But many of us feel powerless and uncertain what we can do. Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) is blazingly clear: there’s one thing that we have the power to change—and which can make all the difference: our mind. How we see and think about things determines all the choices we make, the everyday actions we take (or avoid), how we relate to those we love (or oppose), and how we react in a crisis or when things don’t go our way.Meditation trains us to see reality as it is. But many of us have a distorted view, caused by negative stories about the world and ourselves that have become ingrained. To use our mind for change, we must see clearly. Thay shows us how us to alter our way of thinking, to break free from the notions that block our way, to find truth and touch reality as it is. By breaking down these old stories, we gain the insight and energy we need to take the right kind of action to save the planet and ourselves. Filled with powerful examples of engaged action he himself has undertaken, inspiring Buddhist parables, and accessible daily meditations, this powerful spiritual guide offers us a path forward, opening us to the possibilities of change and how we can contribute to the collective awakening and environmental revolution our fractured world so desperately needs.

    What we relied on as steady and solid may change or even appear to vanish. In this era of global disruption, threats to our individual, social, and planetary safety abound, and at times life can feel overwhelming. Not only are loss and separation painful, but even positive changes can cause great stress. Yet life is full of change: birth, death, marriage, divorce; a new relationship; losing or starting a job; beginning a new phase in life or ending one. Change is stressful, even when it is much desired or anticipated—the unknown can feel scary and threatening. In We Were Made for These Times, the extraordinary mindfulness teacher Kaira Jewel Lingo imparts accessible advice on navigating difficult times of transition, drawing on Buddhist teachings on impermanence to help you establish equanimity and resilience. Each chapter in We Were Made for These Times holds an essential teaching and meditation, unfolding a step-by-step process to nurture deeper freedom and stability in daily life. Time-honored teachings will help you develop ease, presence, and self-compassion, supporting you to release the fear and doubt that hold you back.

    

    Buddhists are Asian American. But you’d never guess this from mainstream representations, which all too often whitewash the racial and cultural diversity of American Buddhist communities.Be the Refuge is both critique and celebration, countering the erasure of Asian American Buddhists while uplifting their stories and experiences. The Oriental monk, the superstitious immigrant, the banana Buddhist: dissatisfied with these tired tropes, Han asks, Will the real Asian American Buddhists please stand up? Her journey to answer this question led to in-depth interviews with a pan-ethnic, pan-Buddhist group of eighty-nine young adults.Weaving together the voices of these interviewees with scholarship and spiritual inquiry, this book reenvisions Buddhist Asian America as a community of trailblazers, bridge-builders, integrators, and refuge-makers. Encouraging frank conversations about race, representation, and inclusivity among Buddhists of all backgrounds, Be the Refuge embodies the spirit of interconnection that glows at the heart of American Buddhism.

    “One of my reasons for writing this book is that I would like us all to think about and examine the various issues the recent Vajrayana guru scandals have brought to light, from as many different angles as possible.“My wish is to offer aspiring Vajrayana students a few tips from the tantric texts about how to choose their guru. This book will, I hope, point you in the right direction by supplying you with the tools you need to examine a guru thoroughly before committing yourself.”

    

    Brehm demonstrates the practice of mindfully entering a poem, with an alertness, curiosity, and open-hearted responsiveness very much like the attention we cultivate in meditation.  Complete with poetry-related meditations and writing prompts, this collection of lively, elegantly written essays can be read as a standalone book, or as a companion to the author’s acclaimed anthology, The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy.

    Grounded in the Buddha’s teachings on spiritual friendship, Radical Friendship shares seven strategies to help us embody our deepest values in all of our relationships. Drawing on her experiences as a leading meditation teacher, as well as personal stories of growing up multiracial in a racist world, Kate Johnson brings a fresh take on time-honored wisdom to help us connect more authentically with ourselves, with our friends and family, and within our communities. The divides we experience within us and between us are not only a threat to our physical and emotional health—they are also the weapons and the outcomes of structural oppression. But through wise relationships, it is possible to transform the barriers created by societal injustice. Johnson leads us on a journey to becoming better friends by offering ways to show up for our own and each other’s liberation at every stage of a relationship. Each chapter ends with a meditation or reflection practice to help readers cultivate vibrant, harmonious, revolutionary friendships. Radical Friendship offers a path of depth and hope and shows us the importance of working toward collective wellbeing, one relationship at a time.

