, and finally the fifth on the Ch'eng Wei-shih Lun and Yogacara in China.

Turning Suffering Inside Out: A Zen Approach for Living with Physical and Emotional Pain


Darlene Cohen - 2002
    She shares her knowledge in her popular workshops and now in this book. Cohen, who has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for eighteen years, was hobbling painfully to her local Zen center one day, when she made a discovery that changed her life: if she focused on the foot that was in the air rather than the one that was hitting the pavement, her stamina increased enormously. It was the beginning of a completely different approach to the crippling pain that had beset her for so long. As she demonstrates here, this approach can be expanded to all types of pain: physical, psychological, and spiritual. Cohen—a certified massage and movement therapist and Zen teacher—proposes a radically liberating alternative to the usual desperate search for pain relief: paradoxically, she says, release from suffering lies in paying closer attention to it. When we keep pain at bay, we keep pleasure at bay, too. The two are interdependent, and our ability to experience each is totally dependent on our understanding of the other. "Enrich your life exponentially," Cohen advises. If your pain is one of the ten things you are aware of, then it constitutes a tenth of your total awareness. Expand your awareness to a hundred things, however, and your pain is only a hundredth of your awareness. With stories, strategies, exercises, and an awareness born of long Zen practice, Cohen shows us how to tap into that enrichment—and how we can lead a satisfying and even joyful life in the very midst of pain. This book was published in hardcover under the title Finding a Joyful Life in the Heart of Pain.

A Geography of Human Life


Tsunesaburo Makiguchi - 2002
    It marks him as one of the first scholars in the world, and the first in Japan, to approach geography in terms of the relationship between human beings and the earth. The translation is not direct, but eliminates some repetition, summarizes some arguments, and omits some dated and extraneous material. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Wonder of Presence: And the Way of Meditative Inquiry


Toni Packer - 2002
    "The immense challenge for each one of us," Packer writes, "is can we live our lives, at least for moments at a time, in the wonder of presence that is the creative source of everything?" She shows how we can transform fear, anger, guilt, and attachment to our self-image through simple, direct awareness. Having recently lost her husband of fifty years, Packer also speaks with candor and tenderness about the convulsions of a grieving heart and the peace that undivided awareness can bring. Toni Packer began studying Zen in 1967 with Roshi Philip Kapleau (author of The Three Pillars of Zen ) at the Rochester Zen Center and was eventually named his successor. Seeing the potentially destructive effects of relying too much on tradition, however, she did not accept the position. Packer is strongly influenced by the teachings of Krishnamurti and has turned away from the traditional forms and hierarchies that are prevalent in many Buddhist schools. Her approach is appealing to many Westerners who find institutionalized practices such as chanting, bowing, and burning incense to be alien and unnecessary.

Under the Rose Apple Tree


Thich Nhat Hanh - 2002
    Applying his unique insights to anger, family conflict, drug use, and sexual responsibility, he makes the ancient teachings of the Buddha relevant to adolescents by offering mindfulness practices as tools to help transform the suffering in their everyday lives. Ages 10-13."By living your life beautifully, you can nourish your sisters, brothers, and future generations. It is not through sacrificing your life that you help future generations, it is by living fully and happily." — Thich Nhat Hanh, from Under the Rose Apple Tree

Friends on the Path: Living Spiritual Communities


Thich Nhat Hanh - 2002
    Friends on the Path is an anthology that includes contributions from experienced Dharma teachers and Sangha leaders around the world; each giving sage advice on how to build and sustain a Sangha.

There Is No Suffering: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra


聖嚴法師 - 2002
    Perhaps the best known of all Buddhist sutras, it is recited in Buddhist centers and monasteries around the world. Emphasizing a living wisdom directly experienced, the schools of Chan have revered the Heart Sutra for its concise expression of the core revelations of the Buddha.There Is No Suffering is Chan Master Sheng-yen's commentary on the Heart Sutra. He speaks on the sutra from the Chan point of view, and presents it as a series of contemplation methods, encouraging readers to experience it directly through meditation and daily life. In this way, reading the Heart Sutra becomes more than just an intellectual exercise; it becomes a method of practice by which one can awaken to the fundamental wisdom inherent within each of us. Whether one wants a better understanding of Buddhist concepts or a deepened meditation practice, this commentary on the Heart Sutra can help.

