Though the practice is more than a millennium old, it has become popular in the West only in the last twenty years or so—and it has become very popular indeed, because it's a practice that one can fit very well into an ordinary life, and because it works.Through the influence of Pema Chödrön, who was one of the first American Buddhist teachers to teach it extensively, the practice has moved out of its Buddhist context to affect the lives of non-Buddhists too. It's in this spirit that Norman Fischer offers his commentary on the lojong slogans. He applies Zen wisdom to them, showing how well they fit in that related tradition, but he also sets the slogans in the context of resonant practices throughout the spiritual traditions. He shows lojong to be a wonderful method for everyone, including those who aren't otherwise interested in Buddhism, who don't have the time or inclination to meditate, or who'd just like to morph into the kind of person who's focused rather than scattered, generous rather than stingy, and kind rather than thoughtless.

    Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh presents the true path to a personal and global ethic in this stand alone chapter from "Good Citizens, Creating Enlightened Society, " by Thich Nhat Hanh.

    Through this process of intense introspection, we discover that we are not limited to our bodies, emotions, or minds, for our true nature is actually boundless and numinous. Historically, these two simple words, Neti-Neti, have pointed the way for generations of seekers and contemplatives to free themselves from the constriction of the ego and suffering.Fortunately, you no longer have to be an expert meditator to practice or even benefit from the wisdom of Neti-Neti. It is now available for anyone seeking freedom in the knowledge of their true nature.Drawing upon his experiences as a Buddhist monk, Zen teacher, and meditation instructor, Andre Doshim Halaw has developed Neti-Neti into a full meditation practice specifically designed to address the human condition in the 21st century.Neti-Neti Meditation is a form of self-inquiry that eliminates who we think we are as a limited, separate person, and reveals our true nature as the formless, unconditioned Absolute itself, free of all imperfections and suffering. This book walks you step-by-step through the Neti-Neti process.

    This revolutionary book brings together many teaching stories that were hidden for centuries, unknown until this volume. These stories are extraordinary expressions of freedom and fearlessness, relevant for men and women of any time or place. In these pages we meet nuns, laywomen practicing with their families, famous teachers honored by emperors, and old women selling tea on the side of the road.Each story is accompanied by a reflection by a contemporary woman teacher—personal responses that help bring the old stories alive for readers today—and concluded by a final meditation for the reader, a question from the editors meant to spark further rumination and inquiry. These are the voices of the women ancestors of every contemporary Buddhist.

    This search is the search for the origins and meaning of life itself.We are here, we have life – but we don’t know what life really is. We can feel our energy, but don’t know where this energy comes from and to what goal this energy is going. We are that energy, we have glimpses of its true source and our connection to it, and those glimpses keep us going even when it seems we will never find what we are seeking – but still we do not know what that energy is.An ancient Zen story symbolizes the search for the source of this life. Zen master Kakuan’s story of The Ten Bulls of Zen is a teaching that uses ten images, each representing a particular step on the journey of experiencing and understanding it means to be a conscious and aware human being.Osho takes us through this story and its lessons for the traveler on a journey into the inner world – that’s what meditation is all about according to him. But reaching the pure, uncluttered freedom of meditation is not the end. The circle is only complete when the seeker comes back into the marketplace of the world, but as a transformed person.This is a book that belongs in the hands of everyone who is on the search, beginning the search, or just thinking about the search.The book is illustrated with ten original images of Gomizen’s Ten Bulls of Zen from the Fuzoku Tenri Library, Tenri University, Japan.

    He uses the Buddhist teachings of interconnectedness and the impermanence of all things to illustrate the role each of us plays in caretaking the earth. Our understanding and acceptance of these teachings can open up the possibility of using our collective wisdom and technology to help restore the Earth's balance. Rather than seeing impermanence as an excuse for disengaging from the world, he argues passionately that engaging with the world is the key to our individual and collective survival. Drawn from his best-selling title "The World We Have," "The Bells Of Mindfulness" is a hopeful book that gives us a path to follow. Imbued with Thich Nhat HanhOCOs clear vision, it provides the conviction and courage that enable us to stay on that path.

    Those are your default state—what you already are in this very moment. Anytime your experience of life doesn’t reflect clarity or peace of mind—anytime you’re suffering; experiencing confusion, pain, fear, or loss; or questioning yourself or your abilities—you are deep in thought. Personal, habitual thinking is the only thing that ever holds you back from the peaceful experience of who you really are. Through a series of short but powerful essays and real-life client conversations, Being Human sets you up for your own personal insights and realizations about your true nature and how easy life can be. This is not a self-help book because you don’t need self-help. You are already well. The most you could ever “need” is to be reminded that you already have within you everything you’re looking for and to understand the principles that lead you to connect with it. Being Human is that reminder.