    The good news is that you don’t have to be. You can live a life without so much anxiety and stress. You can train the mind to feel contentment, peace and joy—even in the midst of difficult circumstances.Best-selling author and long-time Buddhist meditation teacher Lodro Rinzler shows us how to work with the mind so that we don’t hold ourselves in a state of stress and learn to relax into and appreciate our world once more. What you hold is a guidebook with practical and easy-to-implement steps for how to take back your mind. "Lodro Rinzler has delivered a book with real dialogue and straight talk about stress and anxiety. TAKE BACK YOUR MIND is a relatable guide to help us recognize the innate goodness that rests inside each one of us and develop trust in the true experience of our lives. You'll find yourself coming back to these pages over and over again!" - Sharon Salzberg, author of LOVING KINDNESS and REAL CHANGE"I encourage you to connect with these conversations that give clear instructions in meditation practice suitable for all levels. These accessible meditations beautifully balance Buddhist philosophy with modern values and will be helpful to anyone interested in discovering and integrating mindfulness and serenity into your life. In this critical juncture in the world we need to help ourselves while helping one another, and through meditation cultivate the energy and inner strength of peace and compassion to benefit one another. This book will give you a fresh view of your meditation experience and how to bridge it into your daily life." - Dza Kilung Rinpoche, author of THE RELAXED MIND"Lodro Rinzler’s newest book purports to be a timely guide for working with anxiety—and it is. However, it is far more. It is an introduction to the Buddhist path as a way of becoming more fully human, awake, and capable of loving yourself, others, and life than you ever thought possible, including all your brilliance and confusion." – Susan Piver, meditation teacher and author of THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS OF LOVE: BUDDHIST WISDOM FOR MODERN RELATIONSHIPS

    Internationally-beloved Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh's down-to-earth teachings challenge our conventional ways of looking at dying, and show us the gentle path to healing and transformation.This book offers guidance on how to work through the storm of emotions surrounding the death of a loved one and offers simple but powerful practices--starting with mindful breathing and mindful walking--that can help us. The book is rounded out by concrete ways to help us reconcile with death (and loss), feel connected to our loved one long after they have let go of their physical form, and transform our grief into joy.

    

    

    Starting with the basics—like what Zen is and how it spread across the globe—experienced Zen instructor Jason Quinn teaches and explores how anyone can use it to live a life filled with more clarity, love, and compassion.Go beyond other meditation books with:***A four-part approach—Take things one step at a time as you learn about the history of Zen, important concepts, core teachings, and essential practices.***Straightforward Q&A—Understand the basics of Zen with a simple format that breaks information down into easy, digestible questions and answers.***Everyday Zen—Find stories and guidance that show how the principles of Zen can help bring peace in day-to-day life.Learn to live more intentionally through Zen thanks to this no-nonsense guide

    

    Dependent Origination is often presented as a linked list of dependencies, frequently numbering twelve items. But it is far more than just the twelve item linked list; the implications of the general case of “something arising dependent upon something else” are quite profound and lead to some of the deepest of all the Buddha's teachings.In this book meditation teacher Leigh Brasington delves into the concept of Dependent Origination and how it relates to the profound Buddhist teaching of Emptiness (suññatā). The book - founded on a comprehensive survey of the Pāḷi Canon - describes the various ways this highly important theme was considered in early Buddhist scripture, as well as many of the different interpretations that have been given of Dependent Origination in the latter commentarial tradition up until modern times. The book then explores the relationship of Dependent Origination and Emptiness, based especially on the philosophy of Nāgārjuna (c. 150 - 250 CE), one of the most influential Buddhist teachers since the time of the Buddha himself.The book is available for download free of charge under a Creative Commons license at the author's own webpage sodapi (dot) leighb (dot) com.

    Willa Blythe Baker introduces meditation practice as the cultivation of a way of being, rather than a way of doing. It is a way of being that is self-aware, self-compassionate, and embodied. This way of being is not limited to practice on the cushion or on the yoga mat--somatic mindfulness is available at any moment, activated by attention to the body's wisdom and its teachings.Discover the three layers of embodiment, from the earth body of flesh and blood, the subtle body of sensory experience and emotion, and the awareness body of consciousness. The three parts of this book explore these layers through turning attention to the physical, energetic, and mental dimensions of human experience. By diving deep into the body, readers will find that they already have what they need. Concentration, wisdom, compassion, kindness, and joy are waiting there.

