It offers a vast variety of insightful selections from various literature and provides a lifetime of ideas and images to contemplate and evolve with you.

    This guide demonstrates how readers can become actively calm, centred in the stillness and joy of our own essential nature while living a dynamic, fulfilling and balanced life.

    Here, Chögyam Trungpa discusses bardo in a very different sense: as the peak experience of any given moment. Our experience of the present moment is always colored by one of six psychological states: the god realm (bliss), the jealous god realm (jealousy and lust for entertainment), the human realm (passion and desire), the animal realm (ignorance), the hungry ghost realm (poverty and possessiveness), and the hell realm (aggression and hatred). In relating these realms to the six traditional Buddhist bardo experiences, Trungpa provides an insightful look at the "madness" of our familiar psychological patterns and shows how they present an opportunity to transmute daily experience into freedom.

    This work covers in detail all aspects of the practice and includes useful chapters on its effects on the spine, muscles, vital organs and endocrine system. A practical book for teachers and students.

    John Daido Loori, one of America's leading Zen teachers, offers everything needed to begin a meditation practice. He covers the basics of where to sit (on a cushion, bench, or chair), how to posture the body (complete with instructional photographs), and how to practice Zen meditation to discover the freedom of a peaceful mind.Book with audio CD.

    These short, inspiring readings illuminate Zen practice in simple, eloquent language. Topics include zazen and Zen koans, how to appreciate your life as the life of the Buddha, and the essential matter of life and death. Appreciate Your Life conveys Maezumi Roshi's unique spirit and teaching style, as well as his timeless insights into the practice of Zen. Never satisfied with merely conveying ideas, his teisho, the Zen talks he gave weekly and during retreats, evoked personal questions from his students. Maezumi Roshi insisted that his students address these questions in their own lives. As he often said, "Be intimate with your life." The readings are not teachings or instructions in the traditional sense. They are transcriptions of the master's teisho, living presentations of his direct experience of Zen realization. These teisho are crystalline offerings of Zen insight intended to reach beyond the student's intellect to her or his deepest essence.

    A Compact yet thoroughly informative series on philosophical and religious topics, written with the general reader in mind.

    Today, the United States is home to approximately one million Hindus.If you've heard of this ancient religion and are looking for a reference that explains the intricacies of the customs, practices, and teachings of this ancient spiritual system, Hinduism For Dummies is for you!Provides a thorough introduction to this earliest and popular world belief system Information on the rites, rituals, deities, and teachings associated with the practice of Hinduism Explores the history and teachings of the Vedas, Brahmans, and Upanishads Offers insight into the modern daily practice of Hinduism around the world Continuing the Dummies tradition of making the world's religions engaging and accessible to everyone, Hinduism For Dummies is your hands-on, friendly guide to this fascinating religion.

    Bob Frissell reminds readers that they create their own reality through their consciousness and that improving this reality and living a fuller life is simply a matter of broadening one's perspectives. In this book, he shows people how to reconnect with their multidimensional selves and remake their lives.

    Western psychotherapy aims largely to help us eliminate neurotic traits formed in childhood and adapt to society. In contrast, the Sufi goal is ultimately spiritual: Yes, we need to transform our negativity and be effective in the world; but beyond that, we need to reach a state of harmony with the Divine. Full of stories, poetry, meditations, journaling exercises, and colorful everyday examples, this book will open the heart, nourish the self, and quicken the soul.

    Fans of the hilarious essays that made up the author's first book, Zen Confidential, will find even more hilarity here--along with Zen insight applied to the things that happen in this thing called daily life. Whereas Shozan Jack Haubner's first book presented the Zen teaching in terms of outhouse-building, oyroki-bowl-stacking, and anatomy adjustment as one takes one seat on the zafu, this one goes deeper into experiences of love, death, and sex. And though the writing is still funny, it bears the mark of a guy who's been through the mill and who's come back to save all beings. The wide-ranging experiences of this funny and insightful monk--both inside and outside the monastery--include his memories of the dysfunctional Midwestern family life that led him ultimately to Zen practice (with a father resembling Mel Gibson on a bad day) and his confrontation with the everyday insanity that seems to arise whenever anyone declares, -I think I should be a monk!- Among the less-funny stuff is his harrowing brush with death from pancreatitis and his moving experience of the death of a dear friend. There's also a graphic account of the night he got stoned and went -over the wall- from the monastery to have some real fun. That he pulls it all off and it's still hilarious, moving, and profoundly expressive of Zen wisdom is a tribute to Haubner's gifts as a writer and humorist, but also to the sincerity of his practice. The insight makes the humor even funnier somehow, and the humor makes the insight hit home with much power.

    This book sheds light on the greater tradition and teachings of yoga, providing readers with an important approach to the practice that can harmonize their existence both individually and collectively. Yoga provides all students with a new appreciation of their dicipline's universe.

    Drawing on his long personal experience as a Buddhist teacher, journalist, and editor, Clark Strand offers broad insight into how and why the Soka Gakkai, with its commitment to social justice and its egalitarian approach, has become a role model, not only for other schools of Buddhism, but for other religions as well. Readers will be inspired by the struggles and triumphs of the Soka Gakkai’s three founding presidents—individuals who staked their lives on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and the extraordinary power of those teachings to help people become happy.

    If you want to know what the Koran is really about, you have to know what it really says. Don Richardson gives you a nitty-gritty inside look at the Koran, helping to separate fact from fiction. These hard-hitting observations are not the author's opinion based on what he thinks the Koran seems to imply. Muslim boys are indoctrinated in military camps. Madrasa Schools force memorization and repetition of the Koran-particularly those verses that promise heavenly rewards for martyrdom. It took courage to write this serious, documented and well-sourced book. But the price of truth is courage, regardless of ones religion.

    The secret behind its steady rise is due in part to the plethora of benefits Buddhism reaps upon those who practice it and apply its teachings to their lives. Through mindfulness and meditation, Buddhism injects peace and clarity into the minds and lives of those who dedicate themselves to it. Those wonderful benefits can be a part of your life as well through the careful study of its various tenets. In Buddhism, this thoughtful and carefully detailed guidebook acts as a beginner’s guide to those who may be interested in learning more about this ancient and wise practice. Placing emphasis on meditation, yoga, and understanding the core concepts of Buddhism allows the reader to apply its teachings to make their lives fuller and healthier. If you are curious about Buddhism and want to find the answers you seek, then look no further than this qualitative guidebook. Full of information on the various aspects of Buddhism, meditation, yoga, and more, Buddhism stands apart as a concise and practical guide to infusing your life with its many teachings. Here’s what to expect in the Beginner's guide: What Buddhism is and what its teachings are The core concepts of Buddhism: karma, suffering, nirvana, and reincarnation The practice and benefits of yoga The four noble truths Practices, treasures, and poisons of Buddhism How to practice the five precepts of Buddhism How to practice mindfulness in order to reduce stress and anxiety And much, much more! The choice is now yours. Open yourself to the benefits of a life free of stress and anxiety through the understanding and practice of Buddhism. A clear and peaceful mind awaits you along your spiritual journey through its tenets and teachings. Begin your journey towards a better life and grab your copy of Buddhism: Beginner’s Guide today!