The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan)


Robert Aitken - 1990
    Gathered together by Wu-men (Mumon), a thirteenth-century master of the Lin-chi (Rinzai) school, it is composed of forty-eight koans, or cases, each accompanied by a brief comment and poem by Wu-men.Robert Aitken, one of the premier American Zen masters, has translated Wu-men's text, supplementing the original with his own commentary -- the first such commentary by a Western master -- making the profound truths of Zen Buddhism accessible to serious contemporary students and relevant to current social concerns.

Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand: A Concise Discourse on the Path to Enlightenment


Pabongkha Rinpoche - 1988
    In this famous twenty-four-day teaching on the lamrim, or stages of the path, Pabongka Rinpoche weaves together lively stories and quotations with frank observations and practical advice to move readers step by step along the journey to buddhahood. When his student Trijang Rinpoche first edited and published these teachings in Tibetan, an instant classic was born. The flavor and immediacy of the original Tibetan are preserved in Michael Richards' fluid and lively translation, which is now substantially revised in this new edition.

Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas


Robert A.F. Thurman - 1999
    Explores Tibetan Buddhism as part of a spiritual and physical journey to Mount Kailash, holiest of the Himalayan mountains, to reach sacred graveyards, majestic monasteries, and meditation caves.

The Light Inside the Dark: Zen, Soul, and the Spiritual Life


John Tarrant - 1998
    Using real-life stories, Zen tales, and Greek myths, The Light Inside the Dark shows how our darkest experiences can be the gates to wisdom and joy. Tarrant leads us through the inevitable descents of our journey--from the everyday world of work and family into the treasure cave of the interior life--from which we return with greater love of life's vivid, common gifts. Written with empathy and a poet's skill, The Light Inside the Dark is the freshest and most challenging work on the soul to he published in years.

The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of the Buddhist Path


Ethan Nichtern - 2015
    Drawing from contemporary research on meditation and mindfulness and his experience as a Buddhist teacher and practitioner, Nichtern describes in fresh and deeply resonant terms the basic existential experience that gives rise to spiritual seeking—and also to its potentially dangerous counterpart, spiritual materialism. He reveals how our individual quests for self-awareness ripple forward into relationships, communities, and society at large. And he explains exactly how, by turning our awareness to what's happening around us and inside us, we become able to enhance our sense of connection with others and, at the same time, change for the better our individual and collective patterns of greed, apathy, and inattention.In this wise and witty invitation to Buddhist meditation, Nichtern shows how, in order to create a truly compassionate and enlightened society, we must start with ourselves. And this means beginning by working with our own minds—in whatever state we find them in.

Hear Your Body Whisper: How to Unlock Your Self-Healing Mechanism


Otakara Klettke - 2016
    No doctor’s appointments. No health limitations. Imagine your body to return into shape that is healthiest for it. Without your willpower. Otakara Klettke shares in her book Hear Your Body Whisper, How to Unlock Your Self-Healing Mechanism how she has learned to communicate with her body. From a sick childhood and constant health limitations, the author spent first 20 years of her life often being bound to a hospital or home in bed. When she slowly discovered that there is a way to communicate with her body her life turned around. Hear Your Body Whisper is a result of obsessive research, personal experience, and rediscovering the connection between our body and mind that naturally exists in every one of us. Otakara Klettke separates her mind and soul from her body. She explains that your body is filled with trillions of microorganisms that are responsible for the well-being of your body. By understanding your body’s inhabitants, you can guide them to address acute and chronic diseases. Your body will also settle in the body shape it is meant to be naturally. Mind-body connection has never been so clear! No doctor or healer is able to listen to your body since they do not reside in it. You can and you should! Rooted in science this book offers a mindful way to love, respect and celebrate your body. Using Hippocrates methods and combining them with modern research you can offer your body to reach its potential! Many people understand the importance of loving and respecting their bodies but they are at a loss when it comes to unconditional love. This book is your peace flag that will end the war between your body and your mind. You will not have to follow any specific diet or be prompt to turn into herbivore from an omnivore or the other way around. Hear Your Body Whisper is a positive and loving approach to gain trust in your body which results in returning your body into self-healing mode it is meant to be. In this book you will learn · How to get rid of toxins in your body. · How to switch to organic food without increasing your food budget. · How to meditate. · How to use mindfulness to understand your body’s unique language. · How to ask your body a favor and not gain any weight when you want to feast on big meals. · How to check in with your body to be aware of your health. · How to exercise a few minutes every day and be happy doing it. This book was written on behalf of your body. Nobody is a better adviser for your body than your body itself. It’s your time to hear it!

The Buddha in Me, The Buddha in You: A Handbook for Happiness


David Hare - 2016
    The Buddha in Me, the Buddha in You combines the tried-and-tested wisdom of Nichiren Buddhism with the best of popular psychology and personal development, making this a brilliant guide to how life works, and how to get the most from it.Nichiren Buddhism differs from other Buddhist schools in its focus on the here-and-now, and places great importance on individual growth as the starting point for a better world. This, combined with powerful techniques such as NLP, mindfulness, journalling and coaching, makes The Buddha in Me, the Buddha in You the quintessential handbook for happiness.'Buddha' simply means someone who is awakened - yet while Nichiren Buddhists will find fascinating insights into their practice, there is no need to follow a spiritual path to benefit from this book. Through his experience as an internationally acclaimed life coach and practising Buddhist, author David Hare shows us how to wake up to our own potential and that of those around us – to discover everyday enlightenment.

