Book picks similar to
The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
non-fiction
yoga
thank-you-public-library
quickies
Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy
Ken Wilber - 1999
This book presents one of the first truly integrative models of consciousness, psychology, and therapy. Drawing on hundreds of sources—Eastern and Western, ancient and modern—Wilber creates a psychological model that includes waves of development, streams of development, states of consciousness, and the self, and follows the course of each from subconscious to self-conscious to superconscious. Included in the book are charts correlating over a hundred psychological and spiritual schools from around the world, including Kabbalah, Vedanta, Plotinus, Teresa of Ávila, Aurobindo, Theosophy, and modern theorists such as Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, Jane Loevinger, Lawrence Kohlberg, Carol Gilligan, Erich Neumann, and Jean Gebser. Integral Psychology is Wilber's most ambitious psychological system to date and is already being called a landmark study in human development.
Sky Above, Great Wind: The Life and Poetry of Zen Master Ryokan
Ryōkan - 1830
But unlike his two renowned colleagues, Ryokan was a societal dropout, living mostly as a hermit and a beggar. He was never head of a monastery or temple. He liked playing with children. He had no dharma heir. Even so, people recognized the depth of his realization, and he was sought out by people of all walks of life for the teaching to be experienced in just being around him. His poetry and art were wildly popular even in his lifetime. He is now regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Edo Period, along with Basho, Buson, and Issa. He was also a master artist-calligrapher with a very distinctive style, due mostly to his unique and irrepressible spirit, but also because he was so poor he didn’t usually have materials: his distinctive thin line was due to the fact that he often used twigs rather than the brushes he couldn’t afford. He was said to practice his brushwork with his fingers in the air when he didn’t have any paper. There are hilarious stories about how people tried to trick him into doing art for them, and about how he frustrated their attempts. As an old man, he fell in love with a young Zen nun who also became his student. His affection for her colors the mature poems of his late period. This collection contains more than 140 of Ryokan’s poems, with selections of his art, and of the very funny anecdotes about him.
The Science of Enlightenment: Teachings and Meditations for Awakening Through Self-Investigation
Shinzen Young - 1998
For it is through the investigation of your own thoughts and feelings that you can awaken to clear insight and a happiness independent of conditions: the state of enlightenment.Through his expertise in both science and spirituality, meditation teacher Shinzen Young demystifies the principles of awakening hidden within the world's great spiritual traditions and shows you how to use them in your own life.Here, in an unequaled 14-CD course covering traditional teachings, scientific insights, and practical instructions, you will test for yourself the discoveries of the great wisdom traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Jewish mysticism, Sufism, Hinduism, shamanism, and many others.Why is single-pointed concentration so highly regarded on every contemplative path? How do you move beyond emotional/intellectual blocks and into a state of highest presence? Where do psychic powers and other mystical phenomena fit in the architecture of enlightenment? How do you know if your meditation practice is working?On The Science of Enlightenment, Shinzen Young elucidates these questions with precision and intelligence, demonstrating why he is regarded as one of the Western world's most articulate and understandable teachers of classical mystical experience.The search for awakening is not limited to a chosen few. It is a field open for you to investigate--once you possess the inner technologies to do so. Now you can begin that investigation with The Science of Enlightenment. Includes six complete guided meditation sessions.Learn More About: Six common traps on the path to awakening - and how to avoid them- Ancient mystical teachings in clear, modern language- Fascinating research about meditation and your brain-wave states, perceptual acuity, oxygen levels, and aging- How meditation enhances your learning, athletic performance, relationships, and emotional life- Why your body is the greatest mystical teacher- How to digest harmful mental blockages through inner work- Samadhi--your inner microscope for self-understanding- Inner healing techniques you won't learn in psychotherapy- What to do if you lack discipline- An expansive survey of awakening practices from their tribal roots to the Information AgeCourse objectives: Discuss the benefits of having a regular meditation practice- Recognize the similarities between the world's oldest and largest spiritual traditions in terms of practices of concentration and ideas of enlightenment- Utilize meditation practices that focus on relaxation, the body, thinking, the sense of self, expanding and contracting, and the sensory field- Describe the meaning of enlightenment and the Buddhist practices used to reach enlightenment- Summarize the Buddhist perspective on the self, the no-self, and how this is brought into meditation practice- Apply Western scientific knowledge to Eastern spiritual practices in order to understand the benefits of both- Identify the differences between reaching the source of consciousness/enlightenment, and the realm of power/new age phenomena
The Yoga Mind: 52 Essential Principles of Yoga Philosophy to Deepen Your Practice
Rina Jakubowicz - 2018
In The Yoga Mind, internationally renowned yoga expert Rina Jakubowicz takes a simple, accessible approach to the complex origins of yoga philosophy. With clear, thoughtful guidance, The Yoga Mind offers everything you need to deepen your yoga practice and discover a meaningful way of life.Your complete resource for bringing yoga philosophy off the mat and into your life, The Yoga Mind includes:
Clear explanations of core yoga principles that turn complex theories into memorable lessons
Guided meditations and simple exercises that offer clear, tangible instruction for practicing each principle in your daily life
A structured approach to vital yoga themes that brings clarity to crucial, but rarely understood, concepts
Whether you read The Yoga Mind cover to cover or skip to a certain topic, you’ll find simple actions to incorporate the principles of yoga into a yoga practice that is meaningful to you.
