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.

    And what a sly, dangerous, beautiful, foul-smelling, heart-warming beast it is.”—Leonard Cohen, from the forewordThese hilarious essays on life inside and outside a Zen monastery make up the spiritual memoir of Shozan Jack Haubner, a Zen monk who didn’t really start out to be one. Raised in a conservative Catholic family, Shozan went on to study philosophy (becoming  de-Catholicized in the process) and to pursue a career as a screenwriter and stand-up comic in the clubs of L.A. How he went from life in the fast lane to life on the stationary meditation cushion is the subject of this laugh-out-loud funny account of his experiences. Whether he's dealing with the pranks of a juvenile delinquent assistant in the monastery kitchen or defending himself against claims that he appeared in a porno movie under the name "Daniel Reed" (he didn't, really) or being surprised in the midst of it all by the compassion he experiences in the presence of his teacher, Haubner's voice is one you'll be compelled to listen to. Not only because it's highly entertaining, but because of its remarkable insight into the human condition.

         Taoism isn’t a spiritual extracurricular activity, it’s an integral practice for living all of  life to the fullest.  The modern Taoist adept Eva Wong is your guide to living well according to the wisdom of this ancient system.  She uses the ancient texts to demonstrate the Taoist masters’ approach to the traditional four aspects of life--the public, the domestic, the private, and the spiritual—and shows how learning to balance them is the secret to  infusing your life with health, harmony, and deep satisfaction.​

    Throughout history, these lounge-chair revolutionaries have helped correct civilization’s ills and excesses with a mellow, lighthearted, live-and-let live attitude. From Lao Tzu to Lebowski, Epicurus to Einstein, The Buddha to Bob Dylan, all have reminded humanity what is most important in life: personal liberty, peace of mind, leisure time and good friends.Bringing together some of the greatest ideas, quotes and insights Dudeosophy has had to offer, THE TAO OF THE DUDE is not only a virtual Ph.D in Dudeism, but also a soothing sectional sofa for the soul.Each chapter contains an essay and illustration by the founder of Dudeism, followed by an assortment of quotes and passages that show how Dudeism has existed throughout history, down through the generations, across the sands of time...

    But that's easier said than done. Here Pema Chodron introduces a powerful, transformative method to nurture these qualities using a practice called lojong, which has been a primary focus of her teachings and personal practice for many years. And for centuries, Tibetan Buddhists have relied on these teachings to awaken the deep goodness that lies within us. The lojong teachings include fifty-nine pithy slogans for daily contemplation, such as -Always maintain only a joyful mind, - -Don't be swayed by external circumstances, - -Don't try to be the fastest, - and -Be grateful to everyone.- This book presents each of these slogans and includes Pema's clear, succinct guidance on how to understand them--and how they can enrich our lives. It also features a forty-five minute downloadable audio program entitled -Opening the Heart, - in which Pema offers in-depth instruction on tonglen meditation, a powerful practice that anyone can undertake to awaken compassion for oneself and others.

    Written more than 2,000 years ago, this work is a map to the fast track to enlightenment. They derive from an ancient oral tradition, when Devi, the Divine feminine, was worshiped. Yet, today, the Yoga Sutra is taught by priests and scholars from a masculine Hindu tradition that obscures the simple wisdom in it. Yoga, Power, and Spirit shows us that the Sutra is pre-Hindu, and that the power of Devi and enlightenment are available to us at all times, without guru, temple, or decades of study.       Yoga is the direct path to enlightenment. Patanjali taught that all knowledge was acquired directly from the Source. This book reveals how the power of Devi can guide the practitioner of yoga to sure and inevitable self-realization. Alberto Villoldo is a shaman who has practiced Yoga for 25 years, and embraced the way of the Divine feminine. He has traveled to the source of India's holy rivers in the Himalayas to rediscover the wisdom of the Sadhu, India’s ancient shamans. He brings to life the spiritual teachings of yoga in a pure, practical, and irreverent way—stripped of dogma and brimming with poetry and spirit.

    The book serves to illustrate and amplify Idries Shah's preceding (over 20) books on the Sufi Way.