    Written in a concise style which is knowledgeable, yet not overly-academic. The questions addressed are the most common and modern questions popularly asked.

    

    With his characteristic clarity, born from decades of meditation practice and teaching, Gil Fronsdal demonstrates how to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones on the path of freedom.

    In a slender volume of elegant verse, this root text (new in this revised edition) presents the entire Buddhist path according to the Nyingma school. Because it is so concise and makes use of elaborate poetic language, the commentary is indispensable.

    Find enlightenment with these one-hundred twenty-two traditional Buddhist Zen koans -- stories, dialogues, questions, or statements, used in Zen-practice to provoke the "great doubt," and test a student's progress in Zen practice.

    Master Guo Jun speaks through hard-won wisdom on Chan's spiritual themes familiar to Western readers, such as mindfulness and relaxation in meditation, as well as profound, simply expressed teachings and insightful explorations of religious commitment. "Essential Chan Buddhism" filters formal spiritual practices through the lens of mundane and everyday life activities. The work captures the lyrical beauty and incantatory style of Guo Jun s spoken English from the talks he gave at a fourteen-day retreat near Jakarta in 2010 and in subsequent conversations with his editor Kenneth Wapner. This value-priced hardcover edition is both a distinctive addition to Buddhist collections and a thoughtful gift for anyone looking for spiritual guidance.Chan master Guo Jun is one of a new breed of international teachers taking the world s great wisdom traditions into the twenty-first century. He is currently abbot of Mahabodhi Monastery in Singapore and teaches internationally. Chan master Sheng Yen s youngest dharma heir, he served as abbot of his Pine Bush, New York, retreat center from 2005 to 2008. A native of Singapore, Guo Jun received his full monastic ordination in Taiwan. He is a lineage holder and successor in Chan as well as the Xianshou and Cien schools of Chinese Buddhism. "Essential Chan Buddhism "is his first book.Kenneth Wapner s Peekamouse Books is a book packager and editor. Clients include Bantam, Tarcher/Putnam, Ballantine, and Doubleday. He is well known for his work on "Rabbi Jesus," "Bones of the Master," and "The Zen of Creativity.""

    For those who are serious about self-realization, this book offers explanations, insights and practical methods that can easily be applied without prior knowledge or experience with meditation or Eastern practices. The key teachings originate in the Tibetan wisdom tradition known as the "The Great Perfection", but are inclusive of other traditions such as Zen, that offer insights and methods into discovering our True Nature immediately and directly, not after months or years of study, meditation and practice. The author also studied deeply the teachings of the Sufis in Kashmir, India which revealed the wisdom of the Heart and Love, both necessary qualities in realizing one's true nature.

    In Natural Rest for Addiction, non-duality teacher and addiction specialist Scott Kiloby offers his Natural Rest program for finding recovery from substance abuse—and addictions of all kinds—through the mindful practice of Resting Presence.If you struggle with alcoholism, drug dependency, or some other form of addiction, you know all too well the urges and cravings that drive your habit. Addiction tells you that something is wrong, that you need something outside of yourself to make you well, something to fill the sense of deficiency you carry inside. These feelings are often tied to deep emotional trauma, anxiety, depression, or pain held in the body that has never fully been acknowledged. But what if you could learn to relax into awareness and accept the difficult thoughts, emotions, and sensations that make you feel like you need to do something—anything—to change your experience?This book will guide you, step by step, into the natural, open, peaceful awareness that is available to you at all times. Using the mindfulness-based Natural Rest program for recovery, you’ll learn how to tap into this present-moment awareness throughout the day, relieving yourself of worries about the future or past by allowing your thoughts and feelings to come and go as they are, without grasping at or trying to control them. You’ll also learn about the Living Inquiries, a process of self-inquiry developed by Scott Kiloby to target the beliefs, trauma, compulsions, and triggers that keep you trapped in the cycle of suffering and seeking.At the heart of addiction is a constant, desperate desire to alter what you’re feeling, to escape from the here and now, to find relief. With Natural Rest for Addiction, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the complex issues that underlie addictive behavior and learn how to find peace, freedom, and well-being in the present, one moment at a time.

    Challenging yet accessible, will be of interest to those new to Zen as well as seasoned practitioners. Print Edition Available in January, 2014.