This Precious Life: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on the Path to Enlightenment
Khandro Rinpoche - 2003
She says, "Think of all the time you've wasted hesitating or feeling distracted, or expending useless energy feeling jealous or angry, or being selfish. At the time of death, you'll look back and it will all seem like a dream." The book includes contemplative exercises that encourage us to appreciate the tremendous potential of the human body and mind. They focus on how we can learn to see this life as a gift—and how, by achieving peace in our own lives, we can bring a seed of happiness to other people. Although raised in Asia, Khandro Rinpoche is well-versed in Western culture, which allows her to translate Tibetan Buddhist wisdom to Westerners with remarkable authenticity and immediacy. She is also one the most highly trained living Tibetan masters and has been teaching in the United States and Europe for over fifteen years, during which time she has attracted thousands of students. She brings a unique feminine perspective to the wisdom tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Yoga 365: Daily Wisdom for Life, On and Off the Mat
Susanna Harwood Rubin - 2016
Each entry explores a mind-body theme such as balance, strength, and resilience in a short, illuminating paragraph that can be enjoyed in the morning or at bedtime, incorporated into a yoga session, or read on the go. Featuring a serenely beautiful hardcover and a spacious, color-washed interior, the package is as calming in the hand as the readings are to the eye. Yogis will find it to be a motivating tool for personal growth and a lighthearted, gift-worthy way to share the joys of their practice with others.
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 Books 1, 2 and 3
Kisari Mohan Ganguli
You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
Dhamapada: The Essential Teachings of the Buddha
F. Max Müller - 2016
This foundation scripture teaches the supreme doctrine of nirvana and the way to the highest possible happiness for mankind. Oxford professor Dr. Max Muller, a great scholar and Orientalist, did the translation.
The Journey Within: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Wisdom of Bhakti Yoga: Unleashing the Power of the Soul
Radhanath Swami - 2016
His heartfelt down-to-earth writing makes accessible topics that have remained esoteric for generations: explanations of the material and spiritual selves, three levels of God-realization, the feminine nature of divinity, the way of righteousness (dharma), what happens at death, and formulas for spiritual health. In brief sidebars, he spells out how to adapt chanting as a daily practice, how to recognize an authentic guru, which rituals to attempt, methods for achieving balance in relationships, and ways to transform a home or apartment into a place of pilgrimage. Radhanath Swami may be the Dr. Oz of yoga, prescribing through anecdote and wise commentary simple principles for balancing our material and spiritual lives.Destined to become a classic of self-discovery, The Journey Within escorts readers from remote villages of South India to the halls of power in Europe and America. The author’s palette of storytelling includes tales of the famous and infamous, moguls of industry, lepers, newborn babies, the redwoods of California, and jellyfish in Italy. In simple, approachable language, he demystifies India’s ancient path of devotion and reveals how heaven is within the grasp of every man, woman, and child. What is love? Who is God? How can we live in the world without becoming entangled? Radhanath Swami addresses these and other seminal questions with vivid portraits of people confronting life-threatening tragedies with life-affirming tools of devotion, people who discover how to solve impossible dilemmas with the simplest of resources and who uncover miracles in the ordinary course of a day
The Shambhala Principle: Discovering Humanity's Hidden Treasure
Sakyong Mipham - 2013
Dear Reader, We humans have come to a crossroads in our history: we can either destroy the world or create a good future. The Shambhala Principle offers the principle of basic goodness as a way of addressing the personal and social challenges that we face. Do we, as humans, have confidence in the basic goodness of humanity, as well as of society itself? As a Tibetan lama and spiritual leader, this strikes me as our most compelling global issue.The book revolves around a dialogue with my father, the legendary Ch�gyam Trungpa. Whether his responses were direct or mystical, he continuously returned to the topics of basic goodness and enlightened society. Not only did he show me how I could become confident in their existence through awareness and meditation, he also taught me how basic goodness is a socially viable standard that could stabilize and transform our world.However, this book is not a memoir, or even a message. It is an invitation to readers to reflect on their own basic goodness and the basic goodness of society, and then contemplate the question, Can we rouse our energy and confidence to create a good world that is founded on this principle?I encourage you to join me in this contemplation. --Sakyong Mipham
