Book picks similar to
Good? Bad? Who knows? by Ajahn Brahm


buddhism
self-improvement
non-fiction
buddhism-and-other-sacred-writings

The Te of Piglet


Benjamin Hoff - 1992
    A. Milne's Piglet. Piglet? Yes, Piglet. For better than impulsive Tigger... or gloomy Eeyore... or intellectual Owl... or even loveable Pooh... Piglet herein demonstrates a very important principle of Taoism: the Te - a Chinese word meaning Virtue - of the Small.In this wonderful sequel to The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff explores the Te (Virtue) of the Small - a principle embodied perfectly in Piglet, a Very Small Animal who proved to be so Useful after all.

The Mindful Woman: Gentle Practices for Restoring Calm, Finding Balance, and Opening Your Heart


Sue Patton Thoele - 2008
    Even the busiest of women among us has the ability to embrace mindfulness and will reap the benefits of doing so!In this book, Sue Patton Thoele shows you how to incorporate mindfulness into your busy and dynamic life. The book's gentle and humorous approach makes it a practical and easily understood guide for those who are new to the practice of mindfulness as well as those who are already familiar with its gifts.The book offers over sixty-five simple and effective practices to help you embrace mindfulness one moment at a time. Filled with both the author's and other women's personal stories about the joys and hurdles that come with embracing mindful living, The Mindful Woman is a friend whose hand you can hold on the path toward being present in the moment. Finding your way will lead naturally to a more open heart, inner peace, and greater zest for life-a path well worth pursuing.I have been a fan of Sue Patton Thoele's gentle wisdom since her very first book. Here she takes on mindfulness in her typical wise and caring way. The Mindful Woman is a retreat in a book!-M.J. Ryan, author of This Year I Will…, Giving Thanks, and many other titlesThe Mindful Woman is a warm-hearted tour of many effective ways for a woman to feel more peaceful, focused, and happy in the middle of her busy life. Based on scientific research and its author's deep insights, it is comprehensive and caring…a wonderful book.-Rick Hanson, Ph.D., psychologist, board member of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and author of Mother Nurture Sue Patton Thoele is a heart-filled and gifted wordsmith who draws you into an enchanted journey of personal growth in each of her books. The Mindful Woman may well be her crowning glory… and yours… so get ready for a big treat!-Bobbie Sandoz Merrill, MSW, author of Settle for More, Parachutes for Parents, and In the Presence of High BeingsSue Patton Thoele is the master of explicating real life and real people. In The Mindful Woman, she adds a new dimension: real thinking. Many books preach mindfulness, but this is the only one that makes it so simple that you fall into practicing it as you turn the pages. Thoele has surpassed even her early groundbreaking books tailored to women's needs. Here is the hallmark of a deeply intuitive writer who presents her message in gentle, non-judgmental, and attractively intimate prose.-Hugh Prather, author of Morning Notes, Notes to Myself, and Spiritual Notes to Myself Sue Patton Thoele's books have long been a guiding light for me. The Mindful Woman is warm, wise, and wonderful and has become a touchstone to which I turn for advice and clarity. Reading Sue Thoele has truly made a difference in my life and has made me more mindful of the happy, healthy woman I am becoming.-Brenda Knight, author of Wild Woman and Rituals for Life wise, witty, and wonderful guide to what eludes us most: peace of mind and heart in a turbulent world.-Janice Lynne Lundy, author of Your Truest Self This book now has a permanent place on my nightstand. The Mindful Woman does much more than inform the reader about mindfulness. Through tiny, sweet bites of easy practice, it transforms a thoughtful woman into a mindful woman. Sue Patton Thoele's tenderness toward her reader warms each page as she reveals her own slips and slides in finding the positive and pleasant view of every circumstance. -Cynthia Wall, LCSW, author of The Courage to Trust

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy


William B. Irvine - 2008
    In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life. Using the psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us. Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility and shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life. As he does so, he describes his own experiences practicing Stoicism and offers valuable first-hand advice for anyone wishing to live better by following in the footsteps of these ancient philosophers. Readers learn how to minimize worry, how to let go of the past and focus our efforts on the things we can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune. We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of prizing only things of true value, and from Epictetus we learn how to be more content with what we have. Finally, A Guide to the Good Life shows readers how to become thoughtful observers of their own life. If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily business and later reflect on what we saw, we can better identify the sources of distress and eventually avoid that pain in our life. By doing this, the Stoics thought, we can hope to attain a truly joyful life.

Momfulness: Mothering with Mindfulness, Compassion, and Grace


Denise Roy - 2007
    Through anecdotes, reflections, and specific practices, this book invites mothers to wake up and embrace their lives, discovering that they are always standing on holy ground.

Healing Mudras: Yoga for Your Hands - New Edition


Sabrina Mesko - 2000
    More than fourteen years ago, the Mudra expert Sabrina Mesko Ph.D.H. wrote Healing Mudras - Yoga for Your Hands, the first practical guide for unleashing the healing power of hand Mudras, which became an international bestseller and is translated into more than 14 languages. The book describes ancient healing hand gestures - Mudras - yoga movements involving only the arms and hands. In celebration of this classic work we have created a new edition, revised with additions. Healing Mudras - new edition - is available in two formats; a three volume series with full color photos, or this one-book original version with black and white photos and instructions for performing the Mudras for your Body, Mind and Soul. The Mudra expert Sabrina Mesko includes breathing exercises, eye movements, mantras, meditations, visualizations, prayers, and affirmations to enhance the power of each. Mudras are extremely easy to do, but so powerful they can bring you health, wealth, balance, success, and happiness. How? By liberating the energy locked within your body - the energy channels called nadis and energy centers called chakras - and directing it to help you meet your goals and deal with the problems of everyday life.

Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening


Stephen Batchelor - 1997
    The concepts and practices of Buddhism, says Batchelor, are not something to believe in but something to do—and as he explains clearly and compellingly, it is a practice that we can engage in, regardless of our background or beliefs, as we live every day on the path to spiritual enlightenment.

The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life


Michael Puett - 2016
    This is why Professor Michael Puett says to his students, “The encounter with these ideas will change your life.” As one of them told his collaborator, author Christine Gross-Loh, “You can open yourself up to possibilities you never imagined were even possible.”These astonishing teachings emerged two thousand years ago through the work of a succession of Chinese scholars exploring how humans can improve themselves and their society. And what are these counterintuitive ideas? Good relationships come not from being sincere and authentic, but from the rituals we perform within them. Influence comes not from wielding power but from holding back. Excellence comes from what we choose to do, not our natural abilities. A good life emerges not from planning it out, but through training ourselves to respond well to small moments. Transformation comes not from looking within for a true self, but from creating conditions that produce new possibilities.In other words, The Path upends everything we are told about how to lead a good life. Above all, unlike most books on the subject, its most radical idea is that there is no path to follow in the first place—just a journey we create anew at every moment by seeing and doing things differently.Sometimes voices from the past can offer possibilities for thinking afresh about the future.A note from the publisher: To read relevant passages from the original works of Chinese philosophy, see our free ebook Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi: Selected Passages, available on Kindle, Nook, and the iBook Store and at Books.SimonandSchuster.com.