Best of
Zen

2015

The Way of Tenderness: Awakening through Race, Sexuality, and Gender


Zenju Earthlyn Manuel - 2015
    Manuel brings her own experiences as a lesbian black woman into conversation with Buddhism to square our ultimately empty nature with superficial perspectives of everyday life. Her hard-won insights reveal that dry wisdom alone is not sufficient to heal the wounds of the marginalized; an effective practice must embrace the tenderness found where conventional reality and emptiness intersect. Only warmth and compassion can cure hatred and heal the damage it wreaks within us. This is a book that will teach us all.

This Moment Is Full of Wonders: The Zen Calligraphy of Thich Nhat Hanh


Thich Nhat Hanh - 2015
    Never before, however, have his calligraphy artworks, equally renowned, been available in book form. This Moment Is Full of Wonders collects more than 60 full-color artworks by the beloved figure in a richly textured hardcover package. As beautiful as they are inspirational, the ink-rendered phrases offer eloquent distillations of Buddhist wisdom, such as "Peace is every step," "Be free where you are," and "Smile to the cloud in your tea"—seemingly simple sayings that resonate with meaning. Interspersed throughout the book are iconic passages from his best-known teachings, printed on semi-transparent overlays that faintly obscure, then illuminate, the artworks beneath. At once a tool for personal growth and a visual treasure, This Moment Is Full of Wonders will delight spiritual seekers of all backgrounds.

Nothing Holy about It: The Zen of Being Just Who You Are


Tim Burkett - 2015
    The concise summary of Zen teaching he presents in this book is expressed precisely in terms of what he found right in front of him: beginning with the delightful non-holiness he experienced in the presence of his original teacher, Shunyru Suzuki, and continuing through a lifetime of further teaching experiences.

The Way Out is in: The Zen Calligraphy of Thich Nhat Hanh


Thich Nhat Hanh - 2015
    Yet he is also a master calligrapher, distilling ancient Buddhist teachings into simple phrases that resonate with our modern times, capturing and expressing his lifetime of meditative insight, peace and compassion. This book offers a rare opportunity to spend time in the presence of his beautiful creations. For Thich Nhat Hanh, creating calligraphy is more than creating art - it is also a meditative practice. He is fully present for every moment, from drinking his tea, to sitting down and taking a brush, and using the tea to make the ink. Each calligraphy is made of mindful sitting, breathing, walking, smiling - and love.

Seeds for a Boundless Life: Zen Teachings from the Heart


Zenkei Blanche Hartman - 2015
    A teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, she was the first female abbot of an American Zen center. She is greatly revered, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she has lived and taught for many years. This, her long-awaited first book, is a collection of short teachings taken from her talks on the subject of boundlessness--the boundlessness that sees beyond our small, limited self to include all others. To live a boundless life she encourages living the vows prescribed by the Buddha and living life with the curiosity of a child. The short, stand-alone pieces can be dipped into whenever one is in need of inspiration.

A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern World


David R. Loy - 2015
    Loy addresses head-on the most pressing issues of Buddhist philosophy in our time. What is the meaning of enlightenment--is it an escape from the world, or is it a form of psychological healing? How can one reconcile modern scientific theory with ancient religious teachings? What is our role in the universe? Loy shows us that neither Buddhism nor secular society by itself is sufficient to answer these questions. Instead, he investigates the unexpected intersections of the two. Through this exchange, he uncovers a new Buddhist way, one that is faithful to the important traditions of Buddhism but compatible with modernity. This way, we can see the world as it is truly is, realize our indivisibility from it, and learn that the world's problems are our problems. This is a new path for a new world.

Vulnerable Faith: Missional Living in the Radical Way of St. Patrick


Jamie Arpin-Ricci - 2015
    But Jamie Arpin-Ricci contends that, although St. Patrick may have been extraordinary, the sort of life he lived is available to everyone – if we only desire and accept it. This book is Arpin-Ricci’s exploration of what that sort of radical way of living might look like. Drawing from Scripture, church history and his own ministry experiences among those who live on the margins, Vulnerable Faith bridges the often enormous gap between the conceptual ideal of faithfulness we talk about in church and a genuine, practical, radical obedience to Jesus. “This book is an invitation to radical faithfulness found in willing vulnerability. Jamie Arpin- Ricci guides readers through a process of transformation, which exposes our pretense and promises new life through and beyond the cross of Christ.” —Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, author of Dead Man Walking “If you are intrigued by the life of early Celtic leader St. Patrick, and if you see a need for transformation in your own life, Vulnerable Faith is your invitation to take some time to explore what greater faithfulness in the people of God might look like. Jamie juxtaposes the life of St. Patrick with lessons learned from AA's Twelve Steps in a way that is refreshing and challenging. This is not for the faint-hearted but for those who want to take steps deeper into the love of God. I loved it, was inspired by it and recommend it to all who take their faith seriously.” —Christine Sine, author of Return to Our Senses "In Vulnerable Faith the life of St. Patrick meets the spirituality of the Twelve Steps. It is a surprising, potent and challenging combination, one that Jamie Arpin-Ricci uses to profound effect in setting before us a vision of Christian community characterized by loving vulnerability, sacrificial generosity and a radical welcome of the stranger into the Shalom of God's Kingdom. An inspiring and life-changing book."  —Richard Beck, author "Unclean" & "Slavery of Death"