The Ox Herder: A Zen Parable Illustrated


Stephanie Wada - 2002
    Buddhist masters composed this parable, whose origins reach as far back as the literature of ancient India, to guide students of Buddhism in their spiritual journeys. The Ox Herder: A Zen Parable Illustrated presents the earliest known Japanese handscroll illustrating the parable and the only one with paintings in color. Unlike many early Japanese handscrolls and books, it is intact, from its preface explaining the basic tenets of Buddhism to its signed inscription dated 1278. Extremely popular among Zen Buddhists in medieval Japan, "The Ten Ox Herding Songs," as the parable is best known, divides the herder's journey into ten stages, each illustrated by a circularly framed image accompanied by a four-line poem. The paintings, rendered in the graceful traditional manner of Japanese narrative illustration, show the progress of the ox herder (a seeker of truth) toward enlightenment (the ox). Appearing with the ten pictures are the preface and the ten songs that accompany the images, both in the original and in translation, and the final inscription. Stephanie Wada's introduction traces the history of the Zen and ox-and-herdboy theme in Japan, and discusses the importance of this particular work within Japanese Zen Buddhist painting. For students of Zen Buddhism, of Japanese art, and seekers of truth from all walks of life, The Ox Herder: A Zen Parable Illustrated offers ancient lessons of spiritual growth and beauty. 10 color and 15 b/w illustrations.

Tibetan Tradition of Mental Development


Ngawang Dhargyey - 2002
    

Manual of Vipassana Meditation


U Ko Lay - 2002
    

Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy: Tsongkhapa's Quest for the Middle Way


Thupten Jinpa - 2002
    This book reconstructs and appropriates in contemporary language the Middle Way philosophy of Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), arguably Tibet's greatest philosopher.

Joyful Mind: A Practical Guide To Buddhist Meditation


Susan Piver - 2002
    The practices they offer are grounded in traditions that are thousands of years old. If you were to visit monasteries in India, Tibet, Japan, or Burma, these are the teachings you would receive. As a bonus, we've also included yoga instruction to prepare the body for sitting.In addition to the written teachings, Joyful Mind offers the opportunity to actually sample the practices directly. On the first compact disc in this book, each teacher guides you through the practice they've written about. The second is a music-only disc featuring contemplative flute music perfect for relaxation and contemplation.May these practices be of benefit.

The Soka Gakkai Dictionary On Buddhism


Soka Gakkai - 2002
    

Wisdom's Blossoms: Tales of the Saints of India


Doug Glener - 2002
    The authors present a diverse selection of these inspirational tales—about both men and women saints, from a variety of time periods, and from all over India—and make them relevant for a modern audience. The stories reveal that, despite their perceived differences, the same spiritual principles underlie all the great religious traditions.

Longing for Certainty: Reflections on the Buddhist Life


Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano - 2002
    Attentive to the subtle power of language, Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano choose his words in these essays with such artisty and care that Longing for Certainty resounds with sparkling, fluid clarity.Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano has been referred to as "American Buddhism's Thoreau" and indeed, his ability to inspire his readers to discover the wonders of nature and the spiritual insights that they arouse is unsurpassed among modern Buddhist writers. Fans of his acclaimed Landscapes of Wonder, will find that Longing for Certainty moves into even deeper fields of reflection.

The Buddhist Himalayas


Matthieu Ricard - 2002
    They are accompanied throughout by contributions from 19 specialists on the region.

The Spirit of Peace: A Fully Illustrated Guide to Love and Compassion in Everyday Life


Dalai Lama XIV - 2002
    Illustrated throughout with full-colour photographs, it is a follow-up to his book, The Art of Living. The book reveals His Holiness the Dalai Lama's thoughts on various important subjects: the world today; the different world views of faith; science and religion; and the nature of life, death and rebirth. The first section of the book is autobiographical, providing an intimate personal portrait of the Dalai Lama in his own words, discussing his studies, the invasion of Tibet, his meeting with Mao, and his views on everything from travelling in China, to his perspective on Gandhi.