    This collection of essays and lectures spans his career, from his first essay on Zen Buddhism in 1955 to his final seminar, given only weeks before he died in 1973. The last essay The Practice of Meditation is written and illustrated in his own hand.

    A memoir in the form of tales told by Rinpoche toward the end of his life, the book spans his lifetime — a lifetime rich in adventures of both spirit and body. His reminiscences weave a rich tapestry of family history and also describe the lives of some of the most realized and genuine practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism.

    Yet most Westerners know little about this powerful, Eastern-spawned faith. How did it begin? What do its adherents believe? Why are so many Westerners drawn to it? Essential Buddhism responds to these questions and many more, offering an accessible, global perspective on the religion's past, present, and future. It identifies how the principal concepts and practices originated and evolved through diverse cultural adaptations into three basic formats: * Theraveda (including Vipassana, brought from Vietnam in the 1960s and including such practitioners as Jack Kornfield and Jon Kapat-Zinn) * Mahayana (including Zen Buddhism, originally brought to America by Japanese teachers after World War II and popularized by Jack Kerouac and Thomas Merton) * Vajrayana (including Tibetan Buddhism, from the teachers who fled the Chinese takeover of Tibet in the 1950s as well as the Dalai Lama, and embraced by Allen Ginsberg, Richard Gere, and countless others) Essential Buddhism is the single best resource for the novice and the expert alike, exploring the depths of Buddhism's popularity and illuminating its tenets and sensible approach to living. Written in the lucid prose of a longtime professional storyteller, and full of Buddhist tales, scriptural quotes, ancient stories, and contemporary insights, Essential Buddhism is the first complete guide to the faith and the phenomenon.

    Combining the traditional and the contemporary, Stone Boy and Other Stories contains ten works of short fiction that illuminate Buddhist themes and Vietnamese culture.

    One of America's most respected Buddhist teachers distills a lifetime of practice and teaching in this groundbreaking exploration of the new Buddhist tradition taking root on American soil.

    Fearlessly pondering life’s end, Holloway examines how doubts too often paralyze people. He explains, “A sentence is not finished till it has a full stop, and every life needs a dying to complete it … Our brief finitude is but a beautiful spark in the vast darkness of space. So we should live the fleeting day with passion and, when the night comes, depart from it with grace.” Written in the context of organized religion’s structural difficulties, Looking in the Distance is a highly personal and meditative work that helps us better understand the myriad ways in which the human search for wholeness and healing can be approached. Accessible, funny, inquisitive and ever hopeful, it will inspire all who read it.

    How do we begin to discover and live our destined life? How can we use the ancient, Eastern philosophy to experience more success in our lives?From Derek Lin, Taoist master and author of The Tao of Daily Life, comes this practical, systematic approach to the ancient and time-honored spiritual learning process. The Tao of Success navigates the five rings of life, which are common patterns of traditional Tao cultivation, conceptualized by the ancient sages: your spirit, your mind, your relationships, your world, and your destiny. Success is achieved by discovering and experiencing these five concentric rings, from the inside out, and not in the future but in the here and now.Using the same format that made The Tao of Daily Life a breakout Eastern wisdom bestseller, Lin draws on the power of Taoist stories to illustrate important keys, or lessons. He then offers commentary on understanding and applying that story in modern life-all aimed to help readers live out the destiny that lies within themselves.By integrating the life-altering lessons of this book into their busy lives, readers can begin to cultivate the Tao. In The Tao of Success , Lin returns with his enlightening approach to understanding, centered on story and illumination of ancient Taoist secrets for the modern beginner and the familiar student alike.

    T. Suzuki and Walker Percy, the Buddha and the Bible, Einstein and Gertrude Stein. It's a celebration of intuition: "If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark"-St. John the Cross. Individuality: "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought."-Basho. Uncomplicated nature: "Among twenty snowy mountains/The only moving thing/Was the eye of the blackbird."-Wallace Stevens. Childlike spontaneity: "Goodnight stars. Goodnight air."-Margaret Wise Brown. Irreverent paradox: "Wakuan complained when he saw a picture of bearded Bodhidharma: 'Why hasn't that fellow a beard?'" And above all, the simple pleasure of life lived in the moment. "Chop wood, carry water."