Best of
Zen

2004

Emptiness Dancing


Adyashanti - 2004
    Whether you read each chapter in succession or begin on any page you feel inspired to turn to, you will find in Adyashanti's wisdom an understanding and ever-ready guide to the full wonder of your infinite self-nature.

Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice


Kosho Uchiyama - 2004
    This is the revised edition of Kosho Uchiyama's singularly incisive classic. This new edition contains even more useful material: new prefaces, an index, and extended endnotes, in addition to a revised glossary. As Jisho Warner writes in her preface, Opening the Hand of Thought "goes directly to the heart of Zen practice... showing how Zen Buddhism can be a deep and life-sustaining activity." She goes on to say, "Uchiyama looks at what a person is, what a self is, how to develop a true self not separate from all things, one that can settle in peace in the midst of life." By turns humorous, philosophical, and personal, Opening the Hand of Thought is above all a great book for the Buddhist practitioner. It's a perfect follow-up for the reader who has read Zen Meditation in Plain English and is especially useful for those who have not yet encountered a Zen teacher.

The Thich Nhat Hanh Collection: Peace is Every Step; Teachings on Love; The Stone Boy and Other Stories


Thich Nhat Hanh - 2004
    3 parts in 1 book,CD included with the book

Silent America: Essays from a Democracy at War


Bill Whittle - 2004
    SILENT AMERICA: ESSAYS FROM A DEMOCRACY AT WAR has been read by hundreds of thousands of people online. Now you can own the collection that has been called "required reading for every high school and college in America." HONOR. EMPIRE. STRENGTH. MAGIC. HISTORY. FREEDOM... fourteen powerful essays on the American spirit. Join the thousands who have laughed, and cried, and who have found in SILENT AMERICA the words they have been searching for to describe the wonder and pride they feel for America.

Lectures on the Ten Oxherding Pictures


Yamada Mumon - 2004
    This volume contains lectures on the text given by Yamada Mumon Roshi (1900-1988) to his monks while master of Shofuku-ji Monastery. It is the first authentic explication of a Zen text by a traditional Japanese Zen master. A seeker of the way, Yamada Mumon spent many years sharing a life of practice with young monks at the monastery in addition to serving as president of Hanazono College and director of the Research Institute for Zen Studies. Later he assumed the post of chief abbot of the Myoshin-ji temples. Followers of Zen have long been waiting for this book.According to Mumon Roshi, the path of the seeker is not only for the committed specialist. Even the average reader, drawn along by Mumon Roshi's straightforward explanations, will move forward on the journey of the self (symbolized by the taming of the ox) and come to see humanity with new eyes.

Song of Mind: Wisdom from the Zen Classic Xin Ming


聖嚴法師 - 2004
    In his commentary on it, Chan Master Sheng Yen takes a practical approach, opening up the language of the Xin Ming to show students how to approach meditation, how to deal with problems that arise in their spiritual practice, and how to accomplish the imperative task of integrating this practice into every aspect of one's life. "True understanding comes only with direct experience," according to Master Sheng Yen. "These lectures, the Buddhist sutras, songs, poems, and commentaries are useful only insofar as they encourage you to practice and incorporate the Dharma [teachings] into your daily life." The book takes the form of a week-long retreat with Master Sheng Yen, with each chapter in the form of an evening talk given on a particular section of the "Song of Mind" text—giving this book a far more intimate and accessible feel than most commentaries on Zen texts and creating a feeling of being right there with the master as he brings the text to life.

