In this practical guide to compassionate living, Geshe Kelsang explains in detail how to take and keep the Bodhisattva vows, how to purify downfalls, and how to practise the Bodhisattva’s deeds of giving, moral discipline, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom.  With this handbook as our companion, we can enter the Bodhisattva's way of life and progress along the path to full enlightenment.

    How do I prepare my mind for meditation?There is nothing special. I just keep it where it always is.They ask, 'Then are you an arahant?'Do I know?I am like a tree in a forest, full of leaves, blossoms and fruit.Birds come to eat and nest, and animals seek rest in its shade.Yet the tree does not know itself.It follows its own nature.It is as it is.""All the teachings" Ajahn Chah taught, "are merely similes and comparisons, means to help the mind see the truth. If we establish the Buddha within our mind, then we see everything, we contemplate everything, as no different from ourselves.Many of the similes that Ajahn Chah himself used to teach came out of his vast experience of living in the forest. His practice was simply to watch, all the while being totally open and aware of everything that was happening both inside and outside himself. He would say that his practice was nothing special. He was, in his own words, like a tree in a forest, "A tree is as it is," he's say. And Ajahn Chah was as he was. But out of such "nothing specialness" came a profound understanding of himself and the world.Ajahn Chah used to say, "The Dhamma is revealing itself in every moment, but only when the mind is quiet can we understand what it is saying, for the Dhamma teaches without words." Ajahn Chah had this uncanny ability to take that wordless Dhamma and convey its truth to his listeners in the form of a simile that was fresh, easy to follow, sometimes humorous, sometimes poetic, but always striking a place in the heart where it would jar or inspire the most: "We are like maggots; life is like a falling leaf; our mind is like rain water."The teachings of Ajahn Chah teem with similes and comparisons like these. We thought it would be a good idea to collect them all in the form of a book as a source of inspiration for those who may want some respite from the "heat" of the world and seek some rest in the cool and abundant shade of "a tree in the forest".

    Petersburg in 1878, mark a seminal moment not only in Russian but also in world philosophy. Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and other luminaries were in the audience. It was recognized by everyone that something astonishing had occurred.The young philosopher, mystic, and visionary, Solovyov, had given unexpectedly concise, intellectual expression to the reality of the evolution of consciousness and religion. He had spoken movingly of the actualization of Divine Humanity in eternity and time, of the divine world and the fall of spiritual beings into sin, of the origin and meaning of the natural world, and the incarnation of Christ, leading to the redemption of the visible and invisible worlds in the full revelation of Divine Humanity. Sophia, whom Solovyov experienced three times in his life, inspires this great work. He conceives Sophia in a variety of ways: as the eternal ideal prototype of humanity, as the world soul actively engaged in actualizing this idea, and as the fully developed divine-human being. This Sophia is both the active principle in the process of creation and its realized goal: the kingdom of God. From the Esalen-Lindisfarne Library of Russian Philosophy.

    Ross tells of the death and dying of small children, their wisdom and sanity, and the potentially positive impact of their passing on those they leave behind. Dr. Ross also describes a unique method for making contact with what is going on with them and for helping them complete the drama of their lives with consciousness and grace.

    She was a master at recreating in fiction the rites and rituals of primitive religions. The author explores Sutcliff's use of sacred themes through twelve of her most famous novels. Students of children's literature, librarians, and teachers of literature and history will find, in addition to a detailed analysis of each novel, an examination of Sutcliff's sources and influences, implications for use with students, a short biography of Sutcliff, and a complete list of her published work. Especially relevant to readers and teachers interested in sacred mythology or feminism. Bibliography and index.

    Letters from the Light, originally published in 1914 under another title, takes up this age-old question from a unique perspective - that of a man who has undergone "the great change" and has crossed the threshold we call death. Written through the hand of Elsa Barker, an established author in her own right, Letters presents a kind of "astral travelogue" that describes - often eloquently, sometimes humorously - life in the "invisible" world. David Patterson Hatch, a former judge, a writer of books, and a "profound student of philosophy," explains his motivation for writing the letters:. "This is a materialistic age. A large percentage of men and women have no real interest in the life beyond the grave. But they will all have to come out here sooner or later, and perhaps a few will find the change easier, the journey less formidable, by reason of what I shall have taught them. Is it not worthwhile?"

    It moves in circle. You end up at the point you started with. Then, what is the point - you may ask. There is no point, and that is the point. But you will not appreciate "pointlessness of life" until and unless you experience it yourself. Indeed, one has no choice in this matter. You cannot choose "not to undertake the journey of life". If you are reading these lines. you are in fact already on the path. You already traveling. the journey is on. The first point of your journey is your "self", and the last point is you "Self". Then "self" merges with "Self" and you realize that the journey was not external, it was internal. You have been traveling within. At that point, pointlessness of life becomes the cause for celebration. You will begin to dance and sing to the rhythm of life. And, that is important. Your singing, your dancing, your celebration of life... make that "The Point". After all, Life is what you make of it!