The Book of Dharma: Making Enlightened Choices
Simon Haas - 2013
The Book of Dharma charts Simon Haas’s journey to India and his “excavation” of the Dharma Code, a powerful system for making enlightened choices and manifesting our highest potential. Haas apprenticed with an elderly master practitioner in the Bhakti tradition for sixteen years and learned from him the system formerly used by kings and queens to effect personal transformation in their life and rule wisely.Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince were written specifically for rulers. While these works have become renowned, the teachings for kings and queens from India remain to this day largely undiscovered. In this ground-breaking book, Haas discloses these teachings for contemporary Western readers, for the first time openly revealing a knowledge that has been passed down in secrecy in a sacred tradition for millennia.
Vedic Physics: Scientific Origin of Hinduism
Raja Ram Mohan Roy - 1999
We do not know much about the scientific achievements of our ancestors. Is it possible that there were highly advanced civilizations in past, whose technological achievements have been completely forgotten? Now there can be an objective verification, because Rigveda has been remarkably well preserved. Ancient Indians went to extreme lengths to preserve the Vedas. They are in the same form today, that they have been several thousand years earlier. The question is why? Why did generations of Indians go through so much trouble to preserve the Vedas, while the apparent meaning seems to be so mundane. The reason is that Vedas are coded, and once you understand that code, it has such a powerful message that is going to transform your perception of humanity. This book describes the scientific meaning of Vedas and other Hindu scriptures and compares them with currently accepted scientific wisdom.
E-Squared: Nine Do-It-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality
Pam Grout - 2013
Create reality!
E-Squared
could best be described as a lab manual with simple experiments to prove once and for all that reality is malleable, that consciousness trumps matter, and that you shape your life with your mind. Rather than take it on faith, you are invited to conduct nine 48-hour experiments to prove there really is a positive, loving, totally hip force in the universe. Yes, you read that right. It says prove. The experiments, each of which can be conducted with absolutely no money and very little time expenditure, demonstrate that spiritual principles are as dependable as gravity, as consistent as Newton’s laws of motion. For years, you’ve been hoping and praying that spiritual principles are true. Now, you can know. E-Squared proves the following: 1. There is an invisible energy force or field of infinite possibilities. 2. You impact the field and draw from it according to your beliefs and expectations. 3. You, too, are a field of energy. 4. Whatever you focus on expands. 5. Your connection to the field provides accurate and unlimited guidance.6. Your thoughts and consciousness impact matter. 7. Your thoughts and consciousness provide the scaffolding for your physical body.8. You are connected to everything and everyone else in the universe. 9. The universe is limitless, abundant, and strangely accommodating.
Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet
Sidney D. Kirkpatrick - 2000
Born in rural Kentucky in 1877, Edgar Cayce became known as "the sleeping prophet," and went on to lead an extraordinary life, helping and healing thousands. This is Cayce's fascinating story as it's never been told before.
Dream Yoga: The Tibetan Path of Awakening Through Lucid Dreaming
Andrew Holecek - 2013
Dream Yoga brings the best from modern science and Tibetan wisdom to offer you this extraordinary opportunity. With expert guidance you'll learn everything you need to know to penetrate the mysteries of the night, including:Meditations for calming and clarifying your mind• How to have lucid dream states naturally using Tibetan practices and contemporary dream induction techniques• Practical tips for overcoming common obstacles, enhancing dream recall, working with nightmares, and gleaning insights from your dreams• Bringing your skills together to explore the deepest dimensions of awakened consciousnessEach night you touch into the possibility of enlightenment. With Dream Yoga you will emerge from the darkness of ignorance into the luminous experience of awakening—in every moment, day or night.