The Mindfulness Survival Kit: Five Essential Practices


Thich Nhat Hanh - 2013
    Zen Master and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh argues eloquently for their applicability in our daily lives and on a global scale. Nhat Hanh discusses the value and meaning of each precept, offering insights into the role that it could play in our changing society.Thich Nhat Hanh calls the trainings a "diet for a mindful society." With this book he offers a Buddhist contribution to the current thinking on how we can come together to define secular, moral guidelines that will allow us to explore and sustain a sane, compassionate, and healthy way of living. The Five Mindfulness Trainings offer a path to restoring meaning and value in our world, whether called virtues, ethics, moral conduct, or precepts they are guidelines for living without bringing harm to others.

Beyond Happiness: The Zen Way to True Contentment


Ezra Bayda - 2010
    All that’s required is that we learn to let go of our expectation that life should go according the agenda we have in mind. Zen teacher Ezra Bayda provides the teachings and practices we need to learn to let go into true happiness—the kind that goes far deeper than the kind that’s about getting what we think we want. Most of our unhappiness, he explains, is the result of seeking satisfaction in things external to us: new jobs, better relationships, luxury vacations. By liberating ourselves from expectations about these outward things and looking inward instead, we can find a deeper and unshakable kind of satisfaction that not only makes things a lot more pleasant for us, but that generates in us generosity and compassion toward others.  Beyond Happiness includes simple meditation and mindfulness practices you can use to access true happiness, including basic sitting meditation, gratitude practice, loving-kindness practice, and the Three Questions practice, in which we ask ourselves: Am I happy now? What blocks happiness? and Can I surrender to what is?

Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts


Shohaku Okumura - 2012
    Exploring eight of Zen's most essential and universal liturgical texts, Living by Vow is a handbook to walking the Zen path, and Shohaku Okumura guides us like an old friend, speaking clearly and directly of the personal meaning and implications of these chants, generously using his experiences to illustrate their practical significance. A scholar of Buddhist literature, he masterfully uncovers the subtle, intricate web of culture and history that permeate these great texts. Esoteric or challenging terms take on vivid, personal meaning, and old familiar phrases gain new poetic resonance.

The Practice of Lojong: Cultivating Compassion through Training the Mind


Traleg Kyabgon - 2007
    Known as the lojong—or mind-training—teachings, these slogans have been the subject of deep study, contemplation, and commentary by many great masters. In this volume, Traleg Kyabgon offers a fresh translation of the slogans as well as in-depth new commentary of each. After living among and teaching Westerners for over twenty years, his approach is uniquely insightful into the ways that the slogans could be misunderstood or misinterpreted within our culture. Here, he presents a refreshing and clarifying view, which seeks to correct points of confusion.

Reiki: A Complete Guide to Real Reiki:How to Increase Vitality, Improve your Health and Feel Great


Kristine Marie Corr - 2015
    Are you looking to uncover the immense natural energy you possess to miraculously heal yourself and people around you?Do you find yourself looking for a path that can help you unlock the secrets to happiness and wellbeing?Are you looking for this complete guide and the power that ensures ample healing energy that runs through your hands and helps you ease physical pain as well as mental stress?This book is intelligently made for you. It contains the specifics and essentials of Reiki, its principles, and advantages for anyone who wants a complete guide to energy and wellbeing, success and healing.This book will give you a clear understanding on how reiki will provide you with the ability to become your own spiritual doctor and hence work your own miracles.This book is all about bringing healing through compassion and unconditional love.Reiki practitioners use the five principles of Reiki in order to act as channels for healing energies. This healing energy typically flows through the practitioner’s body, hands and then into the body where their hands are touching to help eradicate disease and misery using the power of unconditional love. The best part – practitioners can treat themselves too!By simply using the power of unconditional love that allows healing energies to flow through their hands.Excited to know and discover more?Let’s get started…. After downloading this book you will learn What is ReikiAdvantages of using Reki as a system of HealingThe Five Reiki PrinciplesThe Three Pillars of ReikiReiki AttunementsThe Seven Chakras and ReikiMeditation and ReikiHand Positions for HealingUsing the Power of Reiki to Attract Anything you WantAnd Much MoreDownload your copy today

Meditation: An In-Depth Guide


Ian Gawler - 2011
    Introducing mindfulness-based stillness meditation, Ian Gawler and Paul Bedson explain how to build a daily meditation practice. The authors also show how meditation can be used to work with our emotions, aid healing, manage pain, or as a spiritual practice. Meditation is a path we can pursue and refine throughout our lives. Drawing on modern science as well as ancient Eastern traditions and the authors' own extensive personal experience as practitioners and teachers, this guide offers the techniques and understanding needed to explore meditation practice deeply. It is also an invaluable resource for meditation teachers from all background.

Ending the Pursuit of Happiness: A Zen Guide


Barry Magid - 2008
    Magid invites us to consider that our "pursuit of happiness" may actually be a source of our suffering. He takes an unusual look at our "secret practices" - what we're really doing when we say we're meditating-like trying to feel calmer, or more compassionate, or even "enlightened" (whatever we imagine that means!). He also uncovers our "curative fantasies" about spiritual practice - those ideas that we can somehow fix all the messy human things about ourselves that we imagine are bad or wrong or unacceptable. In doing so, he helps us look squarely at-and avoid-such pitfalls. Along the way, Magid lays out a rich roadmap of the new "psychological-minded Zen" - a Zen that includes our entire life, our entire personality - as pioneered by his teacher, bestselling author Charlotte Joko Beck.

Questions to a Zen Master: Political and Spiritual Answers from the Great Japanese Master


Taisen Deshimaru - 1985
    True religion is the highest Way, the absolute Way: zazen."Here, Deshimaru, the author of True Zen, offers practical suggestions for developing unitary mind-body consciousness through the principles of zazen (translated literally as "seated meditation"). Advice is given on posture, breathing, and concentration, and concepts such as karma and satori are clearly explained.