The Escape To Everywhere


Paul Hedderman - 2015
    

Always Already Free: Recognizing the natural wakefulness we were born with


Enza Vita - 2015
    

Miss Jessie's: Creating a Successful Business from Scratch---Naturally


Miko Branch - 2015
    As co-founders of Miss Jessie's, Miko reveals how she and Titi applied those lessons to create a successful business from scratch. A family memoir with a wealth of practical business advice and handy hair tips, told in Miko's funny and relatable voice, Miss Jessie’s is her remarkable story — from her childhood learning independence as a latchkey kid in Jamaica, Queens, to building a highly regarded company with her sister in their shared home salon in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Miko reflects on her hard-won insights working for her autocratic, iron-fisted father, and how the self-sufficiency she learned in childhood helped her blossom as a single mother with bills to pay, a child to raise, and a dream to pursue. She speaks honestly of her mistakes and successes, and of her role as an industry leader, negotiating multi-million dollar deals while at the same time restoring the self-esteem of natural and curly haired women.Charming and enlightening, chock full of entertaining stories and invaluable instruction that can be applied to any business, and illustrated with 16 pages of photos, Miss Jessie's confirms that with effort the American Dream is possible.

The Teacup and the Skullcup: Where Zen and Tantra Meet


Chögyam Trungpa - 2015
    Through these talks you can see his respect for the Zen tradition and how it led to his using certain Zen forms for his public meditation hall rituals. He discusses the differences in style, feeling, and emphasis that distinguish the two paths and shows what each one might learn from the other.      Also included are Trungpa Rinpoche's commentary on the Ten Oxherding Pictures and an essay he composed in memory of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, a close friend with whom he continually exchanged ideas for furthering buddhadharma in America.

Zen: The Authentic Gate


Yamada Koun - 2015
    Through compelling stories and a systematic approach, he guides the reader through creating and sustaining a lifelong practice. Warm and ecumenical in tone, Koun uses the insights of Zen to bring a deeper understanding of faith. Zen: The Authentic Gate is an easy-to-follow guide to creating an effortless and natural practice regardless of background, tradition, or religion.

Reality, Art and Illusion


Alan W. Watts - 2015
    Various techniques in the arts are used to illustrate the delicate and vibrational character of the material world, and to suggest a approach to the old philosophy that the universe is "mind" only.

The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path


Jay Michaelson - 2015
    Its eighty-two short, poetic, sometimes epigrammatic chapters draw on contemplative traditions, art, even pop songs. They are reflections on the path of surrender, alchemy, and the sacred. Written over a ten year period, and completed in the mourning period after the death of the author's mother, The Gate of Tears is not a self-help book. If anything, it is a self-helpless book, discovering a happiness deeper than transitory joys that emerges precisely when the resistance to sadness is released. As the contemporary Buddhist teacher Lama Surya Das says in his foreword to the book, "the only thing that prevents happiness is searching for it."The Gate of Tears draws on Jay Michaelson's fifteen years as a student, and now a teacher, of Buddhist and Jewish contemplative paths. Michaelson is a rabbi, and holds a Ph.D. in Jewish Thought, and has taught Jewish mysticism in and outside the academic world. Yet he is also a longtime teacher of insight meditation in Western Buddhist and secular mindfulness contexts, who has sat many months-long silent meditation retreats. With his usual blend of erudition and accessibility, Michaelson weaves together Hasidic tales and Dharma teachings, Leonard Cohen and Langston Hughes. The Gate of Tears is not a New Age book with easy answers; it is infused with a contemporary sensibility, skepticism, and humor.All of us, if we are to be fully human, experience pain. The Gate of Tears is about how the embrace of that experience ennobles, empowers, and liberates us.Advance Praise"Jay Michaelson's incisive and exquisitely profound insights into our human condition come in full force in The Gate of Tears. Here we have an antidote to mindless feel-good ideology, and gentle instructions in attending to the fullness of our experience so we see the value in the downs, not just the ups. Our inner world will never seem the same." - Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence"The Gate of Tears is a beautifully written, transformative book. Jay Michaelson guides us, instead of denying, avoiding, explaining away or resisting sadness, to go right into the heart of it. There we find open space, true love of life, and, perhaps most redeeming, one another." - Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness"Jay Michaelson's writing is always bracing and brave, but The Gate of Tears has particular power. He guides us to explore -- and accept -- the truth of what he calls "ordinary sadness," and stop looking for happiness so that we might actually find it. Every chapter made me feel as if he was seeing me personally. This book will change your perspective and ease your load." - Abigail Pogrebin, author of Stars of DavidAbout the AuthorDr. Jay Michaelson is the author of six books, including Evolving Dharma: Meditation, Buddhism and the Next Generation of Enlightenment (North Atlantic, 2013) and the bestselling God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality (Beacon, 2011), as well as over 300 articles in The Daily Beast, Atlantic, Tricycle, The Forward, and other publications.

Burnout and Self-Care in Social Work: A Guidebook for Students and Those in Mental Health and Related Professions


Sarakay Smullens - 2015