    Regarded as one of the key disciplines in fostering the focused, meditative state of mind so essential to Zen, shodo calligraphy is practiced regularly by all students of Zen Buddhism in Japan. After providing a brief history of Japanese calligraphy and its close relationship with the teachings of Zen Buddhism, Sato explains the necessary supplies and fundamental brushstroke skills that you'll need. He goes on to present thirty zengo, each featuring:An example by a skilled Zen monk or master calligrapherAn explanation of the individual characters and the Zen koan as a wholeStep-by-step instructions on how to paint the phrase in a number of styles (Kaisho, Gyosho, Sosho)A stunning volume on the intersection of Japanese aesthetics and Zen Buddhist thought, Shodo: The Quiet Art of Japanese Zen Calligraphy guides both beginning and advanced students to a deeper understanding of the unique brush painting art form of shodo calligraphy. Shodo calligraphy topics include:The Art of KanjiThe Four Treasures of ShodoIdeogram ZengoStudents of Shodo

    This graceful introduction offers creative safe passage through the sometimes overwhelming transition, drawing on ancient and contemporary spiritual practices particularly useful for these times. The endings we experience are always the beginning of something else. Hence author Ji Hyang Padma organizes teachings around the four seasons. In living connected to natural rhythms--the stillness of winter, the renewal of spring, the ripening of summer, the harvest of autumn--we touch a wholeness that is the source of healing and happiness. Practical exercises at the end of each chapter promote this state of being and bring the mind home to its innate clarity. Ideally suited to anyone experiencing personal change--through career, relationships, or world events--the book provides a way into Zen for beginners as well as a refresher for the more advanced.

    From decades of reading in them all, Brian Browne Walker, author of beloved translations of the I Ching, Tao te Ching, Hua hu Ching, and Art of War, has formulated a subtle, calming set of teachings designed to usher the practitioner through the back door of realization. That door, the ancients teach us, is always left ajar. Designed to be read in an ordinary manner or consulted as an oracle in the fashion of the I Ching, Wei wu Wei Ching is also available as an app for iPhone, iPad, and all Android phones and tablets via the store at www.brianbrownewalker.com. In this tradition of wei wu wei, we don't have a thing to offer you. That is why you can rely upon it for everything.

    While it can bring much relief, this simple statement does not preclude the need for practice. We must strive to be aware of our Buddha nature rather than waiting until times of emotional upheaval when it is more difficult to practice.Thich Nhat Hanh uses the teachings of ninth century Zen Master Linji, founder of the Rinzai school, to elaborate on this simple truth and to give readers tools that can help awaken them to their true inner nature.One of the unique aspects of Linji's teaching, is the need to "wake ourselves up," not only by means of listening to enlightened teachings, but also through unique techniques such as the shout, the stick, and the empty fist.The teachings of Master Linji bring readers back to reality and to simply being. Powerful, direct, and uncompromising, Thich Nhat Hanh's reflections on the teachings of Master Lin Chi are destined to join the ranks of classic Buddhist writings.

    

    Indeed, Kajitani Sonin (1914 - 95), former chief abbot of Shokoku-ji and author of an annotated, modern-Japanese translation of the Kattoshu, commented that "herein are compiled the basic Dharma materials of the koan system." Most of the central koans of the contemporary Rinzai koan curriculum are contained in this work.A distinctive feature of Entangling Vines is that, unlike The Gateless Gate and Blue Cliff Record, it presents the koans "bare," with no introductions, commentaries, or verses. Its straightforward structure lends the koans added force and immediacy, emphasizing the Great Matter, the essential point to be interrogated, and providing ample material for the rigors of examining and refining Zen experience.Containing 272 cases and extensive note material, the collection is indispensable for serious koan training and will also be of interest for anyone drawn to Zen literature. The present translation had its origins in the discussions between three forward-looking modern Japanese Zen masters and Thomas Kirchner, an experienced Zen monk from America. And Kirchner's careful annotation of each koan makes this a brilliant introduction to Buddhist philosophy.

    Krishnamacharya to be the most important and authentic classical text on yoga after the Yogasutras of Patanjali. Many other yoga texts, including the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and Gheranda Samhita have borrowed verses from this text. The Yoga Yajnavalkya takes the form of a conversation between the sage Yajnavalkya and his wife Gargi. The book is a well-structured presentation, following the eight limbs of yoga. An important feature of this text is the in-depth discussion of the kundalini and sound pranayama practices.