    

    From beloved Zen teacher Norman Fischer, a collection of essays spanning a life of inquiry into Zen practice, relationship, cultural encounter, and spiritual creativity.

    

    Awake Where You Are addresses that need, and additionally integrates psychological concepts, which provides a more familiar entry point for people less familiar with Buddhism.“Embodied awareness is the way back home—intimacy with where and how we are right now, with what is happening and how we are meeting it. My intention is to lead you into the heart of your life. Inside your body, where everything happens—within a quality of listening rather than knowledge, of feeling rather than reaction. This meditative practice is radically transformative.” —Martin Aylward Pulled around by desires and distractions, we’re so easily disconnected from ourselves. Life is happening right in front of us, and within us—but still, we manage to miss so much of it. Awake Where You Are provides the antidote, inviting us to go deep into our own bodies, to inhabit our sensory experience carefully; to learn the art of living from the inside out, and in the process to find ease, clarity, and an authentic, unshakeable freedom.   The practices in the book literally bring us back into our skin, where we can reconnect with a more rich, meaningful, and peaceful life. Aylward writes with sophisticated subtlety, as well as the heart-opening simplicity and clarity born of deep experience.  And this book is more than a meditation guide—it’s a guide to living an embodied life. You’ll learn about the following areas and practices: - Understanding and liberating our primal human drives. Aylward explains how the three primary drives—survival, sexual, and social—function within us, and how we can engage their energy to explore, understand, and liberate them. - Integrating psychological understanding with meditative practice. Awake Where You Are      goes beyond the broad brushstrokes of Buddhist psychology, inviting the reader into an exploration of their own particular psychological history and conditioning. - Investigating the nuances of love. Readers will learn to see the classical Buddhist heart qualities, or brahmaviharas (loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity) as distinct flavors of love, and as the natural resting places of a free heart.  “Martin is a marvelous teacher and offers us the refreshing wisdom of an embodied life.” —Jack Kornfield, author of No Time Like the Present

    

    In Kurukulla, we have a goddess of tribal origins, initially venerated as a protector by various nomadic clans who related her to fertility and material affairs, yet also considered her dangerous and fearsome. Progressively, the goddess was incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon, and during this process, Kurukulla acquired different roles and lost others. Many practices were developed related to issues such as protection against animals and certain diseases, obtaining influential positions in society, love affairs, and even getting rid of one’s enemies.Kurukulla: Goddess of Bewitchment offers a tantric perspective on a deity considered the goddess of eroticism, the mistress of enchantments and bewitchment, who uses desire as a weapon for transcendence. Practicing with Kurukulla allows us to reach our true nature by making our daily life, our fears and weaknesses, the very source of liberation.The goddess of the red body represents the pure manifestation of intrinsic wisdom, the primordial energy that nourishes all realms of existence, as well as life and death as complementary opposites.The rituals and devotionals presented in this book are intended to openly and freely establish a deep connection with the deity. They are shared in a simple and understandable way that will allow practitioners to integrate them into their life easily and completely.

    

    

    

    It’s good to keep moving forward. And yet whatever we have is, in a very profound way, absolutely complete and always enough.”—Kyogen CarlsonKyogen Carlson (1948–2014) was a Soto Zen priest whose writings, teachings, and commitment to interfaith dialogue supported and inspired countless Buddhist, Christian, and other spiritual practitioners. Set to the rhythm of the seasons, You Are Still Here is the first published collection of Carlson’s dharma talks. It illuminates key elements of contemporary Zen practice, such as the experience of zazen meditation, the pitfalls and intimacies of the teacher-student relationship and of sangha life, the role of community in personal practice, and the importance of interfaith dialogue reaching across political lines. Carlson’s teachings also underscore his commitment to lay Buddhist practice and women’s lineages, both significant contributions to American Buddhism. The beautifully distilled talks have been carefully edited and introduced by Sallie Jiko Tisdale, a respected writer, teacher, and Dharma heir to Carlson. Her masterful presentation highlights the significance of these illuminating teachings, while preserving Carlson’s distinct style of authenticity, humor, and conviction on the Zen path.