Bring Me the Rhinoceros: And Other Zen Koans to Bring You Joy


John Tarrant - 2004
    For fifteen hundred years, Zen koans have been passed down through generations of masters, usually in private encounters between teacher and student. This book deftly retells fourteen traditional koans, which are partly paradoxical questions dangerous to your beliefs and partly treasure boxes of ancient wisdom. Koans show that you don't have to impress people or change into an improved, more polished version of yourself. Instead you can find happiness by unbuilding, unmaking, throwing overboard, and generally subverting unhappiness. John Tarrant brings the heart of the koan tradition out into the open, reminding us that the old wisdom remains as vital as ever, a deep resource available to anyone in any place or time. "Here's a book to crack the happiness code if ever there was one. Forget about self-improvement, five-point plans, and inspirational seminars that you can't remember a word of a week later. Tarrant's is the fix that fixes nothing because there is nothing to fix. Your life is a koan, a deep question whose answer you are already living--this is the true inspiration, and Tarrant delivers."--Roger Housden, author of the "Ten Poems" series "Every life is full of koans, and yet you can't learn from a book how to understand them. You need someone to put you in the right frame of mind to see the puzzles and paradoxes of your experience. With intelligence, humor, and steady, deep reflection, John Tarrant does this as no one has done it before. This book could take you to a different and important level of experience."--Thomas Moore, author of "Care of the Soul" and "Dark Nights ofthe Soul" ""Bring Me the Rhinoceros" is one of the best books ever written about Zen. But it is more than that: it is a book of Zen, pointing us to reality by its own fluent and witty example. John Tarrant has the rare ability to enter the minds of the ancient Zen masters as they do their amazing pirouettes upon the void and, with a few vivid touches, to illuminate our lives with their sayings."--Stephen Mitchell, author of "Gilgamesh: A New English Version" "This book's straightforward honesty, clear writing, and destabilizing insight have a profound effect. John Tarrant does indeed bring on the rhinoceros and a host of other powerful but invisible creatures, ready to run us down when we refuse to acknowledge the fierce, awkward, and beautiful world we inhabit"--David Whyte, author of "Crossing the Unknown Sea" "John Tarrant's talent for telling these classic Zen tales transforms them magically into a song in which, as you read, the words disappear as the music continues to echo in your mind and make you happy. Mysteriously, like koans." --Sylvia Boorstein, author of "Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake

The Truth Behind Addiction


Byron Katie - 2004
    Is it possible to experience the end of suffering? Yes, says Byron Katie, who Time Magazine calls the "combined mystical guide, wisecracking therapist, and knowing parent." The Work of Byron Katie, as the author has dubbed it, is four questions: "Is it true?," "Can you absolutely know that it's true?," "How do you react when you think that thought?," and "Who or what would you be without that thought?" These questions, which work with any kind of therapy or religion, offer relief on all levels: physical, mental, and emotional.

Trust in Mind: The Rebellion of Chinese Zen


Mu Soeng - 2004
    / When love and hate are both absent / everything becomes clear and undisguised. / Make the smallest distinction, however / and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart." So begins "Trust in Mind," the beloved poem that has again and again welcomed generations to their practice of Zen Buddhism. Traditionally attributed to the third Chinese ancestor of Zen (Sengcan, d. 606), it is often considered the first historical "Zen" document and remains an anchor of Zen Buddhist practice to this day. Here, scholar and commentator Mu Soeng explores the poem's importance and impact in three sections: The Dharma of Trust in Mind, The Tao of Trust in Mind, and The Chan of Trust in Mind. Finally, a brilliant line-by-line commentary brings the elements of this ancient work completely to life for the modern reader. Trust in Mind is the first book of its kind, looking at this very important Zen text from historical and cultural contexts, as well as from the practitioner's point of view. It is sure to interest readers of Mu Soeng and his fellow Buddhist contemporaries, as well as those with an interest in meditation and Eastern religions--most especially Zen practitioners, academics, philosophers, and scholars of Mind.

A Pace of Grace: The Virtues of a Sustainable Life


Linda Kavelin Popov - 2004
    In today’s anxiety-ridden, stress-infused world, even a moment of quiet reflection has become a time- consuming luxury most of us just can’t afford.  How did we reach this point? How did we lose our direction and sense of control? And, most important, how can we reclaim our lives? Linda Kavelin Popov asked herself these same questions, after the pressures of her own workaholic lifestyle nearly destroyed her.  Now, as cofounder of the International Virtues Project she helps others achieve a pace of grace—a pace for our lives that can balance and sustain us physically and spiritually.  Through a four-part program that teaches you how to purify your life, pace yourself, practice the presence, and plan a sustainable life, A Pace of Grace offers simple ways to rediscover the essential elements of a life well lived.  Complete with Linda’s ten rules for health, this comprehensive guide is the first step in recapturing the joy and vibrancy inherent in each of us.

Living with Kindness


Sangharakshita - 2004
    Living with Kindness shows us how to cultivate many of the facets of kindness in ordinary, everyday life through the Buddha's teaching of metta in the Karaniya metta sutta. Encourages us to follow the path that leads to a warm and expansive heart.

Success is the Best Revenge


Tracie Howard - 2004
    His new partner is Tess Aventura Dubois—recently widowed and bequeathed a multi-million-dollar fortune. What she’s investing in now is interest in Lyle, who can afford to share her luxurious lifestyle—if she can keep from him her deepest, darkest secret...